ELK Burglar Alarm Setup Questions

gacevich

Member
I am trying to tweak the setup of my M1 burglar alarm and have the following questions.

1) when entering house and Alarmed Away, i would like the opening of our kitchen door (the one most often used) to remind us the alarm is on. I tried this but it did not work. Note, Output 16 is used to trigger my whole house audio in page mode so that when M1 speaks it is heard throughout the house.

WHENEVER House (Area 1) is ARMED AWAY
And Kitched Door (Zn 3) IS NOT SECURE
THEN TURN Output 16 (Out 16) on for 3 SECS
THEN ANNOUNCE (AreaX) is Armed Away Mode (vm214)

i don't get any announcement. will this work while system is armed?

1a) i noticed that the Chime (vocal) will not sound when system is armed. is this same issue?

2) i Armed Night Instant then timed how long it took for the announcements to begin once a door was opened. time to sound alarm was all over the map (in seconds): 8, 15, 2, 3, 17, 16. why might this be? i assumed instant would consistently be within 1-2 seconds. The issue may be with the auto repeat every 12 seconds rule (it was 20 seconds when i recorded the delay times listed) i show below, but not sure.

3) sometimes when i silence the alarm and subsequently acknowledge the alarm i hear the speakers say so. sometimes i don't. why might this be?

4) even more troubling is the announcement that the alarm has been disarmed. i have rule that turns on Arm Night Instant at midnight and turns off at 6a. I would like this to occur without an announcement...the 6a announcement that system is disarmed is unwelcome as a slumbering wife might accidently confuse the announcement for an acutual burglar alarm.

i think i am on the right track but the inconsistencies keep me guessing.

i attached a screenshot of my rules in case looking at them would help answer my questions. thanks.

elkrules2.png
 
As a start, here are a few things to check...

The first rule that you show is backwards. You need to trigger on the door-opening event, not on the arm event, vis:

WHENEVER Kitchen Door (Zn 3) BECOMES NOT SECURE
AND House (Area 1) is ARMED AWAY
THEN TURN Output 16 (Out 16) on for 3 SECS
THEN ANNOUNCE (AreaX) is Armed Away Mode (vm214)

There are some timing conflicts with Output 16 in your rules. I would suggest getting your paging system out of the picture while you work through your issues. You need to verify what the M1 does on its own.

You have other rules in your system. Check *all* of your remaining rules for possible interactions with the outputs and functions you are using here.
 
Back
Top