elk, cat5, and doorstrike questions....

[pjwinstalls]

Getting my material list together for my new house. Need some clarification.....

1st - My house has a basement, 1st and 2nd floor. I will have a keypad by the front door and side door for the 1st floor. I also want to have a keypad for the "other" side door that leads upstairs. Can I have the 1st floor keypads just disarm/arm the 1st floor contacts, sensors, etc...... and the "other" side door keypad disarm/arm the upstairs only?? Also, could I go into that same "other" keypad to disarm the 1st floor if i need access to it? This would be all on a ELk M1.


2nd - I have read the cat5e versus cat6 debate here and on other forums. Just wanted to get some updated opinions if any on this. I see that randyknight wired his entire house in cat5e. So I just dont know what to do. The scale of my house and wiring is on par with his in terms of size and what i want to do. (everything!)
Also shielded or un-shielded??


3rd - The door strike/dead bolt confuses me still. This is what i want to do. Have an external keypad that will unlock the door and a deadbolt, the elk still to be disarmed from inside. When opening the door from the inside, I just want to turn the handle and go out. When power goes out, I still want to be able to just turn that handle from the inside and use a key from the outside (the door is still locked from the outside). How do i do this?? When i put the code in and enter, how would i engage the deadbolt at night before i go to bed?

Thanks

Philip

 

[rfdesq]

1st, should be no problem with M1's ability to assign different areas to keypads.

2nd, I use Cat6 for camera, telephone, keypad, two way listen in microphone part, etc. But I use standard 22/4 for security purposes. By nature, the Cat6 is UTP or unshielded twisted pair. I believe the new standard of the day is Cat6A.

3rd, I'll let someone else answer.

 

[Steve]

1 - If you split the house into 'Areas' you can do this with keypads. Don't know if there is another way or not. I believe you can assign a keypad to a specific area and you can also control other areas from 1 keypad.

2 - If you want to be the absolute safest, I guess using the latest Cat6 is good, but Cat5E (Big E - 350 mhz certified) will more than likely be fine for almost everything in the forseeable future. If I were wiring a new house now I would probably just still use a good Cat5E.

3 - Pass

 

[TonyNo]

Sounds like an electric deadbolt would cover you for number three. In this way, when outside you can use a key or do something fancy to retract the deadbolt, and from inside you would just manually retract it. The current PowerBolt line should cover this since you can tap into PC board pads where switches would be connected to engage/disengage it via a relay.

 

[pjwinstalls]

Any particular brands of cat5e/cat6 you recommend? Solid or stranded?

Steve: Would you recommend shielded if i go cat5e?

The deadbolt thing still puzzles me though.

Thanks

Philip

 

[rfdesq]

Any particular brands of cat5e/cat6 you recommend? Solid or stranded?

I think it depends on what type of RJ45 connectors you plan on using or if you are punching them down. I use the EZRJ45 connectors so cable choice can be important. I use Belden cable mainly but also have bought cable on sale from Frye's. All of my Cat6 is solid.

 

[pjwinstalls]

i run cat5 cable in my line of work but I am going to use those ezrj45 connectors to make my life easier

 

[rfdesq]

Since you are going to use EZRJ45 connectors then look at Belden 7883A Cat6 cable.

 

[rocco]

I'm planning on Cat6 (or whatever is fastest later this year), because I can already see the need to migrate to 10-Gig Ethernet.

 

[pjwinstalls]

what do you think of this coleman cable cat6.......i can get it for $100 less per 1000ft

http://www.colemancable.com/CatalogProduct...nProductsID=457

 

[rfdesq]

what do you think of this coleman cable cat6.......i can get it for $100 less per 1000ft

It looks a lot like the Cat6 I bought at Frye's for about $60 per 1000'. The spline in the middle needs to be dealt with when using EZRJ45 connectors. If you purchase it and before you get ready to use it PM me and I'll give you my telephone number so I can explain the technique to overcome the center spline.

 

[pjwinstalls]

when u say spline you mean the seperating rope inside the wire right?

the coleman cable is $120 a box.....wish i could get it for $60

 

[Steve]

The spline is actually a piece of solid plastic. Stranded is usually only used for premade jumpers, etc. I also use solid cable and the EZ45's.

 

[pjwinstalls]

what is the spline for? i have never seen it in any cat 5 i have used.

 

[rfdesq]

what is the spline for? i have never seen it in any cat 5 i have used.

I believe it is used to keep the cross talk down between the pairs. Cable manufacturers found that they could eliminate the spline by twisting the pairs tighter.