Need help from Elk guru or Spanky

[Scrambled]

My elk has been working great for the last year or so, so it is time to make changes.

I am wanting to move the wireless card, input card, and a relay output card to the attic. The main reason for the move is to make room in the conduit that runs from the attic to the basement.

My big question is what is going to be the best way to connect the cards to the main elk control panel? Sould I just use the rs-485 connection? I have several (10) motion detectors that I am wanting to connect to the input card. Where is the best place to get the 12 volts for the motion detectors?


That is enough questions for now. My internet connection is down at the house and I have to use my phone for surfing the net and my fat little fingers are too big for this keyboard.


Steve

 

[Steve]

The M1XIN (input) and M1XOVR (output w/relays) just go on the 485 bus, so that's just a 22/4 wire. The Elk wireless boards is the same, but the Caddx card plus into the controller with a special cable. To move that you will have to extend the leads of the cable.

For 10 PIR's I would be tempted to put a remote power supply with battery, but you could also just bring a line from VAux from the controller up and use that.

 

[gatchel]

make sure you use twisted pair for the comm cable

 

[Spanky]

Follow the rules on running RS-485 with termination at each end of the data bus run and you should have no problems running to the attic. Measure the voltage on the expander in the attic to make sure you have enough voltage to work properly. Over 11 volts is desired.

 

[Steve]

make sure you use twisted pair for the comm cable

Why do you say that? Many people use regular 22/4 security wire with no problems. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with using twisted pair, but I'm not convinced about the "make sure" part. Not trying to be argumentative, just clear on the requirements - Spanky?

 

[Scrambled]

Spanky- Steve

Thanks for the info. I still don't have my DSL working, so I will have to type s l o w.

I have other problems or concerns that I did not tell you about yesterday. I currently have a two small strobe lights and a siren connected to the main elk Panel. If I wanted to move these to the output relay board what should I use for power? and the last question (for now) is I have a smoke detector -4 wire and a heat detector that I want to add to the attit. Can these be added to the relay board or should they be directly wired to the main board?

Would I be better off adding one of the remote power supplies to the attic so that I don't have to worry about 12 volt power?

I am off to buy Panduit wire raceway. I am going to start runing the wires tomorrow.


Steve

 

[Steve]

The more I think about it and remember how brutal the attic was to my sisters old system I pulled out, you may want to consider putting the equipment at the top of the inside of a second floor closet - pretty much at the attic but still in climate controlled location and easier to access and work on. If you do that I would probably just put a can up there with the boards and an auxiliary supply and battery. Even if the rest of the stuff goes in the attic itself, maybe you can just put an aux supply in the closet and run it to a can or block in the attic.

 

[gatchel]

make sure you use twisted pair for the comm cable

Why do you say that? Many people use regular 22/4 security wire with no problems. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with using twisted pair, but I'm not convinced about the "make sure" part. Not trying to be argumentative, just clear on the requirements - Spanky?

Simply put...Common Mode Noise Rejection.

In some, and maybe most situations 22-4 straight cable will work fine. I like to make sure that the wiring is never the issue when doing any kind of install. The last thing you need is an expander momentarily going offline due to the fact you ran a little too close to some heavy load that intermittantly turns on.
I like to do things the right way, some people slam trunks. I have worked with 232, 422, 485, current loop, etc for several years. I have had to trouble shoot problems due to this exact issue of "make sure" dis-believers, sometimes in several trips to a customers facility. It really sucks.


Also on page 8 of the M1 Manual they specify CAT 5 or CAT 6 cable, also know as Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP), that is probably the best reason.

I simply don't like working with CAT5/6 wire so I choose to run a 18/2pr or a 22/2pr cable instead.

Edit:

Here is a good article / tech note everyone should read.

http://www.maxim-ic.com/appnotes.cfm/appnote_number/763