After several months of knocking off "honey do" items, I managed to procure an M1GSYS4 setup, Ethernet and serial expansion--it's on the bench for now, where I'm learning about the little monster and how much it can do for me.
The house we had built was pre-wired with a Brinks BHS3000 system--never been activated and I just didn't want to shell out the 32+/month for 3 years to them--so I got them to set up an local code and we can arm/disarm, bypass and set the chime, but no reporting gets done.
The perimeter is complete--all the windows and doors are wired with standard NC switches, (a might poor job of it too..exposed wires all over the place!) and all runs back to the can. 2 Keypads. Far as I can tell from looking in the can, they've wired the house over 6 zones (so to unsplit all that will take a little wire cutting and stripping) and standard 4 wire cable to the keypads. One keypad is just on the otherside of the wall where the can is, the other is in the entryway from the Garage into the house. I pondered the "retrofit" data hub, but wound up with the RJ45 version as I like the modular idea, and running a length or 2 of new cat5 doesn't bother me.
Questions:
It's likely the wiring doesn't have EOL resistors--least I don't see any by the switch or in the can. and given the cheap installation techniques I'm finding, I'm pretty sure there aren't. Is there an easy way to tell if they're in the circuit? If I want EOLs (which I think I do, overkill maybe, but I am a fan of "doing it right") what's the easiest way to add them in? Do they make switches with spots for or built in 2200 ohm?
Once I "tool up" and go in to the can, I'll break out all the old connections (and label appropriately.. again Brinks documentation wasn't real helpful) I can just hook up the zones I have mapped out into the M1G, correct? Brinks installers in a couple cases, took several of the home runs, and tied 'em together and hooked up into one zone connection--in some cases that makes sense (2 windows in the same room for instance), should I follow that lead or can I drop more than one home run end into the same zone connection on the M1? The worst case is 2 windows I think...especially if I use several more zones than the 6 that are set up now.
Any other words of wisdom/lessons learned from folks who have done replacement surgery on existing systems? I'm reading everything I can here naturally, and a few other boards, but I thought I'd ask the experts here for their input.
Thanks in advance!
Aquatic/Craig
The house we had built was pre-wired with a Brinks BHS3000 system--never been activated and I just didn't want to shell out the 32+/month for 3 years to them--so I got them to set up an local code and we can arm/disarm, bypass and set the chime, but no reporting gets done.
The perimeter is complete--all the windows and doors are wired with standard NC switches, (a might poor job of it too..exposed wires all over the place!) and all runs back to the can. 2 Keypads. Far as I can tell from looking in the can, they've wired the house over 6 zones (so to unsplit all that will take a little wire cutting and stripping) and standard 4 wire cable to the keypads. One keypad is just on the otherside of the wall where the can is, the other is in the entryway from the Garage into the house. I pondered the "retrofit" data hub, but wound up with the RJ45 version as I like the modular idea, and running a length or 2 of new cat5 doesn't bother me.
Questions:
It's likely the wiring doesn't have EOL resistors--least I don't see any by the switch or in the can. and given the cheap installation techniques I'm finding, I'm pretty sure there aren't. Is there an easy way to tell if they're in the circuit? If I want EOLs (which I think I do, overkill maybe, but I am a fan of "doing it right") what's the easiest way to add them in? Do they make switches with spots for or built in 2200 ohm?
Once I "tool up" and go in to the can, I'll break out all the old connections (and label appropriately.. again Brinks documentation wasn't real helpful) I can just hook up the zones I have mapped out into the M1G, correct? Brinks installers in a couple cases, took several of the home runs, and tied 'em together and hooked up into one zone connection--in some cases that makes sense (2 windows in the same room for instance), should I follow that lead or can I drop more than one home run end into the same zone connection on the M1? The worst case is 2 windows I think...especially if I use several more zones than the 6 that are set up now.
Any other words of wisdom/lessons learned from folks who have done replacement surgery on existing systems? I'm reading everything I can here naturally, and a few other boards, but I thought I'd ask the experts here for their input.
Thanks in advance!
Aquatic/Craig
h34r: WAF is crucial but at least she agrees with me that Brinks $$$ was too much, so I have a little leeway. 
( yep, I'm pretty sure I own it, I checked...Nothing in the paperwork says otherwise, so I paid for it as part of the cost of the house, so it's Mine 