Self-install Elk & Security, or get a pro?

[FrankMc]

BSR, Ole Steelers Fan,

If you have a circuit with say 1000 ohm EOL resistors installed somewhere on the zone, you can put an additional resistor at the control to bring it upto the 2200 ohm resistance.

A 1000 ohm in series with an existing 1000 ohm will work fine on the M1.

The downside is that you can not have normally open switches on the zone. You hardly ever see any of those anymore. The only kind I recall is normally open under carpet matting.

Hi Guys

I have previously worked in security industry installing and servicing from 1982 /1996 and industry standard ( then) was to wire N/C ... except as mentioned before pressure mats.....I think Signalman is referring to wiring the sensors much like smoke detectors ...normally open with a resistor across the normally open at the sensor ......Back then i dont recall any alarm sensors having normally open contacts.....

Personally i would still use the resistors and place them at each sensor if possible....


Frank

 

[Digger]

If cost is a factor you can put the M1 in your equipment closet and leave the old CAN in your daughters closet. Extend the wiring for the zones from the old CAN to the M1 Can (label everything). While the more connections you have and the more wire you run adds to the possibility of a gremlin in the future you should be fine if you use care in making the connections and running the wire.

You can extend the telco and the siren also if you have to. Power should be available in your equipment closet. In the future if you go ethernet (which everyone will) you might be better off having the M1 in your equipment closet if your router is there. Also you may add an RF receiver in the future and you need to consider that as well in choosing your location. Lastly if you will use the RP software and a serial connection you would want it located where you can easily connect to it (not in your daughters closet I am sure).

Be careful with the old siren. If its a speaker you may have to change it since the M1 has a hefty 20 watt (I think) onboard amp. A lot of older speakers are not rated that high. Ring out the siren line with an ohm meter. make sure there is no short on the line before connecting it to the M1 Output . A dead short might damage the M1 (about the only connection other than a reversed battery that can do any harm to the M1 in my opinion). The M1 is built like a tank in some respects so dont be to concerned..

 

[Spanky]

Digger,
Even a reversed battery and shorted speaker will open a PTC resettable fuse and shut down the offending power section. The M1 will complain!!!

 

[Digger]

The M1 is almost impossible to damage. Even so one should be careful. I know there is a note to be careful with the battery lead reversal. I am sure its there for a reason (I am not going to experiment and find out if its true )

 

[IVB]

Oh yes!!

Wife just said "you know, when we replace our windows we really should add more sensors. But man ADT charges a lot for that."

That's when I told her about the Elk M1 and the broad brush strokes of the plan. Her response "well, just don't mess up the paint".

 

[AutomatedOutlet]

Sounds like a green light to me!

 

[jlehnert]

Her response "well, just don't mess up the paint".

Man, it looks like you hit gold, er M1 Gold.

A word of warning when shopping for windows. Some manufacturers will void the warrenty if you drill ANYWHERE, forcing you to use surface contacts. The better manufacturers will have specific places where you can drill for contacts and not void the warrenty. Do your research before buying.

 

[IVB]

Well, a positively frightening article in yesterday's SF Chronicle has my wife all freaked, and I think I'm going to order the Elk, security, and some cameras. [i opted to ditch the DVR idea and build my own after seeing how much $$ it was going to run me].

Any suggestions for what I should include on that first order? I don't want to order too much, but I don't want to order so little that I can't understand what's happening.

It'll be "on the bench" for a few weeks until I get my mind around it and basically working, so it's not like I"m ripping the ADT out this weekend.

Thanks,

Vivek

 

[upstatemike]

Is SF San Francisco or Science Fiction? (Or are they both the same thing?)

 

[IVB]

San Francisco, but So Freaky works too.

 

[IVB]

Well, I received the Elk M1 this week. And by the looks of the manual, I understand why y'all said to test it "on the bench". (although in my instance, on the bench is actually wallmounted in the equipment closet as we only have a 1650 sqft house). Oh my, is that manual "high density" content. I suppose that's good, as that means the Elk is quite powerful, hopefully i'm up to the challenge.

Thanks again for your guidance, I'm going to digest as much of that manual as possible before pestering you with questions I could answer if I RTFM.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

I'm going to digest as much of that manual as possible before pestering you with questions I could answer if I RTFM.

Naw, shoot first and ask questions later. ...Oh wait a minute, that's for something else ... never mind! :lol:

What software are you going to use with it, CQC?

 

[IVB]

What software are you going to use with it, CQC?

Yep. My wife is getting more and more worried, as I've been telling her the end goal is to punch an exit code on a touchpanel, and the house will shut itself down to the correct mode and arm the system (i.e., punch in the "i'm leaving, won't be back until (x) pm" mode, all the a/v equipment turns off, heat turns down, internal lights off, external lights on, security armed. Then, 10 minutes before (x) pm as entered by the user above, the heater will come on if it's wintertime, external lights will turn on.

I'm sure it'll take me another 12 months to get there as I'd like to DIY so I learn about such things, but the arrival of the Elk makes her realize I wasn't joking...

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

Start out simple at first. Show her some scene lighting and maybe the states of doors and windows. Don't do anything major at first until she sees that working.

If you can display Caller ID and say the last ten calls that arrived, that is a big plus. Show her headline news for the day, etc... Show her you know if the garage door is opened or closed before you go to bed.

Keep the WAF high by making sure what you implement works and also will be stuff she likes!

Good luck,

BSR

 

[IVB]

Yeah, I hear you. Actually i'm going even slower than that - first i'll see if I can switch security over to the Elk using just the keypad. Then i'll see if I can show the state of the Elk security zones via CQC.

Once that works, then i'll get brave enough to confront lighting. Moving into HA is a pretty big mental step for me - i'm not used to thinking like this, so I need to go slower in the beginning until I understand all the terminology.