arfur mo

hi Martin, we do not give out 'defaulting' information for obvious security reasons, if after reading the manual you still have problems then best you ask the landlord to arrange for the code change for you. it is his equipment, and many landlords will use any excuse to not return your deposit if an when you move on, so be wary before you alter anything always get prior permission. regs alan

lee, well thats a 'spooky' coincidence - watch out for the bogey man, while trying to stay within the spirit of things. regs alan

hi all, not security but telecoms in funeral parlour a little known fact with a Panasonic KXTD 1232 is it has a built in tune for 'on hold' built in and can be listenned to through the handsets. it's not dicumented anywhere but go on a coarse and you get to know. this parlour had one fitted for several months and the engineer had turned it on, but no one checked what happened when on hold - the tune was an ice cream van version of -: "bring me sunshine" when the receptionist hit the background music button and it played out while relatives were making arrangements - till one complained of 'insensitivity'. priceless! regs alan

Very interesting, I wish I was that young the first panel I fitted was Rely a Bell panel in 1970 the actual panel was wired with anti tamper wire, all windows and door's were wired the 'old way' it was really hard work the back up battery was an Ever Ready type battery, the alarm was connected to a TYPE of dialling machine that had a specially made record placed on a turrntable which sent a message to the Police, there was also another type of Police calling device that went direct to the local 24 hour manned Police Station where we had access to test, at the Police Station there was banks of switches that activated when signalled the switch relay went down an an audible signal was heard the Police Officer then checked the numbered switch and dispatched a Police car. Believe me this is true even I often wonder if all that really did happen after what we have now days. hi binthere, i'm not sure your memory serves you to well mate, especially about the 12 volt battery. rely-a-bell was 5 qs flags in the panel and 3 x 'O' cells end of line. Burgots had an EverReady HP1 as standby as it was a 12 volt system. the PIU (Police Indicator Unit) was fitted to the local police station. a high security 'balanced' version came out later which had 8 channels and had to be 'tuned' both ends - nightmare for service in electrical storms if lightning bolt hit the manhole outside the main police station - which it did 3 times over one easter weekend at Southend - and i was on call. the '999' you speak of which were 12 volt battery operated was called an 'RG' or 'RE' , one version had line fault sensing, a good clump on the catch side of the case used to send the arm across the record and cancel the call servicing was a bit 'brutal' in those days B) . regs alan

the ist alarms i worked were all oc button contacts in the hinged side of the door, no anti tamper and no limit to numbers of them or pad's either. the times i have spent on tracing the foil type pads where someone dropped a dressmakers pin or needle which then penetrated the sleeve and shorted the plates. the hoover would reposition them too, once the plastic went brittle. i made a 'crasher' which was initially a simple monastable designed and used for intermittent loop testing, i then modified it to pick up fast shorts on o/c's. i'd attach it to the pair and walk into each room, jump in the air or stamp the floor. the bleep would sense and extend the signal of the short the client was also convinced, and could not the chair was not on the mat for instance, saved untold hours of carpet lifting, and seeing my 'mad genius act' they tended to sign on the dotted line no trouble regs alan

woa! there old hand, don't give away all our secrets - or they'll be putting external sirens up plumb next - OMG! you coulds start a rash! always loved the lazy gits who left the masking tape on the windows, and those who used permanant markers when setting out regs alan

blimey james, i thought i'd be the only one to remember using saddle (insulated) staples. companie's stopped using them in the '70s in favour of 1/2" galvenised. i always thought it was a backwards step . the 'logic' aplied being the insulated saddle could allow the cable to slip instead of break. the amount of earths, shorts and rots, thus false alarms that would have been avoided had we all stuck with saddled one's far outweighed this risk imo . BS.4737 then decided in its great wisdom we needed to use nylon insulated posts and screws for concealed anchors in stead of the 1/4" rubber gromet and 1 1/2" black japan screw . i know securitas used their T28 cable tackers for laced wire stapling - oh dear oh dear! regs alan

hi all, talking knockout rods i just remembered a customer when i was on Chubbs, she was a baraster, and only worked 6 months a year and travelled six months. she had every window on the house fitted with knock out rods so she could walk arround inside and be protected. the alarm was always armed, and about every 2 weeks she'd open a window and dislodge a bar calling the police. to stop here getting nasty letters from the CPO i said to remove the phone from the cradle within 30 seconds, so at least the 999 would be stopped and we did a dress rehearsal. next call for a reset, i asked did she take the phone off the hook? 'Yes' so the Police were not called 'er! yes they were'. baffled i check this old black phone (the one's with a chrome dial) no probs, so got her to demonstrate, she sets off the alarm rushes to the cupboard and lifts the receiver as planned - then plants here fingers on the wrest buttons banghead just glad i never needed her to defend me regs alan

Yer I'am forming a new firm called "retro alarms" it all tube & batten, cc wire & foil......... i Anybody know where I can get hold of mark II escort van some wooden ladders & a flared leg boiler suit? For the complete look? your not going back far enough, tube and batten is the modern version, it's tube and saddle frames using ebony coated coppr wire and insulated staples you really want for retro don't forget the kerry spring contacts and knock out bars either. as to clothes Chubbs issued its service enginners with blue plastic 'barbers' jackets, it got a bit saucy if you went into a gay persons flat i can tell you - backs to the wall and all that regs alan

on rely-a-bell and later Chubbs CA3 they called it a 'lockblock and coffin' design, same idea keyswitch, toggle switch and a reset button. house versions had an 'AGRO' buzzer, if you touched it while adjusting it would kick you across the room. the countless number of trainee's, and a few supervisors i 'got' that way - progress? where's all the fun gone if i had an intermittent on a laced wired circuit, i'd feed a spare agro buzzer via a 12 volt hpi battery, the induction would either weld the 'rot' or blow it apart. if at night or a basement and you were lucky you would see the spark, smoke or arcing from the fault. just some 'old skills' shown to me from my original service trainer - who needs these new fangled calibrated meters . regs alan

don't let us forget Heathkit regs alan

well, well you not as old as we was reckoning, I was betting, your first 'un was made from War dept surplus relay's in a metal box the relays were the old post office tye, brown waxed paper and all the panels i admire most were made from box wood and brass shim, actually on site by rely-a-bell installation engineers. an absolute work of art and an example of workmanship and precission not seen today even on the best panels. some of the early stuff i serviced had been in place faultlesly for 40 years. regs alan

hi guys, my first panel was made an 'in house' breed by Gaurdal for Burgot Alarms, 2 zones 'feed & return' in metal case, and the lid door secured by a wardrobe lock and key. it had a large rotary switch for 'Off - Test - On' and 2 toggle switches to isolate the zones for 'part set'. an upgrade was zone lights (now ain't that cutting edge stuff or what?) best bit was they fitted a switch on the control lid door, no not as a tamper but for if the door was open it isolated the 999 trigger. the thinking was that if a fault existed and the client did not test before moving the rotary switch to 'ON' it prevented a false alarm - problem was if they left the lid door open by mistake the police never got called anyway happy days regs alan

this threads been interesting, as an off shoot i used to wok the east side of london which had several abotuars on my patch, got to say watch the cows go in the door, and seeing all the 'waste' bins steaming and the smell made me feel real queasy. so always did them when they were not working. anyone for a burger? regs alan

no probs, you can alter (from programming mode) to tailor to your needs, it has very sophisticated features available if needed, but not all will of them will be used usually. regs alan

simple, jocks never give up their loot without a fight regs alan

this panel is very simple to set up and could be used with the pre=set default program out of the box just as most other smaller panels, but they are not simple to control remotely unless you are an installer, that usually require's being recognised by the maker. this is because seen as a security isue, if the software was available to all, then conceivably that could be used by scrots to disable unprotected systems such as you may unwittingly fit, not being rude here but you may not realise this had you not found this forum.. if i re-instal my compters operating system i have to get new codes from the tech help desk during oice hours, not much use when you do this at the weekend, and very frustrating so i have done battle on many occassions because of it . my view is as the panels are password protectable, so its a very low risk factor, as for say you to overcome my systems even if equiped with all the kit, you would need the password, version number, phone number and also beable divert the 'call back' aimed at my ed number to your own, now thats so simple to do i'm sure you will agree - but then you and i don't make alarm panels. regs alan

no, its a wired panel with an option to fit a wireless receiver module, that expands it by 8 zones zones and 8 radio 4 button transmitters. if you want remote control you will need a registered copy of Gartecs UDL (Upload/Download) available only to installers as all other manufacturers, a computer and a pcmcia modem. if like other gardtec panels only one model will work with it - a multitech. having obtained al that, i'm not totally sure on this panel if you can use the 'software' keypad in Gardtec Remote for true remote operation i.e. set/unset, but you can configure everything apart from the VoCom (voice dialler) remotely. the 'VoCom' is effective, but very very basic and with little and very obscure instructions. i suggest you set it up on the workbench before going to the site with it, or buy a seperate unit especially if you have little alarm experience. better still get an engineer to pre program it for you. regs alan

class! regs aln

here's a true story form my youth, my mate malcolm - the guy responsible for me and the missus meeting (baasstttaard), was a grave digger by trade and worked in Plaistow Cemetary. now behave you lot and no it was not at a 'pay as you go' wake . hey but what a neat idea some film crews turned up to shoot a period funeral scene for some Tv program, so picture the scene all the actors are in place in full peiod costume, lights, camera, action and they start off all very morbid and sorrowful as required by the script. malcolm, with that strain of humour these guys always posses, and a local funeral director decide to walk through the back of the scene with an empty casket on their shoulder singing 'i aint got nobody to love baby' causing the cast to wait for it .......... corpse! it was so bad the cancelled the shoot. priceless! regs alan

no so much at the parlour, but when my dad passed, the coutage drew up all very solem and proper, the lead mourner (owners son) beckoned us to the following cars, he returned to the hurse and due to some rain slipped and promptly went flat on his face, ended up underneath it. now i was cursed with the same brand of disrespectful humour as my dad he always lightened up anything slightly sad, so i just had to honour him and shouted out 'standing room only - no more room on top' cracked everyone up including the funeral pall bearers. we arrived at the crem with everyone smiling and laughing - put the vicar way of stride and done my dad proud. he might be gone from this life but always remembered for what he was in it - trouble regs alan all you need afterwards is a 'stiff' drink to get you into the 'spirit' of things as long as the staff move quicker than the corpse's then they are perfectly safe, as advised by the funeral parlour i lived next door to for 10 years. regs alan