Melcom ST - 6100 Alarm Panel

[Guest Yanky Andy]

Hi Guys,

I am a fully qualified electrician and a bit of an old timer, but unfortunately I am new over here from the USA. I am currently requalifying as a British electrician but have installed many intruder systems in the U.S.

I want to install my own system over here, and particualy liked the Melcom ST-6100 panel, as it was reasonably priced and seems to have the capabilities to do everything I need. i.e. It has inputs for Fire/Smoke sensors, Telephone Autodialler Output, and I like the interactive RKP's that are available for the unit as well as the Sleep Watch Remote Pad.

I notice from a previous forum, that other engineers seem to have reccomended against the Melcom panel, in favour of Texecom Veritas 8 or Accenta 8 Panels.

Can anyone advise me of a good panel, that meets with my requirements with the above in mind.

Many thanks,

Yanky Andy.

[Guest aechlin]

Hi Andy, I have the Melcom ST6600 with RKP and Sleepwatch. It performs well except:

The display throws a wobbly sometimes and displays different characters

There is a short delay in pressing the numbers on the RKP and the function being executed

The tamper isnt 24 hours

and when in alarm state the display will show a completely different zone???????

I have quized Melcom over all this and they say that there is an issue with the data bus between the RKP and the Sleepwatch (the system is ok with just the RKP)

"When we have sorted the issue we will provide the appropriate fix"

I moved into my house and found that after pulling the Menvier T790 and replacing with the Melcom system, I have ended up re-fitting the Menvier.

So all in all the Menvier is a far superior system over the Melcom. Their ok for the common of DIY'rs but not for someone with a fine attention to detail............

I am open to offers for the equipment c/w installation and user manual, no more than 15 months old. OIRO £45

Alistair

[Guest Yanky Andy]

Alistair,

Thanks for your feedback. Reading your post and trawling this site, has helped me to see the light. I will not be buying Melcom!

The enginners and individuals like yourself that post info on this forum their info has being second to none and it is clear that I should be looking at Systems made by Gardtec, Eurosec or Texecom, and I am now concentrating on either of these.

Thanks for the feedback and good luck with the sale of your Melcom kit.

Andy.

[nikko]

Go for a Gardtec 816 mate. A little bit more perhaps, but they outperform much of the competion. I've fitted a couple of hundred over the years & find them exceptionally robust in bad storms. They've always been nice & friendly to deal with too!

Nikko

Ten years & still learning...

[Guest Yanky Andy]

Nikko,

Thanks for the info, re: Gardtec, I did look at them, and that is how I found out about Eurosec (the CP8L) The snag that worries me is that I am not sure what support I might get from Gardtec or Texecom (Veritas Excel) as I am not a UK approved alarm fitter (yet....) I can look at the Eurosec CP8L Techy manual online, but access to the Gardtec and Texecom technical manuals online seems to be resticted to authorised engineers, and rightly so I guess.

So right now, I think I am probably limited to Eurosec.

Andy.

[Guest RICHL]

As far as I know you dont even need to live/work in UK to get tech support from Gardtec - just an account.

Also, Id agree in Nikko about the Gardtec 816 - an excellent bit of kit and very reliable. There is also a 593 model now which I think costs a bit less than the 816 but only has 8 zones as standard, dont know if that's enough for you.

[nikko]

Hi Andy

Also, don't worry about the manuals cos' they come with the panel. As for tech. support, the panels are so straight forward & robust it's hard to go wrong(!) Failing that, it's been a few years since I did one (I'm all access & CCTV these days) but I know it will come back to me!

Best wishes

Nikko

[Guest MarkP]

The snag that worries me is that I am not sure what support I might get from Gardtec or Texecom (Veritas Excel) as I am not a UK approved alarm fitter (yet....) I can look at the Eurosec CP8L Techy manual online, but access to the Gardtec and Texecom technical manuals online seems to be resticted to authorised engineers, and rightly so I guess.

If you buy the Texecom Excel it comes complete with the installation manual.

Also you don't need to be a registered installer to use their technical helpline (although it is free to become a registered installer with them).

Whenever I have spoken to their Tech-help they have always been very friendly and helpful (and usually answer which is more than can be said for some companies!). Their number is: 01706 212524.

I can't speak for Gardtec/Eurosec as I've never used them, but as i mentioned in an earlier post I think the Veritas Excel is really good quality and very easy to install.

As for Melcom... ...I wouldn't touch them with a 12 foot sterilised barge pole but that's another matter...

MarkP

[Guest Yanky Andy]

Thanks Mark, I'm goimg for the Texecom then, especially with the reccommendations about the excellent speech dialler from yourself and Dale.

On this note as I have pre-cabled the house already, do you know if the speech dialler needs just a phone line connection or does it need also a 6core feed from the panel?

Andy.

[Guest MarkP]

do you know if the speech dialler needs just a phone line connection or does it need also a 6core feed from the panel?

You will need to run a cable from the panel to the speeach dialler with the following connections (outputs on panel, inputs on speech dialler):

12V

0V

Trigger 1 (eg Fire)

Trigger 2 (eg PA)

Trigger 3 (eg Intruder)

Trigger 4 (eg Aux)

There are also 2 terminals for the tamper, so if you want all 4 triggers and monitored tamper then you would actually need 8 core cable. (Of course if you don't use eg Aux and Fire then you would only need 6 core.)

Hope this helps.

MarkP