Speaker Vs Bell On Texecom Premier

[james.wilson]

when they work its great, cheap etc. but without 30 second polling who knows. if your not fussed it will work when needed then its ideal. if you have belief it will work when needed when it isnt polled then ill go heads

[matthew.brough]

All my SPTs are on grade 4 polling. Change that to grade 3 then I'd have 100% uptime on all my estate. The only reason I know the real uptime is 30 second polling.

[zerozero]

Guys sorry I'm not sure I'm totally following this but let me see..

 

What I think you are saying by polling is that an ARC would periodically connect the alarm system via pstn/gsm/IP and check the status directly. In the case that the alarm was unresponsive (I guess over a few minutes or so to compensate for intermittent carrier issues), the ARC would consider that an alarm and alert keyholders. This is the belt and braces approach and I understand that this covers some cases that a bells only or bells with alert may not.

 

However, I'm going on the basis that the texecom and their notification systems are reliable in that the bells will sound and equally all notifications setup will attempt to be sent and with both pstn and gsm notifiers.  it would be unlikely for multiple methods to be unavailable for any significant amount of time to cause. If they are, I'm unlucky and happy to accept that bad luck and I call the insurance company.

 

Just a few specific questions on my options for anyone with the experience of these Texecom components:

 

1. a. I've seen mentioned a few times not to rely on SMS - What would cause a failure of the 2400/GSM to send text - are we just talking about carrier/transport issues or are specific units themselves unreliable? If so which are more/less reliable? 

1. b. Is the voice/text dialler (which seems to be a separate unit with a keypad) any more reliable or is it only useful if you want to have voice alerts and if so why would this be preferable over SMS?

1. c is there any way to get the system to send an email via the ComIP with details? This could be another route to reduce no notification on any intermittent SMS/phone line problems (btw: my adsl has 3g sms backup)

 

Also could someone give me an idea what would the rough cost for a low-risk residential monitoring service would be? I guess there would normally be an upfront cost and an annual cost? 

 

Thanks again for all the suggestions, really appreciated

 

I'm now going to go through the manuals and work out my current draw for the configuration.

[zerozero]

So my final current draw, if I get everything (which I won't from day one) is 2.449 Amps under max load.. quite close to the 2.5Amp limit but within it.

At idle load I am at 0.991A.

 

This is with one bell in SCB mode and one in LC (low current) mode.

 

So I guess I can add a second PSU later (on phase 2/3 where I add more keypads / sounders etc) and run the Keypads/32XP-W etc off of that then.

 

That would then create a split load of:

 

Master Box:        Max:1.188A, Standby: 0.336A

Everything Else: Max 1.136A, Standby: 0.53A

 

1. So with 2x7Ah batteries, I'm guessing from the charts I could comfortably make 12h? (it says 1x7Ah 12h 0.456A, so with 2 should be fine?)

2. Does anyone know if I need a battery splitter also for the PSU200 (it mentions in the panel installer guide that you need it for the panel but not in the psu200 installer guide), perhaps the battery splitter is built in on the psu200?

 

I am assuming that everyone agrees that 2 smaller batteries is better than 1 big one..

[sixwheeledbeast]

1. a. I've seen mentioned a few times not to rely on SMS - What would cause a failure of the 2400/GSM to send text - are we just talking about carrier/transport issues or are specific units themselves unreliable? If so which are more/less reliable?

The TAP servers are the main unreliable part. But generally any signalling that doesn't alert you it can't work is useless.

1. b. Is the voice/text dialler (which seems to be a separate unit with a keypad) any more reliable or is it only useful if you want to have voice alerts and if so why would this be preferable over SMS?

Slightly more reliable in speech mode as no third party involved but still not polled regularly.

1. c is there any way to get the system to send an email via the ComIP with details? This could be another route to reduce no notification on any intermittent SMS/phone line problems (btw: my adsl has 3g sms backup)

If the mains goes off you have no signalling.

I'm now going to go through the manuals and work out my current draw for the configuration.

Good this is important.

[sixwheeledbeast]

So my final current draw, if I get everything (which I won't from day one) is 2.449 Amps under max load.. quite close to the 2.5Amp limit but within it.

I wouldn't want to get close to the maximum load.

 

1. So with 2x7Ah batteries, I'm guessing from the charts I could comfortably make 12h? (it says 1x7Ah 12h 0.456A, so with 2 should be fine?)

I would never use two batteries off one set of battery terminals it doesn't conform to standards, one could fail and not show a fault.

 

2. Does anyone know if I need a battery splitter also for the PSU200 (it mentions in the panel installer guide that you need it for the panel but not in the psu200 installer guide), perhaps the battery splitter is built in on the psu200?

Battery Splitters are for legacy systems only and are not compatible with Elite series.

PSU200's have two separate monitored charging circuits.

 

I am assuming that everyone agrees that 2 smaller batteries is better than 1 big one..

I would use one 7Ah in the panel with an appropriate load (leaving room for additions, signalling, etc); then use additional power supplies (PSU200XP) as required.

--typo

[zerozero]

I wouldn't want to get close to the maximum load.

Agreed.

 

I would never use two batteries off one set of battery terminals it doesn't conform to standards, one could fail and not show a fault.

 

Battery Splitters are for legacy systems only and are not compatible with Elite series.

PSU200's have two separate monitored charging circuits.

On the Texecom Premier 88 Installers Guide (INS176-9) Page 19 says "Two batteries can be fitted and still comply with PD6662:2004 if the Battery Splitter is used."

 

So are there other standards doesn't it conform to with a battery splitter?

 

I would use one 7Ah in the panel with an appropriate load (leaving room for additions, signalling, etc); then use additional power supplies (PSU200XP) as required.

But I don't understand if you wouldn't use 2 batteries, why wouldn't you use a single 17Ah battery instead of a smaller capacity one?

 

It seemed that you want as much offline time as possible, so either 2x7Ah (if this is conformant) but otherwise surely 1x17Ah. I don't understand why anyone would go for a 1x7Ah?

[matthew.brough]

Agreed.

On the Texecom Premier 88 Installers Guide (INS176-9) Page 19 says "Two batteries can be fitted and still comply with PD6662:2004 if the Battery Splitter is used."

So are there other standards doesn't it conform to with a battery splitter?

But I don't understand if you wouldn't use 2 batteries, why wouldn't you use a single 17Ah battery instead of a smaller capacity one?

It seemed that you want as much offline time as possible, so either 2x7Ah (if this is conformant) but otherwise surely 1x17Ah. I don't understand why anyone would go for a 1x7Ah?

As you can't certify it a battery splitter is a waste of time. The main issue with a 17ah is the end station is small so if you get a 17ah in little else will fit in and normally we have other stuff to for in like a communicator for example

[james.wilson]

i would fit 1x 17ah

[matthew.brough]

i would fit 1x 17ah

It does look a bit like me in a size 14 dress . . .

 

Not much room inside those things. We always have to fit 7ah, no choice with a SPT in.