Alarm dialler - will this work?

FrankGrimes

I have an existing wired alarm in my house, the panel is by HKC, an Irish company.

I believe the panel can work with a dialler, but I think HKC's one is a few hundred euro.

I have found this dialler on ebay - if I use a British to Irish phone cable adaptor will this work with my existing alarm? How would I go about adding it to the system?

Thanks

Pataman

You would need to have access to the inside of the alarm panel. Do you have the engineer code? If so it is only 2 wires + the phone connection.

dingding

You should have a look at the Friedland AlertGARD, you can find them on ebay. It does not need a physical connection to the alarm.

FrankGrimes

thanks pataman - yep I can get the engineers code if I need to so wiring it in is still an option.

dingding - have you used a dialler like that that just listens for when the alarm goes off as opposed to actually being wired up? I saw something similar in B&Q but thought it looked a bit gimmicky, but if it does the job at half the price then why not? Might be replacing it with a home automation and security system at some point so guess the less spent now the better.

dingding

Got one myself from B&Q over the weekend, I will let you know when I have it set up. Looking at the manual it is very easy to set up.

FrankGrimes

hey dingding, how much was it in B&Q? Would be interested to hear how you get on with installing it and testing it.

Borzoi

FrankGrimes wrote:

I believe the panel can work with a dialler, but I think HKC's one is a few hundred euro.
Thanks

It cost me about €80 (trade price - you may pay more) and is very easy to install/set up if you have the engineers code

FrankGrimes

Thanks Borzoi - is that the HKC dialler? Do you have the part number or name so I know exactly what I'm looking for if I'm ringing around?

Nice one.

dingding

Got it in the bargin bin for 50 euro in B&Q liffey valley.

Borzoi

FrankGrimes wrote:

Thanks Borzoi - is that the HKC dialler? Do you have the part number or name so I know exactly what I'm looking for if I'm ringing around?

Nice one.

Yep it's the HKC model dialler. Unfortunatey I put it inabout 18 months ago - so I've no idea what the model/part number is. If you quote your panel type, they should be able to sort you. One thing I do remember is that the HKC panel comes with one extension slot - which can be used either for a dialler or to extend the number of zones from eight to 12.

I'll have a look tonight to see if I've any more info at home

Borzoi

The paperwork on these is crap, as far as I can tell the panel type is a Secure Watch 8 zone, with the Digi Modem Card

Best of luck

FrankGrimes

thanks Borzoi - will ask my mate who installed it where he bought the gear and give them a call.

FrankGrimes

Hey Borzoi - think I have tracked down this dialler.

What do I need to do to install it?

I can get the engineer's code, but a rough guide on what to do would be great and I'll have my mate at the other end of the phone if needs be, but he's never installed a dialler before. thanks.

digitaldr

I'm considering getting a dialler too and think I might go for a GSM one on Ebay as I'm worried about the phone line being cut. Any experience of these?

Borzoi

FrankGrimes wrote:

Hey Borzoi - think I have tracked down this dialler.

What do I need to do to install it?

It's quite easy the digi modem sits on top of the main board, and connects using a pre wired slot. Having said that you'll need 4 nuts and bolts just to hold the card in place.

Your telephone line connects from outside into the top of the card, before continuing on to the your home phones etc. Do you have broadband via your phone, if you do, look at some of the info on the broadband board, for filters etc.

You'll need the manual to help set up the dial outs on the board. One thing to watch is if you set up the dialler to call out, it is really expecting to contcact a monitioring centre so it will keep calling a number untill it get an electronic handshake. Instead set it up to text message your mobile (or several mobiles) and it will text you with details of what zone was triggered, and it will also text you if there's a mains fault, and will text when somebody resets the mains, or the alarm after an activation.

FrankGrimes

thanks borzoi.

I don't have a landline and use Blueface.ie over NTL cable broadband for my phone line. It supports DTMF so I reckon it should work with the dialler no problem - any reason to think differently? Will probably pick it up in the next week and give it a go, thanks for the info.

Hamlet

FrankGrimes wrote:

Hey Borzoi - think I have tracked down this dialer.

What do I need to do to install it?

I can get the engineer's code, but a rough guide on what to do would be great and I'll have my mate at the other end of the phone if needs be, but he's never installed a dialer before. thanks.

Hey frank before you get the HKC Dialer (DMC)

check your panel to see how many zones there is. The old panel is a 6 zone panel (6/10) the new panel is 8 zone (8/12) the dmc is hard to get for the 6 zone panel. My supplier has stopped stocking the 6 zone dmc and recently told me that HKC has stopped making the dmc for the 6 zone (6/10)

FrankGrimes

thanks Hamlet - will do. How much does your supplier sell them for - want to get another price to figure out what I should expect to pay.

Hamlet

FrankGrimes wrote:

thanks Hamlet - will do. How much does your supplier sell them for - want to get another price to figure out what I should expect to pay.

Hi frank

Of the top of my head its about €100.

I don't have a landline and use Blueface.ie over NTL cable broadband for my phone line. It supports DTMF so I reckon it should work with the dialler no problem - any reason to think differently?

Does your landline setup have a dial tone ?


Paul.

FrankGrimes

thanks Hamlet.

Yep, I use an ATA with my Blueface setup and it works exactly like a normal phone - computer does not need to be on (only cable modem and ATA) and it does have a dial tone.

Hamlet

FrankGrimes wrote:

thanks Hamlet.

Yep, I use an ATA with my Blueface setup and it works exactly like a normal phone - computer does not need to be on (only cable modem and ATA) and it does have a dial tone.

There should be no problem then.

Paul.