Installing own Alarm system

RebelButtMunch

Hi,

Has anyone ever bought an over the counter/internet wireless alarm system? I'm thinking about doing it.

Tips / Advice appreciated!
Thanks!

KoolKid

There are some good wireless systems that conform to standards.
For a self install the easiest would be Visonic Powermax.
This is a fully wireless system.
Check out the Suppliers List & take a look at whats near you.
If you want more of a challange take a look at SigNET. Although here bells & keypads need to be wired.

delly

Thread moved to HSS

RebelButtMunch

Im having second thoughts about wireless now. Do they alarm when their batteries get low? Do they give a low battery warning? Would I have a pain in my rear changing batteries?


The only thing that puts me off a wired system is that Id be afraid I wouldn't be able to wire the sensors into the box correctly. Is this a big thing to do.?

Jnealon

It depends on what system you go for but batteries can last anywhere from 1-5 years and they will usually give you a few weeks notice before they run our

handydandy

RebelButtMunch wrote: »

Is this a big thing to do.?

Is your house pre-wired for an alarm? If your not technically minded or have no experience with wired alarms I suggest you get someone to do one for you. HKC systems are one of the best in my opinion just to let you know, also don't forget that you will need a power supply for a wired system. Good luck

altor

RebelButtMunch wrote: »

Hi,

Has anyone ever bought an over the counter/internet wireless alarm system? I'm thinking about doing it.

Tips / Advice appreciated!
Thanks!

+1 for the power max system, good value for money. You can have 28 wire free devices on this system also. The batteries last up to 3 years in the sensors plus the panel will give you notice of the batteries going to allow you to replace them. If your not wired for the alarm it is a very easy system to install yourself.

altor

handydandy wrote: »

Is your house pre-wired for an alarm? If your not technically minded or have no experience with wired alarms I suggest you get someone to do one for you. HKC systems are one of the best in my opinion just to let you know, also don't forget that you will need a power supply for a wired system. Good luck

+1 for the HKC system also, it would also be a good system to install if using wired or wire free. All there devices plus internal, external bell can be wire free. It is a lot more expensive than the power max. Depending on the amount of powered devices installed on the system you wont need the extra power supply.

RebelButtMunch

Good information thanks. I already have an old Eircom wireless system in place.

I might just rip it out and put in a wired system. Im in the middle of a lot of construction/diy so now might be the time to put those wires in.

KoolKid

If you can wire that would be preferable. It means
you wont have the hassle of batteries in the future.
You will have neater & tidier looking contacts & sensors.
Also try future proof as best you can while you have the chance.
Cable to phone points
Cat 5/6 to network for possible remote access.

altor

RebelButtMunch wrote: »

Good information thanks. I already have an old Eircom wireless system in place.

I might just rip it out and put in a wired system. Im in the middle of a lot of construction/diy so now might be the time to put those wires in.

If it is one of there classic system I would put the cables as you cant get parts for these systems. If it is a Concord or Simon alarm I would just add any extra devices you need on to the system.

Them two system are easy to default plus reprogram.

Thunderbird2

srry for taking over...need to understand sumtin...according to the psa private security authority.....installing ur own house alarm is ok ...installing an alarm for a neighbour is ok once no money is tranfered for the labour...is this right??

altor

Thunderbird2 wrote: »

srry for taking over...need to understand sumtin...according to the psa private security authority.....installing ur own house alarm is ok ...installing an alarm for a neighbour is ok once no money is tranfered for the labour...is this right??

Thats correct.

pigeon1916

koolkid wrote: »

There are some good wireless systems that conform to standards.
For a self install the easiest would be Visonic Powermax.
This is a fully wireless system.
Check out the Suppliers List & take a look at whats near you.
If you want more of a challange take a look at SigNET. Although here bells & keypads need to be wired.

Hi, I have been reading a few threads about wireless alarms and the Powermax seems to get very good reviews.

I am doing a little research on price and have mailed 2 Irish suppliers of the Powermax and got no replys on price. Very disapointing, but I am not suprised.

I got 2 prices off ebay. The chepest was €335 delivered for the following system.
1 x Powermax Complete Control Panel
2 x K9-85 PET FRIENDLY PIRs
1 x MCT 302 Door Contact
2 x MCT 234 Keyfobs
1 x MCS 730 wireless External Siren with Strobe Light 110db

Does anyone think that this is a fair/good price for the above system?
Does anyone know of an Irish company that will give a price on the same powermax system.

Thanks

altor

pigeon1916 wrote: »

Hi, I have been reading a few threads about wireless alarms and the Powermax seems to get very good reviews.

I am doing a little research on price and have mailed 2 Irish suppliers of the Powermax and got no replys on price. Very disapointing, but I am not suprised.

I got 2 prices off ebay. The chepest was €335 delivered for the following system.
1 x Powermax Complete Control Panel
2 x K9-85 PET FRIENDLY PIRs
1 x MCT 302 Door Contact
2 x MCT 234 Keyfobs
1 x MCS 730 wireless External Siren with Strobe Light 110db

Does anyone think that this is a fair/good price for the above system?
Does anyone know of an Irish company that will give a price on the same powermax system.

Thanks

That is a good price, very easy to install, very good system also. I install that system, more expensive as I would have over heads to cover

KoolKid

Not much in it. You could probably get it off a supplier here for €300. Where are you located?

pigeon1916

koolkid wrote: »

Not much in it. You could probably get it off a supplier here for €300. Where are you located?

Drogheda

KoolKid

Northwood Technology stock them. They are in Finglas.

pigeon1916

koolkid wrote: »

Northwood Technology stock them. They are in Finglas.

Thanks, I have already been in contact with them a few days ago.
Yesterday I received 2 mails from them. Saying that they will get me a quote.
But no mails since.

It seems crazy to think that you can ask them for a price of a standard product off their website and they do not know the price of what they are selling.

They would have been handy for me as I am in Ballymun every other week.
I also would like to be putting the money back into the Irish economy.
Of course, if the price was right.
Thanks Again.

KoolKid

PM me what you need.Ill get a price for you.

altor

pigeon1916 wrote: »

Thanks, I have already been in contact with them a few days ago.
Yesterday I received 2 mails from them. Saying that they will get me a quote.
But no mails since.

It seems crazy to think that you can ask them for a price of a standard product off their website and they do not know the price of what they are selling.

They would have been handy for me as I am in Ballymun every other week.
I also would like to be putting the money back into the Irish economy.
Of course, if the price was right.
Thanks Again.

The best thing to do is go into northwood, they will give you a price on the spot. chamac bought a powermax system from England for much cheaper, If you send him a P.M. he might be able to save you a few quid

pigeon1916

altor wrote: »

The best thing to do is go into northwood, they will give you a price on the spot. chamac bought a powermax system from England for much cheaper, If you send him a P.M. he might be able to save you a few quid

Thanks for all the help guys.
Koolkid helped me out yesterday and Northwood also emailed me a full price list today. So I will purchase a standard Powermax kit early next week.

Thanks again, very happy with the help off the forum.

Dilbert75

Folks I'm considering the same thing - house is pre-wired to windows and doors, so would like to utilise that, would need wireless PIRs & sounder as no wires are provided. Thinking of not having an external bell (for the neighbours' sake, just in case) and having a GSM text dialler to text us notifications. Think I'd need 2x door sensors (hinged front, sliding rear), probably 6x window contacts with shock (accessible window openings), 3x window contacts without shock (inaccessible window openings), 3x PIR (for kitchen/diner, hall & sitting room) and an internal siren.

HKC Securewave seems like one option, Visonic Powermax another? Based in Wexford but I'm guessing the lads in Ballymount would be a good bet (I'm in Dublin every few weeks anyway). Any others? I'm not a DIY klutz but also no electronics whizz - is this relatively do-able?

Jnealon

Crimewatch are based in Wexford, you could try them

KoolKid

HKC Secure watch would not be a good choice. You can get Sig Net, Fusion or Secure wave for the same price.All better panels.

altor

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Folks I'm considering the same thing - house is pre-wired to windows and doors, so would like to utilise that, would need wireless PIRs & sounder as no wires are provided. Thinking of not having an external bell (for the neighbours' sake, just in case) and having a GSM text dialler to text us notifications. Think I'd need 2x door sensors (hinged front, sliding rear), probably 6x window contacts with shock (accessible window openings), 3x window contacts without shock (inaccessible window openings), 3x PIR (for kitchen/diner, hall & sitting room) and an internal siren.

HKC Securewave seems like one option, Visonic Powermax another? Based in Wexford but I'm guessing the lads in Ballymount would be a good bet (I'm in Dublin every few weeks anyway). Any others? I'm not a DIY klutz but also no electronics whizz - is this relatively do-able?

The HKC securewave has 10 zones that can use all the wires for wired devices plus if you want you could install a wire free internal bell, motion detectors, HKC GSM plus secure keyfobs.
The powermax has two on board wire zones so you would need an expander for more wired zones.
You check out the suppliers list here.
Yes it is do-able, if you get stuck you will always get all the advice you need here

Dilbert75

koolkid wrote: »

HKC Secure watch would not be a good choice. You can get Sig Net, Fusion or Secure wave for the same price.All better panels.

Sorry I meant secure wave - I'm not a DIY klutz but when it comes to typing what I'm thinking....:rolleyes:

Dilbert75

Jnealon wrote: »

Crimewatch are based in Wexford, you could try them

Thanks - might do that. They actually used to do work for me in a previous professional life. Only negative is that they would want to be paid for installing and I wouldn't!

Jnealon

I think they also have a trade counter

altor

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Thanks - might do that. They actually used to do work for me in a previous professional life. Only negative is that they would want to be paid for installing and I wouldn't!

If your looking to save yourself money install it yourself. It is straight forward enough to do. If you have any problems you will always get all the help you need here.

Dilbert75

altor wrote: »

If your looking to save yourself money install it yourself. It is straight forward enough to do. If you have any problems you will always get all the help you need here.

Thanks (in advance) Altor - to be honest the bit that's intimidating me most is the fitting of sensors to windows - trying to make them fit properly, with the wiring tidy, etc. It'll bug me if it doesn't look right, yet I don't know exactly how to fit them neatly. The wires are hanging down the inside of the (PVC) window frames, so I'm guessing they need to be hidden?

altor

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Thanks (in advance) Altor - to be honest the bit that's intimidating me most is the fitting of sensors to windows - trying to make them fit properly, with the wiring tidy, etc. It'll bug me if it doesn't look right, yet I don't know exactly how to fit them neatly. The wires are hanging down the inside of the (PVC) window frames, so I'm guessing they need to be hidden?

Your welcome Dilbert75,
Small trunk-en usually does the trick to hide access cable going into the sensor.

Dilbert75

altor wrote: »

If your looking to save yourself money install it yourself. It is straight forward enough to do. If you have any problems you will always get all the help you need here.

Oh! For some reason I thought the done thing might be to drill into the window frame hollow section just above the edge of the window reveal, thread the cables in there and then pull them out of the hollow section where they were coming into the back of the sensor - totally concealed.

But maybe that's evidence of my tendency to overcomplicate things!

altor

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Oh! For some reason I thought the done thing might be to drill into the window frame hollow section just above the edge of the window reveal, thread the cables in there and then pull them out of the hollow section where they were coming into the back of the sensor - totally concealed.

But maybe that's evidence of my tendency to overcomplicate things!

It could be done that way but the small trunk-en would be the way I would do it.

Dilbert75

Your way sounds a lot more do-able. I'll give Crimewatch a shout like Jnealon suggests. Thanks Altor.

altor

Your welcome, I would also check out prices in Dublin also if your up this way. The difference in prices between suppliers is shocking

KoolKid

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Oh! For some reason I thought the done thing might be to drill into the window frame hollow section just above the edge of the window reveal, thread the cables in there and then pull them out of the hollow section where they were coming into the back of the sensor - totally concealed.

That way works very well on PVC windows as long as you don't have to cross any joins in the PVC.

pigeon1916

koolkid wrote: »

Northwood Technology stock them. They are in Finglas.

Hi Guys
Just an update on how I got on with the Visonic Powermax System.
I bought a system off Northwood on Monday. As a lot of you have mentioned. It was fairly straight forward to self install.

Beleive it or not, the hardest thing was finding a store that sells a 3Amp fuse holder or breaker.

Thanks Again.

KoolKid

I am glad it all went well for you. Have you set up the monitoring?
If you need any help with it you know where we are;)

altor

pigeon1916 wrote: »

Hi Guys
Just an update on how I got on with the Visonic Powermax System.
I bought a system off Northwood on Monday. As a lot of you have mentioned. It was fairly straight forward to self install.

Beleive it or not, the hardest thing was finding a store that sells a 3Amp fuse holder or breaker.

Thanks Again.

Thats good to hear, very good system plus easy to install. If you have it connected to your land line you will also have remote access to the alarm.

Thunderbird2

does any one have a manual for the aritech panel?? its the one with the small keypad;)

Thunderbird2

http://www.gard.ie/images/aritech-cs350.jpg

KoolKid

Sent you a PM.
Did you think we needed to see the picture??:rolleyes:

altor

Thunderbird2 wrote: »

http://www.gard.ie/images/aritech-cs350.jpg

It is such a common panel, If you google the manual you can get it on line.

gomamochi1

KoolKid wrote: »

Not much in it. You could probably get it off a supplier here for €300. Where are you located?

Would you still recommend powermax? Thanks

KoolKid

I would lean more towards GSD or [URL="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6sJTuagSI_iQkdCYTlnMHhiR2c/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6sJTuagSI_iZ1dnYV8wemNkeEE/view?usp=sharing"]Risco [/URL]now some nicer features & free apps and remote access etc.

gomamochi1

Great Thanks, Can you recommend any online suppliers or bricks and Mortor shops in Ireland? Also looking for advice re electric gates. Got a price for 1500 to install Rogers underground motorised system but I could prob do a lot of the donkey work such as fitting the bases and getting the units wired to the gaff. Any recommendations? Thanks

KoolKid

All of the suppliers listed in the sticky would be physical shops. Re the gates, look at some installers in the sticky or on the psa register.
Most would happily work with you re the first fixing.

altor

gomamochi1 wrote: »

Would you still recommend powermax? Thanks

The Powermax system is dated compared to the powermaster systems.
I would also have a look at HKCs Quantum 70 for a wire free install.