Set up of Risco LightSYS 2. – Review & beginners experience

AlanG

Hi,
I got lots of help form this forum so I thought I would just give some feedback on my experience which may be useful to others.
As a background, I have lots of IT experience in various areas and I have installed a couple of HTC wired alarms before and had no problem, I found this system far more complex and time consuming to configure.

My house was partially wired for an alarm and I was keen to have a wired bell box so I chose to go for a hybrid system. I chose the LightSYS as the IP app was free and the overall system seemed quite good from online reviews.
I purchased the following:
100mts 6 core cable
Battery backup for lightsys
Wired SAB bell box
Wired PET PIR
Screws
Lightsys 2 system (control board, powersupply, keypad)
6 x wireless combined shock and reed sensors
IP MODULE
Wireless module
Overall it came to about €720

On the risco site you can register once you have the serial number of your panel and this allows you to download the Quick install and full install manual. Both are vital, as is the user guide which has information not included in the install guides.

I hooked up 4 wired zones, one wired PIR and have 6 wireless and shock / reed sensors on windows.
The keypad and IP module are classed as Risco Bus devices which basically means there are close to plug and play wired devices, you basically have 4 wires from these devices and wire all bus devices into the same 4 ports on the panel. I don’t know the price of these over traditional devices but in hindsight I would have happily paid a bit extra for a risco bus SAB. These bus devices are really easy to set up.
I am sure I did lots wrong but here is my experience of the install:
I found the bellbox really complex to wire up, the connectors on the SAB did not correspond at all to the outputs on the control panel, this was in spite of both being Risco. You can set up four Auxiliary outputs and I am pretty sure I should have used two of these for the SAB and strobe as follow event devices but in the end I just used the internal bell connectors to activate both the strobe and bell. It works fine and has been well tested. I don’t have an internal bell as the beeping of the panel is enough for my needs. There is practically nothing in the install guide about setting up a SAB that is not on the RISCO bus.

The install manual does not give a lot of information for wired devices that are not on the RISCO bus but basically there are no tamper connectors on the panel. All tamper alerts are achieved through the use of double end of line resistors that are supplied with the panel. As a result of this the wired zones just need two wires to each sensor.

In the setup you select a zone type for each zone. As this is a professional system there are around 30 options for each zone and it is quite complex to get correct. Reading the 250 page manual is important as there are subtle differences between options.

I find the system good and like most things if I were to set one up again I would be much quicker. The manuals are not very DIY friendly and the number of options available in the menus can be daunting. A lot of trial and error is required and the default settings often have to be changed. For example I had to reduce the response times for all my wired shock sensors and I also had to change all the wireless sensors from being the default 24 hour zone to being only active when the alarm is set.
The plastic case that comes with the package is quite large – there is plenty of room inside for running cables but it will likely have a larger footprint that some older systems.
I had hoped to get the IP camera for this system but it is around €250 so I will be getting a €30 one from amazon instead and running it independently from the alarm. The lack of a reasonably priced camera is disappointing.
The RISCO cloud app is great and has lots of options. The manuals are not clear on how to register but I muddled my way through it. The app is responsive and gives almost instantaneous alerts. I did notice that the emails alerts I had also set up were mostly fine but one came in several hours after the event. It is a pity the IP module is not WIFI enabled as running CAT5 to the panel was a bit of a pain. To note there is a PSTN dialler build into the panel but GSM has to be purchased as a separate module.


One annoying thing is that if a wireless tamper goes off and you put in the code, even the engineer code the tamper alert will not clear until you set off the device – ie. you have to open and close the window and bang on the sensor. This is annoying as you cannot set the alarm until this is cleared. (there may be a way around this but I have not found it)

One other annoying thing is that to unset the device after entry you need to put in the code and then press the unlock button. The unlock button is not very obvious or easy to describe so I can imagine if I gave the code to someone they may panic a bit and not find it within the timeout period.

Overall I found this a good system and I will add more wireless devices once funds allow. You need to take a lot of time to understand the different zone, partition and output settings as well as configuring what happens when an alarm goes off. I would love to be able to use a generic IP camera with the Risco cloud and app but I don't think this is possible.

Branoic

Thanks for the review - interesting read. I'm looking at getting a LightSYS2 system installed soon, but will be leaving the set up to the professionals!