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Can I do this, will it help my friend

M

mm

From a friend who runs a ministorage, I got a bunch of old burglar
alarm hardware, and I want to put in a burglar alarm for my home and
also save a little money for another friend, who has a burglar alarm
company.

As a general rule, will I usually be able to use any 4-wire keypad
with any control panel that has a 4-wire keypad input?

If not most combinations, what about a Moose Z1100 keypad with a Moose
Z900 control panel. The stuff I got includes new ones of these, at
least they are perfectly clean and still in the box, complete with
installation and operator's manuals.**

Although my burglar alarm friend said he could install it in an hour,
I didn't want him to come in to my incredibly messy home, so he gave
me the standard panel he uses, new in the box, for me to install,
because he knows I can do it if I take enough time, and maybe because
he plans to give me at least 5 dollars a month off on the monitoring,
maybe more, and figures it's ok if I do some of the work.

He generally uses the same panel for all his customers so he only has
to use one brand of software at his end to make changes, but I"m never
going to ask him to make changes***. He and his family do favors for
me all the time, and I try to find things to do for them, but afaic,
they're still way ahead. He's overloaded at work (remember my
previous thread about his having a hard time finding employees.) so my
question is, even though the best panel I have now is the Moose Z900,
and the panels he installs are from DSC since he's not going anything
online, will they cause him any MORE work?

Since I won't be using one of the panels he buys, will that save him
any money, or are they so cheap it doesn't matter?

If you offerred to put a burglar alarm in your friend's home, and were
going to charge him less than others for monitoring, would you be
annoyed if he didn't want to use your panel, because he found another
"in the trash"? I get a kick, a lot of satisfaction, out of using
things I've found in the trash or at yard sales, etc.

Thanks a lot.


***I've had an alarm for years, but the combo keypad/control panel
burned out (smoke actually came from it when I was pushing the buttons
on the way out one day.)

**(My first friend runs a ministorage and these were left behind. I
think the guy retired and then died, and his daughters cleaned out the
rented storage room. They're supposed to remove everything, but I
guess they left it there for the last sibling to come and take what he
wanted, and since their father had rented the space for years, my
friend didn't mind that she had to pay to clean it out (after I took
what I wanted). (Hmmm, I see that the older of the two is ADC. It
looks almost identical, but the manual says it uses a proprietary
format in communicating with the central station. But it's the older
one anyhow)


Remove NOPSAM to email me..
 
B

Bob La Londe

mm said:
As a general rule, will I usually be able to use any 4-wire keypad
with any control panel that has a 4-wire keypad input?

No. Not at all.
If not most combinations, what about a Moose Z1100 keypad with a Moose
Z900 control panel. The stuff I got includes new ones of these, at
least they are perfectly clean and still in the box, complete with
installation and operator's manuals.**

Nope. It won't.
Although my burglar alarm friend said he could install it in an hour,
I didn't want him to come in to my incredibly messy home, so he gave
me the standard panel he uses, new in the box, for me to install,
because he knows I can do it if I take enough time, and maybe because
he plans to give me at least 5 dollars a month off on the monitoring,
maybe more, and figures it's ok if I do some of the work.

I hate doing work for friends. I usually try to encourgae them to do the
work themselves and give them the equipment much cheaper than I would
normally sell it over the counter. If they are poor I'll give them a used
panel AND keypad.
He generally uses the same panel for all his customers so he only has
to use one brand of software at his end to make changes, but I"m never
going to ask him to make changes***. He and his family do favors for
me all the time, and I try to find things to do for them, but afaic,
they're still way ahead. He's overloaded at work (remember my
previous thread about his having a hard time finding employees.) so my
question is, even though the best panel I have now is the Moose Z900,
and the panels he installs are from DSC since he's not going anything
online, will they cause him any MORE work?

DSC is ok stuff. Should have no issues. If it was me though I w2ould be
more comfortable with it if my friend had me program his panel after he got
it installed. In fact I would insist on stopping and taking a quick look at
it so I can point out anything that could be done a little better. Sorry
about your messy house. Can't be much worse than my office. LOL.
Since I won't be using one of the panels he buys, will that save him
any money, or are they so cheap it doesn't matter?

Cheap is relative, but they are not real expensive. Since it sounds like
you don't have matching equipment you may want to offer to do some work for
him or just buy a basic panel from him if you can afford it. Friends help
out friends, btu then friends don't take advantage of friends either.

If you offerred to put a burglar alarm in your friend's home, and were
going to charge him less than others for monitoring, would you be
annoyed if he didn't want to use your panel, because he found another
"in the trash"?

Only because it might be more work to deal with than just using a good new
panel. I hate trashing. Guys think they will save a hundred bucks and then
spend 8 - 10 hours or moer mucking around with junk. They could have just
worked for that time and bought a new one instead.

I get a kick, a lot of satisfaction, out of using
things I've found in the trash or at yard sales, etc.

Yeah, I know. A lot of guys are like that. In this case its really not
wroth the headaches. A z900 has some design flaws, and while the Z1100 is a
better panel it still won't be as clean and wonderful as a new crisp out of
the box panel.

Thanks a lot.

Yer welcome.

***I've had an alarm for years, but the combo keypad/control panel
burned out (smoke actually came from it when I was pushing the buttons
on the way out one day.)

Sounds like you could have some other problems. I would definitely ask my
friend the alarm guy to atleast look at it.

**(My first friend runs a ministorage and these were left behind. I
think the guy retired and then died, and his daughters cleaned out the
rented storage room.

People save all kinds of junk.
They're supposed to remove everything, but I
guess they left it there for the last sibling to come and take what he
wanted, and since their father had rented the space for years, my
friend didn't mind that she had to pay to clean it out (after I took
what I wanted). (Hmmm, I see that the older of the two is ADC.

Might even be proprietary then, but I doubt it being that old a panel.
It
looks almost identical, but the manual says it uses a proprietary
format in communicating with the central station. But it's the older
one anyhow)

Oops. I guess it is proprietary. LOL.
 
F

Frank Olson

mm said:
From a friend who runs a ministorage, I got a bunch of old burglar
alarm hardware, and I want to put in a burglar alarm for my home and
also save a little money for another friend, who has a burglar alarm
company.

As a general rule, will I usually be able to use any 4-wire keypad
with any control panel that has a 4-wire keypad input?

Nope. You can only use the keypads designed for the particular system.
There aren't (to my knowledge) any universal keypads out there unless
you want to go for an IEI type keypad and program your system for
keyswitch arming. You'll lose all the benefits of having the system
keypad though (trouble, alarm, and miscellaneous functions like
bypassing, etc.)

If not most combinations, what about a Moose Z1100 keypad with a Moose
Z900 control panel. The stuff I got includes new ones of these, at
least they are perfectly clean and still in the box, complete with
installation and operator's manuals.**

Moose was an excellent panel in its day. I'd suggest upgrading to
something a little newer (particularly if you want the panel to page you
for specific events or if you want to have it monitored over the internet).

Although my burglar alarm friend said he could install it in an hour,
I didn't want him to come in to my incredibly messy home, so he gave
me the standard panel he uses, new in the box, for me to install,
because he knows I can do it if I take enough time, and maybe because
he plans to give me at least 5 dollars a month off on the monitoring,
maybe more, and figures it's ok if I do some of the work.

Sounds good. Is your home pre-wired?? If your installer friend can
install a whole system in a home in about an hour, I definitely want to
talk to him. :)

He generally uses the same panel for all his customers so he only has
to use one brand of software at his end to make changes, but I"m never
going to ask him to make changes***. He and his family do favors for
me all the time, and I try to find things to do for them, but afaic,
they're still way ahead. He's overloaded at work (remember my
previous thread about his having a hard time finding employees.) so my
question is, even though the best panel I have now is the Moose Z900,
and the panels he installs are from DSC since he's not going anything
online, will they cause him any MORE work?

Use the DSC stuff. He'll be more comfortable dealing with it (even if
he has to program it from the keypad if you don't opt to have it
connected to your telephone line.

Since I won't be using one of the panels he buys, will that save him
any money, or are they so cheap it doesn't matter?

A favor's a favor. Don't ask "how much it costs" if you're getting
something for "free". Most friends would consider that an insult.

If you offerred to put a burglar alarm in your friend's home, and were
going to charge him less than others for monitoring, would you be
annoyed if he didn't want to use your panel, because he found another
"in the trash"? I get a kick, a lot of satisfaction, out of using
things I've found in the trash or at yard sales, etc.

No. If the panel works and you have all the manuals, there shouldn't be
a problem. I think if you were to compare them "side by side" though,
the DSC stuff will blow the doors off the Moose.
 
T

Tommy

Put all the Moose stuff on Ebay. There are still a lot of them out there and spare parts for them are hard to come by. then take any money you make off it, give part to your mini-storage buddy as a thanks for letting me rummage gift, and swallow your pride and pay your installer friend to install a new panel for you. Since he is a friend and giving you a system at reduced cost, you can help him out by playing go-fer and keeping the beer cold.
 
M

Mark Leuck

mm said:
If not most combinations, what about a Moose Z1100 keypad with a Moose
Z900 control panel. The stuff I got includes new ones of these, at
least they are perfectly clean and still in the box, complete with
installation and operator's manuals.**

The only way those two parts will work together is as a boat anchor although
the Z900 board and can don't weigh much and might cause your boat to drift
if you aren't careful
 
B

Bob Worthy

Geeez.....Mark, did Wade Moose run over your dog or something?
 
M

Mark Leuck

Funny you should mention that, I once had a dog once that I named "Moose"
and he was run over by someone with a license plate number of Z1100R.

And he was towing a boat
 
B

Bob Worthy

Now he is reincarnated as an "Elk". Can't keep a good dog down. :eek:]
 
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