Communications Dead on DSC PC3000

Seeking Advice
1

Just switched to a new Alarm Monitoring company last Monday. On the Tech call we got everything working but the wired in Smoke/Heat Detector (ESL 445CT). During the call the tech had me short across the resistor on the ESL 445CT that jumps terminal 3 and 4. We did this 3 times and although the system dialed into the Alarm Station, no Fire signal received. Tech then stopped, was going to consult his peers. Another tech called on Tuesday and we did the same test twice, however we let the alarm go off for 30 seconds. (Installation manual states that Fire alarm must go off for 30 seconds before signal transmission.) However this time the system didn’t even dial into the Alarm Station, but did lock my system at no phone line. So, since last Tuesday, once I arm my system, my phone line goes dead. After disarm, system will release phone line (dial tone back) after 5 minutes. Trouble code is ‘Unsuccessful communication attempt with monitoring station.’

Today, at 12pm EDT, I will have a call with a senior tech from the monitoring company. I would welcome any thoughts as to what the original test might have done. We reset the system twice by unplugging from power and battery (once for 6 hours) with no effect last week. That is all we did.

Any and all thoughts welcomed and appreciated! Thanks!

2

View in your timezone:
Today, at 12pm EDT

3

Did the tech listen in to the panel communicating? Use a Lineman Phone to make sure the panel dialed and that an actual central station receiver picked up and tried to initiate communication? You said you just switched monitoring company, I assume it was working properly before? If so, could it be he entered the wrong phone number, or wrong communication format? If the central station receiver doesn’t give the right tones based on the format your system is set to, your system won’t send signals. If it was working properly before, the most likely issues are phone number, & communications format.

4

Arthur said:
Did the tech listen in to the panel communicating? Use a Lineman Phone to make sure the panel dialed and that an actual central station receiver picked up and tried to initiate communication? You said you just switched monitoring company, I assume it was working properly before? If so, could it be he entered the wrong phone number, or wrong communication format? If the central station receiver doesn’t give the right tones based on the format your system is set to, your system won’t send signals. If it was working properly before, the most likely issues are phone number, & communications format.

Since they were not on site, I’m guess they were just watching their system to see what alarms show up, while in test mode. The other ‘zones’ on the system did work on Monday, before our extended test on Tuesday, as I set off as many zones as possible on test and waited for the tech to name which zones triggered. All matched my panel. I’m hoping what you said is correct in that it is a program error that can be corrected by keypad entry.

As of next month, my system has operated continuously since 1994! The panel has never been touched. Replaced 3 batteries, a couple glass breaks, and 2 new door entries when I replaced the doors. I guess this is what happens when I try to get a better price!

One last thing. You don’t believe that shorting that resistor caused any ill effect? (It still does its LED flash every 6 seconds as it always had, which is its indication all is okay.)

Thanks for your reply!

5

Archer said:

Arthur said:
Did the tech listen in to the panel communicating? Use a Lineman Phone to make sure the panel dialed and that an actual central station receiver picked up and tried to initiate communication? You said you just switched monitoring company, I assume it was working properly before? If so, could it be he entered the wrong phone number, or wrong communication format? If the central station receiver doesn’t give the right tones based on the format your system is set to, your system won’t send signals. If it was working properly before, the most likely issues are phone number, & communications format.

Since they were not on site, I’m guess they were just watching their system to see what alarms show up, while in test mode. The other ‘zones’ on the system did work on Monday, before our extended test on Tuesday, as I set off as many zones as possible on test and waited for the tech to name which zones triggered. All matched my panel. I’m hoping what you said is correct in that it is a program error that can be corrected by keypad entry.

As of next month, my system has operated continuously since 1994! The panel has never been touched. Replaced 3 batteries, a couple glass breaks, and 2 new door entries when I replaced the doors. I guess this is what happens when I try to get a better price!

One last thing. You don’t believe that shorting that resistor caused any ill effect? (It still does its LED flash every 6 seconds as it always had, which is its indication all is okay.)

Thanks for your reply!

Ok, so the other zones DID get seen AFTER the switch? If that’s the case, then it might be the zone is set to report to a different number. If I am reading it correctly, you can tell the system to send signals to either the first or second phone number. Maybe all the other zones are set to phone 1 but the fire is set to phone 2 and going…? 94? Ok, I’d be confident in saying you got your money’s worth out of it. Some of those techs probably weren’t BORN yet when you got it installed. Hope they can figure it out for you.

6

Arthur said:

Archer said:
Arthur said:
Did the tech listen in to the panel communicating? Use a Lineman Phone to make sure the panel dialed and that an actual central station receiver picked up and tried to initiate communication? You said you just switched monitoring company, I assume it was working properly before? If so, could it be he entered the wrong phone number, or wrong communication format? If the central station receiver doesn’t give the right tones based on the format your system is set to, your system won’t send signals. If it was working properly before, the most likely issues are phone number, & communications format.

Since they were not on site, I’m guess they were just watching their system to see what alarms show up, while in test mode. The other ‘zones’ on the system did work on Monday, before our extended test on Tuesday, as I set off as many zones as possible on test and waited for the tech to name which zones triggered. All matched my panel. I’m hoping what you said is correct in that it is a program error that can be corrected by keypad entry.

As of next month, my system has operated continuously since 1994! The panel has never been touched. Replaced 3 batteries, a couple glass breaks, and 2 new door entries when I replaced the doors. I guess this is what happens when I try to get a better price!

One last thing. You don’t believe that shorting that resistor caused any ill effect? (It still does its LED flash every 6 seconds as it always had, which is its indication all is okay.)

Thanks for your reply!

Ok, so the other zones DID get seen AFTER the switch? If that’s the case, then it might be the zone is set to report to a different number. If I am reading it correctly, you can tell the system to send signals to either the first or second phone number. Maybe all the other zones are set to phone 1 but the fire is set to phone 2 and going…? 94? Ok, I’d be confident in saying you got your money’s worth out of it. Some of those techs probably weren’t BORN yet when you got it installed. Hope they can figure it out for you.

We didn’t test after the failed FA test as it wouldn’t dial at all. You could be onto something as I told the 2nd tech before our test that I noticed that in the programming the 1st tech had me enter ‘1st phone number,’ ‘1st account code,’ ‘2nd account code,’ but NO 2nd phone number. I asked him about that but he said it didn’t matter. I’m like you thinking it’s sitting there locked up looking for second number.

Interesting fact here. I looked at my alarm certificate that I have to give my insurance company for the discount, and noticed that the old alarm company (ADT) only checked burglar alarm. Hell, perhaps it never worked so ADT didn’t take credit for it. I mean, I never remember the smoke portion of the alarm being tested.

7

I’d be interested to see what signals are going through. Sounds like either a device failure or something was not identified properly when they set up the account. As an aside- if you’re already switching monitoring companies you should consider upgrading to cellular.

8

ellah said:
I’d be interested to see what signals are going through. Sounds like either a device failure or something was not identified properly when they set up the account. As an aside- if you’re already switching monitoring companies you should consider upgrading to cellular.

Hi davsch76! You commented on my first post when I was asking about switching away from ADT in May. I finally did and it hasn’t worked out so far, lol. I wanted to make sure you saw this, because you were very helpful then.

After today’s call with new alarm tech, he was not able to resolve the issues I described. We actually set the alarm off about 6 times while on the call. I believe 3 got through, including the fire alarm once. Still, everything I described in the first post applies. His suggestion is to convert the panel to a cellular signal via a Telguard TG-1 Express. However after my reading of what a Telguard does panel wise, which is using a cell signal but ‘fooling’ my panel into thinking it is still receiving a POTS line, how does that fix my problem? I certainly would do that if it works.

All I know is that my system has worked for 29 years and 11 months (and on Verizon Fios since 2008) and in 2 phone calls they messed it up. The tech today was adamant that shorting the resistor on the fire alarm would not have caused this comm issue, but that’s what we were doing when it happened last Tuesday.

Ideas?

Thanks (again!)

9

Archer said:

ellah said:
I’d be interested to see what signals are going through. Sounds like either a device failure or something was not identified properly when they set up the account. As an aside- if you’re already switching monitoring companies you should consider upgrading to cellular.

Hi davsch76! You commented on my first post when I was asking about switching away from ADT in May. I finally did and it hasn’t worked out so far, lol. I wanted to make sure you saw this, because you were very helpful then.

After today’s call with new alarm tech, he was not able to resolve the issues I described. We actually set the alarm off about 6 times while on the call. I believe 3 got through, including the fire alarm once. Still, everything I described in the first post applies. His suggestion is to convert the panel to a cellular signal via a Telguard TG-1 Express. However after my reading of what a Telguard does panel wise, which is using a cell signal but ‘fooling’ my panel into thinking it is still receiving a POTS line, how does that fix my problem? I certainly would do that if it works.

All I know is that my system has worked for 29 years and 11 months (and on Verizon Fios since 2008) and in 2 phone calls they messed it up. The tech today was adamant that shorting the resistor on the fire alarm would not have caused this comm issue, but that’s what we were doing when it happened last Tuesday.

Ideas?

Thanks (again!)

I wasn’t sure if you were saying this was my fault when I started reading!

It sounds like Verizon switched you to a VoIP line. It’s a pretty common issue. Adding a Telguard communicator should solve your problem.

10

ellah said:

Archer said:
ellah said:
I’d be interested to see what signals are going through. Sounds like either a device failure or something was not identified properly when they set up the account. As an aside- if you’re already switching monitoring companies you should consider upgrading to cellular.

Hi davsch76! You commented on my first post when I was asking about switching away from ADT in May. I finally did and it hasn’t worked out so far, lol. I wanted to make sure you saw this, because you were very helpful then.

After today’s call with new alarm tech, he was not able to resolve the issues I described. We actually set the alarm off about 6 times while on the call. I believe 3 got through, including the fire alarm once. Still, everything I described in the first post applies. His suggestion is to convert the panel to a cellular signal via a Telguard TG-1 Express. However after my reading of what a Telguard does panel wise, which is using a cell signal but ‘fooling’ my panel into thinking it is still receiving a POTS line, how does that fix my problem? I certainly would do that if it works.

All I know is that my system has worked for 29 years and 11 months (and on Verizon Fios since 2008) and in 2 phone calls they messed it up. The tech today was adamant that shorting the resistor on the fire alarm would not have caused this comm issue, but that’s what we were doing when it happened last Tuesday.

Ideas?

Thanks (again!)

I wasn’t sure if you were saying this was my fault when I started reading!

It sounds like Verizon switched you to a VoIP line. It’s a pretty common issue. Adding a Telguard communicator should solve your problem.

It doesn’t really fool the panel, it just takes the signals normally sent by phone line and redirects them through a cellular connection. It will be faster and more reliable.

11

ellah said:

ellah said:
Archer said:
ellah said:
I’d be interested to see what signals are going through. Sounds like either a device failure or something was not identified properly when they set up the account. As an aside- if you’re already switching monitoring companies you should consider upgrading to cellular.

Hi davsch76! You commented on my first post when I was asking about switching away from ADT in May. I finally did and it hasn’t worked out so far, lol. I wanted to make sure you saw this, because you were very helpful then.

After today’s call with new alarm tech, he was not able to resolve the issues I described. We actually set the alarm off about 6 times while on the call. I believe 3 got through, including the fire alarm once. Still, everything I described in the first post applies. His suggestion is to convert the panel to a cellular signal via a Telguard TG-1 Express. However after my reading of what a Telguard does panel wise, which is using a cell signal but ‘fooling’ my panel into thinking it is still receiving a POTS line, how does that fix my problem? I certainly would do that if it works.

All I know is that my system has worked for 29 years and 11 months (and on Verizon Fios since 2008) and in 2 phone calls they messed it up. The tech today was adamant that shorting the resistor on the fire alarm would not have caused this comm issue, but that’s what we were doing when it happened last Tuesday.

Ideas?

Thanks (again!)

I wasn’t sure if you were saying this was my fault when I started reading!

It sounds like Verizon switched you to a VoIP line. It’s a pretty common issue. Adding a Telguard communicator should solve your problem.

It doesn’t really fool the panel, it just takes the signals normally sent by phone line and redirects them through a cellular connection. It will be faster and more reliable.

No, not your fault at all!..I kept thinking something shorted out when we did the jumper, but if you think the Telguard will work, I will order it today (only $112 on Amazon).

Alarm Relay is who I went with and that is the one they rec. Just so you know, I’ve been on that FIOS line for 16 years and it worked. You still think it is a VoIP issue, (or perhaps the VoIP just doesn’t work right with Alarm Relay?)

12

Archer said:

ellah said:
ellah said:
Archer said:
ellah said:
I’d be interested to see what signals are going through. Sounds like either a device failure or something was not identified properly when they set up the account. As an aside- if you’re already switching monitoring companies you should consider upgrading to cellular.

Hi davsch76! You commented on my first post when I was asking about switching away from ADT in May. I finally did and it hasn’t worked out so far, lol. I wanted to make sure you saw this, because you were very helpful then.

After today’s call with new alarm tech, he was not able to resolve the issues I described. We actually set the alarm off about 6 times while on the call. I believe 3 got through, including the fire alarm once. Still, everything I described in the first post applies. His suggestion is to convert the panel to a cellular signal via a Telguard TG-1 Express. However after my reading of what a Telguard does panel wise, which is using a cell signal but ‘fooling’ my panel into thinking it is still receiving a POTS line, how does that fix my problem? I certainly would do that if it works.

All I know is that my system has worked for 29 years and 11 months (and on Verizon Fios since 2008) and in 2 phone calls they messed it up. The tech today was adamant that shorting the resistor on the fire alarm would not have caused this comm issue, but that’s what we were doing when it happened last Tuesday.

Ideas?

Thanks (again!)

I wasn’t sure if you were saying this was my fault when I started reading!

It sounds like Verizon switched you to a VoIP line. It’s a pretty common issue. Adding a Telguard communicator should solve your problem.

It doesn’t really fool the panel, it just takes the signals normally sent by phone line and redirects them through a cellular connection. It will be faster and more reliable.

No, not your fault at all!..I kept thinking something shorted out when we did the jumper, but if you think the Telguard will work, I will order it today (only $112 on Amazon).

Alarm Relay is who I went with and that is the one they rec. Just so you know, I’ve been on that FIOS line for 16 years and it worked. You still think it is a VoIP issue, (or perhaps the VoIP just doesn’t work right with Alarm Relay?)

It’s possible you shorted something but it doesn’t sound like it. Why do you need to buy the radio? Why isn’t the alarm company doing it for you?

I haven’t used a Telguard in a few years but if memory serves they are pretty easy to install. You will need an alarm company to activate it.

13

ellah said:

Archer said:
ellah said:
ellah said:
Archer said:
ellah said:
I’d be interested to see what signals are going through. Sounds like either a device failure or something was not identified properly when they set up the account. As an aside- if you’re already switching monitoring companies you should consider upgrading to cellular.

Hi davsch76! You commented on my first post when I was asking about switching away from ADT in May. I finally did and it hasn’t worked out so far, lol. I wanted to make sure you saw this, because you were very helpful then.

After today’s call with new alarm tech, he was not able to resolve the issues I described. We actually set the alarm off about 6 times while on the call. I believe 3 got through, including the fire alarm once. Still, everything I described in the first post applies. His suggestion is to convert the panel to a cellular signal via a Telguard TG-1 Express. However after my reading of what a Telguard does panel wise, which is using a cell signal but ‘fooling’ my panel into thinking it is still receiving a POTS line, how does that fix my problem? I certainly would do that if it works.

All I know is that my system has worked for 29 years and 11 months (and on Verizon Fios since 2008) and in 2 phone calls they messed it up. The tech today was adamant that shorting the resistor on the fire alarm would not have caused this comm issue, but that’s what we were doing when it happened last Tuesday.

Ideas?

Thanks (again!)

I wasn’t sure if you were saying this was my fault when I started reading!

It sounds like Verizon switched you to a VoIP line. It’s a pretty common issue. Adding a Telguard communicator should solve your problem.

It doesn’t really fool the panel, it just takes the signals normally sent by phone line and redirects them through a cellular connection. It will be faster and more reliable.

No, not your fault at all!..I kept thinking something shorted out when we did the jumper, but if you think the Telguard will work, I will order it today (only $112 on Amazon).

Alarm Relay is who I went with and that is the one they rec. Just so you know, I’ve been on that FIOS line for 16 years and it worked. You still think it is a VoIP issue, (or perhaps the VoIP just doesn’t work right with Alarm Relay?)

It’s possible you shorted something but it doesn’t sound like it. Why do you need to buy the radio? Why isn’t the alarm company doing it for you?

I haven’t used a Telguard in a few years but if memory serves they are pretty easy to install. You will need an alarm company to activate it.

Alarm Relay just called to talk about today’s failed effort. As of yet all they wanted to tell me was if I go to Cellular my rate goes from the current $8.95 to $25.95 per month. This has worked out great so far, lol! (At least I can laugh about it). If I continue I will get with customer service. I think they will adjust something, but I doubt they offer to pay for the radio.

Not sure what I’m going to do yet, have to think a while. I know there are more companies that will monitor a system with Cellular than landline.

14

Archer said:

ellah said:
Archer said:
ellah said:
ellah said:
Archer said:
ellah said:
I’d be interested to see what signals are going through. Sounds like either a device failure or something was not identified properly when they set up the account. As an aside- if you’re already switching monitoring companies you should consider upgrading to cellular.

Hi davsch76! You commented on my first post when I was asking about switching away from ADT in May. I finally did and it hasn’t worked out so far, lol. I wanted to make sure you saw this, because you were very helpful then.

After today’s call with new alarm tech, he was not able to resolve the issues I described. We actually set the alarm off about 6 times while on the call. I believe 3 got through, including the fire alarm once. Still, everything I described in the first post applies. His suggestion is to convert the panel to a cellular signal via a Telguard TG-1 Express. However after my reading of what a Telguard does panel wise, which is using a cell signal but ‘fooling’ my panel into thinking it is still receiving a POTS line, how does that fix my problem? I certainly would do that if it works.

All I know is that my system has worked for 29 years and 11 months (and on Verizon Fios since 2008) and in 2 phone calls they messed it up. The tech today was adamant that shorting the resistor on the fire alarm would not have caused this comm issue, but that’s what we were doing when it happened last Tuesday.

Ideas?

Thanks (again!)

I wasn’t sure if you were saying this was my fault when I started reading!

It sounds like Verizon switched you to a VoIP line. It’s a pretty common issue. Adding a Telguard communicator should solve your problem.

It doesn’t really fool the panel, it just takes the signals normally sent by phone line and redirects them through a cellular connection. It will be faster and more reliable.

No, not your fault at all!..I kept thinking something shorted out when we did the jumper, but if you think the Telguard will work, I will order it today (only $112 on Amazon).

Alarm Relay is who I went with and that is the one they rec. Just so you know, I’ve been on that FIOS line for 16 years and it worked. You still think it is a VoIP issue, (or perhaps the VoIP just doesn’t work right with Alarm Relay?)

It’s possible you shorted something but it doesn’t sound like it. Why do you need to buy the radio? Why isn’t the alarm company doing it for you?

I haven’t used a Telguard in a few years but if memory serves they are pretty easy to install. You will need an alarm company to activate it.

Alarm Relay just called to talk about today’s failed effort. As of yet all they wanted to tell me was if I go to Cellular my rate goes from the current $8.95 to $25.95 per month. This has worked out great so far, lol! (At least I can laugh about it). If I continue I will get with customer service. I think they will adjust something, but I doubt they offer to pay for the radio.

Not sure what I’m going to do yet, have to think a while. I know there are more companies that will monitor a system with Cellular than landline.

The most likely culprit here is your phone service went from analog to digital. Verizon probably has you on VoIP, which is great for phones but doesn’t work for alarm panels. The data gets screwy on its way to the alarm receivers. 0’s and 1’s get mixed up and drop off along the way. Switching to cellular avoids that issue altogether. It costs more because it’s independent of your phone service. It also gets the data to the central station significantly faster, and can be supervised for communication failures much more reliably. Add the cost of the monitoring now to the cost of your phone service. If you don’t actually use your landline for anything but the alarm, you can cancel it and you’ll break even.

Realistically… $8.95 is a crazy price. With a retail price that low, by you calling them just once for help they have lost money by having you as a customer.

15

ellah said:

Archer said:
ellah said:
Archer said:
ellah said:
ellah said:
Archer said:
ellah said:
I’d be interested to see what signals are going through. Sounds like either a device failure or something was not identified properly when they set up the account. As an aside- if you’re already switching monitoring companies you should consider upgrading to cellular.

Hi davsch76! You commented on my first post when I was asking about switching away from ADT in May. I finally did and it hasn’t worked out so far, lol. I wanted to make sure you saw this, because you were very helpful then.

After today’s call with new alarm tech, he was not able to resolve the issues I described. We actually set the alarm off about 6 times while on the call. I believe 3 got through, including the fire alarm once. Still, everything I described in the first post applies. His suggestion is to convert the panel to a cellular signal via a Telguard TG-1 Express. However after my reading of what a Telguard does panel wise, which is using a cell signal but ‘fooling’ my panel into thinking it is still receiving a POTS line, how does that fix my problem? I certainly would do that if it works.

All I know is that my system has worked for 29 years and 11 months (and on Verizon Fios since 2008) and in 2 phone calls they messed it up. The tech today was adamant that shorting the resistor on the fire alarm would not have caused this comm issue, but that’s what we were doing when it happened last Tuesday.

Ideas?

Thanks (again!)

I wasn’t sure if you were saying this was my fault when I started reading!

It sounds like Verizon switched you to a VoIP line. It’s a pretty common issue. Adding a Telguard communicator should solve your problem.

It doesn’t really fool the panel, it just takes the signals normally sent by phone line and redirects them through a cellular connection. It will be faster and more reliable.

No, not your fault at all!..I kept thinking something shorted out when we did the jumper, but if you think the Telguard will work, I will order it today (only $112 on Amazon).

Alarm Relay is who I went with and that is the one they rec. Just so you know, I’ve been on that FIOS line for 16 years and it worked. You still think it is a VoIP issue, (or perhaps the VoIP just doesn’t work right with Alarm Relay?)

It’s possible you shorted something but it doesn’t sound like it. Why do you need to buy the radio? Why isn’t the alarm company doing it for you?

I haven’t used a Telguard in a few years but if memory serves they are pretty easy to install. You will need an alarm company to activate it.

Alarm Relay just called to talk about today’s failed effort. As of yet all they wanted to tell me was if I go to Cellular my rate goes from the current $8.95 to $25.95 per month. This has worked out great so far, lol! (At least I can laugh about it). If I continue I will get with customer service. I think they will adjust something, but I doubt they offer to pay for the radio.

Not sure what I’m going to do yet, have to think a while. I know there are more companies that will monitor a system with Cellular than landline.

The most likely culprit here is your phone service went from analog to digital. Verizon probably has you on VoIP, which is great for phones but doesn’t work for alarm panels. The data gets screwy on its way to the alarm receivers. 0’s and 1’s get mixed up and drop off along the way. Switching to cellular avoids that issue altogether. It costs more because it’s independent of your phone service. It also gets the data to the central station significantly faster, and can be supervised for communication failures much more reliably. Add the cost of the monitoring now to the cost of your phone service. If you don’t actually use your landline for anything but the alarm, you can cancel it and you’ll break even.

Realistically… $8.95 is a crazy price. With a retail price that low, by you calling them just once for help they have lost money by having you as a customer.

I agree, as I don’t know how they can monitor for $8.95. I should have the Telguard TG-1 in hand Thursday, so if I can get that hooked up I will likely give Alarm Relay another shot at this. And if this works, you are right as I’m going to ditch the landline. I’ll let you know how this plays out. Thanks again for your advice!

16

Archer said:

ellah said:
I’d be interested to see what signals are going through. Sounds like either a device failure or something was not identified properly when they set up the account. As an aside- if you’re already switching monitoring companies you should consider upgrading to cellular.

Hi davsch76! You commented on my first post when I was asking about switching away from ADT in May. I finally did and it hasn’t worked out so far, lol. I wanted to make sure you saw this, because you were very helpful then.

After today’s call with new alarm tech, he was not able to resolve the issues I described. We actually set the alarm off about 6 times while on the call. I believe 3 got through, including the fire alarm once. Still, everything I described in the first post applies. His suggestion is to convert the panel to a cellular signal via a Telguard TG-1 Express. However after my reading of what a Telguard does panel wise, which is using a cell signal but ‘fooling’ my panel into thinking it is still receiving a POTS line, how does that fix my problem? I certainly would do that if it works.

All I know is that my system has worked for 29 years and 11 months (and on Verizon Fios since 2008) and in 2 phone calls they messed it up. The tech today was adamant that shorting the resistor on the fire alarm would not have caused this comm issue, but that’s what we were doing when it happened last Tuesday.

Ideas?

Thanks (again!)

Hi davsch76,

My TG-1 Express will be delivered late today. Are you familiar with wiring that up? It looks like they are saying the TG-1 just needs Tip, Ring, power and ground (but after that they say hook up whatever else your panel has). Right now, through the RJ31 jack my panel gets Tip and Ring, and T1 and R1. The wiring diagram for the TG-1 (which uses RJ45) shows landings for Tip, Ring, T1, T2 and a couple monitoring spots (STC2) which I don’t have, and power and ground. I’m thinking I just need to run the Tip, Ring, T1, T2, power and ground to my panel, like it is now and plug my RJ45 cable into the TG-1’s RJ45 jack. Does that sound correct?

17

Easiest way to troubleshoot is with a buttset connected to your tip and ring. You can build one from a cheap old phone. After you set the alarm off, you should hear the distinctness of the panel dialing your CS number, then you should hear the CS receiver pick up and send a burst to ‘acknowledge’ the call and tell the panel to start communicating. The panel should start sending the zones programmed account code and zone information, all of which you can count and check. When the zone info is sent, the panel sends a signal it is done and waits for a ‘kiss-off’ from the receiver and will hang up and restore the phone line. Figuring out where that is breaking down is the key.

Also keep in mind, there is really no such thing as POTS anymore, and old alarm technology struggles in today’s world where telecoms convert everything to digital packets and back.

18

I have a DSC 832 installed in 2000. About 18 months ago, I installed an Envisalink4. They have a phone app. Monitoring is available via Internet and or cell. I love it. Consider this after things settle down.

19

Archer said:
Just switched to a new Alarm Monitoring company last Monday. On the Tech call we got everything working but the wired in Smoke/Heat Detector (ESL 445CT). During the call the tech had me short across the resistor on the ESL 445CT that jumps terminal 3 and 4. We did this 3 times and although the system dialed into the Alarm Station, no Fire signal received. Tech then stopped, was going to consult his peers. Another tech called on Tuesday and we did the same test twice, however we let the alarm go off for 30 seconds. (Installation manual states that Fire alarm must go off for 30 seconds before signal transmission.) However this time the system didn’t even dial into the Alarm Station, but did lock my system at no phone line. So, since last Tuesday, once I arm my system, my phone line goes dead. After disarm, system will release phone line (dial tone back) after 5 minutes. Trouble code is ‘Unsuccessful communication attempt with monitoring station.’

Today, at 12pm EDT, I will have a call with a senior tech from the monitoring company. I would welcome any thoughts as to what the original test might have done. We reset the system twice by unplugging from power and battery (once for 6 hours) with no effect last week. That is all we did.

Any and all thoughts welcomed and appreciated! Thanks!

UPDATE: After call with new alarm tech, he was not able to resolve the issues I described. His suggestion is to convert the panel to a cellular signal via a Telguard TG-1 Express. However after my reading of what a Telguard does panel wise, which is using a cell signal but ‘fooling’ my panel into thinking it is still receiving a POTS line, how does that fix my problem? Any ideas anyone?

20

Archer said:

Archer said:
Just switched to a new Alarm Monitoring company last Monday. On the Tech call we got everything working but the wired in Smoke/Heat Detector (ESL 445CT). During the call the tech had me short across the resistor on the ESL 445CT that jumps terminal 3 and 4. We did this 3 times and although the system dialed into the Alarm Station, no Fire signal received. Tech then stopped, was going to consult his peers. Another tech called on Tuesday and we did the same test twice, however we let the alarm go off for 30 seconds. (Installation manual states that Fire alarm must go off for 30 seconds before signal transmission.) However this time the system didn’t even dial into the Alarm Station, but did lock my system at no phone line. So, since last Tuesday, once I arm my system, my phone line goes dead. After disarm, system will release phone line (dial tone back) after 5 minutes. Trouble code is ‘Unsuccessful communication attempt with monitoring station.’

Today, at 12pm EDT, I will have a call with a senior tech from the monitoring company. I would welcome any thoughts as to what the original test might have done. We reset the system twice by unplugging from power and battery (once for 6 hours) with no effect last week. That is all we did.

Any and all thoughts welcomed and appreciated! Thanks!

UPDATE: After call with new alarm tech, he was not able to resolve the issues I described. His suggestion is to convert the panel to a cellular signal via a Telguard TG-1 Express. However after my reading of what a Telguard does panel wise, which is using a cell signal but ‘fooling’ my panel into thinking it is still receiving a POTS line, how does that fix my problem? Any ideas anyone?

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