totoro

Evening, i'm just looking for a little bit of advice on this set up and perhaps some suggestions why it's not working. We have a rather large site with multiple RIOs and have been asked to set it up so that it controls the external lights. Our electricians have set up the lighting itself and have placed two 12v Finder relays in the RIO which are connected to the lighting control circuit. The idea is that one relay brings on roadway lights when the system is unset, lighting up the route into the complex, and the second relay is to turn on all the external lights in the event of an intruder activation. My boss had wired the relays into the RIO by giving each relay a 12v feed from the RIO then taking the 0v for the relays from each output. Those outputs were then programmed as Unset - to turn on roadway lights and Strobe - to turn on all external lights. I guess my first question is should this set up work? I fiddled with this set up because it didn't really seem to be doing what i expected, i altered polarities, messed with output mode etc. I'm fairly new to this side of Galaxy systems so it was a bit of trial and error. I've been back there today because the client reported the lights weren't coming on. I decided to alter the wiring so that the outputs are supplying 12v to the relays and their 0v is from the Aux 0v in the RIO. When testing the outputs via the keypad the relays were doing nothing at all. Thought it was a polarity issue, changed that setting, still nothing. With the relays still connected i metered the outputs (between the output terminal and 0v) and found them going from 0v to approximately 1v when turned on via the test menu. I then disconnected the relays and metered again, the outputs worked perfectly. It seems to me that the relays are knackered and i can only assume that is my fault but thinking about it i'm really not sure how i've managed to damage them. Am i correct in thinking that the relays are damaged or am i missing something here? I should mention that a few weeks ago when i first looked at this i was unaware of two things 1) When altering output settings you then need to come all the way out of the menu before those settings take effect, causing me to **** with polarities then wonder why the hell nothing was changing and 2) a Neg output sits at 0v and goes positive, not the other way around. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I’ve been working with alarms for close to eight years for two different firms and the laptop situation is always a source of frustration for me. Looking to maybe set up my own computer so I can stop losing my rag so often with old laptops. My current and previous employer have various old laptops with software on. Today I’ve been attempting to change a galaxy panel, like for like swap (keeps losing a node, they’ve tried everything up to this point so are seeing if a new panel fixes it) needed to use an old laptop cos it has a serial port, found the software was too old. Got the update on a disk cos the thing is so old it doesn’t recognise any USB sticks. But I can’t install the update because the OS is too old, so now I’m forced to program the new panel manually via the keypad! I’ve seen engineers from other firms with very new windows tablets and all the relevant USB leads for various fire and intruder panels and I’m jealous. I think there are some reasons why my employers choose to keep things old school but for many scenarios this surely isn’t necessary. I’ve heard - but never seen first hand - that USB to serial adapters don’t always work. What set set ups do you lot have?

I’ve just started a new job and my new role looks like it will involve more reactive work, first job today was an earth fault on a Kentec syncro. As I approached the job something occurred to me - I really don’t have a methodical way of tracing these faults. I know this may sound like an obvious question, is probably second nature to many, but I really don’t know the quickest and most efficient way of finding an earth fault. Originally wired in two loops, now joined in the panel to make it one loop. The fault is on the newer of the two loops. I think it’s about 16 devices. I can think of various things I’d do which I would muddle my way through and eventually reach the source of the fault, but I want a methodical way of doing this.

Really? I've looked on the list but don't seem to see it. Where have you seen that? The cablibg license and white card seem easy enough to get, but most seem to want a security license which seems more difficult to get. Have you looked into this much? I intend on working as an electrical labourer/trade assistant when I arrive and try to move onto a more alarms based job from there. Hows the visa process so far?

I don't have any security qualifications haha, just 7 years experience. I know that to get myself up to Aus standards as a sparky involves a year of working as a trade assistant, keeping a log book of all my work, having my skills assessed etc. Basically it will take a year at least and I may only be out there for a year. I've seen jobs advertised for alarms engineers and most don't ask for related qualifications, just experience running cables, if that.

I'm planning a move to Australia next year, specifically Melbourne. I'm expecting to initially take whatever half decent job I can find but I'll be looking for jobs similar to what I'm currently doing in the UK. I'm a qualified sparky but I've been doing fire, intruder, CCTV and access control for the last seven years for a rather large company. I'm not keen on going the electrician route as it seems transferring my qualification to Aus is a massive ball ache. I'm wondering if anyone here has experience working in Aus, from what I can tell they seem to use many bits of kit out there that I've not worked with before. I'm mostly experienced with Menvier, Texecom, Scantronic, Kentec and Gent among others. I'm wondering what are the most popular manufacturers over there so I can familiarise myself with them a bit before I start job hunting out there. I'll be leaving the uk in June next year so I've got plenty of time to study manuals etc. Thanks!

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I spend the vast majority of my days working unaccompanied and i'm generally ok with that but recently there have been a few jobs where i would very much appreciate another pair of hands, or someone to go off and get materials etc. It makes sense to me to have installers working in pairs, my boss doesn't seem to see it the same way for obvious reasons. I'm thinking about bringing this up with my boss and it's got me wondering how many other engineers work like this. Putting two competent engineers on a job might cost twice as much in wages but in my experience the job is done in probably a third of the time it would take for one engineer and with less mistakes!

I never seem to be happy with my set up. I've been using a fat max pouch for a few years with a belt for slinging it over my shoulder, fits most of what i need for call outs and most of the hand tools i need on installs. But i'm thinking of moving to some kind of box arrangement with some organisation for holding a small selection of fixings and resistors etc. Maybe something like a Raaco box with the draws in the bottom. Everyone seems to have bags nowadays, i would like to move to a box but i don't want to be the odd one out I can put stickers on a box though!

I'd rather not discuss personal stuff like that with strangers on the Internet.

Some good info here, lads.

Due to living on a fairly isolated island, very few courses are free. Flights to and from this little rock I call home are expensive.

We've only recently started fitting Texecom equipment. I've got the opportunity to set up a basic system and have a play in my own time. I'd like to put together a list of things I should know how to set up, including getting it to signal to the app and other signalling configurations. If you were training up an engineer what would you say were must know things?

Ah, I didn't think about that. I now see why the zone setup allows you to choose the wiring type even on a ricochet device.

The customer doesn't like the look of the wireless contact and I have been asked to fit a flush contact and wire it into the terminals on the ricochet wireless contact that's mounted somewhere out of sight. I've checked the installation instructions and it doesn't mention anything about how to do this, whether it requires resistors etc. from memory I think the terminals are marked M1, C and M2. Is M1+C zone then C+M2 tamper? Whilst playing around with this I also noticed something, when viewing zone status I noticed if the zone status is active or tamper I can press reset and the status changes to secure, what's actually happening there?

Program a Texecom comWIFI. Never done it before and the first thing I saw when I opened the manual was "consult an IT professional". Coupled with the fact I didn't have a laptop to use. I put the software on my personal laptop but couldn't get the cable drivers (if anyone has a link to the drivers it would be much appreciated). The job's been a pain in the **** from the start, my manager 'designed' it, gave me a rough idea of what was going where and then decided to bugger off on holiday for a week. Lots of stuff was agreed verbally with the customer and the information was either relayed to me incorrectly or not at all. Also, I thought at the very least I could give the customer a bells only system for the weekend but then realised the new Odyssey siren I have seems to be faulty, it wouldn't power up at all.

I wouln't really call what i do 'blagging'. I usually know what i'm doing, i just tend to make the customer think i absolutely know what i'm doing at all times. However I did openly tell a customer today that i didn't know how to do something and that the only person on the firm who could help me is on holiday. They praised me for my honesty and i came out the other side smelling of roses haha. I'm definitely interested in these, i don't quite understand the difference between the foundation course and practical course though, the content seems very similar.

I can usually do this with customers but i'm not sure how i'd manage in an interview situation. Can any of you think of any 'essential reading' for an alarms engineer? Something that's more general and not product specific. What are the things we should really know? I mean things like regs, system grading etc.

I'm a C&G qualified electrician but i've been doing almost exclusively alarms work for the last 5 years but with no formal training in the field. I've installed and maintained fire panels from various manufacturers, my intruder experience is mostly with Menvier, Galaxy and more recently Texecom. A 'senior' position has become available at a rival firm, i don't think i'll be applying, however the thought of doing so has made me realise something - i feel like i know nothing! I think maybe what i am looking for is some way of convincing myself and potential future employers that i do indeed know what i'm doing. What's the most widely recognised qualification in this field, does such a thing even exist? I feel like that might be a dumb question but i know very little about this side of the business. Thanks in advance guys.

Hello. Thought i better introduce myself, i don't really want to say too much about myself as some of the questions i plan to ask are employment related and i'd prefer it if my current employers remain unaware of my plans to possibly make a move. There's a good chance some of my colleagues are on here. I've been working with fire and security alarms and the occasional access system for nearly 5 years. Thought i'd start an account here as i'm looking to build my knowledge a bit more.