I'm a bit confused about the definition of a zone. I thought a zone was an area, for example, the kitchen, or the front door. However, my Texecom manual, which accompanies an 8 zone Veritas 8 control panel, talks about eight programmable zone types. For example the eight zone types are listed as 1) Push-to-set, 2) Inhibited entry, 3) Guard, 4) Fire, 5) Tamper, 6) Entry/Exit, 7) Personal Attack and 8) Keyswitch.

Is it just a coincidence that there are eight zones and eight zone types?

My set-up will be fairly simple. I have the front door protected with a magnetic detector which I was going to connect to zone 1. I'll have three rooms each with a quad PIR, which I intended to connect to zones 2 to 4 and I'll have the back door with a magnetic detector connected to zone 5. I also have an old Personal Attack gizmo which I would connect to zone 6. Can I make these connections as detailed or will my system not work if I do so?

It doesn't matter what zone you connect to what.

The functions of the zones are all set in the programming. So in your case you would set zone 1 as zone type 6, zone 6 as zone type 7 etc...

If you have any detectors between the entry point and the keypad (e.g. if you are setting the front door as entry\exit and the keypad is in the hall covered by a detector) then these need setting as zone type 2 - Inhibited Entry.

Read the manual a few more times, you'll get the hang of it.

It doesn't matter what zone you connect to what.

The functions of the zones are all set in the programming. So in your case you would set zone 1 as zone type 6, zone 6 as zone type 7 etc...

If you have any detectors between the entry point and the keypad (e.g. if you are setting the front door as entry\exit and the keypad is in the hall covered by a detector) then these need setting as zone type 2 - Inhibited Entry.

Read the manual a few more times, you'll get the hang of it.

Thanks for the quick and understandable reply. I take it that my three PIR rooms should be set as zone type 3 (Guard)?

Just on a side note to this

In prEN50131-1: 2004, a zone is not an individual detector/device.

Is it just a coincidence that there are eight zones and eight zone types?

yes,

I also have an old Personal Attack gizmo which I would connect to zone 6. Can I make these connections as detailed or will my system not work if I do so?

hi KenW,

i would strongly advise bining the old gizmo item, a new one can be bought from maplins or most electrical wholesalers for a reasonable cost and far less cost than calling in an engineer to diagnose your faulty equipewment. get the 'double push' type as thes are less prone to accidental operation ny children or plain daft adults.

as to the term 'zone' it has a bit of a split personality. it can be defined as you require so can be a single detector or door in the lounge or several door contacts in a workshop. when refering to the control unit a 'zone' is simply a circuit which can be programmed to best accomadate an area (zone).

many panels come pre set with default settings such as Zone 1 is exit/entry to use on the final door. Zone 2 is 'Access' allowing pass through on entry, so this could be a motion sensor in the hall and you need to pass through trip this approaching the keypad, programmed as access allows this if the front door is first activated. zone 5 set as 'pa' and so on. it will give you a basic system out of the box.

regs

alan

Thanks Alan, and also J. Paul and Pete. It's encouraging for me to get so many helpful replies.

Ken.

Never with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.

Best sig ive read for a long time