If your paying my standard hourly non contract rate i'll happily hang mirrors, walk dogs, try to play saxsmaphone, so yes checking over a diy install would not be a problem.

You said you have small cable access, run two if you can , or a "bigger cable" ideally an 8core for the bell and "bigger cable" for the sensors upstairs , try and buy cable made by cqr , probably other manufacturers to,

I think that is what you should start with, if the cables don't get in then you can opt for buying different equipment

Edited September 1, 201510 yr by al-yeti

I have already posted a lot of help on here for free, but I would check it, advise you, and help you program it, but for a fee.

There is little point in spending  hundreds on an alarm, then not have it work correctly because of poor installation or Programming.

Lol yes I meant for a fee! I was just asking whether the general question would annoy an installer.

Can I ask, why 8 core for the bell?

Ta.

Lol yes I meant for a fee! I was just asking whether the general question would annoy an installer.

Can I ask, why 8 core for the bell?

Ta.

And I am very grateful for all the info thanks. It's nice to be able to confer with pro's.

How much would this install cost if I had the mains connection ready and ran all the cable in advance? Kit 1 with a wired bell and maybe one or two wired pirs? Just a rough quote mind u. That's to supply the equipment and install with no need to run any cable. No comma though as I think that's too expensive at the mo.

Or is that an inherently stupid question that can't be answered without a site visit? I'm just wondering whether or not I could afford it.

8core for everything , except where you need more then a "bigger" one ie more cores

"...but surely a £300 alarm is better than no alarm. A Yale would be better than nothing.." 

 

Around the £300 mark should get you everything you need and don't concern yourself with cable size, but don't buy 'unbranded' cheap cable, and it doesn't need to be CQR branded, there are lots of branded cables out there. Usually, a warning device uses five (sometimes six) connections..it is wise to use a cable with more cores than you actually need so eight core is about right. You don't need anyone to check your work, that's just defeating the object of keeping the costs down, just follow the instructions and make good cable connections. Observe my notes on signal attenuation when fitting wireless, for example, a signal is attenuated by one brick wall, it is attenuated even more if there are two brick walls between the device and panel. If your neighbour is happy having the panel in a cupboard or under the stairs and not getting wireless faults then give it a try if you want. You could also be a bit nosey with your neighbour's system to get a few tips there. Yale sell thousands of alarm systems, and I doubt that they are having thousands of fault calls, the fault, when it occurs, is due to poor positioning of devices and internal and external influences, installed correctly you should have very few problems with a Yale, if any, I have cleared up many problems with badly positioned devices on both Yale and Micromark. Not particularly fussy on some of their solar powered warning devices, try to avoid them. 

but don't buy 'unbranded' cheap cable, and it doesn't need to be CQR branded, there are lots of branded cables out there. 

 

...and most of them are cheap CCA like the rest.

 

There are few remaining quality brands of copper cable, so forget the 'brand' look for the words '100% copper' and avoid 'CCA'

 

Most cables on ebay, all the alarm cable from cpc, screwfix, toolstation etc... are CCA (Copper Coated Aluminium) so be forewarned!

Edited September 1, 201510 yr by datadiffusion

...and most of them are cheap CCA like the rest.

There are few remaining quality brands of copper cable, so forget the 'brand' look for the words '100% copper' and avoid 'CCA'

Most cables on ebay, all the alarm cable from cpc, screwfix, toolstation etc... are CCA (Copper Coated Aluminium) so be forewarned!

Excellent advice.