MWareman Posted January 9, 2014 Posted January 9, 2014 I use the HAI C3 device, T-Mobile and Watchlight/Alarm Relay. Works well together.
Scottmichaelj Posted January 9, 2014 Posted January 9, 2014 Thanks guys for the info. I was planning on using Alarm Relay but online reviews were mixed. Your confirmations make me feel better using them. Ill be calling them today to get going. Thanks.
apostolakisl Posted January 9, 2014 Posted January 9, 2014 I have had nothing but good experience with them. They knew all of the exact parameters to set on the Elk, were on time with the setup call, and have always been prompt at responding to alarms and always follow protocol.
Scottmichaelj Posted January 12, 2014 Posted January 12, 2014 FWIW I signed up with Alarm Relay as suggested and your right, they were professional and great to work with. Has anyone used a better antenna on their HAI C3? It looks like its a SMA connection. I want/need to install it on the wall and the antenna that comes with the C3 canT be directly connected to the device. A higher gain/db alternative antenna would even be better.
steve4609 Posted February 15, 2014 Posted February 15, 2014 Can the C3 or Uplink be a backup to a land line or would I need to choose?
Scottmichaelj Posted February 15, 2014 Posted February 15, 2014 Can the C3 or Uplink be a backup to a land line or would I need to choose? yes both can be used as a backup to a landline. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
MWareman Posted February 15, 2014 Posted February 15, 2014 You plug your landline into the C3. This is the default dial tone presented to the alarm, and if the dial tone fails then the C3 presents a higher pitch 'cellular' tone. My only (mild) issue is there does not appear to be an easy way to have Elk be aware of the main dial tone failure.
steve4609 Posted February 15, 2014 Posted February 15, 2014 If there is not an easy way, what is the uneasy way for Elk to detect dial tone failure? (It would be great to have the ability to sound an alarm when a phone line is cut)
apostolakisl Posted February 16, 2014 Posted February 16, 2014 If there is not an easy way, what is the uneasy way for Elk to detect dial tone failure? (It would be great to have the ability to sound an alarm when a phone line is cut) Elk does detect dial tone failure and gives you a trouble signal. Maybe mwarren was referring to the fact that if you have a c3 in the mix, it's dial tone takes over when the landline fails, and Elk doesn't see the difference.
steve4609 Posted February 16, 2014 Posted February 16, 2014 I have not yet decided whether to get a C3. How would I set up the Elk to detect dial tone failure and notify? Can the Elk be on a schedule to check for Dial Tone Failure or does it only check when there is a need to dial? Thank you.
MWareman Posted February 17, 2014 Posted February 17, 2014 Elk does detect dial tone failure and gives you a trouble signal. Maybe mwarren was referring to the fact that if you have a c3 in the mix, it's dial tone takes over when the landline fails, and Elk doesn't see the difference. Index, yes. When the POTS dial tone fails, the C3 gives its own (higher pitch) tone. The Elk does not see a failure.
apostolakisl Posted February 17, 2014 Posted February 17, 2014 I have not yet decided whether to get a C3. How would I set up the Elk to detect dial tone failure and notify? Can the Elk be on a schedule to check for Dial Tone Failure or does it only check when there is a need to dial? Thank you. Elk continuously checks for dial tone. It may be that if you don't have it set up to use the phone line at all that it doesn't, I forget, but there is nothing special to do. For example, if I disconnect the phone line from my Elk, I get a trouble message within a minute or two. I believe you can have Elk send you an email if that occurs. If you want Elk to be aware that the land line went down and you had a C3, you would need to put a separate dial tone detection device on your land line and use an Elk zone to alert the panel that the land line went down. Elk will not be able to tell the difference between regular dial tone and C3 dial tone. I have a C3 unit and have no landline at all. The Elk does all of its reporting via the cell network. I have not had any troubles with that.
steve4609 Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 My primary objective regarding the phone line is to be able to know if my phone line has been cut. So having an Elk zone that could detect land line down would be ideal. The low height of the phone wire where it enters my house is a big concern. if it were to be cut, I would love to be able to detect that so i can turn on the outdoor and indoor lights on that side of the house and sound the alarm instead of waiting another few minutes for an actual break in. Who makes an appropriate “dial tone detection device†to accomplish this? Thank you
Scottmichaelj Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 My primary objective regarding the phone line is to be able to know if my phone line has been cut. So having an Elk zone that could detect land line down would be ideal. The low height of the phone wire where it enters my house is a big concern. if it were to be cut, I would love to be able to detect that so i can turn on the outdoor and indoor lights on that side of the house and sound the alarm instead of waiting another few minutes for an actual break in. Who makes an appropriate “dial tone detection device†to accomplish this? Thank you I would advise against this. What happens if a tree branch or for any other reason the line goes dead? I would hate for the cops to come running to my home thinking there was a break in just because the line goes dead? Maybe the phone company is working on it? If your so incline you could do lights but even a siren would be calling wolf and if you had a few false alarms then the neighbors might stop looking. Kind if reminds me of car alarms now. They go off so much from false alarms no one give them a second look. I actually turned off all my sirens in my home so its a "silent alarm". If your dumb enough to come into my house after seeing the "this house is monitored by..." then I want the cops to come catch them in the act and throw their *** in jail! Otherwise they will just move on to another house. Edit-Also if the line was cut (but not detected) and they did "break in" then you should have the "perimeter instant" zone and the siren would go off right away. Wouldnt that be really enough?
steve4609 Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 If the line was cut, the system would be unable to call the police. That is why i would want to detect this before they are in my house - particularly if my wife and/or daughters are home. My exterior siren box (very loud) is on the north side of the house and the phone wire enters on the south side. I would run wire thru the sub area to get a smaller siren over to the south side. I appreciate your concern and advice. Does anyone know who makes a dial tone detection device?
Scottmichaelj Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 Steve if you use the C3 as backup even if the main pots line is cut the alarm would still be able to call out automatically via cellular from the C3. The Elk would know automatically to use the C3 or you can just use the C3 like some of us do as the main dial out.
steve4609 Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 My interest in finding a dial tone detection device is because the cell service at my house is lousy so I can not depend on a C3. Any internet communication is also dependent on my land line being intact because I have DSL
apostolakisl Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 My interest in finding a dial tone detection device is because the cell service at my house is lousy so I can not depend on a C3. Any internet communication is also dependent on my land line being intact because I have DSL I don't know why the confusion here. Elk detects a dropped dial tone on its own. If you don't have an alternate dial tone like a C3, and your landline is cut, then Elk will lose dial tone and it will detect that. If your landline is your only comm to the outside world, then detecting a cut line can't do much besides give you a local warning. So if you are worried about protection, you best get yourself a gun since you'll be on your own with a cut landline. You would only need a separate dial tone detection if you want Elk to warn you of a cut landline in the presence of a working alternate dial tone (C3). And lousy cell service is not a problem for the C3. It has a high gain antenna that can be mounted remotely and picks up very weak signals very well.
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.