20P Configurable zone not reporting

[dcuste]

I have a zone that is used as a monitor only and only momentarily triggers a relay and nothing else. It is defined as zone type (ZT) 90. The report code (RC) on this zone is 1. I want this zone to continue to do exactly what it has been doing but I also want it to now send me an email when activated. When this zone is activated, it is only for a fraction of a second and then is dynamically restored. For some reason, the EnvisaLink doesn't ever even see this zone. I suspect the sequence is so fast that it doesn't have time to react. In fact when I have the 20P in chime mode, it will ding but never reports the zone fault. I have tried other real quick open/close operations on other zones that are type 03 and they are always announced by the 20P and picked up by the EnvisaLink. #182 reports 12 4 12 0 12 0 0 0 1 4. Does anybody have an idea what I need to change to get the EnvisaLink to "see" this zone but still allow for a automatic quick restore?

[smyers119]

What are the values of #183? Why not use Zone type 12?

[smyers119]

Since i have not got a reply yet i would set the field as follows, it should then send reports to envisalink as "Alarm, 24-Hour Auxiliary/Monitor zone"
*183 1,5,0,3,8,0

[dcuste]

Since i have not got a reply yet i would set the field as follows, it should then send reports to envisalink as "Alarm, 24-Hour Auxiliary/Monitor zone"
*183 1,5,0,3,8,0

Sorry Steve that I didn't respond sooner. I guess I forgot to check to notify me when a reply is posted. This is all new to me. I really do appreciate your advice.

The reason I don't use a zone type 12 is because I need the auto restore feature that is available with the configurable zone type. #183 gives me a message "NOT USED EE". I suspect that is because the way I have *182 defined, there will never be an alarm or trouble report code to send.

I think if I changed the *182 to report opens as an alarm or trouble, then it would cause the 20P to send an alarm to the alarmrelay company. I don't want that to happen. I guess I could try sending them the trouble report code, but I don't want them calling me, because they are going to be getting this about ten times a day. Plus every time the 20P calls alarmrelay it has to seize the phone line and that would drop phone calls. My wife would get a little pissed if that kept happening. What does an alarm code 150 and a trouble code 380 signify anyway?

I played some more with this and now realize that it is working some of the time, just not all the time. It appears to not work when the panel is armed. I haven't fully verified this yet, but I think the 20P just ignores a configurable zone fault when the panel is armed. The main reason I wanted the envisalink is to allow me to get SMS messages when certain events occur while I am away and the 20P is armed but without setting off an alarm. I assume if the 20P is ignoring these faults, then the envisalink is not going to be able to respond.

[smyers119]

Since i have not got a reply yet i would set the field as follows, it should then send reports to envisalink as "Alarm, 24-Hour Auxiliary/Monitor zone"
*183 1,5,0,3,8,0

That wan't meant in a negative way I was just getting antsy.

Honeywell ignores everything execpt the zones that will set off the alarm when armed, it's one of the many querks of the Vista line.

[smyers119]

Can you explain what exactly you are using the zone for, it sounds like there still cound be a better option. As far as an alarm going off you can tell them to ignore any monitor only alarms. All they would have to do is filter it out, I don't see any reason for you to suffer. Have you thought about switching to Envisalarm?

[dcuste]

Honeywell ignores everything execpt the zones that will set off the alarm when armed, it's one of the many querks of the Vista line.


Can you explain what exactly you are using the zone for, it sounds like there still cound be a better option. As far as an alarm going off you can tell them to ignore any monitor only alarms. All they would have to do is filter it out, I don't see any reason for you to suffer. Have you thought about switching to Envisalarm?

I just got done reading through the forum and can see that my 20P is a big problem in doing what I am trying to do. Evisalink FAQ states......

"Zone followers are a slightly different class of Envisalert events that allow a user to select a "special" zone within their home/business to be alerted-on upon its change in state, regardless of the arming state of the security panel."

It appears this is not true with the 20P. It appears to me that the zone following for monitored zones ONLY works when the 20P is NOT armed. Is that correct or am I missing something here?

What I am doing with one monitor zone is having it connected to a loop detector that rings a doorbell when a car passes over the loops in my driveway. There are two loops connected in series to one detector. These are safety loops for an electric gate. The way I have this zone configured is to cause a momentary contact closure that rings my door bell. It works very nicely no matter how long it takes the car to drive over the loops, I get a nice door bell sound. I originally thought the quickness of the zone closing and opening was the issue, now I think that is not the case. I also have another monitor zone that monitors the water pressure. With this monitor, I can tell when the sprinklers come on and go off. I am a farmer and my irrigation is all on timers. It is very important to me to know that the irrigation is working properly and I bought the EvisaLink thinking it would send me a SMS anytime these events occur. It now appears that if I arm the 20P I will not be getting these SMS. I sure hope somebody has a workaround. I don't want to replace the 20P. I have way to much time and money invested in it. Do you think switching to Evisalarm will correct this problem? Does anybody know if Total Connect has this same issue?

[NonTech]

Have you thought about switching to Envisalarm?

Alarm Relay can now do Alarm Monitoring through the EnvisaLink 3. I spoke to one of the Sales Rep a few days ago and in order to switch from POTS/ARIM (IP) Monitoring, you will have to pay a US$45 setup fee. I can't understand why this fee is even necessary since all the configuration information can be passed on to them from the EYEZON-Server (maybe?). I already paid the set up fee of $35 when I sign up with them for the ARIM device.

The strange thing is the Sales Rep didn't even know that the EnvisaLink was supported, until she put me on hold to check with someone else.

[smyers119]

I have a solution for you....but not enough time to write it down white this minute. I will try to get back to you before tonight

[dcuste]

Have you thought about switching to Envisalarm?

Alarm Relay can now do Alarm Monitoring through the EnvisaLink 3. I spoke to one of the Sales Rep a few days ago and in order to switch from POTS/ARIM (IP) Monitoring, you will have to pay a US$45 setup fee. I can't understand why this fee is even necessary since all the configuration information can be passed on to them from the EYEZON-Server (maybe?). I already paid the set up fee of $35 when I sign up with them for the ARIM device.

The strange thing is the Sales Rep didn't even know that the EnvisaLink was supported, until she put me on hold to check with someone else.

I have been using POTS with Alarm Relay and one thing I can say it is very reliable. I don't think I would consider switching over until I was sure EnvisaLink is rock solid, reliable. I have one day of experience with EnvisaLink and so far it has not been good. I still can't figure out why some things take so long to show up. Even when I arm the panel through EnvisaLink, I don't get a report back that it is armed for minutes. I also can't figure out why my events are all out of order. You think it would be very simple to always send and list events in chronological order. I just can't figure it out why an event that happen 6 hours ago is listed between events that happened 3 hours ago. Am I the only one having these issues?

I just read on the Eyez-On FAQ about their limits on traffic for zone following. My thinking right now is that if you send your alarms through an additional, overworked, server, you are just further decreasing your reliability. To improve reliability, I would consider using a GSM (cell connection) over POTS, but that is about it. But then I don't know anything about the ARIM device service.