Security system change-out advice

Other Devices & Integrations Door Locks & Sensors
1

Currently have an old DSC 1550 (all hard-wired with resistors) and looking to swap it out with a newer setup. I am leaning towards the GE NX-8e (comes out cheaper than PC1832 w/ IT-100). I only want to replace the panel and both keypads.

Before I pull the trigger… anyone have some reasons I should look at something else or why the DSC system would be a better option (don’t wan the expense of an ELK or HAI). Thanks for the advice,

Roy

2

Well for starters if you have hard wired zones then you’ll want to look if they used 5.6K EOL resistors, because if they did then unless you want to go with anything else other than a DSC, you’ll likely have to play around with all these resistors also on your zones. I think the older DSC systems were 1K resistors anyway?!

How much is the GE NX-8e?

Also if you do end up deciding on DSC then you’re better off having a Envisalink 2DS rather than an IT100 to interface it with Vera.

3

Wow, thanks! I didn’t even think about the resistors being different. I haven’t personally checked what is there, but the PC1550 was supposed to use 1k resistors, the PC1832 5.6k and the NX-8e 3.3k resistors. Means either way I am gonna be swapping the resistors…

The pricing looks like so:
NX-8e + NX148e-RF keypad kit = $170
Additional NX148e-RF keypad ~ $75
$245 total

PC1832 + RFK5501 keypad kit = $150
RFK5501 keypad ~ $75
IT-100 adapter = $60
$285 total

Total difference is about $40-$50. The 2DS is $100, so unless it works better or has some other advantage. Also, one less part in the NX-8e would seem to another bonus…

4

The 2DS is more, but then you don’t have to worry about either using an IP to serial adapter, or a USB to serial adapter, which you’d also have to purchase.

The 2DS not only gives you the automation, but it also gives you the flexibility to have separate (free) alerting outside of Vera (redundancy), but also more options for remote programming, arming, and also the big one: professional monitoring at about one of the best industry rates that you can get.

5

By the way, whatever you decide, you can get the resistor values correct by adding an additional one up at the panel to match what it needs, or probably also turn off the EOL requirement in the panel programming (you lose line supervisory errors though); I know the DSC supports turning off EOL Resistors, but I guess I would rather try to make up the 4.6K difference, or the 2.3K difference in the case of the GE.

6

By the way, here are the respective threads for the GE and DSC plugins where you’ll find some good info:

http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,4060.0.html (GE)
http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,5154.0.html (DSC)

7

For the resistors, am fortunate that the installer put them inside the panel box. They will be easy to change out.

I had not planned on going to a managed alarm service, but you are right that does provide a nice option.

Does anyone know of any functionality that I would get/lose from one option over the other, relative to Vera?

8

I think they both supported well with fairly equal features and @futzle is quick to help / address issues with the GE.

But I really like the 2DS and DSC combo as it provides multiple ways to arm disarm, multiple alerting options and they keep adding features to it very regularly (for instance they just added a feature to keep the panel time accurate) The lead firmware developer of the 2DS has also just acquired a Vera, and so that can only result in better support.

Either way, you can’t go wrong with either panel, and it comes down to price and availability I guess, and there are pros/cons that are likely beyond Vera such as which one might be easier to program, and other such things as sensor options etc etc…

9

I was going to point out that the GE panel is quite old-school and might not be as sexy as some of these newfangled young whippersnapper panels. The GE plugin is essentially “done” in that it uses almost all of the unpublished serial protocol, so there won’t be any major new features coming in future releases. The hardware is similarly moribund, so while it works great as an alarm panel, it won’t grow over time in terms of functionality.

You do have a Vera, so you are by definition an early adopter, so keep that in mind when you make your decision.

10

Thanks for the advice. You talked me into the 2DS.

I ended up going with the DSC 1832, got it a little cheaper than I expected, pretty cheap on Ebay…
PC1832 (board only - includes resistors and battery cable, everything I needed) - $44
RFK5500 - $80
PK5500 x 2 - $87
Envisalink 2DS - $106

Note: You should only have one wireless keypad on each system, thus the PK5500.