Pretty basic one I use. I've looked all over my paperwork and websites and on my wireless thermometer for specifications but cannot figure out which one I have. Regardless though, It's a very small 'Acurite' with a three channel option that only evaluates temperature. I tell ya.. it took me a long time to buy what I needed and nothing else. I finally ended up speaking with the one representative the company has, a sweet gal, and she got me dialed in. I went to Walmart first upon suggestion here and for the life of me I cannot remember why I didn't like what it was I purchased. Maybe the dango thing didn't do what I wanted it to do - or drove me nuts for the matter. Well that's over with. What I have indoors measures a walloping 2 1/4" x 3 3/8" and looks like this should you like to email this nice young gal with a photo. I think it cost me about 20 bucks. Regards and howdy heebiejeebie. All is well here (and we should begin building soon). Dax (That's the indoor temperature of my home on top right).

doogan Here is a quick primer. I did my own security system and it is pretty easy: 1. even though wireless sensors are available, hard wire is best when walls are open. wire is cheap, no batteries to replace. Use wireless to augment the system if you need to add sensors later. Most security contollers provide both wired and wireless interfaces. You will need more wire than you think due to snaking up/down walls and through trusses. 2. Motion sensors and Glass break sensors require 4 conductors (power, ground, common, and normally open or closed contact). So it is best to run 22 guage 4 conductor wire everywhere. Magnetic contact sensors only require 2 conductors - so 2 will go unused. But why buy two wire types - the 4 conductor wire is not that much more than 22/4. MAKE SURE THE WIRE IS STRANDED - much much easier to work with than solid. Pay the extra for the stranded wire. 3. Use glass break sensors to cover a series of windows instead of magnetic sensors on all windows. For example, my dining room has 3 window sections and a transom. Rather than use magnetic sensors on each window, I used 1 glass break sensor in the dining room ceiling to cover all windows in that room. The glass break sensors have a range of about 20 feet and are quite sensitive. Using them will reduce the number of sensors you need. I would not recommend wiring magnetic sensors on all windows since this is very labor intensive. The only benefit of this is it will tell you if you have left a window open when you are getting ready to set the alarm. Most crooks will break the glass - unless you happen to leave a winow or door open. If you find out later that you want that - this is a good place where wireless sensors can be added. You can run the wires for the glass break sensors to a spot in the ceiling where you want to install them later. I highly recommend using a piece of 1 inch inside diameter PVC pipe strapped/glued to a ceiling truss that protrudes 1/2 inch below the truss. When the drywallers install - have them cut holes so these little pices of pipe pop through and are flush with the ceiling. Tape the wire inside the pieces of pipe so you can pull them out later. Purchase little covers for the pipe holes until you install the glass break sensors. Use the Honeywell Glassbreak sensors in the small sized packaging (they are a few dollars more than the larger size which look like small smoke detectors - but much more attractive than the larger versions). You want the galss break sensor to be about 10 to 15 feet back from the glass and in the ceiling. NOTE: do not adjust the sensitivity too high. Birds crashing into windows will set the alarm off (I found this out the hard way!). 4. Use magnetic contacts on doors. This is the one sensor that you need to install right now since you will have to drill through the door frames, and doing that after drywall will be a mess. 5. Use motion detectors as a second barrier. The best place for these is on the wall about 7 feet up. They have a range of about 25 to 35 feet. Use motion sensors to cover the second floor - one in the hallway should work. Crooks know that most people only alarm first floor and will use ladders to break in. Download the spec on the motion sensor you will use so you can get the pattern of coverage. Large rooms may need 2 sensors to cover all entry and exit points. 6. Definately install CO sensors - at least 1 for each floor. 7. Do home runs from each sensor location to a central location where you will install the panel. Make sure you label each wire so you know what sensor each wire is connected to. 8. There is a way of interfacing the smoke detectors in your home to the alarm system. If you use the link below and buy from them - their tech support will send you a small interface module that you tie into the last smoke detector in the chain - which is typically in the basement. You want to make sure you have a 22/4 wire run to this location (the end of the chaain of detectors). Call the people at the link below to double check on this. It will save you from having to install separate smoke detectors for the alarm system. The way the Honeywell/Ademco contollers work is that glass break and magnetic conrtact sensors are typically programmed as perimeter alarms. These are monitored when you set the HOME ALARM button. Motion sensors are typically deactivated on HOME ALARM (although you can define a motion sensor as a perimeter sensor if you want). When any perimeter sensor goes off, the alarm automatically sounds with one exception - you can put a delay on any perimeter alarm and that is normall done at entry points (like front door, utility room door) where you have alarm panels. These delays allow you to come home, open the door and turn off the alarm within the programmable delay time before it goes off. The motion sensors are typically defined as interior alarms that are usually activated only when you set the AWAY ALARM button. When you are away - all sensors (perimeter and interior) are activated. If you have pets that roam around areas monitored with motion sensors, make sure you purchase motion sensors that can handle pets (a few more dollars). I provided a link below to the on-line store where I purchased my equipment. They have some tips for installation on the site. Give them a call (located in Maryland) - very helpful. Best of luck. Here is a link that might be useful: On-Line Security Parts

I was having problems with my phone lines, so I called the phone company to see if they could help me. The problems were very intermittent so I did not think he would be able to fix it. various problems. I could not hear the other person talk they could not here me talk static the line would go dead no dial tone then it would come back a little later clicking sounds fax sounds when I pick up the phone could not hear the person for a few seconds, going in and out dsl Internet connection goes up and down, and slow He came over and did the following things 1. disconnected the unused alarm system inside out and outside, that alone made me very happy. It beeps when the power goes out. 2. Installed a dsl filter. We had a dsl filter missing on one of the TVs (has satellite receiver, with phone line) 3. Removed a remote phone jack the satellite folks put there for some dumb reason. It was the base unit. No other end could be found. He said they put those if there was no phone line near the receiver, but both receivers had phone lines installed near them. I think he just put it there just out of habit. He said it was not the phone company that installed it during dsl install, as I thought because they don't do that. 4 re-booted router. He said a missing dsl filter can cause static. He said rebooting the router as any electronic device helps since the get over heated and need to be shut off from time to time. He said wireless phone jacks are bad news. He did not say why, that I can remember. He wondered where the other half was but we never found it. The thing I was having the most problems with was, how an alarm system, not in use would cause problems. He explained it, but I forgot most of what he said, maybe because I did not thoroughly understand. Can anyone, in not too technical terms, explain what happens when an alarm system, not being used, tries to take over the phone lines? and how and why it can cause the above problems. I wondered if the sat company calls at 2 am why would that cause static during the day? why would a remote phone jack cause problems? He suggested a new router if we continued to have internet problems. These are the three options he suggested a. multi line modem so we could stop using router b. 2 computer wireless modem - set up with password so others could not hijack our system c. lynk sys router if we still wanted a router (I asked for a decent brand. We are using blittzz wireless firewall router - BWA 711, now I we get a new router, what do you think we should get, that cause the least problems? Please let me know which fixes would fix which problems and why. I hope all this is not too confusing. It is to me. Internet connection does seem faster now since he left, about 1 hour ago. Mary

Yes, wireless is an option, but it does have its drawbacks: 1. You will now have to install exterior alarm "boxes" on all your new windows. Not very attractive. 2. The wireless system will require batteries in each window. They won't need to be replaced very often, but you will have to replace them or at least check them every once and a while 3. Cost. Instead of $5 per window for the materials you now have a $30 box to install on each. I'm not sure the cost for labor to drill the hole, but it is something to consider.