Is there a list of currently supported hardware for the GC3? I am looking for indoor and outdoor sirens/strobes but I am not sure what exactly is compatible with the GC3. I looked on the 2gig site and the list they have only has one siren on there.
2GIG does not publish an official list, however the GC3 is a bit more limited in stated expected compatibility than the GC2 still. Regarding sirens the Utilitech Siren/Everspring SE812 should work fine and is a popular option.
Ah I see. Thank you for the info.
If you are looking for non-Z-wave, that’ll just be limited by panel capabilities. Even then you could use a separate relay and the Open Collector output to run pretty much any powered siren.
Is there a specific setup you are looking for? Specific use case you are trying to cover?
Yes, my actual setup is I used a take-345 to convert my old brinks hardware which worked out great. However, I have a honeywell wall mounted siren, a blow horn style siren in the attic and a strobe above the garage. I was trying to figure out if I could reuse those or if I would be better off buying wireless.
I really like the idea of reusing them and I recently read on here about using a relay. I am thinking I will try that route but first I need to squeeze my butt up into a very small hole in the ceiling to figure out what sort of hardware I am dealing with for that horn so I can ask the right questions. All I know is that all 3 items where originally powered off the brinks bhs3000c panel. 2 lines into siren and one line into bell. Not sure which piece of hardware is going into which port however.
Simple Piezo sirens could be reused in some way or another. Once you get the model numbers we could provide more details or suggestions. Generally the GC3 affords a rather small current draw and is typically not going to support anything more than an indoor piezo on its own. However, it would all depend on the devices that are installed.
Unfortunately, someone without bones apparently installed the horn siren because that attic opening is tiny. I cannot get up there until I install a ladder door. However, I managed to get my head and arm up there to take a picture of it. Not sure if it gives you enough info but I am really hoping it does. I also took a picture of the indoor siren and the strobe as well.
Thanks for help. Its greatly appreciated.
Without a model number it is really hard to say anything concrete regarding the attic siren, however the strobe itself pushes the limit of what the panel supports, so an external relay and power supply would definitely be needed in this case.
Something like an RBSNTTL and a 12V power supply with enough amperage to support the sirens would be an option. Another would be the Utilitech as a replacement.
Alright if all my research is correct and I get lucky, it looks like I am dealing with a 12 volt 550ma horn siren. The strobe is 115ma but I am not sure what I am looking at for amperage on the wall siren. Any idea what it takes in amperage to drive that?
Looks to be possibly a 400ma model. a 1.5 or 2 amp 12VDC power supply would be what you are looking for.
Great! Thank you very much. I am sure I will be back for wiring help once the relay and power supply come in.
Ok, I am back. I got my Altronix RBSNTTL relay and a 12V 2A transformer. Here is what I am dealing with. I have a negative and positive for my strobe and confirmed that it works when hooked straight to the transformer. Then the positive from each siren (wall siren and horn siren) are connected together and the negatives are hooked together.
So the big question, how do I hook all this up to the relay and GC3? Also, my assumption is that when a speaker/siren is hooked up to “Bell” on my old panel it is that which supplies the actual sound correct? I know simply applying 12 volts to a speaker doesnt do anything.
The GC3 output is only really intended for piezo sounders.
Here is a diagram for the RBSNTTL.
Trigger + - would connect to bell, or to panel 14VDC + and Open Collector if using open collector programming.
Pos, Neg would be 12VDC input.
Jump 12VDC to Common on the positive input side.
Connect positive piezo wire to NO.
Negative siren wire directly to Neg.
Thank you for the information.
Are you saying then that the speaker and siren I attached earlier in this thread will not work with the GC3? How about the strobe? Will that work with the relay?
The strobe will work with the relay, but if any of the devices are only speakers, as in they do not have a built in driver circuit (or are not piezo devices) you would use an external driver. Most newer sounders have built in drivers, but yes looking at the rectangular sounder it looks like it does not, sorry didn’t catch that at first.
The ALSD1 should do. They can be found pretty cheap.
Strobe would run off RBSNTTL relay directly as above, then the sounders (if both lack a driver board) would connect to the speaker output on the ALSD1.
ALSD1 would trigger either steady or yelp (your choice) off of NO on the relay.
Trigger + – would connect to bell, or to panel 14VDC + and Open Collector if using open collector programming.
Pos, Neg would be 12VDC 2A input.
Jump 12VDC Pos to Common on the positive input side.
Connect ALSD1 steady or yelp + wire to RBSNTTL NO.
GND ALSD1 wire directly to RBSNTTL Neg.
So, as an overall description: since the GC3 has extremely low current capability, we’re just using the current as a trigger for a relay, and the relay as power for the strobe and as a trigger for the ALSD1. If the horn has its own driver, it would connect to RBSNTTL. If it does not have a driver, it would connect to ALSD1
Great! Thank you very much. I will give it a shot.
Ok, I am feeling extra “special” here. I am having the hardest time wiring this RBSNTTL to my strobe. I decided to forgo the ALSD1 and decided to buy a couple of piezo sirens instead. I am still waiting for the piezos to come in but in the meantime I figured I would wire up the strobe to get a proof of concept.
The wiring is all temporary and ugly for right now just to prove this out. Here is how I have it wired in the pic. I have 12vdc going from my transformer to POS+ and NEG-, I have TRG+ and TRG- going to BELL+ and BELL- on the GC3. At the moment I have POS+ going to C on the bottom of the RBSNTTL. Finally I have the negative of the strobe going to NEG- and the Positive of the siren going to NO on the bottom of the RBSNTTL. I have also tried jumping the POS+ to the C on the top. Neither of these combos are working for me when the siren goes off.
Is my wiring screwed up or do I have some sort of config to do in the GC3 that I dont know about to enable Bell output?
Any help is hugely appreciated. Thank you.
Let’s try the following, so we can control the programming:
Connect RBSNTTL Trg + to Bell + in GC3.
Connect RBSNTTL Trg - to OCL1 in GC3. (open collector)
leave the rest wired as is.
Program Q44 for (08) activated on any alarm.
Does that work for you?
Thank you I will give that a try. If I disable the sounder to test, will the signal still be sent to the RBSNTTL? My dog peed on the rug from being so upset the last time I was testing it. 
Yes, when using the Open Collector programmed to (08) it will activate (open collector internally connects to GND) when any alarm occurs. That is how I typically use an external relay. It is separate from the internal sounder.