I am building a new home and am considering the 2Gig Go!Control control panel and the alarm.com monitoring. I would like to use mostly hard wired sensors because they appear cheaper and because I don’t want to change batteries. I’ve had hard wired sensors in my current home for 15 years and they work great. I thought I might use the 2Gig super switch. Can I run all of my hard-wired sensors (4 doors, 2+ motion, a siren, and 3+ glass break) into the super switch that then transmits to the Go!control panel. Is there a limit to the # of hard-wired sensors connecting to the super switch? Has anyone done a new build this way? Will the functionality of the app be any different with this setup?
That’s not all that uncommon with a new build. It’s a good way to keep costs down if you can have your builder run wires and you plan to cover all windows.
The TAKE-345 supports 8 Zones. This does not necessarily equate to 8 sensors. In most wired applications, groups of windows are wired together in series to form one zone. A number of older wired alarm panels only supported 8 zones total, so this is exceedingly common. It is also common to have the entry doors (usually Front, Garage) on the same zone, as well as most motion detectors.
Keep in mind you can also use more than one TAKE-345. So if you would prefer having individual zones for most of the sensors, that would be fine too. You will need a battery back-up solution. Something like a Honeywell HPL624 works great (inexpensive, too) which will act as the power supply and a battery charging and backup power circuit for your TAKE-345 and powered detectors.
Thanks for the reply. Can I mix and match wired and wireless sensors? If I want to use wired sensors for the doors and windows and a wireless glass break, will this work using the TAKE-345? Does it matter which brand of wired sensor I use for the doors and windows? Is a wired PIR motion detector going to be more reliable than a wireless? Any suggestions you have on which wired sensors work best would be greatly appreciated (Is Honeywell fine?).
I’ve read varying reviews of PIR motion sensors with dogs. Is there a PIR sensor that is viewed as the best at working with dogs at home?
Lastly, are the tilt sensors used for detecting an open garage door reliable and will they work with the 2Gig Go!Control panel?
Yes, you can mix and match. The 2GIG-TAKE-345 converts the wired sensors to wireless. The 2GIG control panel receives wireless sensor signals so it would receive the signals directly from your wireless sensors and the converted signals from your super switch.
It doesn’t matter what brand wired sensors you use as long as they are “normally closed”. Nearly all security sensors are normally closed. Most life safety sensors such as smoke and CO detectors are normally open.
No, I don’t think a wired motion detector would necessarily be more reliable than a wireless. I usually recommend wireless motion detectors because they can easily be moved the room around as needed if you rearrange furniture.
If you have very big or very active (jumping or climbing) dogs you might want to consider a Honeywell 5898 that has both PIR and microwave motion detection. Otherwise the regular pet immune PIR motion detectors work pretty well.
For your garage door a large wide-gap magnetic contact sensor will be more reliable.
I am considering using the 2Gig Go!Control as a control panel only in a hard to find location. Is this silly? My reason for doing so would be to place the Go!control panel in a hard to find location so that an intruder could not smash the unit before the entry delay signal expired. I believe the Go!control has smash and grab protection but I am leery of relying on this. Also, can the speaker on the Go!control be disabled so that an intruder can’t home in on the control unit?
Are there any real-world examples of the smash and grab functionality working?
I would likely get 2 additional key pads to allow turning the unit off and on.
How long does the Go!control back up battery last? If I am installing a separate power supply with battery backup to the Take-345, could I locate the Take and Go!control next to each other and utilize the back up battery for the Go!control as well (maybe in replacement of or in addition to the internal back up battery?).
Lastly if I am wiring hardwired door and window sensors together in a zone, can I put 4 windows in series to wire a single zone that is connected to the take-345? does the take-345 require resistors on all of the zones?
Thanks much. The forum is a great help in designing a system.
It’s not silly. Yes you can disable the speaker if you want.
The extended battery lasts up to 24 hours and the regular battery lasts less than that. The battery life also decreases over time as the battery gets old. If you power 2GIG-TAKE-345 off the main control panel then the backup battery will last less time.
Yes, you can wire them in series to make 1 zone. The 2GIG-TAKE-345 does not require EOL resistors.
If you are doing a new build and you won’t have an existing control panel to serve as backup battery charger you might want to consider the Resolution Products RE208 wired to wireless zone translator. It does the same thing as the 2GIG-TAKE-345 but it uses AA batteries for backup and uses a regular wall wart power supply that’s a little easier to install.
Are there any real-world examples of the smash and grab functionality working?
I actually tested it (simulated the event by activating a delay entry sensor, and then taking main cp offline before it could go into alarm as if it had been destroyed):
see: Dialer delay? - Support - Surety Support Forum
if you are gonna go stealth, be sure to place main CP somewhere near center of home, and above ground level, and use TS1’s at entries and zwave sirens throughout home. you can use 4 TS1’s.
Thanks again for all of the great info. Will the new GC3 panel be ready for ordering soon? I would like to wait for this panel if possible. Will it work with the Take-345?
Also, If I hard wire my glass breaks, can I still use the Take-345? How do I get power to the glass breaks? Do I just connect the power straight to my separate power supply (with battery back-up)? Or can the Take-345 power the glass breaks?
Is there a best practice for installing garage door sensors? I’ve seen the large gap metal encased sensors installed on the ground and up near the top of a closed garage door. Which is best?
Lastly, if I plan to have 2 secondary 2Gig keypads, should I have a recessed receptacle behind it to accommodate the power supply for the keypad? Is so, how large is the power supply for the keypad?
Thanks again for all of the great info. Will the new GC3 panel be ready for ordering soon? I would like to wait for this panel if possible. Will it work with the Take-345?
We do not have a time frame for availability. It is expected to function with any 345 Mhz 2GIG sensor, including the TAKE345.
Also, If I hard wire my glass breaks, can I still use the Take-345? How do I get power to the glass breaks? Do I just connect the power straight to my separate power supply (with battery back-up)? Or can the Take-345 power the glass breaks?
Is there a best practice for installing garage door sensors? I’ve seen the large gap metal encased sensors installed on the ground and up near the top of a closed garage door. Which is best?
Options for monitoring your Garage Overhead doors can be found here. Top or bottom mounting makes little difference in terms of function for a contact reed switch which you reference, and they are built to handle being driven over, though higher mounting may discourage tampering.
Lastly, if I plan to have 2 secondary 2Gig keypads, should I have a recessed receptacle behind it to accommodate the power supply for the keypad? Is so, how large is the power supply for the keypad?
Details on a possible secondary touchscreen keypad for a GC3 are not known. The TS1 will not be compatible with a GC3.
Typically running power to an existing outlet or into a basement, in the case of a TS1, is recommended. Although a similar topic is covered here. A double gang box would be required to accommodate the size of a TS1 power transformer.
Lastly, if I plan to have 2 secondary 2Gig keypads
There is a keypad that doesn’t require external power that is 345mhz (2GIG-PAD1) and will work, the current Touchpad TS1 which requires external power is 900mhz, and wil not work.
So go with PAD1. At this time, there are no other options for a secondary pad.
Can you please advise me on a good power supply with battery backup to power my wired sensors and Take-345? I previously saw a recommendation for a Honeywell product that included a battery backup and wall mounted box. Can this power supply also serve as a battery backup for a new GC3 panel? Finally, do the secondary touch screens for the GC3 panel have battery backup inside the panel?
No, this wouldn’t be used as backup for the panel itself, just the powered sensors and TAKE-345. The Panel has built in battery backup. If you want additional protection, it can be plugged into an UPS, but a good UPS can be pricey.
There are no secondary touchscreens for the GC3 at launch. We do not know if the eventual production models (which we hear will be out this year some time) will have battery backup.
