I have my new suretycam 2GIG running and have noticed a “glitch” that occurs occasionally. Typically in the morning when going to work, I arm the system in AWAY mode. Then the female voice on the speaker normally says “ARMING AWAY. EXIT NOW” and the countdown timer on the display activates and the tone beeps to start the exit.
However, sometimes (perhaps once every few days), when I press arm away, it almost sounds like the speaker is shorting out and the female voice is very muted you can barely hear it. THe countdown timer begins but there is no exit delay tone. I thought initially maybe it was something with the speaker. But after I exit, i check the status of the alarm on my phone and it shows that it arms in STAY mode ! So i have to go back & redo it.
This has happened several times now. Seems unusual.
When you arm in stay mode it just says “system armed stay” and there is no beeping during the countdown. Is it possible that you accidentally hit the stay button instead of the away button? Sometimes the resistive touch screen isn’t as accurate as we’d like. These days people are used to capacitive glass screens which are more accurate. It might be worth while to go into the Toolbox and hit the “calibrate touch-screen” button to recalibrate it.
How many times has this happened? Are there any specific dates and times that you recall when it did happen? We can look at your event history at those times to see if anything weird shows up.
I have calibrated the touch screen several times because I have noticed sometimes when pressing one box, a different one seems to have been activated. In addition, I use a small stylus to touch on the screen. I am very sure I press the ARM AWAY which is to the right and press to the right to avoid the possibility of pressing ARM STAY. When this occurs, i can hear the voice saying ARMING AWAY EXIT NOW but it is muted (almost like the speaker is shorting out and barely audible).
Even if I accidentally pressed ARMED STAY, it should still say “SYSTEM ARMED STAY” but there is no voice (severely muted). I don’t think it is a pressing the wrong button issue. This has happened at least 4 or 5 times since I purchased the unit. This morning at 7:50 was the most recent, the last time was about a week ago. Initially I thought it was just a speaker issue.
I supposed it could be a touchscreen issue as I have noticed sometimes when pressing one box, it registers a totally different box (particulary noticed this when setting up the system and testing it). The stylus helps, but i feel the touch recognition is very poor. In fact when disarming the system we have triggered alarms because it registers the wrong inputs for the code we enter.
When you press the ARM AWAY button, normally the “beep” registers from the button press and then the female voice comes on saying either “ARMING WAY EXIT NOW” or “SYSTEM ARMED STAY”. However when this glitch occurs, I cannot hear the female voice unless I put my ear right next to the speaker.
According to the event history your system has only been armed in stay mode in the morning one time since you’ve had the system, which was this morning.
The only thing I can think of that might be worth checking is whether the cellular module antenna is laying across the speaker. 2GIG panels have had a design flaw where if the antenna is too close to the speaker then when the module transmits it causes noise on the speaker. Originally the panel was erroneously designed for the antenna to lay across the speaker and fit into a that small compartment on the side of the panel. The way we’re supposed to install them now is to have the antenna go into the wall through the hole labeled “EXTERNAL ANTENNA” on the panel’s back mounting plate. Can you check whether the cellular antenna is close to the speaker on your installation? If so, can you move it into the wall away from the speaker? It’s a long shot but it’s worth trying. It might explain the speaker issue although I don’t think it would affect the touch screen.
If the touch screen or speaker are not behaving like they should then the only solution is to replace the unit. Let me know whether location helps. If not we’ll have to RMA the control panel.
OK, Ryan, the cellular antenna is lying abuot 8-12inches from the speaker as the panel sits on a table and the antenna is sitting behind the panel. I will try moving the antenna further away to see if that resolves the speaker issue.
If the unit needs to be replaced, will i have to reprogram it ?
Just a few inches is enough distance, 8-12 inches is more than enough. It looks we’re we’re going to have to replace it. I’ll have someone reach out to you to start the RMA process shortly.
You won’t have to reprogram any of the security stuff. We’ll back that up for you and restore it on your new panel. The only thing you would have to reprogram is if you have any z-wave devices you’ll have to add those again.
No problem, Ryan, thanks for helping me out today. One more question, will you send a new cellular module & AC adapter with the new unit or will I need to remove them from the existing unit and install them in the new one ?
Just as an FYI, this error happened again this past Sunday at 315, I had to disarm and rearm it properly.
So after that, I started arming it from the remote keyfob and surprisingly, the error happened again this morning. I pressed the button to arm away on the keyfob, there was no voice command and the speaker shorted out. SO I immediately disarmed and rearmed it to verify it was in armed away mode.
This would seem eliminate the touch screen as the issue and indicate either hardware problem or software bug somewhere
I should have the new panel in today, I will try to set it up by the weekend and hopefully have you guys configure it remotely.
It works best when we initiate the panel swap after you’ve powered down the old panel but before you power up the new one. If you power up the new panel before we initiate the panel swap, you run the risk of some of the default settings on the new panel overwriting the settings we have backed up from the old panel.
Here’s how to do it right…
Power down your panel completely (battery and AC).
Notify us to initiate the panel swap (post in this thread) and wait until we tell you to go ahead.
When we give the go ahead, put the cell module in the new panel, power it up and run a cell phone test.
Don’t remove power for at least 15 minutes after the cell phone test passes.
Not sure if you need to wake up early. The office is open from 8:30am to 5:30pm EST, M-F, but that does not mean you can’t catch us outside of those hours. (Such as now. ) Are you ready for a panel swap this evening?
Please feel free to email us at support@suretyDIY.com when you are ready. You can email me directly as well, but obviously, there will not be as many eyes checking that account, Amanda.Swan@suretyCAM.com.
Thanks Amanda, but by the time i get home its 6pm pacific / 9pm eastern
I will get in touch tomorrow morning about 9am your time (6pm Pacific)
I have installed the GSM module and power connectors in the new panel. I will need to connect the backup battery and then the power supply but Ryan said to wait until you guys are ready.
If possible, should I call you guys, or you can call me in the morning 9am EST / 6am PST
You should have my phone number with the 816-xxxx
) Are you ready for a panel swap this evening?