This might be a bit far out… but I was wondering if anyone has tried to relocate the speaker in the GC2 panel.
It appears to be a standard 6 ohm speaker. It seems to me this could be directed to a preamp input of a low-cost amplifier (such as something like this one) and distributed to one or more mono speakers anywhere in the house, perhaps complete with volume or mute controls. This could solve the issues with lack of individual panel audio controls at TS1s as well.
I’m guessing it would void my GC2 warranty - though my is far expired. I’m not sure of other implications – but it seems incredibly straightforward.
I should add that the best way to test this would be to get my hands on the plug & wire leads for the GC2 so I wouldn’t have to tap directly into my GC2. Anyone have a parts GC2? :>
It would absolutely void the warranty so I wouldn’t recommend it on a new panel. Wireless sirens exist to make it easy compared to wiring the home for audio, but to be honest, I’d be pretty interested in this as well. Please let us know if you try it out.
This could solve the issues with lack of individual panel audio controls at TS1s as well.
I wasn’t aware that the TS1 lacked audio/volume controls? It has chime, voice, and volume control. Do you mean the PAD1?
...relocate the speaker in the GC2 panel.
What panel are you referring to? To my understanding, the Go Control 2 (GC2, aka Go2.0) is the vivint sky panel, whereas the CP21 is the latest hardware revision of the original CNTRL1 Go Control panel, and the CNTRL2 was the revision panel that immediately followed the CNTRL1.
Are you referring to the Sky panel, the older CNTRL2, or the newer CP21 panel? In each of the revisions the speaker/casing was changed.
Riven-
Good questions. I am somewhat new to this so perhaps I abbreviated where I shouldn’t. I believe I have “B” above-- though it appears both B & C have a single 2-wire lead to the speaker so the approach would probably be the same.
I think you are correct- we can adjust the chime & volume at the TS1. I’ve not played with this since its location is not a problem in my installation.
The location of my main panel, however, is dictated largely by positioning for sensor & cell reception, which puts it near kid’s bedrooms. So while I work during the day, I want to hear chimes. At night, they need to be shut off. I think I can do this from the control panel as well easily with the Chimes & Voice user controls.
The bigger issue is one of design of these all-in-one systems. Ideally I’d like NO sound from the control panel AT the control panel. I don’t need to lead an intruder to the panel. I’d rather separate the announcements from the panel and let an intruder spend his time trying to find it. This can be accomplished for the siren (and, indeed Riven, I followed your guidance on the Lowe’s ZWave siren) but not for all other announcements & chimes. And this is one of the bigger drawbacks of these all-in-one systems IMO.
That’s how I have mine. No sound at main panel except for siren in alarm events.
I just unchecked the voice and chime boxes. If you want it completely silent (I mean like stealth mode), merely unplug the speaker connector (no 2way voice though).
I use my TS1 for chimes and voice They have all the features/functionality of the main panel, except no 2way voice, and no programming access. I also use a PAD1 in the bedroom areas. A $30 Lowes 100db zwave siren/strobe for other areas of home adds the sirens where I need them.
I have been looking at these zwave sirens … although after seeing how easy it is to takeover a zwave device i wonder because there was just a report of how they turn them off before they enter the home…
However if protecting against the clueless i guess they are better than nothing.
My concern like YoYo’s was to not lead the intruder to the control panel
If I was to install a zwave siren in more than a few places this might help.
However it would be nice to have the remote siren sound just like the go control siren.
I wonder are there any sirens that sound like the go control? probably not but I figure i would ask…
.. although after seeing how easy it is to takeover a zwave device i wonder because there was just a report of how they turn them off before they enter the home
Really, how easy is it to take over a zwave device prior to entering home? I don’t remember reading about that. Post a URL link.
However it would be nice to have the remote siren sound just like the go control siren.
I wonder are there any sirens that sound like the go control? probably not but I figure i would ask…
As for sounding sirens sounding like panel, there are some that do, but Everspring and Fortrezz are not one of them to my knowledge. Perhaps the Resolution…?
My concern like YoYo’s was to not lead the intruder to the control panel
To do this properly you unplug the panel speaker, and you use wired/wireless siren(s), BUT you will lose 2way voice capability (but that should not be a primary concern for those who want to hide the main panel location).
In my case, it doesn’t matter. Main panel is installed properly center of home off the main level (I have three levels). To get to it, an intruder must pass multiple perimeter and interior PIR/Image sensors and cameras (both regular and infrared), and ascend to another floor of the home.
Alarm will trigger at central station regardless, and by the time they even get to the main panel they have already been captured on multiple video and imaging devices.
All levels have secondary panels (TS1, PAD1) as well.
Soon as panel alarms for either perimeter or interior sensor, lights on floor levels activate illuminating home.
Riven if you watch that video they will explain the process
supposedly not all devices are effected
however the same methods can be used
to circumvent any fixes made in the future
it is very basic … you use a combination of hardware and software to sniff packets
once you analyze the packets you can mount an attack.
Z-Wave is suppose to be a secure protocol
so is encrypted WiFi and as we all know
wifi encryption is basically useless
and does not take much to circumvent
I suggest that you watch more videos on wireless protocol circumvention
and read reports of new methods of attack
The fact is only a professional or a smart 14 year old russian kid
is going to go through the problem… everyone else will find another method
Just to add to above posts, the Resolution wireless siren does not sound like the panel. The only thing that I know of which will produce the same Control Panel sounds is the TS1. You can add up to four.
