My HF ham radio transmitter is consistently causing nuisance tamper alerts on most zones. If the alarm is set, the tamper alerts set off the alarm. On one occasion it set off the fire alarm.
I’ve installed Mix 31 ferrite beads inside the hardwire translator box on all 16 zone wires including the smoke/fire circuit wires, and the incoming power wires (on both red and black). This mix is specifically designed to suppress RFI at the relevant frequencies/bands (7MHz/40m, 14MHz/20m, 21MHz/15m and 28MHz/10m). I’ve verified they’re suppressing these frequencies 21-32 dB. With the ferrites installed, the problem appears to be solved for 20m, 15m and 10m, but I’m still getting tamper alerts while transmitting at 7MHz/40m. This is despite the best ferrite suppression (32 dB) being at 7MHz/40m.
I know I’m not the first to have this problem. What’s the fix? The ideal solution would be a setting to disable tamper alerts altogether; I don’t see such a setting. Is a firmware version available which would allow disabling TA’s?
Are you able to record a video of the panel when this occurs and send it to us? If you are not able to send it here, you can send it to Support@suretyhome.com
I shared the video with Qolsys tech support representatives. They were not sure why it was causing this. They also mentioned that the tamper cannot be disabled on the zones.
They suggested going with a PowerG Takeover Module as the connection is more secure using multiple frequencies and hopping between them.
IQ PowerG Takeover Module only has 8 zones on board but can be expanded with the IQ Hardwire Expansion Card
Thank you for your response. You say Qolsys tech reps don’t understand the problem. I can help with that:
The tamper alerts are popping up because a routine in the firmware is evaluating some parameter which is being measured on the zone wires (likely voltage). The measured value is exceeding the programmed threshold value – apparently a hard-coded value which can’t be changed in settings – so the firmware is throwing flags as it is programmed to do.
As I said, I’ve added 32dB of RF suppression, meaning I’m preventing 99.94% of the delta voltage which the transmitter is inducing onto the zone wires from reaching the Hardwire Translator main board. The alarm system is intolerant of the tiny remaining fraction that’s getting through.
This tells us the threshold tamper limits hard-coded into the firmware are very, very narrow. The clear solution is for JCI/Qolsys to provide relief by relaxing that threshold.
It would only take changing a few lines of code to give thousands of ham radio owners that relief. An even better, more customer-oriented solution would be to add a software slider control into settings with the current tamper threshold at one end of the slider range, disabling the tamper feature altogether at the opposite end, with the remainder of the slider devoted to adjusting the threshold sensitivity. Such a control would allow users to find their own unique sweet spot between tamper protection and RFI tolerance.
I don’t understand how the PowerG Takeover Module would help the issue. I can’t find a clear explanation what it exactly does, but it appears to provide a new wireless interface between the existing zone wires and the wireless keypads. It still uses the existing zone wires, where the RF is likely getting in. I think the frequency hopping is only between the Hardwire Translator/Takeover Module and the wireless keypads. That link isn’t the problem.
I will reach out to Qolsys and update them on this.
If it is the tamper caused on the wire side, then the PowerG Takeover module can be used as it has a wider resistor range of 1K to 10K Ohm resistance(5.6K is UL) vs the IQ Translator of 4.7K. You can also program the zones inputs to be Normally Closed instead of SEOL(Single End-of-Line). This would most likely eliminate the tampers caused by the radio.
