smokindog
Member
I've been doing some repairs on my home alarm system and needed to test out some wireless sensors. I have a DSC 1832 system and self monitor/manage. I bought the two sensors with external contact inputs (WS4945 and WS4965) to see if I could cover multiple windows in a room with a single sensor. Turns out I couldn't for various reasons and had to order multiple of the smaller WS4945 sensor to solve my problems.
The "left over" WS4965 sensor has two external zone inputs and also has a built in tip sensor that many use on garage doors. I had already programmed the WS4965 into my main panel for testing so, just for giggles, I tossed it in the gun safe and was shocked to see that the 433MHz technology actually continued to report!!! I attached the unit above the door of the safe on the inside and added a magnetic reed switch, also on the inside, to monitor the door. My alarm will now sound if either the door to the safe is opened and/or the safe gets tipped over.
If you've got a DSC PowerSeries system and have the installer code it's easy to add. The WS4965 sensor is $30 on eBay (new) and the receiver (if you don't already have RF on your panel) is $35. A magnetic reed switch is a buck or two. I've got a box full from a previous repair!!
There are other ways to add RF to a DSC system as well but more costly. I needed a new keypad anyway so I added an RFK5500 alpha-numeric for about $120. A less fancy non-alphanumeric keypad (RFK5501) is about $80. If you use a service, it will probably be a LOT more expensive to have installed as the retail prices are significantly more!!!! Should take less than an hour if you're familiar with the system and programming.
Bottom line, I'm happy with this solution!!!! A fully supervised alarm for the safe integrated to my home system. I also have an Envisalink 4.0 board that allows the system to send me alerts on my smart phone.
The "left over" WS4965 sensor has two external zone inputs and also has a built in tip sensor that many use on garage doors. I had already programmed the WS4965 into my main panel for testing so, just for giggles, I tossed it in the gun safe and was shocked to see that the 433MHz technology actually continued to report!!! I attached the unit above the door of the safe on the inside and added a magnetic reed switch, also on the inside, to monitor the door. My alarm will now sound if either the door to the safe is opened and/or the safe gets tipped over.
If you've got a DSC PowerSeries system and have the installer code it's easy to add. The WS4965 sensor is $30 on eBay (new) and the receiver (if you don't already have RF on your panel) is $35. A magnetic reed switch is a buck or two. I've got a box full from a previous repair!!
There are other ways to add RF to a DSC system as well but more costly. I needed a new keypad anyway so I added an RFK5500 alpha-numeric for about $120. A less fancy non-alphanumeric keypad (RFK5501) is about $80. If you use a service, it will probably be a LOT more expensive to have installed as the retail prices are significantly more!!!! Should take less than an hour if you're familiar with the system and programming.
Bottom line, I'm happy with this solution!!!! A fully supervised alarm for the safe integrated to my home system. I also have an Envisalink 4.0 board that allows the system to send me alerts on my smart phone.
