Have the above unit at home here and while it does contact the alarm monitoring station (they confirm getting all the signals including opening, closing and an actual alarm we generated as a test), it seizes the phone line for up to 10 minutes after it contacts the alarm station. When it releases it goes into trouble with a code #5 which is failure to communicate.

ILEC in Manitoba yesterday which the alarm line is connected to had a system problem and phones were not working properly for 8 hours and this problem came up at the same time.

Alarm company which is a division of the ILEC is booked for service though the middle of Jan and their test desk says that because the PC2525 is an older unit (and probably non repairable) and want to sell me a new one.

Any thoughts if the problem is my end or could the alarm company have problems at their end ? Or do I upgrade to a new control box

I would imagine that a positive disconnect from the ILEC is just as important to an alarm dialer as it is to a phone system. I would check for that first before assuming anything.

-Hal

I am assuming this panel was working properly prior to the service outage.

First thing to check is proper polarity of the telephone line. Some of the older DSC panels were polarity sensitive. Using a VOM, connect the red lead to the tip and the black lead to the ring. You should see 48VDC plus or minus 1-2 VDC across the tip and ring. If the meter reads -48 VDC, switch the pairs.

If the ILEC dispatched to clear the outage, some splicing may have been involved, hence the reversed pairs.

If there was anything done in programming, make sure no changes were made to first and second telephone number dialed. If there is only one number that's supposed to be dialed when in alarm, then only one should be enabled. If there are two numbers, make sure both numbers can be dialed and answered. The panel, apparently, is communicating with, at least, one working number. Make sure everything is programmed properly and the communicating phone numbers and account codes are correct.

Rcaman

Panel was working properly before the outage and no programming changes here at my end.

I had checked polarity at the outside NID and it was good. I did not think of the polarity coming out of the new DSL filter that was installed for a triple play upgrade I had two weeks before until I read Rcaman's suggestion and it was reversed coming out towards the alarm panel

I swapped it Sunday night but still no joy. System had worked properly after the triple play upgrade so I don't think the polarity was an issue.

I am really thinking that its something at the monitoring station receivers that is not working properly after the outage was fixed. So far there has been no official word on why a lot of exchanges in 204/431 area code area were getting reorder tone or number out of service messages for up to 8 hours when attempting to place a call.

As the alarm signals are being received according to the monitoring station test desk I can get around the problem by using the *2# command to clear the error on the control panel. I'll give them a little more time to see if they can clear it up on their own.

As Hal mentioned, check that the carrier is providing CPC. The panel should be programmed with only one account code and only one number to dial the central station. If the polarity is correct, then the problem may be missing CPC or, as you are thinking, a problem with the central station's equipment. Since this is an older panel, using either Silent Knight 3+1, 4+1, Radionics or Sescoa data transfer, if the central station changed something, they may not be transmitting a "data received " code to the panel.

Rcaman

Tried talking to the central station this morning and they really didn't understand what I am talking about. Instead of the doing like 611 and saying "the problem is in your switchboard" they say " the problem is in your panel".

I think they have a script and if it does not cover the problem they don't know the answer. I think that I will have to call back later and see if I get an old timer or find out how to escalate the problem.

Problem is resolved but not sure by who.

I had a email reply from the test desk dated Dec 30 saying they had reset the account after contacting them the day before and if my problem was still happening they would be happy to come out on a service call once the LEC had blessed the line.

As the problem was still showing after I came home and deactivated the panel before reading their email I thought I would try two things before trying to explain to 611 what I needed.

They were:

1) removed all power (AC and battery backup) to clear memory of any outstanding errors.

2) lift the inside wiring from the panel output to my bix block see if one of my AASTRA 9116's was causing the problem.

No joy as the problem still happened after power was restored and the inside wiring isolated and activating / deactivating the system.

I didn't call 611 yesterday and thought I would find time Wednesday or Friday.

Later in the afternoon I saw the in use lite up on the set beside me for about 15 seconds and now I don't have a problem.

Not sure if the panel phoned home for its weekly test and reset but its all good now.

The power down reset probably fixed the problem. Most installers would do that first and I apologize for not suggesting that early on. Sometimes I forget that not everyone does this for a living.

The good news is it's working.

Rcaman