Hi All,

I am in the planning stage of building a detached garage in my yard next summer. I currently have a monitored alarm system that says DSC PC 1555MX Power632 on it.

I would like to extend the security system to the garage, thoughts being a door sensor for the walk in door, an extra siren, a motion sensor, and possibly a glass break sensor on the window (which may just be replaced with welded iron bars... undecided). What sort of coverage is most recommended?

My plan is to be able to open the garage door by remote and park in it, without having to get out and punch into a keypad before opening the door.

Would it make sense to add an extra keypad, or is there another solution that I should be aware of?

If adding a second keypad seems to be the best option, is there some way to extend the amount of time I have between opening the door and having to punch in my code? (I will search online for the manual. This seems like one of those things that should be listed in it..)

I want to be as informed as possible before I talk to my provider. I also want to pull all of the wire out to the garage before I get their technicians in, if they are required. Do you folks have any recommendations?

-ps- If it matters, the current keypad is model PC5508Z.

Depending on how many zones are currently available in the system as well as the distance between the garage and the house you may want to consider wireless equipment.

Adding a wireless adapter (If you don't already have one) would also give you the ability to disarm the system with a key fob from the car.

If you go with hard wired equipment you are going to need 3 zones if you go with a door, a motion, and a glass break.
You will need 3 cable pairs for the zones and a pair for power to the detector and glass break.

Instead of getting power for the detectors from the control panel you may also need an external power supply depending upon how many keypads and motion detectors (or anything else that is using power from the control panel) are connected to the system AND the output of the ac transformer powering the system.

If you install a siren in the garage you will need another pair for it.
And if you install a hardwired keypad you will need a pair for it. You can power the keypad from the same source the motion is powered from.

I think I am currently using four zones on my system, and the keypad shows that it is able to handle 8 zones. In the house I have two door sensors and two motion sensors. Being a small house, I have fairly adequate coverage, with only one window that isn't covered that should be. A would-be thief would not make it far past that window without tripping the motion sensor anyway. I am, however, thinking of adding a spare sensor of some sort to secure an outside crawl space under the house that has alot of tools in it.

Are the number of zones controlled ultimately by the keypad or the main control unit? I assume it falls to whichever is lower.

I am not worried about how many runs I will need to the garage.. I already plan on running a conduit for low voltage cabling as it is anyways (telephone, network connection, coax for tv and possibly future video surveillance, and doorbell.

I do like the idea of a key fob to engage/disengage the alarm. I wonder if I could also program my CompuStar car remote to be compatible.

Do you know of a good supplier for these parts that I could browse through for ideas?

The number of zones is determined by the control panel and your particular system has 6 on board.
But as I stated you can increase the number with an expansion board but you will have to change keypads if you go above 8. Otherwise you would not see any indication from zones 9 and above if they were in alarm or open when you try to arm the system.

I doubt the CompuStar remote can be programmed to arm/disarm the system but I have no experience with them so I'm guessing. :shrug:

Here is a link to DSC where you can check out the products.