Technical Notes

Connecting to Home Alarm System

The Integrator Base Station has a three contact female jack that contains normally open, normally closed and common contacts. These contacts switch state when the Integrator Base Station begins alarming (almost immediately after Turtle is immersed in water).

The external plug for this jack can be used to directly connect the Integrator Base to any standard alarm cabinet. The plug can also be used to connect to a number of different wireless alarm transmitters. The ability to use either normally open or normally closed contacts allows for a wide variety of interface solutions. When connecting to a wireless transmitter, a standard window sensor with external contact facility is utilized. Typically, this type of sensor has a pair of normally open connections (for a window break sensor) and a pair of normally closed connections (for a secondary switch).

The Integrator Base can be pre-wired to either of these connections. Using the normally closed pair allows for an alarm if the Base and transmitter become separated for any reason, a reasonable fail-safe. Some wireless transmitters can be set for a short delay or an instant alarm. The instant setting is preferred. The wireless transmitter is a supervised device, thus allowing the alarm cabinet to monitor the communications with the transmitter. This supervision also affords battery status and indicates when the transmitter battery needs to be replaced.

The Safety Turtle Integrator Base should be connected to a zone in the alarm cabinet that has no other devices attached. This zone should be programmed to be an instant, unlatched, emergency alarm. Thereby, pressing the moon-shaped button on the Integrator Base Station cleans both its alarm state and that of the Home Alarm. The central station should not verify this alarm and they should immediately call the Emergency Services personnel. The contact list should only be notified if the responding agency determines there is a need. This programming is similar to a burglary or panic button central station response.

See illustrative diagrams [Adobe PDF file] of wired and wireless connections to alarm cabinet.