26 April 2017

The performance of our outdoor wireless sensors changed an expert’s opinion

Initially reluctant to install wireless outdoor sensors without visual verification, fearing a high number of false alarms, a highly experienced security installer changed his mind after trying our wireless sensors.

An isolated residential property in a rural location in the West Midlands (UK) needed an intruder alarm system to protect its detached garages and house. Paul Bishop, the Contracts Manager and Senior Installer at Amron Security who was asked to specify a security solution at the property, was at first sceptical to use wireless outdoor PIRs around the front door, garages and windows, fearing too many nuisance alarms would occur.

However when trying our VXI outdoor battery-powered volumetric PIRs, and our FTN curtain sensors, Paul changed his mind. OPTEX’s wireless PIRs and the overall intrusion detection system proved to be extremely reliable.
Using the pre-configured Ricochet® enabled wireless transmitter, the BGR-01, the sensors connected flawlessly to the Ricochet wireless alarm panel, making the solution easy to set-up and install.

“The technology has performed to such a high standard that my PIR concerns have been mitigated and we are specifying OPTEX’s sensors at further sites,” Paul explains.

“My concerns over battery life have also been dispelled, since it is now more than 18 months since the first detectors were installed and they continue to work without interruption.”


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New multilingual REDSCAN manager is available

We are delighted to announce that our new REDSCAN Manager Version 6.0.3.0 is now available for both REDSCAN RLS-3060L and SH and RLS-2020I and S. The new software offers six languages –English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. It can be used with any REDSCAN laser sensor from the firmware version 7.0 . With the new software, it is easier to draw customised detection areas and select the various detection modes (horizontal, vertical, small object detection etc). Some key new features are also available:

  • New user interface with “wizard” style setup.
  • Quicker connection
  • Added support for Windows 10

How do you download the new firmware?

All REDSCAN certified partners – those that have successfully passed our technical training, will receive an email communication with a link. If you haven’t received the link please contact us here and we will send it to you.


How to integrate security detectors into a smarter solution?

As part of its smart solutions project, Benchmark magazine explored how security sensors can be integrated with smart solutions. The connectivity provided by our encoder device PIE-1 allows this.

Benchmark magazine has launched its smart solution project to explore in real conditions how devices and systems from a number of suppliers can integrate. Part of the project was to review how physical sensors could be integrated in a smart solution that not only provides security but also more efficient site management.

External sensors provide information that is useful to any event-triggered or automated system; they detect the motion or presence of people or objects (possible with specific sensors) in designated areas of a site.

This information can be use to trigger a number of responses that can be used either for security purposes (to trigger camera, to alert the VMS etc) or other tasks, such as automated switching, and power and flow management.

The benefits of security sensors are that they are built with accuracy and reliability in mind, which makes their use for other non-security applications more appealing. However the typical two wires connectivity is not always suited for the application.

The PIE-1 gives the sensors the option to be Powered over Ethernet, and can therefore send alarm codes to any network-led system that accepts ASCII codes and uses the network and to be PoE-compliant.

Benchmark’s summary says: ‘The Optex Redwall PIE-1 is a valuable tool for installers and integrators who are looking to add detection devices to a VMS or other networked system. It allows detectors to be employed for security purposes or for other tasks such as flow management, automated switching, power management, etc.

‘It is simple to deploy, and the installation and configuration should present no problems for any installer or integrator with the competencies associated with designing and implementing credible solutions.’

Click here to read the full review or Call us on +44 (0)1628 631 000