------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alarm Receiver Formats: FBI CP-220 Bulletin 1030 6/22/01 Copyright (C) 1992, Coastal Security Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The central station receives most of its alarm traffic using the Fire Burglary Instruments model CP-220 (U.L. listed) digital alarm receiver. This receiver accepts a wide variety of communicator formats. All 3 X 1, 4 X 1 and 4 X 2 formats with NO PARITY are supported. This includes 1400 Hz and 2300 Hz pulse formats at 10, 20 and 40 pulses per second as well as DTMF formats such as Ademco Express 4 X 2. The bandwidth of a standard telephone line is from 300 to 3000 Hz. Because the 1400 Hz frequency is near the center of this bandwidth, it is more reliable under bad phone line conditions than 2300 Hz which is near the top of the band- width. Likewise, the 20 pulse per second speed is more reliable than 40 pulses per second because each pulse lasts longer and there is more time between each pulse. The very best choice is a DTMF format. This format has proven to be reliable and is the least likely to be trapped or filtered by the telephone company. Any of the formats described in this bulletin may be sent to any CP-220 receiver line. ------------------------------------ 3 X 1 and 4 X 1 Without Parity The 3 X 1 and 4 X 1 are the simplest formats but they convey the least amount of information. All that is received is a three or four digit account number and a one digit alarm code which may be 0 through 9 or B through F. These formats allow only fifteen distinct signals from an account. It is important to select a format with no parity. The receiver cannot distinguish between a 3 X 1 signal with parity and a 4 X 1 signal without parity since both are transmitted as five digits. Similarly, the receiver cannot distinguish between a 4 X 1 signal with parity and a 4 X 2 signal without parity since both are transmitted as six digits. The 3 X 1 and 4 X 1 formats can be depicted as follows: AAA C AAAA C where AAA or AAAA is the account number and C is the alarm code. When sub- mitting a new account to the central station which uses one of these formats, all you need to provide is the account number and a description of each code. ------------------------------------ 3 X 1 Extended Format The 3 X 1 extended format transmits a three digit account number, a one digit alarm code, and a one digit zone or user number. The signal is sent in two parts which requires twice as much time as a standard signal. The first part of the message contains the account number and alarm code. The second part contains three repetitions of the alarm code and the zone number. The 3 X 1 extended format can be depicted as follows: AAA C CCC Z where AAA is the account number, C is the alarm code, and Z is the zone or user number. When submitting a new account to the central station which uses this format, all you need to provide is the account number and a description of each code. You may optionally provide additional information about each zone or user. ------------------------------------ 4 X 2 Format The 4 X 2 format is the most popular of all formats. It is capable of transmitting 225 unique conditions per account and is faster than the 3 X 1 extended format. It can be depicted as follows: AAAA C Z where AAAA is the account number, C is the alarm code, and Z is the zone or user number. Panels which first used the 4 X 2 format generally did not allow you to program the zone/user number digit. The panel would automatically send the actual zone or user number. Most newer panels allow you to program both digits as if they formed a two digit alarm code. But the central station, in order to provide compatibility with the large number of older systems, must continue to separate these two digits into a one digit code followed by a one digit zone number. When submitting a new account to the central station which conforms to the old method of separating code and zone digits, all you need to provide is the account number and a description of each code. You may optionally provide additional information about each zone or user. Example one: Code Zone Description 1 any fire 2 any panic 3 any burg 9 any restore The first example shows the minimum amount of information required by the central station about a system which transmits 4 X 2 signals which always put the alarm code in the first digit and the zone or user number in the second. Example two: Code Zone Description 1 1 downstairs smoke detector 1 2 upstairs smoke detector 2 1 key pad panic 2 2 key pad ambush 2 3 remote panic 3 1 front and garage doors 3 2 downstairs perimeter 3 3 downstairs motion 3 4 upstairs perimeter 3 5 upstairs motion 3 6 gun cabinet (24-hour) 9 any restore The second example shows information about a system which also always puts the alarm code in the first digit and the zone or user number in the second. In this example, additional (optional) information has been supplied for each zone. The central station operators will report this information when disp- atching an alarm and this additional information (zone descriptions) will appear in the subscriber's alarm history. Example three: Code Description 01 fire, pull stations 02 fire, water flow 03 tamper, gate valve 04 trouble, alarm panel 21 restore of 01 22 restore of 02 23 restore of 03 24 restore of 04 30 24 hour test 31 trouble, phone line 1 32 trouble, phone line 2 33 ground fault 35 restore, phone line 1 36 restore, phone line 2 37 restore, ground fault cleared 60 trouble, ac power failure 69 trouble, low battery 70 restore, ac power 79 restore, low battery In the third example (which is a partial list of the signals received from a Silent Knight 5104 communicator), the code and zone digits appear to be combined to form a two digit alarm code. The central station must - in order to provide compatibility - continue to separate the digits into code and zone fields. For example, if "69" is received (low battery), the central station will show: Code: 6 Zone: 9 TBL low battery. ------------------------------------ Ademco High Speed Format The Ademco High Speed format is capable of transmitting the status of eight zones in a single transmission. This format may have been popular when eight zone panels were state of the art. Now that 16, 32 and 64 zone panels are common, this format is seldom used. This format introduces the concept of pin status or zone status. For each of eight zones, a pin status digit is transmitted. The format is depicted as follows: AAAA PPPP PPPP X where AAAA is the account number. PPPP PPPP is the status of each zone, and X is a special digit which describes the type of information in the PPPP PPPP fields. Each P field contains one of the following values: 1 new alarm 3 new restore 5 normal 2 new opening 4 new closing 6 outstanding The X field contains one of the following values: 0 AlarmNet messages 1 ambush or duress 2 opening by user (the first P field contains the user number) 3 bypass (the P fields indicate which zones are bypassed) 4 closing by user (the first P field contain the user number) 5 trouble (the P fields contain which zones are in trouble) 6 system trouble 7 normal message (the P fields indicate zone status) 8 low battery (the P fields indicate zone status) 9 test (the P fields indicate zone status) The following is an example of a new alarm condition on zone three from account number 1234: 1234 5515 5555 7 | | | | | | | normal message | | zone 3 new alarm | zone 1 normal (same for zones 2 and 4-8) account number The central station would interpret this signal as: Account: 1234 Code: 3 (alarm) Zone: 0 When the zone restores, the central station will receive: 1234 5535 5555 7 which will be interpreted as: Account: 1234 Code: 3 (restore) Zone: 0 The special conditions which are defined for this format have been assigned the following event codes by the central station: Code Description 0 system trouble (X field contains 6) 9 test (X field contains 9) 10 low battery (X field contains 8) 13 ambush or duress 16 opening by user 19 closing by user 20 AlarmNet diagnostic (X field contains 0) 21 AlarmNet subscriber trouble (X field contains 0) 22 AlarmNet unregistered subscriber (X field contains 0) When an Ademco High Speed message contains more than one event, the central station creates separate signals for each event. For example, if the central station receives: 1234 1555 5155 8 The central station will produce the following signals: Account: 1234 Code: 1 Zone: 0 (alarm zone one) 1234 6 0 (alarm zone six) 1234 10 0 (low battery) Due to the complexity of this format, we suggest that you contact a central station supervisor to set up a template which can be used each time you submit a new account using this format. ------------------------------------ Acron Superfast This seldom used format is similar to the Ademco High Speed format in that it includes the status of eight zones in a single message. It can be depicted as follows: AAAA CCCC CCCC where AAAA is the account number and the C fields are the alarm codes for each of eight zones. You cannot program code zero for any zone since a zero means no alarm condition. The following example shows a code 3 condition on zone one and a code 8 condition on zone six: 1234 3000 0800 the central station will produce separate signals for each event: Account: 1234 Code: 3 Zone: 1 1234 8 6 There are five special messages which the central station has assigned arbitrary alarm codes: Code Description 0 24 hour test 16 opening 17 forced arming 18 low battery 19 closing When submitting a new account to the central station all you need to provide is the account number and a description of each code (including the arbitrary codes listed above if you are using them). ------------------------------------ F.B.I. Superfast (4 X 3 X 1) This format contains a four digit account number, a one digit alarm code and a three digit zone or user number (The zone/user number is actually sent as two hex digits which are expanded to three digits by the receiver so the limit is 256 - not 999 - zones). The format can be depicted as follows: AAAA C ZZZ This format is an excellent choice since it is fast and can report 1,536 different alarm conditions from a single account. When submitting a new account to the central station all you need to provide is the account number and a description of each code. You may optionally submit zone and/or user information. ------------------------------------ Ademco Point/Contact I.D. This format contains a four digit account number, a three digit alarm code which is pre-defined by Ademco, a pin status which can either be alarm or restore, a two digit area number and a three digit zone or user number. It can be depicted as follows: AAAA P CCC XX ZZZ where AAAA is the account number, P is the pin status (alarm or restore), CCC is the alarm code which is pre-defined by Ademco (you cannot program it), XX is the dialer group, partition or area number, and ZZZ is the zone or user number. The central station computer decodes contact id signals and provides the central station operator with default alarm handling instructions which are fully described in bulletin number 1032. If you are satisfied with the default instructions you need not furnish any signal information for the account. If you wish to modify the default instructions you need only furnish information for the signals you wish to modify. ------------------------------------ Radionics BFSK (Omega Hex) The Radionics BFSK format is a 3 X 1 message which includes pin status. It can be depicted as follows: AAA P C where AAA is the account number, P is the pin status, and C is the alarm code. The central station can accept pin status values: alarm, restore, trouble, bypass, forced arming, ambush, open, close, and cancel. The BFSK message has additional pin status values which are converted to alarm codes as follows: Status Code Zone Description M 10 1 missing alarm report V 10 2 missing trouble report P 10 3 a.c. power failure L 16 0 listen in (not used) S 11 0 24 hour test When submitting a new account to the central station, you must provide the account number and a description of each alarm code. If the panel will be programmed to transmit the special pin status conditions described above, you should contact the central station supervisor to establish a template for the conditions which will be received. The template can then be used for all new accounts. ------------------------------------ Silent Knight FSK 2 This seldom used format contains a six digit account number, a one digit alarm code, pin status, and a two digit zone number. The format is depicted as follows: AAAAAA C P ZZ where AAAAAA is the account number, C is the pre-defined alarm code, P is the pin status, and ZZ is the zone or user number. The alarm codes are pre-defined by Silent Knight as follows: Code Description Code Description 0 hold up 10 cold 1 fire 11 low battery 2 medical 12 a.c. power failure 3 panic 13 phone line trouble 4 burglary 14 expansion trouble 5 tamper 15 data lost 6 gas 16 opening 7 sprinkler 17 ambush or duress 8 water 19 closing 9 heat When submitting a new account to the central station, you must advise us which alarm codes the panel will transmit and provide a complete zone list.