Wire We Here?
The Sensor-y Experience
Panel Beaters
Customer Conundrums
I Spy
100

The standard gauge of wire typically used for basic residential door and window contacts.

What is 22 AWG?

100

To avoid false alarms, a Passive Infrared (PIR) motion detector should never be aimed directly at this type of environmental climate control feature. 

What is an HVAC vent/heater?

100

This is teh default industry-wide programming code used by many major panel manufacturers like DCS or Honeywell to access deep system settings. 

What is 5555 or 4112?

100

The most common thing an angry customer claims your motion detector is picking up, even though the sensor can't actually see them?

What are spiders?

100

This term refers to the power technology that allows a single Cat5 or Cat6 cable to carry both data and electrical power to an IP camera. 

What is POE

200

This color wire is traditionally used for the positive power connection on a standard 4 wire smoke detector or keypad layout.

What is red?

200
This specific type of sensor uses dual technologies - usually microwave and PIR - and requires both to trip before triggering an alarm. 

What is a dual-tech motion sensor?

200

A "low battery" trouble condition on a traditional panel usually refers to this component located inside the main metal enclosure, not the individual sensors. 

What is the backup battery?

200

This is the critical step a technician must take before testing a live system to avoid sending the fire department or police to a false alarm. 

What is putting system on test?

200

if a technician notices a camera's nighttime infrared (IR) image is completely washed out by a white glare, it is usually caused by the IR light reflecting off this specific camera component or nearby wall. 

What is the glass dome cover or sunshield?

300

This type of configuration uses resistors to allow to allow this panel to differentiate between a short circuit, an open circuit, and a normal secure loop. 

What is an End-of-line (EOL) resistor circuit?

300

This type of perimeter sensor utilizes a flexible acoustic cable or microphone to detect the specific frequency of breaking windowpanes. 

What is a glassbreak detector?

300

This specific error occurs when a zone wire makes direct contact with a metal stud, conduit, or the panel enclosure itself?

What is a ground fault?

300

The precise setting you need to configure for a client who insists their 80-pound rottweiler must roam free while the system is armed away. 

What is pet immunity?

300

This compression standard is programmed into network video recorders to shrink video file sizes without destroying image quality. 

What is H.265?

400

To prevent interference or "cross-talk", low voltage alarm wires should never be run parallel to this type of high-voltage building wiring without proper spacing. 

What is AC power line (120 volts) 

400

When installing magnetic door contacts on a steel or commercial door, you must use this specific type of contact to prevent the metal form interfering with the magnetic field. 

What is a wide-gap or armored contact?

400

If a wireless sensor is working perfectly when held next to the panel but drops offline once mounted across the warehouse, it is suffering from this issue. 

What is range limitation?

400

This is the technical term for the user's primary password that grants them the ability to add, delete, or change secondary user codes. 

What is the master code?

400

This specific camera feature dynamically balances intense background light and deep shadows in a single frame, preventing a subject standing in a sunny doorway from looking like a dark silhouette. 

What is a WDR/Wide Dynamic Range?

500

This specific tool is used to quickly trace a wire through a wall or identify a specific line among a bundle of unlabeled cables. 

What is a tone generator?

500

To precent blinding the sensor and causing false alarm's , an outdoor PIR motion detector should never be aimed directly toward this compass direction in the morning, or this direction in the evening. 

What are East and West?

500

This configuration setting dictates how long a panel will wait after a zone is tripped before actually dialing the central station, giving the user a chance to disarm. 

What is dialer delay?

500

When a customer complains that their keypad chime sounds exactly like their microwave, this is the programming setting you adjust to change the tone or frequency. 

What is the keypad buzzer/frequency adjustment?

500

This type of specialized camera lens allows a technician to manually adjust or digitally program the focal length and field of view, unlike a fixed lens. 

What is a varifocal lens?

M
e
n
u