"Fred" wrote in message
...
Hi,

There's a burglar alarm in our new house but the previous people say
they never used it (it was fitted by the family before them) and they
never kept the instructions.

The PCB says Texecom but other than that it's in a plain white box and
could be anybody's.

Have a look on their web site for further info. Should you need a manual
that needs you to register email me and I will send it to you.
www.texe.com

Since they were here for nine or ten years, it must be at least that
old. Has alarm technology improved much in 10 years? Can I keep it and
use it or should I bin it and buy a new one?

You can certainly keep the cables and a new panel is not expensive. If you
have no code then it may be impossible to use it.

There's a six core cable coming from the bell box. Do alarm fitters
follow a standard for cable colours? It would be nice to power the LED
and run it as a dummy box.

No standard, a look in the control panel will tell you what colours the
installer used.

I presume one cable pair is an anti-tamper loop? One pair controls the
bell and the other powers the battery in the box (assuming it has one
- and perhaps, by now, its dead)?

Usually they are, +12v, 0v, tamper, bell and strobe

Adam