Using Motions with a Qolsys IQ Panel 2

Hi, DIYers. I'm George from Alarm Grid. Today I'm going to be going over, can you use motions with a Qolsys IQ Panel 2 or a Qolsys IQ Panel 2 Plus? So simple answer to that is yes. Pretty much every security system out there you can use motion detectors with. You just have to make sure that you're getting the correct and compatible motions that will work with your system. Now, if you have the IQ 2, you can pretty much use any Qolsys motions, whether they're the normal 319.5 megahertz or whether they're the rolling code encryption S-Line motion sensors. You can also use Interlogix sensors because the daughterboard card that's in the normal IQ 2 is a 319.5 megahertz daughteerboard card, and Interlogix uses that same frequency. So you can use any wireless Qolsys or Interlogix, and the Qolsys S line encrypted sensors can be used with the normal IQ 2. Now, if you have the IQ 2 Plus, this is where things get a little more difficult. The IQ 2 Plus has a PowerG daughterboard card built in. Every single IQ Plus has that. And then it has one other daughterboard card. There's three different flavors. There's a 433 megahertz, which is DSC. There's a 345 megahertz, which is Honeywell and 2GIG. And then there's the standard one, the 319.5, which is called Qolsys and Interlogix. So depending on which IQ 2 Plus you get will determine which wireless motions you can use or, if you're using a wired motion, you just need a wired-to-wireless converter of whatever brand that the second daughterboard card in the system is. So for instance, if you guys have the 433 megahertz version of the IQ 2 Plus, you guys can use wireless DSC motions. If you guys have the 345 megahertz version of the IQ 2 Plus, you can use the Honeywell and 2GIG motion detectors. Make sure, if you're using Honeywell, they're not the six series encrypted motions. The six series encrypted motions can only work with the Lyric alarm system. And then if you have the 319.5, the standard one, it's the same concept that we talked about in the beginning. You can use Qolsys or Interlogix. Now, again, remember, all IQ 2 Pluses have a PowerG. That's the main selling point of the IQ 2 Plus. So normally, if you're getting the IQ 2 Plus, you're going to be getting PowerG sensors. First of all, they are fully encrypted. Second of all, they have the most range. They have a range of 2,000 feet. We've tested it. We've seen people use them at 600 feet and they work perfectly. So when you're using a PowerG sensor with an IQ 2 Plus, the range is about 2,000 feet. And then if you need to add a repeater on top of that, they have a PowerG repeater, which doubles that distance. So it's just something to keep in mind when you guys are looking at using motions. Now, this is just the wireless motions. What if you have wired motion detectors? You move into a house or you're looking at upgrading your system that used to be wired to a wireless system. How do you take over wired motion detectors? Well, the thing about these systems is that pretty much every wireless alarm system out there right now has a converter that actually takes in wired sensors. You're still going to keep the wired sensors. They're going to remain wired. But the actual signal, whenever they fault, whenever somebody walks by the motion, whenever somebody opens or closes a door or window, that signal, instead of being wired directly to the panel, it's wired to this converter, which sends out a wireless signal to the main IQ 2 Plus system. Now, depending on which IQ 2 Plus you have, you want to make sure you're using the correct converter. So for instance, if you're using Honeywell, they have a 5800C2W. That takes in nine wired zones and converts them into wireless zones. If you're using the-- if you're planning on using a 2GIG converter, they have a 2GIG takeover, which takes in eight wired zones and spits them out in 2GIG 345 megahertz frequency. If you're using the Qolsys converter, it's called the 16-F. It takes in 16 wired zones, and it spits them out into a Qolsys wireless signal, the 319.5, and you can even do an S-Line encryption as well with that one. This 16-F is actually the only one, by the way, that will also take over 2Wire smoke detectors. There are no converters out there right now for these other systems that will take over wire smoke detectors. So if you have wired smokes that are 2Wire, you can actually use the 16-F and convert the 2Wire smoke detectors into wireless smoke detectors. Normally you don't see this with wireless converters. You normally have to replace the wired smoke detectors if you're upgrading to a wireless system. So that's something pretty cool about the 16-F. And the 16-F also works with the standard version of the IQ 2 Plus, the one that comes with the 319.5 megahertz. So just something to keep in mind. But yeah, you can pretty much use any wireless or wired motion detector that's on the market and that's been UL certified with the IQ 2 Plus system, whether it's Honeywell, 2GIG, DSC, Interlogix, Qolsys, Wired. You just need to make sure that you have the right compatible IQ 2 Plus. And if you have any questions on the correct one or if one works with the other, feel free to send us an email to support@alarmgrid.com. if you find the video helpful, make sure you hit Like underneath, subscribe to the YouTube channel, and hit the little bell icon so that way you enable notifications. Whenever we update new content, you guys will be notified. I'm George, and I'll see you guys next time.