Customer Reviews

AAS 300 Wireless Home Security Alarm System Kit DIY (R)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

(Delailah is my wife's name) I moved from Scottsdale (upper end area in Arizona) to Victorville, California (federal prison, lower end type town) because of a great job offer. I am married and have 3 young children. I did not want to hire a commercial home alarm company or sign up for a service. The last time we did this and I moved ealier than expected, I paid a $600 penalty to buy-out of the contract with the alarm company (the big one with blue signs that look like little stop signs).

So I did a lot of online research. I am a Harvard-trained physician so I am very particular and careful. Though obviously there is no perfect system, the AAS 300 Wireless Home Security Alarm System seemed to offer the most bang for the buck.

It has many of the features of expensive professionally-installed systems. Here is a summary:

1. The components are reliable, robust, and well-packaged.
2. You can easily expand the system by buying additional sensors, detectors, etc. tax-free and with no shipping costs directly from the company (website included in instructions).
3. I have read the complaints about numbering the remotes and I believe they are unfounded. If you read the instructions carefully and understand the system, you will understand why there are certain numbers dedicated for certain types of sensors/detectors.
4. Read the instructions 2 times BEFORE starting set-up.
5. Lay all the parts out on a table and take your time. You will see the door/window sensor are assigned certain numbers while motion and glass break sensors are assigned different numbers. This allows the system to keep track of sensors that should be on when you are at home, and sensors that should only be on when you are not at home - so the system will NOT respond to motion detectors while you are at home. (You would activate the "Home" rather than "Away" button). Otherwise, when you got up in the night to get a drink of water, you would set off the motion detector and trigger the alarm. When you press "Away" the motion detectors are recognized.
6. After you assign each sensor to the alarm system, you then install them at each door and window. i.e. Sensor 01 Front Door, Sensor 02 Kitchen Window, Sensor 03, Girl's Bedroom, etc. Type the numbers and assigned areas out and tape the printout to your main system's keypad. When the alarm is triggered you will know which area has been breached.
7. There is a back up battery in case electrical power is shut off. The loud alarm will still function without electricity. In fact, my alarm system went off. I went home to find out that the electrical company had shut off electrical power to the neighborhood for maintenance/repair. So I believe the system is designed to alarm when it detects that electrical power has been cut off.
8. When programming your system, I would NOT connect your sirens like the instructions tell you to. Do that LAST as if you accidentally turn them on while programming all your equipment, you will find out the hard way that they are VERY LOUD AND EAR-PIERCING (PERFECT to scare burglars but painful when 2 feet away and aimed directly at your ear).
9. There is a strobe light that turns on to further scare off would-be intruders. The strobe unit also has a siren sound.
10. The burglar could unplug your main siren, but the strobe light/siren unit would serve as a backup to continue making a sound. If you want, you could order several of these and scatter them throughout the house, hiding some behind the bed, etc. The burglar would be confused and probably woult not take time to hunt down each one and unplug.
11. The remote controls are encased in a beautiful pearl white case, simlar to the paint jobs on certain Lexus vehicles. The remote allows you to activate Away, Home, and Panic modes.
12. I ordered a dedicated Panic button remote for my kids. It has a BIG RED button that they can run to and press to activate the alarm. We keep this Panic remote at home at all times (the other remotes are on our key chains - they have 4 buttons and the kids might not know which little button is the panic button on the standard remote).
13. The system can call up to six telephone numbers when the alarm is activated. It was easy to program and it works. I programmed 2 cell phones and 2 land lines and it sequentially called all 4 numbers. It will keep calling until you deactivate remotely by phone (see instructions).
14. There is even a way to call out from the alarm system utilizing wireless communication, but you have to get a chip and a wireless service. I did not bother with this.
15. You can link the system to a smoke and gas detector alarm as well.
16. You can get pet-friendly motion detectors so your pets do not activate the alarm.
17. You can set up so the alarm will go off if the phone line is cut/interrupted or of another device is operating on the same frequency. (I did not do this because I live in a duplex and do not want the neighbor complaining if the phone service gets cut off during a storm (for example), but if I were in a stand-alone house with a large yard, I definitely would activate this feature).

NOTE: THE MOTION DETECTORS SENSE HEAT, AND I HAD SEVERAL FALSE ALARMS WHEN THE HEATER TURNED ON, CAUSING HOT AIR TO BLOW IN THE SENSING ZONE OF THE MOTION DETECTOR. SOLUTIONS: 1. EITHER SHUT HEATER OFF WHEN LEAVING HOUSE 2. IF YOU NEED TO HAVE THE HEATER ON (i.e. SUB-FREEZING TEMPERATURES TO PREVENT PLUMBING LINES FROM FREEZING, CRACKING, AND LEAKING) THEN SHUT THE MOTION DETECTOR SWITCHES OFF (SWITCH ON SIDE OF ACTUAL MOTION DETECTOR) 3. OR YOU CAN HIT "HOME" INSTEAD OF "AWAY" MODE (EVEN THOUGH YOU AREA LEAVING THE HOUSE) AND THE MOTION DETECTORS WILL NOT SENSE THE HEAT FROM THE HEATER - BUT YOU LOSE PROTECTION HERE BECAUSE IF AN INTRUDER BREAKS THE GLASS AND DOES NOT ACTUALLY SIDE A WINDOW FRAME OPEN THEN HE BYPASSES YOUR ALARM SYSTEM. LIKEWISE, I WOULD NOT PUT MOTION DETECTOR IN THE GARAGE AS IT MIGHT SENSE HEAT AS IT BUILDS UP DURING THE SUMMER, TRIGGERING A FALSE ALARM.

REDUNDANT LAYERS OF PROTECTION:

1. If any window or door is opened, the alarm turns on. This is your FIRST LAYER OF PROTECTION.
2. The sensor only activates the alarm if the window is opened. If the window is broken and the intruder enters WITHOUT sliding the window frame open, the sensor will NOT activate the alarm. THAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE MOTION DETECTOR. It will be your SECOND LAYER OF PROTECTION. The movement of the intruder will activate the alarm.
4. You need to place motion detectors strategically to cover all major zones in your property/house.

TWO CRITIQUES:

1. The glass break sensor that I purchased separately was a disaster. While programming it something happened to the alarm system. Even when it was OFF (DISARMED) it would suddenly go off. The alarm system indicated the glass had been broken. Even after unplugging (deactivating) the glass break sensor, the alarm system was stuck in this mode of thinking that the glass had been broken and kept alarming EVEN WHEN DISARMED. I had to deprogram ALL THE SENSORS and reprogram them. As I did this, I found it very touchy. Pressing the wrong button while re-programming each sensor on the doors, windows, and the motion detectors caused the alarm system to "jam" again and keep alarming even when DISARMED. I had to re-program the system about 11 times. Not only did I have to clear all the sensors, I had to RESET the system to the FACTORY SETTINGS and I lost all my programming data. When I meticulously focused on reprogramming, I finally got it right - except I did not have the glass detector programmed any longer. I am returning this unit and obtaining 2 more motion detectors to replace it. SUGGESTION: DO NOT USE THE REMOTES TO RE-PROGRAM THE ALARM SYSTEM SENSORS IF YOU HAVE TO ERASE THE SENSORS FROM MEMORY. IF YOU DO AND PRESS THE WRONG BUTTON ON THE REMOTE, THE ALARM SYSTEM MAY GET STUCK IN A MODE AND KEEP ALARMING EVEN WHEN UNPLUGGED AND EVEN WHEN DISARMED (If this happens, turn the alarm OFF - the switch is inside the key pad unit, found through the little rectangular hole at the bottom). WHEN DOING THIS, OF COURSE UNPLUG ALL THE SIRENS (NOISE-MAKERS) UNLESS YOU WANT TO HAVE HEARING DAMAGE. RE-PROGRAM ONLY USING THE KEYPAD ON THE MAIN UNIT.

Because I had to reset it to factory settings, I had to reprogram all 4 remotes, all the sensors, the time-delays, my personal 4-digit pass code, and the auto-dialed phone numbers. It was very frustrating, but in the end I got it to work. Plan on spending 4 to 8 hours to fix the system if it gets "jammed" like mine did.

2. The delay time for the alarm to activate sirens and strobe lights once it is triggered by a sensor can be set from 1 to 30 minutes. If you program a 60 second delay time, this is good for when you return to the house. You open the front door and you have 60 seconds to shut the alarm off by punching your 4-digit code in. However, even in the "Home" or "Panic" modes, when the alarm is activated there will still be a 60-second delay before the loud sirens and strobe lights are turned on by the system. If you are at home and someone opens the window, you probably would want the alarm to make noise and flash bright lights immediately and NOT wait 60 seconds. You can set the time to 0 seconds in which case the siren and strobe lights would sound right away. The trade-off here would be that you would have to use your remote to shut off the alarm BEFORE your open the front door. If you forget, the alarm will go off as soon as your open the door (even in the "Away" mode).

In addition to this alarm system, you can add your own deterrants.

Buy a chime/noise maker that detects motion when someone is at your front your back door.
Buy a motion detector that turns on outdoor lights and/or indoor lights.
Leave a radio or TV on to make others think you are home (Use a timer to turn on at night and turn off in daytime).
Buy a fake surveillance camera (or a real one if you can afford it).
Buy a sign that tells your house has an alarm system (go to ebay, ebid, or amazon.com).

I purchased the AAS 300 alarm system for my daughter's house since she lives alone. I was a little wary of buying this system, at first, because I found so little information on-line and Amazon's link did not go to the AAS web site ( I don't know why but it should). The price was right, though, so I took a chance. The kit came in the mail in only a few days and after overcoming a somewhat confusing programming manual, I had the system installed in about two hours. It was surprisingly easy to install and I was able to place a sensor in every entry window and door in the house along with the motion sensors. I did have some minor problems...a battery in one of the sensors was dead, one of the sirens didn't appear to work, and I mistakenly disabled the key FOBs because the image of the program sequence for recording the outgoing message was misplaced under the code sequence to disable lost FOBs. A dollar for a new battery and a trip to Home depot fixed the sensor. Downloading then printing the programming manual in proper format revealed my programming error related to the FOBs. I then sent an e-mail (the address is in the manual) to query about the non-working strobe siren and received a response back the next day. They wanted to work with me over the phone to get it working. When I told them it was difficult to get off work during the day, they offered to call AFTER HOURS to resolve my problem, which they did. A very nice person by the name of Fei determined the transmitter was bad in the siren and advised me they were sending out a replacement siren immediately, only it would be an upgraded (more expensive) version which they would provide for free to make up for the trouble I had. I received the new and better siren in two days which installed and operated perfectly. My daughter now has a fully functional, very well designed security system. Any intrusion and the alarm is set up to call me, my daughter (if not at home) and her neighbors. I have yet to have a false alarm and like any new "gadget", we've tested the system under every condition with perfect satisfaction.

Given the exceptional quality of the system and the ease of installation I would have given this product 5 stars from the start but then I thought of subtracting one star because of the minor problems I had encountered. But, because of the amazing response by this company's customer support and their quick action to address any and ALL of the problems I had with the system, they earned back their fifth star. I highly recommend this system to anyone who wants to avoid paying for overpriced, over-rated monitoring contracts.

I just finished installing this system. It was rather simple, however, it did take me about an hour to figure out how to properly mount the door/window sensors. Tip: Make sure you install the magnet so that the contact is to the right of the sensor or it won't trip. You'll know when you have good placement when you trip the sensor and the little red LED on the sensor lites up.

After installing it, I have come up with a simple way to install it without much effort and running around form room to room.
1 Unpack everything and lay out neatly.
2 Mark all door/window sensors from 12 on up.
3 Mark motion sensors from 01 on up.
4 Program motion sensors FIRST (after you finish programming, MAKE SURE YOU TURN THEM OFF)
5 Match up door/window sensors to a magnet.(put them together and bring them apart to see if the battery is still good )
6 Program all door/window sensors.
7 Once you properly programmed all, THEN install them.

Tip: If you use the double sided tape they provide, test placement first before you stick it down because it sticks GOOD !

After you've mounted all the sensors, test them. You can carry the central unit with you as you go from sensor to sensor. Change the delay time to 0 so you don't have to wait so long. Turn the alarm ON and trip each sensor. If you programmed it correctly, it should read the number you marked on the sensor.

There's no right/wrong way to install the sensors, just as long as the contact is on the correct side. I did read from another buyer that you may want to put the magnet piece on the actual glass. So if the burglar breaks the glass, this will trip the alarm. As oppose to installing in on the frame of the window, the burglar can simply break the glass and get in without having to slide the window open.

After testing this system I'm very impress and happy so far the system meets and exceeds my expectation. The people who have seen this system so far are also very impress with the ease at which things is done. The user manual is very easy to understand and user friendly.

I bought this system to replace one I've had for 15 or more years from Radio Shack. I admit that I was used to that one, especially the various modes of functioning, so I've found this one a bit lacking.

After talking to the customer service person, who was very nice, she verified my concerns, which are my only complaints about this system.
Otherwise it works as an alarm that trips once a window or door is opened, if it's set up properly, AND the sensors are working.

WHAT IT DOES NOT DO: there is no chime on it to let you know that a door or window is opened while not in alarm mode; this also doesn't allow you to check whether the transmitter on the window is sending a signal to the central box. The only way to check that is to alarm the system in HOME mode, after unplugging the sirens, and go to each transmitter to see if it is signaling the central box. The old Radio Shack system worked much better. It allowed you to see the functioning of each sensor/transmitter with a glance, as they each had their own light on the central box. With this AAS system you can't know if a transmitter is dead or not without checking it directly. I'm not happy about this, as besides the batteries going (which does light up the second, lower light on the transmitter) the transmitters themselves can eventually stop sending out a signal. Also I want to know if the transmitter is in the right place relative to the magnet. ***SINCE YOU CAN ARM THE SYSTEM WITH WINDOWS AND DOORS OPEN, THERE IS NO WAY TO KNOW EITHER OF THESE POSSIBILITIES. KEEP THIS IN MIND, AND CHECK YOUR SYSTEM TO SEE IF IT IS WORKING CORRECTLY. *** It's an incomplete design.

ANOTHER PROBLEM - the paragraph in the book that tells you how to set up the transmitters. On page 8 of the manual, under Activating the Door/Window Sensor, ignore the first sentence, then ignore the second half of the second one. You HAVE TO physically trigger the sensor for it to be working, regardless of number used for each sensor. The Customer Service person verified this. DON'T think your system is armed properly if you haven't set it up the way it describes in the second half of the paragraph. That is the correct way, not the first way described.

I doubt there is enough money to be made on these or Radio Shack would have stayed in business selling theirs.

If the company who makes these reads this, please add some other functions to it that make it a fully functioning alarm system. It wouldn't be that hard to add on these functions, and I'd love to get that unit instead of this one. And fix that darn paragraph on the sensors.

All this said, it still seemed like the best one out there at this point, so I did buy it, and am keeping it.

This product (AAS 300) works as advertised. The set up take a little time ( I did it in about 2.5 to 3 hrs )but is easy if the directions are followed. Understand that it's not a full blown bells and whistles security system, but for the money gives me an adequate level of protection and peace of mind. I had only one issue with a hum on the phone line. After calling customer service ( they got back to me within an hour )the issue was resolved. I had already isolated the phone hum problem down to the AC power adapter. It creates electromagnetic interference hence the phone line hum. They said it was the AC adapter before I even mentioned that I had isolated the problem to it, so they were aware of it. When its plugged in, it creates an annoying hum on the phone line when your on a call (and that's if you want to use the phone line feature which calls you when you're out and the alarm goes off; which you don't necessarily have to use). They said that I shouldn't leave it plugged in anyway because it will shorten the backup battery's life ( nothing in the instructions about that); and that the battery is good for 24 to 48 hours anyway before recharging is necessary.Well that's annoying. I like the phone line feature so what if I forget to plug it in and the battery dies. It sounds like a simple design problem that can easily be addressed for future models. So I figured a simple fix is to use a simple wall outlet timer for the power adapter. I set it to go on for 3AM to 5AM so that the battery charges for two hours in the middle of the night every day when no one uses the phone and the battery charges for 2 hours. Perfect. The rest of the time the main unit runs on the backup battery. Problem solved. Like I said, for the money, its still a good deal.

After noticing TV coverage of all the home broken into. My wife and I decided that we should have some type of security. We have a large house with a sunroom far from our bedrooms. Given the fact that it is basically all windows and doors it would be easily accessible, most likely without us hearing anything, since our bedrooms are at the other end of the house. After doing a thorough research I was attrached to AAS alarms. Their price and quality seemed to be inline with most suppliers. I was impressed with their customer support, having emailed them several time, with timely replies. My system had 15 window/door, 4 motion detectors, 2 alarms, 4 keyfobs which was very ample, even for my larger home. The shipping and arrival were within a couple of days, everything packaged well with nothing broken. Included was a instruction manual, well written and easily followed. I found the best installation system was to draw a diagram of the house, decide the location of each component and install them in one area (such as I did my sunroom first). This is where I used 2 motion detectors and 2 door units to cover the 18x32 foot area. Then I went to zone 2 and so on. Be prepared to use screws for the magnets of the door/window unit, the two sided tape does not hold. Everything went well and I am very satisfied with my purchase. It is satisfying to know that I will be alerted should a break-in occur. Be sure to get plenty of alarms.

Item arrived quickly with no problems. Packaged well and professionally. Very surprised when I opened up and all the batteries were included! Manual was very easy to understand and read. Alarm is very loud and will scare off anyone up to no good. The system is customizable to your needs, and install was a breeze. Good sensitivity on motion detectors and window sensors. I was actually hesitant at first because of the price thinking it would be less quality. I would highly recommend this if you don't want to get caught up in alarm company contracts. Total install time from the opening box to ready to go 45 minutes. A+

It is really a DIY product, no problem at all, very versatile, system programming offers a lot of suitable option according to personal needs, good range too.

the system's design, materials and packing looks like from 99c stores, but easy set up and it seems work ok, I only install for 2 weeks, let see how long it will last!