Hey i nee some help making a panel with an arduino uno. and or some plans to make a panel with a arduino uno or mega. If you don’t know what a arduino it it is an open sourced board io board.
<URL url="Building a Micro-controller powerd FACP]Building a Micro-controller powerd FACP]
The search button works quite well.
Ask me anything…
SO nobody will help me make a panel im very not happy cause i have almost all of the parts and im not spending like 250 bucks on a firelite ms2
There are plenty of topics that already exist about making a homemade panel. Read those first and make an attempt, if that still falls through, come back to this topic with your inquiries.
For the Arduino itself, you will have to use reference materials from them. To my knowledge, none of the users here who have experimented with homemade panels have used Arduino chips. I personally made a homemade panel using a similar micro-controller a few years ago ago, but that is long gone now, so I wont be much help because most of the programming knowledge has slipped away from me.
All of the users on this website who’ve made their own panels have had to figure it out for themselves since everyone’s resources, ideas, etc. are different. I know what you’re looking for is a set of instructions/pictures/whatever, but unfortunately you probably won’t have any luck finding such a resource due to the relatively small amount of people who have successfully designed their own panel.
However, by starting small and learning as you go along, designing, building, and programming your own panel will be a very fun and rewarding experience although it may take a little time to figure out all of the features you want.
Ask me anything…
We are doing the best of our ability to help you. I’m sure someone here can help you. It would also (As lilrags16 said) help to use the search function to find topics that someone has already made to help you. Also a note: You can get panels that are better quality than the MS-2 for cheaper than $250. The MS-2 also puts out Full Wave Rectified Power which will destroy most NA’s.
Wrong sir, wrong.
If FWR damaged most signals then I don’t think they’d be using it.
However, FWR has been known to damage Simplex 4903-series electronic horns and horn/strobes, remote strobes, and the strobes on electromechanical 4903-series signals. It also has been known to damage TrueAlert signals.
I meant to say specifically what alarms but I must of forgotten. But yes most simplex devices will be fried on it.
Daniel: Why did you specifically mention the MS-2?
because it is in my near price range remember im 13
They aren’t exactly fixed market prices for fire alarm devices on eBay. Sometime, really good deals show up for great panels at a much lower cost than the usual MS-2 would ever be, sometimes as low as $30 to $40, a far cry from the $250 you mentioned earlier. You have to be on the look-out and not get discouraged if what you want isn’t available at the moment. Of course, if you are searching for a specific top-of-the-line panel, you will pay a premium for it. But at your age and current experience level in this hobby, this is not what you should be looking for.
Do keep in mind that panels aren’t something that is mass produced. They are specially made, so this makes them expensive. So much in fact that our panel at home my dad won’t let me change out a pull station without being there next to me. So do realize these aren’t things you can drop 200 bucks on. BUT!, as Kcin said you can find them for 30-40 bucks from time to time. I would recommend doing some research before buying one. Because people know younger kids want fire alarms and can take advantage of them by ripping them off. So PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!
While this was true in the past, with the Edwards Custom systems and Simplex 2001’s as specific examples, this is no longer true today. All panels are generic and not longer manufactured to spec for buildings.
Most sellers outside this community are probably expecting to be selling to a maintenance staff member through a company for repairs, spares, etc. No need to go scaring people unnecessarily. The internet is certainly a dangerous place, but the chances of somebody listing a fire alarm panel of all things to rip off a child is very unlikely, especially if you follow proper procedures by having an adult in ultimate control of the eBay and Paypal accounts per their Terms of Use.
However, it is still a good point to hit for a young user. There are certain users on YouTube in particular I have had sketchy encounters with, although it could have just been my cautious perception of an otherwise innocent event. So please just be careful. Know what you are buying, who you are buying from, and what information you are disclosing and the possible consequences of it.
And after all this, if you would rather just build your own panel to start, this is the time to ask! 
I sorta need plans to build cause I don’t really know about how they work yet. No can I read schematics and I can build stuff but I would need pictures could you help me with this kcin
Things that piss me off:
Watching someone ask someone else to do EVERYTHING!
You guys can call me Nick. kcin is just my name backwards 
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I’d be happy to help you, if you know what you want. How big did you want that panel to be? What features do you want? After we know the scope of your project, then things can begin moving along and we can give assistance. The only problem is that you are using a microcontroller that most (all?) of us are unfamiliar with, so the programming aspects we wont be of much help with. We can help you design circuits, but you will have to teach yourself how to connect those circuits correctly to the microcontroller and program them.
You mentioned something about schematics, but I can’t fully understand the sentence due to the grammar. I would recommend that you download the CAD software “ExpressSCH” onto your computer. I find it to be the easiest schematic program to use out of the ones I have tried. If you already know how to read them, this will allow you to create your own schematics for this project. If you do not know how to read schematics, play around with it for a while and learn how to use it, what the symbols mean, etc.
Brandon:
Absolutely inappropriate. We are all just trying to help him learn here. You have to start somewhere, it is a learning process. Nobody wakes up one morning knowing how to do everything. Will I hand everything out on a silver platter? Hell no! But I will help others build their own skills based on the help we can provide in the beginning. Its a HOBBY. Its for FUN. Relax dude.
I would like to build a conventional panel with like two zones and an lcd not that big at all
I will make a offer:
IF you work on learn the basics of an FACP, i will program the MCU.
I’m sorry about earlier
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Nick, could we work together of Daniel wants?
Happy to help. Programming isn’t exactly my strong point, so I’ll help mostly with the hardware if you are willing to handle to microprocessor.
Daniel, realize that we will help you get your panel designed and built, but we will not do it for you. You have to be willing to learn how the device works, both from the hardware and programming standpoint.
Can you give us the model of the Arduino chip you have so we know the limitations of what we can create?
I have an arduino mega and uno I will be using the mega