Tests Tab
![Tests Tab](/assets/images/teststab_teststab-300f08bb288864aad62e135e38840f2a.jpg)
Signal Polling
To enable this feature, the Auto-Status Monitoring option must be turned on in the Data service settings. This can be found in the Data Service Settings by going to System > System Wide settings > Data service. Check the box for Auto Status Monitoring. Also consider enabling the Enhanced No Signals setting in the same section of the Data Service settings.
If Signal Polling is enabled for a client, an alarm signal will be generated after that client has not received a signal from the device for the selected period of time.
![Signal Polling](/assets/images/teststab_signalpolling-a1f5c6743bd693152cb09339e6f8fe32.jpg)
There are three different approaches to activating Signal Polling. Active Any, Active Tests Only, and Active Any Area.
- Active Any: Any signal received (from the device*), even if it is an Open By or Closed By signal, will reset the No Signals timer to the value entered in Alarm If No Signals Since.
- Active Tests Only: Monitors specifically for test signals. If no test signal is received within the time frame specified, an alarm will generate (Event Type No 65002). This is the best way to ensure that the test signals are transmitting correctly without other signals interfering in the process.
- Active Any Area: Will reset the No Signals timer if any signals (from the device*) are received on any of the linked areas of the base account where the "Active Any Area" is checked.
Only signals received from the device being monitored are processed for no signals monitoring. Manually generated signals are intentionally ignored, even when using Active Any or Active Any Area options.
Alarm If No Signals Since
Most client alarm systems connected to your Central Station will regularly be sending either test signals or open and close signals. Patriot 6 can check if signals have been received from such sites within a predefined time frame. This time frame is expressed in Days, Hours, and Minutes and is entered in the Alarm If No Signals Received fields.
In most cases we expect a site to send a test signal at least once every 24 hours. For the No Signals Monitoring to effectively test for 24-hour signals the Alarm If No Signals time frame should be set to 1 Day, 1 Hour, and 30 Minutes.
Why do we need 1 hour and 30 minutes more than the 24 hour test signal before the system will detect no signals have been received and generate an alarm?
The 1 hour is to allow for the daylight saving changeover, as we do not want a whole lot of alarms to result from the loss of an hour in the changeover to daylight saving time (this hour only applies to regions that are covered by a daylight saving regime). It is also best to have a small buffer in case the alarm communicates slightly later than expected and to allow for inaccuracy of clocks both in the security system and the Central Station computer, hence the additional 30 minutes. In most cases a 10-minute buffer is likely to be sufficient.
If no signals are received for the length of time specified, a signal with the type number 65002 (No Signals Received) will be logged. The templates supplied with Patriot 6 will have this event type included.