Motorised Gate & access control

[Wazzo]

Hope this is in the right area, I guess it's home improvement-like...

I'm living in a smallish gated estate, southside of Brisbane.

I've taken on the task (after talking to the body corp president) of getting the motorised gate/access control replaced or repaired (they seemed to want it replaced).

Every time it rains, the gate (sliding on a track) doesn't respond to remotes, moisture is getting in there somewhere. It's also approx. 15 years old and the remotes are 27MHz –

There's a pressure plate inside the estate, you drive over it, and it opens the gate. This bit has always worked fine (I assume it's a short length of wire hooking this up and there's not much to go wrong)

There's also an intercom system near the street, built into the letter box structure.

This system has also malfunctioned (permanently now, not just from rain), and if someone presses a unit number, ALL the units get buzzed. Voice doesn't work either way. Inside each unit there is a handset which also has a button to open the gate, and this no longer works either.

There's also a key pad on the side of the gate, the code only opens the gate wide enough for pedestrians, if the remotes aren't working, people leave their cars outside the estate and walk through.

So, I was wondering if anyone knows of any reputable companies in my area, and also what would be the best system to get.

I was thinking RFID would be a lot better (I assume newer systems have better remotes on other frequencies), there's 20-23 units. So could be more cost effective to move to cards if all remotes have to be replaced.

Pole position for keypad/rfid could be a bit tricky, but I'd say it could be done.

Thanks in advance for any help

[watchdog]

I think your first task should be to find out if the existing problems are equipment or cable related. If the problem lies in a cable fault then replacing the equipment won't be much help.

[Wazzo]

I think your first task should be to find out if the existing problems are equipment or cable related. If the problem lies in a cable fault then replacing the equipment won't be much help.

One of the big problems (before the intercom system died) was that they bodycorp had to go through their management company, who organised a "gate guy". We'd only ever have issues when it rained, but of course they'd only send someone out when it wasn't raining, and they couldn't find an issue (at $450 a pop).

So we're changing management companies, and sorting this out in the meantime.

I think the motor unit has been replaced at least once, and always works when the pressure plate is used.

I'd say the intercom system would have wiring issues

[SCADA]

who makes your remotes...see if there is anything else on their site that might be better for your application.

I would drop a question in the security section...