WITH a history dating back nearly 15 years, the Ultima is one of Bosch’s most successful panels and now a clever upgrade has further enhanced a very capable solution. The changes to Ultima reflect a push at Bosch to standardise features across the company’s family of alarm panels, with some of the alterations also applying to the entry-level 844 panel. The changes make the panel easier to program, easier to use and more robust for use in a changing comms environment.

According to Bosch’s Adam Harris, the most obvious change is new plastic – an upgraded codepad that features a lower profile and a polished modern look.

“These graphic codepads are just exceptional and have done exceptionally well in the market over a long period of time,” Harris says. “The Ultima 880 keypad is designed to have the same methodology of programming as all our other codepads.

“We work hard to keep that same look and feel so a customer who has been installing Solution panels for 15 or 20 years has a level of intuitive understanding of the range. They can pick up a new panel they may have never installed and understand it perfectly.”

Harris says the Ultima uses the icon display but there is now a limited section of text to allow easier programming.

“The advantages of the text are that the system will give some form of plain English communication during programming,” he explains. “This means installers don’t need to add up icons or LEDs to work out what the system is telling them during programming. It gives responses in plain English.”

According to Harris, the upgraded Ultima offers 8 fully programmable hard-wired zones and 16 wireless zones using DSRF.

Harris says all Bosch panels use the same wireless DSRF – all use the same receiver, the same wireless sensors, the same keyfobs and all have same common hold-down functions across the range and that will continue.

“Ultima is partitionable and has dual entry timers,” he says. “There’s sensor watch when the panel is disarmed – this looks for movement when the alarm system is not activated and alerts if no movement is detected which may indicate a sensor problem.”

Harris explains that while the look and feel of the codepad has changed, the hardware and the electronics inside it are the same.

“What the codepad upgrade does is bring the Ultima into line with the 16+ and the 64 panels to give a common feel across the range - it’s also slimmer on the wall.

“We have a 16-zone version, a partitioned version, an LED version in 8 and 16 zone, a master partition codepad – all follow the same methodology of programming and build on an excellent product.”

Harris says one of the strengths of the new hardware is its backwards compatibility,

“You can take the new codepad and connect it to any new or legacy Bosch panel that’s out there,” he says.

And importantly, the changes to Ultima are more than skin deep.

“In terms of hardware changes – the auxiliary power supply has had all the glass fuses removed and we’ve fitted positive temperature co-efficient PTC fuses – these are self-resetting,” Harris says.

“We’ve also updated the dialler hardware. Previously the Ultima had a hybrid dialler circuit and the modem functionality was handled by the microprocessor. We’ve removed all that and now we’ve fitted a dedicated modem chip – which allows the panel to run at up to 2400-baud.

“The point here is that this better avoids ADSL interference. With many panels the telcos now say they don’t support 300-baud and maintain it’s too slow to run on their networks,” he says.

“With older 300-baud panels, events may not get through to the receiver after ADSL 2 has been rolled out in a given area, or the installer may not be able to connect the panel remotely anymore.”

Harris explains that other improvements to Ultima include a 40-event non-volatile memory.

“We’ve also included 16 zones of wireless,” he says. “That’s the biggest change as far as software is concerned – you can now report 16 discreet wireless zones. There are a few programming changes – we’ve removed the ringburst – that wasn’t required with the new dialler – and there are some minor configuration changes.”

According to Harris, Bosch is now offering training on the upgraded Ultima panel.

“Ultima is proven and the changes that have been made improve it while retaining the great strengths of the design. There are some significant changes and some minor updates and they make Ultima a superior solution.”

As part of a kit with 3 quad sensors, the Ultima is 239 to the trade – very competitive. General features of the Ultima panel include 16 codes - 8 keypad PINs, 8 RF codes, 16 wireless devices, partitionable to 2 separate areas, STAY/AWAY arming options, selectable reports per user code and entry and exit warnings.

There’s also automatic arming, remote arming via telephone, zone lockout,  40-event history memory, LED and LCD ICON keypad support, programmable outputs, dynamic battery test, day alarm, walk test mode, 5 programmable outputs, dual entry timers, AC fail supervision, and phone Line supervision. You also get one-touch arming, wireless arming, auto arm.