Alarm Display Project

Hello,
I need some advice on what I hope will be a simple project. I have an alarm panel containing twelve 24vdc relays. Each relay is specific to a different alarm loop. For instance, one alarm is "intrusion" and another is "fire". When 24vdc from an alarm loop is present across a relay coil,the relay actuates. I would like to tie an output from a contact on each relay to some type of display device that indicates which alarm is activated, numeric or alphanumeric if possible. Does such a device exist?

Take it easy on me guys - I'm just a technician!

Why not just put a LED and resistor in series with each other and wired across each relay coil.

The resistor would need to be around 22÷0.02 = 1100 = 1.1 K ohms

HTH

Mike.

Thanks Mike,
I was actually considering that. All of the relays are inside a steel enclosure with a hinged cover. I could drill 12 holes, insert 12 led's, and have a label beside each. I guess I was thinking of something a little more fancy - but your idea makes sense too.

Why not using an lcd if you want it fancy?

i would recommend a microcontroller based design. you can interface the signals from your sensors/transducers to a microcontroller and connect an LCD with it. the microcontroller will display all the information of the sensors and it will also control the alarm outputs (bell, strobe, dialer etc)

by incorporating a microcontroller you would acheive a great level of flexibility. you can add alot of features to your design by just writing a few lines of code. and you can make a design that would be upgradable in the future by just changing the firmware.