Things to Consider When Getting An Alarm System

The First thing you should look at is the number of sensors you are going to need to properly protect your home. Every entry point needs to be protected, e.g. all doors leading to the exterior, all windows and any glass areas that may be easily broken into. Write down the list of sensors to give to your installer. Your list would look something like this.

• 2 Magnetic Contacts (Front and Back Door)
• 10 Vibration Detectors (Burglar proofed windows throughout the building)
• 1 PIR Motion Detector (Enclosed Garage)

Next you are going to section off your compound into zones. For example the two windows in the kitchen could be one zone, or the front door could be one zone. You get the general idea. After sectioned off the property count the number of sections. The figure you come up with will determine what control panel your installer will put in for you. 

Now you need to choose your keypad and decide if you want to have wireless keys. Different keypads allow you to do different things with your alarm systems and some are more user friendly than others. I use the DSC alarm system so the keypads I am going to show you from that system.

8 Zone LED Keypad

The LED keypad displays information with status lights. Nice things about this keypad is it looks good on the wall and it has backlit keys so you don't have problems using it in the dark. It is the most basic keypad available. This particular keypad limits in the amount of information you can get on your system and should not be used if you system has more than 8 zones.

Fixed Message LCD

The Semi LCD, as I like to call it, can display up to 64 zones and can display alot more information than the led keypad.

Full Message LCD

My personal favorite is the Full LCD. The most user friendly of the keypads and has the most features available. Features which include Auto arming, access to and event buffer which shows all recent activity on the alarm system, with time stamps.

For those who don't have the time to punch in a code every time they have to leave the house their is the wireless keys. These are also a nice option to consider for the elderly and less tech-savvy. 

Interior and Exterior Sirens and Strobes are the last on your list but they are very important. In most installations 1 siren outside and one siren inside should be enough but their may be a need for additional coverage in lager compounds.

Your final list given to the installer should look something like this

• 2 Magnetic Contacts
• 10 Vibration Sensors 
• 1 PIR Motion Detector
• 1 Eight Zone Control Panel, battery and transformer
• 1 Full LCD Keypad
• 2 Wireless Keys
• 1 Indoor Siren
• 1 Outdoor Siren

The information above should be enough for you to get a pretty accurate quotation but I still advise that you have a professional view the property before equipment is bought. 

What's in My Alarm System

Today I planed on putting up a post called Things To Consider When Getting An Alarm, but on second thought I should educate you a little first. Not many people know what's used in an alarm system and sometimes they don't care to know but they should. Having an alarm system and not knowing anything about it is like having the keys to the front door and not knowing what it's for.

I'll start with the most important part of a burglar alarm, the main panel. This should be placed in the most secure location available. It is the brain of the entire system without this nothing will work. Inside the panel there is a control board and a back up battery. The control board monitors all sensors, controls all sounding devices and communicates with monitoring stations.

The next in line of most important parts of an alarm system is the transformer that powers the main panel. Even though your alarm panel has a back up battery, for long term functioning of the system the transformer needs to be plugged in at a secure location and should never be tampered with. Believe it or not I have seen people unplug this not knowing what it is, it cost them a service charge for 5 mins of work!

The Keypad allows you to communicate with the main panel. It provides you with information on what areas are secured and what areas are open. The Keypad is also used to arm and disarm your system. Installers may also use the keypad to turn on different special features on your alarm system. Depending on what type of Keypad you have a lot more information can be displayed e.g. low battery, last alarm in memory, etc.

Another good thing to have are Wireless Keys, they are great for people in a rush. You can arm and disarm you alarm system at the touch of a button from anywhere on the compound. Also most wireless keys come with a built in Panic Button which can send a audible or silent alarm signal depending on your alarm installation request.

Now lets look at the sensors that monitor attempts to break into your home or business place.

Magnetic Contacts are used on doors and windows. They monitor the opening and closing of these areas.


Vibration or shock sensors are used on burglar proof windows to detect attempts of forced entry while allowing occupants to open there window and still be secured. These sensors can also be used on walls if there is a need for it.



PIR Detectors are used to detect the movement of body heat and are usually used indoors as a secondary form of protection.

Glass Break Detectors are used a lot in areas such as shop front display areas.

Smoke Detectors can also be used in systems that support it and are great protection against fires. If your system does not have smoke detectors I advise you have them installed they may one day save your life.

Alerting Devices Such as sirens and strobes are important for people in and around the home or business place. They draw attention to the property in times of crisis when it is much needed.

There are other devices that can be used in an alarm system but I believe I covered the most commonly used. Hopefully this was enlightening and if it wasn't don't worry more information will be coming soon.

Things to Consider When Getting A CCTV System

So you have decided you want cameras. Today I will be talking about a few things to consider when purchasing cameras for your home or business place.

The first thing I would advise anyone to do is check the number of areas they would like to cover and come up with a budget for your project. When doing your budget there are three main cost factors to consider  

1. The Equipment cost. This would consist of the cost of the cameras, recorder, power supplies, UPS, monitor, etc.
   
2. The Installation material cost e.g. wire clamps or electrical conduit for securing your camera cables, etc.
   
3. a) The Labour cost of the installation if you decide to hire a technician. Please bear in mind this is usually a very high cost. The price to install a camera varies from person to person and can start from about $250 - $500 per camera or even more depending on the distance the camera is from the DVR to type of camera you are installing etc.
   
   
   b) The Networking cost. This involves putting the Digital Video Recorder (DVR) on the internet where the video feed can be accessed anywhere in the world. This can sometimes be done by the installer of the cameras but is often done by an IT professional and would therefore add to the cost of the overall installation.
   

After you have come up with your budget the next step would be picking out equipment that fits both your pocket and your needs. A lot of people these days are cutting cost and buying those nice do it yourself camera packages, and I must admit there are some reasonably good kits on the market. Unfortunately, no matter how good the quality of the kit is, they still come with two major flaws. The first is the power supply for the cameras and the second is cabling that comes with the kit.
              

When I speak about the power supply I am speaking about the power source for the cameras. Most kits have one of two power sources for cameras, either each of the cameras has its own adapter which draws power directly from a wall outlet or the recorder may power the camera directly.
Adapters are the more common of the two so we will talk about those. When using adapters one must consider finding space to plug them all in and that can cause quite a bit of cluttered in larger camera systems. Another weak point of an adapter is it allows fluctuation in your current supply to affect the power supplied to your cameras. This can reduce the life of your cameras. They are also easily damaged by short circuits caused by blown cameras or damaged wiring and can sometimes even cause fires. 

To safeguard oneself against this I usually recommend using a commercial power panel which was designed for long term use and has built in protection against short circuits and ensures voltage to your cameras is consistent.

              

Next let’s talk a little about the cables supplied. They are usually thin cables that are not very rugged and can be easily damaged during and installation.
 The shielding on the inside of the cables is usually light and can ultimately lead to very little protection against interference. (Interference can look like waves on the screen or rolling of the picture and is usually caused by electrical wiring). Last but not least they are almost always the wrong length for the installation. 

 My solution for this is buy commercial cabling and make up your own camera connections. The benefits of doing this is they can handle interference much better, they can be made into any length you desire. Most importantly they are more durable than cables supplied in CCTV kits.

This Post is the hopefully the first of many, please feel free to leave questions and/or suggestions in the comment area below.