Do-It-Yourself Home Security? 49
pussycat asks: "Having recently purchased a home in an urban area, I am investigating monitored home security options -- I'll feel better when I'm away, and I'll get a break on my insurance. I am rejecting the big security services like Brinks because of their very high monitoring fees: $25-45+/month. I've found a cheap monitoring service (911Alarm has one for $13/month), but I'm overwhelmed by the choices for hardware. SmartHome has some nifty devices, but the hardwired stuff looks like a real pain to install, and the X10 stuff seems kind of cheesy. Does anyone have experience with setting up a do-it-yourself home security system? I'm interested in reliability (minimizing false alarms) and low-cost." Has anyone wired up their own home security system? What things should one watch out for when tackling a job like this?
cellular service (Score:1)
Re:cellular service (Score:1)
Who would have thought ?
Re:cellular service (Score:2)
?
Re:cellular service (Score:2)
Re:cellular service (Score:2)
But you know all about counting on security through obscurity...etc...etc...etc...
(and hey, there are a lot of geeks without jobs right now....you never know which one of your old coworkers is going to show up to take that stereo/network server off your hands while your still at work...) yeah, its far fetched and all....still
Re:cellular service (Score:2)
Print yourself some ADT stickers (Score:3, Interesting)
Avoid ADT like the plague: They will try to get you to commit to a $22/mo *3 year* contract, that will automatically roll over for two further years after that. Now, remember what they do: the alarm goes off, they call your house. If there is no answer, or the person who answers doesn't give the passcode, they call the cops. THAT'S IT. It is NOT an active monitoring system, the alarm in your house calls them -- so you are paying $22/mo for someone to answer the phone and screen false alarms.
Where do you live anyway ? (Score:1)
Re:Where do you live anyway ? (Score:1)
Re:Where do you live anyway ? (Score:2)
As for some of the best home security in my opinion, get a Mastiff. Theyre big nice dogs with a great personality, and should scare off/protect [whatever] from all but the most motivated break-ins. Caveat: They are expensive to feed (due to the amount) and because they eat a ton, they also crap a ton. Talk about landmines;) They also need at least a decently sized house and yard to be happy.
Ridgeback's, not Mastiff's (Score:1)
We've got two.
Ridgeback's come from Mastiff stock. But, they can hold their own with a Lion. Also, we only feed each one 4 cups per day of dry food. I doubt Mastiffs eat much more than that. And, our dogs even gain weight on this diet.
Re:Where do you live anyway ? (Score:2, Funny)
burgler #2: well, we could rob the house down the street from us, in the high-crime, high police patrol area, even though we know the people in the house probably have nothing worth carting away..
burgler #1: or we could go to the nice neighborhood where the husband/wife both work two jobs probably and aren't home during the day, and because they both work, they'll have all sorts of goodies.
burgler #2: maybe we'll get an X-Box...
Re:Where do you live anyway ? (Score:2)
Yeah, but although that makes all the sense in the world, the fact of the matter is that high crime areas are high in crime for a reason--burglars generally don't go across town to do their business. People living in low-income/low-rent areas are far more likely to get ripped off than the average yuppie surburbanite.
This all plays into this theory I have about criminals--they tend to be very lazy. Most of them aren't really evil, they just would rather take something than work for it. They don't go out and 'case the joint' or actively look for crimes to commit--they just see someone's TV through the window and decide to go get it. That's more likely to happen in their own neighborhood than someone else's.
As for security systems, they're just a deterrent--like the old joke about the two hikers and the bear. The hikers come across the hungry-looking bear out in the woods, and the one hiker sits down immediately and strips his heavy boots off, pulling out a pair of tennis shoes and putting them on instead.
"What are you doing?" the second hiker asked. "You can't out-run a bear!"
"No," said the first hiker, "but I don't have to--all I have to do is out-run you."
You just have to make your house look less appealing to burgle than your neighbor's.
America for the americans? (Score:1)
Plenty of countries in our continent (America) are in a similar situation. Off the top of my head, Colombia has severe insecurity problems, and i'm sure others will tell more stories like this.
I'm kinda doing the same thing (Score:1)
Its a Pbasic stamp from Parrallax.
14 i/o pins, 4 of which go to relays to blink the dome light, horn, 120 db piezo siren, and voice chip hooked to a 80watt amp and 8" woofer. I have a motion detector, Shock detector, dome light detector, and a key ring remote. I am still working on it, but I am making the PCB myself.
A few suggestions... (Score:3, Interesting)
Glass breakage detectors will sometimes trip if you "clink" glasses or dishes while loading a dishwasher. They also trip if you drop your keys.
As far as monitoring: by the time the alarm company has called your home and received no answer/reached someone who doesn't know the codeword to say, and has then called the police, the burglar and your belongings will be long gone.
Police departments assign a low priority to alarm calls from services anyway due to the prevalance of false alarms. (And some cities charge a fee per false alarm--50 bucks or so) For these reasons, I suggest foregoing the monitoring services and their subscription fees.
How about picking up a cheap 486, installing it in a secure/hidden place and running a webcam(s) to it. Motion detecting software will save images to the harddrive which you can later retrieve so that you or the cops have an idea who broke in. Maybe you could get the images run on the local crimestoppers show. If you want to get fancy, you could include a modem and have the computer page you when the system is activated. You then call the system and see who is in your house and whether you want to call the cops.
Good luck.
Re:A few suggestions... (Score:4, Insightful)
Does it make sense to do this? Well, while I can only count on one hand the number of these alarms that have turned out to be real - I can count more the number of people who have been killed or lost everything because they didn't have them.
And since I am ranting
And yes - you do get charged a fee for false alarms - $30 for each alarm after 3 false alarms within a given time period. Hey, mistakes happen.
Re:Sprinkler (Score:2)
Re:A few suggestions... (Score:1)
You can always use a wired/wireless stealth-type camera, the ones that hide in wall clocks, books, behind mirrors, in real or fake smoke detectors, in fake light switches, clock radios, etc.
Some of these are infrared cameras with integral IR-LED light sources, to record in complete darkness. Doubtful many burglars would carry around an IR detector...or would they?
Those combined with the storage of only images that have changed (software can watch a door or window image within the whole screen image and initiate the image storage cycle), you could have a movie of the perp. to give to the cops.
With a fast link, you can even view certain webcams in near-real-time, say, from work. ("Hey Joe--lookit the creep who's breakin' into my house! Heh-heh. Watch this!" Click.) He presses a remote-control button that releases (a) sleeping gas; (b) an ultraviolet ink mister (for later tracking); (c) pepper spray; (d) brightly-colored Nair at head level.; (e) heat-seeking Dobermans.
Re:A few suggestions... (Score:2, Interesting)
I'd thought of the ink, but that would ruin my furniture. So perhaps would pepper spray. I want something that would easily permeate the whole house, not stain the furniture, and be easily dissapated by be when I get home. I'm not sure whether I want it to piss them off so they run out, or send them to sleep so that I can deal with them when I get home.
Any suggestions appreciated.
(I'm also going to make the system output to my TV, act as a set-top webcam and camera playback, internet gateway for my other networked PC. It will act as an answering machine, and be DTMF controllable for disabling alarms, triggering gas etc. It will have audio connected to the front door, so that when the door bell rings and I'm not home, it will telephone my mobile, and I can talk to whoever's at my door.) I'm still working on the plans though. So far I've only got the capture card. Buying a new PC soon.... Got to make sure that it lasts on battery power for a long time though.
Re:A few suggestions... (Score:1)
Re:A few suggestions... (Score:1)
Re:A few suggestions... (Score:2)
Second, the incapatitating device could be illegal where you reside. Home defense is one thing, but a lawsuit is another. In this day and age where everyone is trying to be PC (Politcally Correct), even though the thief was there to steal something, he might sue you because your device injured him. (Lawyers suck!)
Third, what you are talking about would cost more then 25 bucks a month by the time you wrapped everything up anyway.
Forth PC's are unreliable and power outages in some areas wil be much longer then a cheap UPS would allow. Also, most UPS's will shut it down which would not be a problem, but after the power is back, how would it be able to come back up?? The good systems that ADT and Brinks sell are low power, very reliable(main units are anyway even if you have a problem with detectors), they have panic buttons available, they have HUGE battery backups (I have never had the battery in mine replaced and it's still going strong), they can be wireless (mine is and I am a ham and routinely bath my system in RF with no problems), they cost less then what you propose and are basically the only way to go as far as I am concerned. If you REALLY want a camera deal, hang some axis cameras off your home network and setup a web page to access them all. Axis cameras are almost full motion, and since you'd keep it to yourself, you don't have to worry all that much about consuming too much bandwidth.
Also, your home is worth too much to not pay for a professional to do it. The professional has done MANY installs, and you are going to do one. If you were not a IT/IS person, would you attempt to setup a business system for your home business with out the help of someone else? Just teh same, you don't know all you need to know to setup a effective home security system. Sure, common knowledge and internet can go so far, but the internet can't help you very much when you have a glitch during your install.
Re:A few suggestions... (Score:2)
Re:A few suggestions... (Score:2)
One that is scary and will definitely set the burgler running, but may result in injury, would be to get an HV generator... like an ion gun. These don't pass a lot of current, so unless you have a heart condition, you're safe. Connect it to door frames (and thus knobs), windows frames, etc. Just a thought. I did it a few years ago when my ex-roommate had a key and I hadn't been able to get the locks changed yet, and it stopped the slow and steady disappearance of small random items that I had noticed...
Re:A few suggestions... (Score:3, Informative)
Actually, ultrasonic is rarely used these days - most motion sensors are based on PIR (Passive Infra-Red, which detects the movement of body heat patterns) or microwave (which transmit microwaves into the protected area and use the Doppler effect to measure for movement). The best kinds of motion detectors use both of these (called dual-technology sensors). Dual-technology sensors are far less prone to false alarms since both technologies have to trigger before the detector will go into alarm. Also, some motion sensors are available with pet immunity, which with some restrictions allow you to have pets in your house while the alarm is on.
The comment about glass breakage detectors applies to acoustical glass breakage detectors only (which detect the sound of glass breaking) as opposed to shock sensors which are attached to the window or window frame and detect the sharp seismic signature of the glass breaking. I'd have to agree that acoustical sensors are usually rather indiscriminate and are not suited for all situations. They're fine for places like shop-fronts, but for homes you are better off with motion sensors, door reed switches and shock sensors for the windows.
Monitoring: I don't know how things work in the USA, but in NZ, the police don't generally respond to alarm calls - if your alarm is monitored then the monitoring station calls a guard company, who upon arrival will detain intruders until the police arrive. They do charge for call-outs, but it amounts to about 20 USD. This is worth it since they will make sure the house is secure and you can have them call people in to fix broken windows, etc.
If you choose quality equipment and have it professionally installed, you shouldn't have problems with false alarms. Unless you've installed alarms before, I would recommend you don't do it yourself. A lot of the DIY alarm equipment is cheap junk and should be avoided at all costs, and there are some tricky situations in installation that really require training to avoid.
Generally, simply having an alarm is deterrent enough, and there are still enough people out there who don't bother to have one that theives will go elsewhere if they see your house has an alarm. So if you do have an alarm, make sure there are plenty of window stickers prominently displayed. Also, people tend to forget that electronic security isn't everything - make sure your physical security is up to scratch as well (decent locks, don't leave windows open, etc.)
Re:A few suggestions... (Score:2, Insightful)
You'll be looking at something consoderably more powerful than a 486 for a couple of reasons.
1. Most webcams require USB ports
2. A 486 most likely won't be able to do motion detection very effectively.
but hey, no-name duron/celeron base systems only come in at a couple of hundred quid anyhow
"Approved" security kits? (Score:2)
Options (Score:1)
You have a big decision to make, do you want to keep people from breaking in or do you just want something that makes a hell of a lot of noise if somone breaks in.
All of your exterior doors should be a heavy guage steel of thick solid wood. You need name brand handles and deadbolts on every outside door. You also want good window locks and you want to keep valuables with street value out of the way of windows and nearer the center of the house if possible. Those will prevent someone from breaking in in the first place.
As for a noisemaker, you want some sort of system on every ground floor window that detects glass breaks as well as window openings. The same for the doors.
Go in and talk to the local police and find out what thier policy is on house alarms. You don't want to break local laws and different departments respond differently to alarms. Some will only respond if a neighbor or professional monitoring center calls in and actual burglar, others will go in just for the siren.
Personally, I don't want an alarm system. I use methods and things at home and on may car to keep from being broken into to begin with.
know your neighbors (Score:2, Informative)
or, start a neighborhood watch, volunteer to go cruising around your neighborhood looking for suspicious activity. the families in my sisters neighborhood all know each other too, and when her husband left the garage door open one night, a neighbor knocked on their door at 1am to make sure everything was ok.
even in the apartments i live in, which isn't in the nicest neighborhood, i make it a point to talk to my downstairs neighbor occasionally. sure, it's not perfect, but just the other day they told me that a couple of kids had been trying to break into my car (good luck, everyone in the complex knows that it takes at least 15 minutes to start on a good day). he scared them off and then came to my apartment to tell me. i'd do the same thing.
Re:know your neighbors (Score:2)
Being in a nice neighborhood is the best security - I left a boombox in front of my house for a week, sitting on the short wall in front, so the entire area could see it (and it was lit at night). I got back from vacation, and simply grabbed it when I came in. Oops. Oh, well...
My power window on my car died, and I left it down for two days until I got a chance to pull the door apart and fix it. No problem.
I chat with my neighbors, amuse their kids when I work with power tools in my front yard (refurbing a Williams cabinet for MAME use, or making stage props), and in general have a great relationship with everybody. When there was a brief bit of "Magic Marker Grafitti", we all compared notes, and the kid who did it painted everybody's stuff he had "tagged" (little 10 year old).
I used to live in an apartment where I could watch the drug dealers and hookers across the way; I would hear gunfire most nights, and every so often automatic weapons fire. When a girlfriend moved in with me, I moved... and I didn't realize how much of a nice change it would be. This last time, I took my time, looking for a neighborhood with tended gardens and lawns, lots of well behaved kids, and barbeque grills. I swung through during the evening to see what the community was like. It really paid off.
--
Evan
Re:know your neighbors (Score:1)
Home Security...... (Score:2)
forget electronic security systems (Score:1)
My friend in security [big electronic systems for corporate campus's] for over 20 years swears by big dogs.
Burgulars always skip the house with multiple barking dogs, and dogs are fun !!
Re:forget electronic security systems (Score:1)
I have a 80lb female red doberman and one of her sons (father part root weiler, part black lab)who weights in at a 100lbs.
In truth they are very tame, but most people cross the street when we are out walking.
Still, I play around with the idea of setting up cameras every now and then.
The $22/month is probably worth it (Score:1)
What you might want to do, though, is see if you can tap into their sensors and monitor those from the web. Talk to your installer: once I told the guy checking my system (the previous owner had it installed) that I was an EE, he went into all the details of the system and answered all my technical questions.
You can't guarantee safety with *any* measure you take, but you can take a number of steps to *increase* it. Good external locks, smoke & CO detectors, and get to know your neighbors.
DIY home monitoring (Score:1)
If someone breaks in, the first thing they will hear is "the security company" calling to check on the alarm.
Many towns, like mine, require registration, and a yearly tax, if you have an alarm that calls the cops.
X10 is OK, but you have to deploy slowly... (Score:1)
Start small, build slowly.
Do It all yourself or not at all (Score:2)
For hardware, use hardwired switches on windows and doorways, not wireless.