SuperHack/SuperHack CD.bin/MISC/HOME22.ZIP/HOME22.TXT

Text File | 1995-08-26 | 17KB | 348 lines

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                3 How to Buy an Alarm System  3
                3  (c)1993 Allan B. Colombo   3
                3                             3
                3       By Al Colombo         3
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                    File updated: 12/27/93


     How do you know a good alarm system when you see one?
This is one question that many homeowners ask when they go in
search of an alarm system for their home.  How do you compare
one company's alarm system against another when you don't
know anything about alarm systems?  Probably the worst way to
choose a system is to toss the dice and take a chance.
Although this may work okay in Los Vegas, it doesn't work
very well when buying an alarm system.

     One way to buy an alarm system is to first study and
research the various alarm systems that are currently on the
market.  There are several ways to do this, but the best way
is to have a number of alarm companies come into your home
and evaluate your security needs.  They also will demonstrate
the alarm system that they sell, giving you a first-hand look
at some of the features of that particular system.

     Another way to buy an alarm system is to attend crime
prevention meetings where you can ask knowledgeable crime-
prevention proponents questions about alarm systems.  You
can also call your local law enforcement agency and ask a
police officer or sheriff deputy what kind of alarm system
that they recommend.  Although asking crime-prevention and
law-enforcement "experts" questions will probably help you
understand alarm systems better, it may not provide enough
detailed information for a final decision.

     A third avenue is to visit a local library where you can
learn about alarm systems from technical books and
various trade journals.  Formal training in the field of
alarm systems is also available from the National Fire and
Burglar Alarm Association, Washington, DC and select colleges
and correspondence schools.  You can also obtain
instructional books and other materials from a Radio Shack
store in your area.


Alarm Systems Detect, Not Stop

     The best place to begin is at the beginning, so let's
examine a few facts and myths concerning alarm systems.

o ALARM SYSTEMS WILL STOP CRIMINALS FROM BREAKING IN: This is
  false!  Alarm systems are made to detect criminals, not
  stop them from entering homes.  At the same time, merely
  having an alarm system is sometimes enough to discourage
  unauthorized people (criminals) from breaking in.

o I'D BUY AN ALARM, BUT I HAVE TOO MANY KEYS AS IT IS HANGING
  FROM MY KEY RING:  Most alarm systems today do not require
  the use of a key.  Instead, they use keypads that have
  alphanumeric buttons and textual readouts.

  Each user is given an authorization code that enables him
  or her to enter their home without triggering their alarm
  system.  This special code number must be entered into the
  system via the keypad.  Typically, homeowners have a
  predetermined period of time from the instant they open a
  select entry door until the time the alarm goes into alarm.
  Entering the right code number cancels the alarm.

o I DON'T PARTICULARLY WANT A BELL HANGING ON THE OUTSIDE OF
  MY HOUSE:  Professional alarm installers usually do not use
  bells in residential applications today.  Instead, they use
  siren speakers, many times mounting them inside an attic
  pointed out a gable vent or on a roof top where they're not
  so easily seen or tampered with.

  Sirens do a better job of reporting unauthorized entries
  because of the sound they make.  They especially attract
  attention better in rural settings where the high-frequency
  sounds they make carries further than that of bells and
  buzzers.

o ALARM MONITORING IS TOO EXPENSIVE:  Although monitoring
  can cost, on the average, $240 a year, this feature
  provides an enormous benefit by assuring that help is on
  the way when your alarm system detects an intruder.
  Monitoring hinges on a 24-hr. central stations where
  operators work day and night to dispatch the police, fire
  department and paramedics to homeowners in trouble.

o ALARM SYSTEMS COST TOO MUCH:  Putting a price tag on your
  home and its contents is one way of deciding whether to buy
  an alarm system.  But, putting a price tag on the well-
  being of your family members is impossible.  It's also
  impossible to place a price tag on the peace of mind that
  results when you have an alarm system.

  For example, from my own personal experience, one of my
  children--who literally grew up with an alarm system of one
  kind or another in our home--use to express how they felt
  like a prisoner in their own home.  One day, after spending
  a night at a neighbor friends, she told me how
  uncomfortable she was all night long in a house that did
  not have any kind of protection, other than a lock on the
  door.  After that she never complained about an alarm
  system; I suppose because it made her sleep better knowing
  it was there.

o IF I HAD AN ALARM SYSTEM I JUST KNOW MY CHILDREN WOULD SET
  IT OFF CONTINUALLY:  False!  Children historically learn
  how to operate alarms faster than their parents!  In fact,
  it's usually the children who keep reminding their parents
  how to use it.  And then it's usually the kids that venture
  beyond merely turning it on and off--teaching their parents
  afterwards.


Do-It-Yourself Alarm Systems

     There are essentially two levels of alarm protection
in the security market: "do-it-yourself" and "professional."

     Do-it-yourself (DIY) systems are understandably simple
to install so the average do-it-yourselfer (DIY) can install
them.  This is because most do-it-yourselfers (DIYs) do not
have the electronics background to install the sophisticated
alarm systems used by professional alarm installers.
Although these systems are usually inexpensive, beginning as
low as $100, most of them are not usually as effective at
protecting homes as professionally-installed systems are.

     DIY systems, however, do fill a need in the protection
of certain kinds of homes in certain situations.  For
example, DIY alarm systems are ideal for homeowners who
cannot afford to buy a professionally-installed system.  DIY
alarm systems also are good for people who do not own their
own home, as in the case of a tenant who rents an apartment.
DIY systems also provide adequate protection when the risk of
loss is significantly less than what it costs to have a full-
sized, full featured alarm system installed by a
professional.

     For example, in the case of young newly-wed couple,
they may not have enough expensive items in their
apartment/home to warrant the cost of installing a
professionally-installed alarm system.  A DIY system will
provide adequate protection in their situation.  Another
factor might be where they live.  For example, a DIY alarm
system may also be adequate when they live in a rural
environment or one without a history of violence or crime.

     You can usually identify a DIY system by how it looks in
a home.  Most DIY systems are designed to sit on a counter or
a bookshelf.  Most of them are also "wireless," which means
there are no wires to connect them with the remote sensors
that make up a professional alarm system--other than a plug-
in power cord and speaker wire.  The draw back to this
approach, however, is obviously the ease at which criminals
can circumvent them.

     For example, most DIY alarm systems provide a delay when
entering a home.  During this delay a small electronic device
(called a piezoelectric or just piezo) sounds a low-level
warning alarm, reminding the homeowner to disarm the alarm
system.  Because the piezo is usually located in the DIY
unit itself, a criminal only has to follow the sound to find
the brains of the system.  To defeat it, all he usually has
to do is unplug the power cord and cut the outside speaker
wires.

     Some DIY systems are designed to use wireless
transmitters to convey open reports from each door and window
switch.  Miniature transmitters also are built into interior
motion detectors, smoke detectors, and other sensory devices.
This nearly eliminates the need to install wire.

     Some DIY systems come with motion detectors built into
them.  Thus, the same cabinet that houses the brains of the
system also acts as a motion detector, sometimes eliminating
the need for additional interior sensors.  In other DIY
systems, "hardwired" connections are also provided--just in
case someone wants to install both hardwired and wireless
devices.

     There is also another type of wireless system on the
market that requires no wires, no transmitters, no
door/window switches and no interior motion detectors.  One
version of this type of DIY system detects burglars by
sensing sudden changes in atmospheric pressure inside the
home when a window or door is opened or a glass pane is
broken.  The technology that makes this happen is called
"infrasonics."

     Although infrasonic systems do work, this technology was
abandoned by professional alarm manufacturers a few years
ago for a variety of reasons.  One manufacturer confided that
the technology involved was not stable enough for
professional use.  There is at least one consumer-grade alarm
system on the market today, however, that uses infrasonic
technology.  I cannot attest to its reliability, but will
suggest that perhaps in unmonitored, low-risk applications
(those applications where an alarm system only rings at the
protected premises and where the risk of monetary loss or the
loss of life is low), infrasonics may provide adequate
protection.

     Another type of wireless DIY system detects the entry of
unauthorized people (criminals) by listening for the sound of
breaking glass and splintering wood.  These devices, again,
are shelf-mounted and they plug into a 110 volt receptacle in
the home--often with battery backup.

     Professionally-installed wireless and hardwired alarm
systems, on the other hand, are usually wall-mounted, which
means the sensor, power, and telephone wires can be concealed
inside the wall behind the alarm box or inside a metal
conduit.  Getting to the circuit boards inside the box is
made all the harder because most systems require the use of a
key to open the box.  This makes it a lot harder for
criminals to defeat them.


Professional Security Systems

     Professionally-installed alarm systems will accommodate
either wireless, hardwired, or both technologies.  Wireless
systems, for example, usually use sophisticated radio-
controlled equipment that not only sense the presence of
unauthorized people, but also send open-and-closed status
(alarm) and low-battery (supervisory) signals to the main
alarm unit on a transmitter-by-transmitter basis.

     The technical advantages of this type of wireless system
over that of a DIY system are obvious.  The most important
difference, however, is the ability of this system to
report alarms and supervisory signals to an alarm panel on a
transmitter-by-transmitter basis, pin pointing where a
criminal has entered.  Interior motion detectors equipped
with radio transmitters also enable central station operators
to follow criminals through a home, giving the police the
assurance that someone is still inside, even though the doors
and windows may appear to be secure.

     Pin pointing the origin of an alarm is also essential
when there are false alarms (nothing made by man is perfect,
so ALL alarm systems will eventually generate a false alarm
sometime).  A professional wireless system enables both the
homeowner and professional alarm installer to quickly
determine the source of a "troublesome" alarm, eliminating
the problem before it begins to annoy the police.  This is
also important because more and more communities are
instituting fines against homeowners when their alarm system
repeatedly causes false alarms.  Worse yet, in some cases,
the police has placed false-alarming systems on low priority,
sometimes eliminating police response altogether.

     By contrast, most DIY systems cannot pin point the
origin of "troublesome" false alarms.  In addition, they do
not monitor the status of their batteries, sometimes allowing
them to go dead without warning anyone of their low power
condition.  Professional-grade wireless systems, on the other
hand, provide a low-battery warning up to 6 weeks prior to
a battery's failure.

     Although wireless is gaining in popularity among
professional alarm installers, the most common professional
alarm system on the market today is the "hardwired" system.

     Because these systems use wire to connect remote door
and window switches, as well as motion detectors, smoke
detectors (when used), and other sensors, there is less
sophisticated electronic circuitries to malfunction.  In
addition, larger systems can quickly identify false-alarm
sources so the alarm installer can quickly solve a false-
alarm problem.

     Another sign of a professional system is an integral
central-station connection.  These systems usually contain a
device called a digital communicator that communicates with a
special computerized receiver on the other end at the central
station.  Although add-on digital communicators are
available, these devices usually are inherent in the design
of a professional alarm system.  In some cases, the
manufacturer provides an add-on digital-communicator board
that simply plugs into the main circuit board inside the
alarm box.


Conclusion

     The first decision to make is whether to buy a DIY alarm
or a professionally-installed security system.  Those who
sell DIY systems often point out the difference in cost.  If
you are an apartment tenant, you have very little to loose
inside your home or apartment, then a low-cost DIY system
will probably fulfill your needs.  On the other hand, if you
own your own home and you intend to stay there and you have
many fine things in your home, a professional-grade alarm
system is probably the best way to go.

     In some cases, it's not only a family's valuables at
stake, but the welfare of family members that must be
considered.  In this case, a professionally-installed system
with several keypads inside the home (one in the master
bedroom, for example) is a must because this type of system
will quickly identify a criminal's point of entry, as well as
his current location in the home.  This is important
especially at night when the alarm system suddenly goes off.

     The next decision is whether to pay for professional
24-hr. central station monitoring.  One criteria for this
decision is, of course, the money it will cost you to have
your alarm system monitored.  It's also important to note
that in situations like the one in the last paragraph,
central-station monitoring assures you that help is on the
way without you even making a phone call.

     There are other ways to report alarms too.  One of them
that's often used in DIY systems is called a "voice dialer."
This technology came into existence in the 1960s in the form
of a modified mechanical tape recorder that automatically
dials out on the telephone lines to a police station, sheriff
office, fire department, or ambulance service.  Today, voice
dialers are electronic--storing voices digitally inside their
circuits.

     Although voice dialers do not require a monthly charge
like 24-hr. central stations do, this technology is not as
reliable at transmitting alarm signals because there is no
way to positively verify that an emergency call has been
received at the other end.  In addition, many police and fire
departments have outlawed their use.  In the Chicago area,
for example, stiff penalties are levied against homeowners
who use them.  Thus, the bottom line is to check with the
authorities in your community before you plug one of these
devices into your telephone line and begin sending your own
voice over the phone line.



(c)1993 Allan B. Colombo

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