DIY home security?

[russ]

Here it is difficult to get anyone to work on a hardwired system - all the installers prefer wireless as it is easy if not as secure.

[Jeffw1]

The problem nobody has addressed so far is in the UK you can NOT link a speech dialer to phone the police as it is illegal to-do so, which is why you have to go through say a company like ADT which then take the alarm condition and call the police for you (these rooms must also be high up and well secured) I haven’t checked but I would assume this is the same in the US.

If the control panel has a AUX output in alarm mode (wireless/wired) you can use that as a trigger and just pre program a speech dialer with a recorded message and set it to call up-to 3 phone numbers. i.e You plug it into the AUX output on the panel and the other end into your phone socket. They go for about £50-£70 or you could purchase a GSM unit that takes a SIM Card, which are more expensive.

To answer Naptown: Open the control panel and look for two gold pins (this is your NWM bridge None Volatile Memory) power down the panel and bridge this with a screwdriver and power back up, this will 99% of the time reset the system to default, Ade which I don’t like you can disconnect the battery, reconnect and enter 0,1,2,3 which does the same. Nearly all control panels operate like this with slight variations. Why it is imperative to hide the control panel in the loft or basement and use keypads.

Look on-line for Alarm Installers CD 5-6 bucks which will give you’re the engineering manuals for every panel made.

And yes wireless are not as secure and used to be problematic with interference with CCTV, Broadband etc., which is why I like, wired. However as for it is easer to take a wireless system with you I disagree. Simply cut the connections and take the PIR’s etc with you, you also have the benefit of not having to replace batteries every few years.

For the 105 db Piezo internally however, if you have children I would be very wary of having these internally (just the standard piezo from the Control Panel is sufficient) as 105 db in a confined space could damage children’s hearing.

Like I said get a good panel off fleabay (Texecom, Scantronic, Menvier) some good grade 3 quad PIRS, some reed switches for doors windows, maybe vibration detectors and a good bell box and install yourself. You are only dealing with 6 wires or 4.

Black/Red Parallel for your power
White/Blue Series for tamper to the PIRS, etc (I’ve never wired these in my home as who’s really going to mess with your system?)
Green/Yellow you can wire in series but for fault finding keep each sensor on its own zone wired into the panel.

So an 8 zone panel will give you 8 PIRS or sensors
A 24 will give you 24 zones or sensors.

You’ll be done in a day and will save a fortune paying somebody…also remember zone 1 is normally your exit/entry (i.e your front door or walkthrough area when going to bed)

I like Texecom gear as I have never had a problem with them.

So for a panel I would recommend for a small home

1 un switched fused spur 3 amp £4
100 metre 6 core wire £10
Premier 24 end station 8-24 zones £48
Speech Dialer £75
Remote keypad £35
Battery 2.1 Ah £10
Prestige Quad £13 each multiple by rooms required to protect.
Odyssey 3E bell box £32
Vibration detectors: Impaq E £12

And no I am not a security installer, I did work as one once however many, many, many years ago…

[Beachnut]

The problem with a wired system, IMHO, is the ease to cut the phone line that the auto dialer is connected to. If you have someone who is serious enough to want to break into a house, that may have an alarm sign outside, the first thing they would do would be find the external phone line, and "snip -cut" it, now your auto dialer is useless. That is why I like the "simplisafe" system, as it is wireless, which triggers a direct cell call to a monitoring company, then they call the police if they can not contact you. About outdoor alarm signs... It is said, if you put up an alarm sign in your yard, yes it will deter some,, yet, to others, it is letting them know exactly what to expect, and prepare for, if they choose to rob you! I have no signs up, let em be "shocked and awed"!!!

Our house had an existing older AT&T hard wired alarm system in it when we bought it. Battery back up, key pad, wired door switches, & 1 motion detector. Yet like the other post, the owner could not remember the code. I called around, trying to find someone to help reset it, etc. and at&t had long been out of the alarm business, (yet now,, getting back into it). The existing system did not cover the garage, or basement, or even the easily accessible window in the third bedroom. I could not get any parts to add those area's, as the system was outdated. I worked for AT&T for 30 years as a splicing tech. and I surly knew that if we were on vacation, and really wanted protection, that a cellular system was the only way to go due to phone line vulnerability. So I ripped all the old out, sent it to the one guy on the internet that was the most knowledgeable about that old system as he recycled the parts to other folks needing them. Then put in the new SimpliSafe system. It can even have smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, even freeze detectors, and water detectors put into its system. You can not "snip-cut" a cellular phone call, but you can get cell phone jammers, (illegal in the USA), if you knew in advance the house had the alarm!

Its great if you can "build your own" system. But for me,, cellular notification is the only way to go, and if I were to try and "build" a system like the SimpliSafe one, it would have cost way more than what they are selling it for. (Especially in man hours, parts, and confusion costs to do so. Let alone trying to crawl wires everywhere in the crawl spaces of a house as you suggest as easier than replacing a $2 battery, in each detection unit, every 4-5 years). (Oh,, the SimpliSafe system even alerts you when the battery in a detection unit is needing to be replaced!) There must be a similar company in Europe that sells similar systems like SimpliSafe.

Oh,, that 105db siren, has hearing warnings written all over its box. It IS intended as an "outdoor alarm to notify your neighbors",, "Or, as a physical deterrent for a would be robber coming into the house". As I said, I only will have it on, when we are away on vacation, as let me tell you, when that thing is going off in the house, you can think of nothing else but getting out away from it, FAST!!!

[Jeffw1]

monitored systems? the benefit of ADT etc., send a signal every few seconds through the phone line, if this is blocked an alarm condition is active. However you are correct on the phone line for a none monitored system which is why you could go GSM, again that can also be blocked and so could yours, no I won't explain how.

I have just looked at the prices of the system you mentioned and as the OP stated he wanted to built it cheaply or to cut down on price (or how I read it between the lines) Personally I wouldn't touch your system with a barge pole. 5 sensors, 2 vibration detectors and all the above is about $303 my way, yours is $500 (costs in UK are $->£) AND you have to replace batteries every few years.

As for carbon monoxide, water etc., add a new sensor for about £20 $20 to your wired system or a rate of heat rise of heat sensor.

I don't understand your logic. I stand by my above recommendation for the OP, it's what he wants and is nearly $200 cheaper than yours.

[Beachnut]

I sure can not deter from the desire to "do it yourself", as I have done it so many a times myself. I just got to a point where I started figuring in "my labor rate", and realized many of my "projects" were costing me too much of my life - in time, effort, and even some potential of injury. When I was working, (recently retired now), I was around the $40 per hour rate, so I started thinking it through... If a project I wanted to build / do would take in my estimate more of my time, than it would save me in that labor rate to have it done, I just started paying for it to be done, unless it was REALLY something I wanted to do. (Even purposely working Over time at my job,, to pay for something, or to have it done, as my work, was easier than THAT work!) So often I would way underrate how l-o-n-g a project would take, or cost in parts, and realize I should have either paid to have it done, by someone who had really perfected the trade, or just bought the thing ready made, hence saving me time, and money, and ending up with something more "professional".

Much like these solar panel's I am looking into buying... I certainly have all the ability and knowledge to do near all of the installation and wiring myself. Yet, am now old and wise enough to know that what I would build, would not be done as well as having someone do it that knows ALL of the tricks of the trade, after years of experience doing it.

Do it yourself alarm systems, wired or not, just count the costs before jumping in, and crawling around. Then Go for IT!!

Enjoy!

[bellearwood]

I have a home security camera installed at my place. It was easy to be installed and all what it needs is a fast internet connection. It works fine and we're lead a much safer lives now.

[ckhorne]

It depends on what you consider "DIY" or "cheap", but I've had really good luck with my Elk system: http://www.smarthome.com/_/ProductResults.aspx?Ntt=elk

I bought the base unit, 57 wireless sensors, and 4 keypads. Installation took a weekend or two (the keypads are wired), and it's been rock solid. I have the option of having it monitored for $9/mo (and the monitoring service supports DIY-ers). I love making my own stuff. But I'm not going to beat stuff that's already engineered.

I've been using my system for about 3 years now - the only issue I've had is a battery needing replacing. Two friends have installed the Elk system, and have had similar results - we're all happy, and I'd happily recommend.

[SunEagle]

As I stated in my first post in this thread you can easily purchase a "kit" or individual components to assemble and install your own security system for less than a Packaged installed system from a security equipment retailer.

What doesn't make sense is to design the system from scratch including writing the software. That type of system may save you some money on the main control panel but will cost you a lot of personal time to do it.

[inetdog]

But what you do if your internet slow down or hacked by any person than i think you may lose your security also.So there must be a security system that are using the gsm or any other technology to control that cameras.

But it is easy and inexpensive to come up with an (illegal) cell phone frequency jammer which can cover the area of a small residential property. So even a GSM-based alarm notification system or control system can be attacked.

[Beachnut]

But it is easy and inexpensive to come up with an (illegal) cell phone frequency jammer which can cover the area of a small residential property. So even a GSM-based alarm notification system or control system can be attacked.

The Simplisafe system I have has GSM first, then if it can not get a cell signal, it will automatically switch to trying its hard wired phone line, IF you hooked it up to one, as I did. Nice feature,, yet,, if a crook is smart enough to bring a cell jammer, they would have already thought to cut any hard wired phone line to the house too! But that would not defeat the alarm from sounding inside the house when they entered to alert you if you were home. (Unless a cell jammer could jam the wireless signals from the sensors around the house too??? I do not know if Simplisafe "monitoring" includes checking for a signal every so often. (I doubt it). I think it is more a response center to an auto dialed incoming call from a triggered alarm. Even the top brand home alarm companies still have to "dial into" a alarm system to "see" if it is still connected as the alarm would hold the circuit up if it were "connected all the time" and the phone companies would require that to be a special "Alarm Circuit" and charge for it. I know some alarm companies use to call in once or twice a day and "self test" the line to the home equipment, as often the home owner would pick up a phone, and hear "noises"... Working for AT&T for 30 years, there were "dedicated alarm circuits" that were to banks and such that required extra care as if they were cut during splicing or repair, you would for sure have someone heading to the bank in a big hurry! Use to have to "1/2 tap" around those to keep them in service at all times! (Same with data circuits, but if you had too much "1/2 tap" on those, they would still go down from too much "bridge circuit". Most fun were "pump circuits" that would remote start and stop water system pumps for water supplies, sewer lifts, and monitoring. I lost one of those lines on a cable transfer once and had a water tank overflowing! Got spanked for that one!!

There is little that is built that can not be gotten around somehow!

[inetdog]

There is little that is built that can not be gotten around somehow!

Well said, which is why at some point somebody who is aware of all of the risks and consequences often needs to make the decision instead of just following "best practices."
It comes down to balancing risks against costs.

[jonson07]

I also agree with that every house need its proper security and protection, For this purpose there are many systems and setups available which provide excellent wild security.Fencing is one of them.Most houses makes fence around their house for protection and security there are many types of fencing likes wood fence, Electric fence, Wire fence etc.