Security

[dusty10]

I am seriously considering installing a security system at home. I have seen these exterior lights that detect motion and begin recording when the motion is detected. These lights are self contained with their own memory card. I've also seen dedicated security cameras that link to a DVR for the recording chores. The choices in these products seem unlimited and frankly I'm getting a headache from studying on it. Has anyone had experience with any home security system and could recommend a good start point for installing such a system? I basically looking for lights, cameras and recording device for when I am not around. Any ideas?

[Bawanna]

+10. Don't waste money on cameras. Spend it on noise, flashing strobes, a two headed bull dog. Anything that draws attention.

Monitored or not, noise is good. Less of course you got a deaf burglar in a wheelchair or peeping tom type, the noise might not have such an effect, but that's where the flashing lights and strobes come in.

Equal opportunity attention getter.

[dusty10]

ok, a little clarification is necessary. The place I want to improve security is in the sticks. No close neighbors so alarms and sirens would have no impact on alerting anyone. Also, I'm not there 100% of the time, as in I'm in a different city sometimes. Also, calling the sheriff automatically is not going to do much as the respomse time in a rural location will be longer than in a city. Soooo, I was thinking at least I can record/video the scumbag. Also, there is no land phone line at the time. I only use cell phone when there. Is this an impossible situation then?

[Dietrich]

I see your point and I fully understand.I live in a remote fishing village on the North Carolina coast.There was a shooting here a week ago [two idiots fighting over a local whore] and it took the sheriffs department over 25 minutes to arrive.You are probably right going with a camera system in your situation.At least you may be able to show their picture to the authorities when they show up.I wish I had some expertise about what systems are better than others but I can`t help you in that area.

[Tilos]

Yes, I built a few, just 1 or 2 motion detectors, a controller, big honking siren outside and LOTS of peizo beepers INSIDE the house.
I put them everywhere, like inside the doorbell chimer, entertainment center, light fixtures, etc.
I buy the beepers for cars, same voltage and annoying sound at half the price.
Think of 50 smoke dedectors going off inside your house, that's what it's like.
It's real hard for the DBs to talk or take and carry stuff with their hands pressed tightly against their ears.
I put the controller in a closet near the door I leave from and install a lockset keyed the same as the exit door.
This is outside the "view" of the motion detectors and it's simple to arm the system, lock the closet door and leave.
It's all Radio Shack stuff.

I know many police dept. where I live won't respond to home alarms because of the cost, so there's no need for dialers or a monitoring company.
I'm sure some here can varify dept. protocol on answering home alarms.

I have added a door switch to our entry door that triggers a 20 second soft buzz to allow time to dis-arm.
It just times out but doesn't trigger the arlarm.
You don't want to forget to disarm it...ever.

just sayin'
Tilos

[500KV]

Sounds like you don't have many options other than trying to identify the perp's after the fact.

We've got a pretty elaborate fire/burglar system which was already installed when we bought the house...It's loud, very loud and originally called the monitoring service.
I say originally because I decided to program it to call my cell instead and, in the process, save ~$25 per month.
If it goes off it calls me and I just dial 911 and tell them what's going on. We've got excellent police response time in our 'hood.

Most of the monitoring services place a call to the residence to try the homeowner before they call the cops and I just decided to eliminate that step.
Some of the cops I've talked to like the silent systems and say it might let them get there and catch the perp in the process.
I guess both types have their advantages.

[Tilos]

I seen this subject talked to death elsewhere, and most agree a sign in the yard and window stickers are as effective as anything.
Afterall you don't want to catch them, you want them to go next door.

Even in the TV adds for monitored systems, the perp runs away when he hears the noise.
I'm not sure how that sells the service but many who buy into that hyp will defend their choice without any data to support it.

I was recently at Radio Shack when this woman came in to the store in a panic.
With a lot of drama she explained that her alarm system faulted and the police came out once, the 2nd time they didn't, just called.
The arlarm company suggested she replace the backup battery and that's what she was at Radio Shack for.
I suggested she just dis-arm it, as she was home or dis-arm the zone that was faulting.
I could see the light bulb go on over her head, she left.

[getsome]

I prefer claymore's myself...They solve both problems, real loud and no more BG just have to be careful when mowing the lawn...Here is a sad but kinda funny story about alarms and monitoring service companies...When we bought our house it had a nice ADT fire, burglar alarm and monotoring system...In 2006 the house burned to the ground and thank God it was during the day and nobody was at home except the poor dog who was found dead under a bed from smoke inhalation...(still miss that stupid dog)...Anyway here is the funny part, Not only did the fire alarm fail to go off and ADT didn't call "Johnny on the Spot" like on TV, they didn't do anything and a neighbor called the Fire Dept after it was too late to save anything...Well we moved into a rental house and kept the same phone number and guess who calls a few days later, Yep ADT saying that their center was getting a problem signal from our system and wanted to send a technician out to check out what the trouble was...I said sure, no problem just be sure to bring boots and a shovel and don't pay any attention to all that yellow Caution Keep Out tape all over the place and let me know what problems you find.........Now here is part two of sad/funny story...We had full replacement insurance from Allstate the so called "Good Hands People" well it took over 2 years and a law suit to settle the loss and we got reamed big time...I had well over $5000.00 worth of hand tools that were lost and they wanted me to document every screw driver, socket and wrench with what I paid for them, what brand they were and when I bought them...I said WTF, I can't do that, but thats what they wanted for everything, books, jewelry, cloths and on and on and on...Insurance is a joke and a rip off ponzi scheme at best...I learned the hard way to video tape the entire contents of your possesions and record the serial number of everything you would want replaced, I wish I had done so but never dreamed something like that would happen, Another little goodie finger they gave me was my guns were not covered and were a total loss for me...Thanks Allstate and take your Good Hands and cram them where the sun don't shine....:32:

[skychief12]

Do these systems normally have some kind of battery back up?

Just guessing, I would think that a crook would pull the electric meter shutting of house power as a first step.

[Bawanna]

That dude is a whole lot of sad and not much funny in my book. It's bad enough suffering a loss like that and then having to do battle with insurance companies when your still griefing for your dog.
I've kept meaning to photograph all the stuff and clarify with the insurance if my guns are covered but in some ways I'm sure I just don't want to know.
If my room ever burns I hope I'm in it so I can go down with the ship so to speak. Take my toys, you might as well donate any good parts I got left to another person with a reason to live.

[Bawanna]

Heres' a related but funny story with no SAD. When I first became a professional derelict, the state sent out a case worker to see what was needed to make my house work. Of course this is 6 months after I've been home so ramps and everything were already done. Of course they said they would have paid for all that if I'd submitted a request and used a state approved contractor willing to wait up to a year to get paid for his services. Great system.
Anyhow this woman gets it in her head that I need an escape route out of my bedroom in case of fire. She wants to put in a door to the bedroom leading outside. I said ok. Well wife's not ok, not putting an outside door into my bedroom, ladies got different ideas so I of course said no way to the door but I got a fire escape plan already worked out.
The state lady wanted me to share it with her so I told her if the kids notice the fire, they are to bust out their windows and get outside, go around and knock and get the attention of the others and help them out.
Then go to the shed and get the lawnmower gas can. Bring it to our bedroom window and help mom get out the window which is almost ground level, not a foot off the ground. She said whats the gas for. Well I told her I drink about a quart of the gas and then pour the rest over my body, then I go and investigate the fire. What do ya think?
She wanted to know if I'd had a phyciatric evaluation, I of course told I had but I failed that too.
Told her to forget the door and I'd take a garage. That didn't pan out either.

OH well, we try.

[OldLincoln]

Years ago I read about videotaping all your stuff. The article said it is good proof for insurance but you MUST keep it current because it also excludes anything not on it. I thought about borrowing my buddy's toys for a couple days and make it worth my while.

It's good to make an appointment and spend an hour with your insurance person re your coverage. We jump at the big numbers and ignore the fine print exclusions. For instance, jewelry, guns, computers and a bunch of other stuff have individual limits such as 2 computers not exceeding 1K.

There's more, like rebuilding has to be to current codes, so you need a rider for $N to do that. Masonry has limits, roofing, etc. House/homeowners insurance is very dificult to understand and the companies prey on unsuspecting people.

That's why I'm building a concrete lined box to store powder. If they discover I had a can of powder just sitting on a shelf I suspect they'd find a total exclusion to coverage even if it had nothing to do with the fire. And if you ask them in advance they will give you impossible restrictions as to what you can do and document the discussion.

[500KV]

Do these systems normally have some kind of battery back up?

Just guessing, I would think that a crook would pull the electric meter shutting of house power as a first step.

Yes, they have battery backup.

I got a locking meter band from my power co. to prevent anyone pulling the meter. It requires a special key to remove the band and meter.
Course professional burgulars are going to get around any safeguard you have if they want to.
I just try to make it hard for them where I can.
These darn home invasions are gettin' bad around here.
Drug dependency and desperation seem to fuel it.

Sign of the times I guess.

[jocko]

your dead right

Years ago I read about videotaping all your stuff. The article said it is good proof for insurance but you MUST keep it current because it also excludes anything not on it. I thought about borrowing my buddy's toys for a couple days and make it worth my while.

It's good to make an appointment and spend an hour with your insurance person re your coverage. We jump at the big numbers and ignore the fine print exclusions. For instance, jewelry, guns, computers and a bunch of other stuff have individual limits such as 2 computers not exceeding 1K.

There's more, like rebuilding has to be to current codes, so you need a rider for $N to do that. Masonry has limits, roofing, etc. House/homeowners insurance is very dificult to understand and the companies prey on unsuspecting people.

That's why I'm building a concrete lined box to store powder. If they discover I had a can of powder just sitting on a shelf I suspect they'd find a total exclusion to coverage even if it had nothing to do with the fire. And if you ask them in advance they will give you impossible restrictions as to what you can do and document the discussion.

and with these damn small pocket camers that give excellent results and can be plugged into a computer for files etc, One should be vidioing his guns and personal stuff for sure. we are all guilty of not doing it. I know Iam . I have a 3/5 file card around here somehwere with my guns and serial numbers but right now I can't find it.

[Bawanna]

I found myself thinking about this thread last night and once again I've come up with a unique and wonderful invention that will undoubtedly do well in the home security market and I'm gonna let all you guys, my pals in on the ground floor.

What are we talking about you ask? Fake Dog Poop. Put about 10 of these huge piles around your house strategically place near windows and doors and those burglars are gonna go woooah dude, this is a big dog. Yup thats the answer. Huge piles of fake dog poop. I know, I know this concept has been tried before but I'm gonna take it to the next level.
Kind of like them air freshners that squirt out a little girly man smell when you walk by and only the ladies seem to be able to make em work. Well I'm gonna make it so when the potential burglar walks by it squirts out a little genuine dog poop smell!
I can see it now 19.95 for two plus 2 refills, BUT WAIT, if you call now we'll double your order, thats right double your order, 4 fake dog poops and 4 refills and as an extra bonus we'll include a fake ****** scooper.
Have your credit card ready and make that call now!

I better go get me a couple wheelbarrows to haul the money in to sew in the mattress. This is gonna be a winner, I can feel it.