Do You Know How to Make Burglar Alarms?

Posted on December 31st, 2007 in Do it Yourself by Alarm

Everybody knows how to make burglar alarms. At one time or another, you may have made a crude alarm fashioned out of stringed tin cans and laid it out on your hedges that line the perimeter of your farm to alert you on unwanted intruders. Or maybe you might have tied a fish line on the door of your tool shed and stringed this up all the way to your bedroom and tied the other end to your alarm clock to ensnare the thief who steals your garden tools. Perhaps you may have even set up a wind chime below the window sill of your teen-aged daughter’s bedroom to catch her sneaking out at night.

Well, anybody can fashion crude burglar alarms from household odds and ends, but how will you react when your little son comes up to you to help him out on his science project and asks, “do you know how to make burglar alarms?” Surely, you wouldn’t want him to submit stringed tin cans for his science project, would you?

Actually, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know how to make burglar alarms. Behind the sleek impressive plastic and metal casing of these little home security devices are just three simple components that make up the core of the burglar alarm—a switch or electric terminals, a ringer or buzzer and a power source or a battery.

Before you can start working on your son’s science project, you must first learn how to make burglar alarms yourself. The first thing you need to do is to understand the operating concept of a burglar alarm.

An electrically operated burglar alarm is basically a buzzer that is wired to a power source, like a battery, for instance. If the terminals, which comprise the positive and negative ends of the wire, get in contact with each other, the circuitry is said to be completed and electricity will flow into the buzzer causing it to sound off. This can be likened to flicking a light switch in your room to turn on the light bulb.

To start your lesson on how to make burglar alarms, you will need a buzzer, one D size battery, a length of insulated wire, one piece of wooden or plastic cloths line clip, a fish line, duct tape and a piece of sturdy card board.

First, fashion a switch by coiling one end of a length of wire on the jaw of the clip and coil another length on the opposite jaw. Insert the card board between the jaws so that the wires don’t come into contact. Then, connect the other end of the wire to one terminal of the buzzer and fasten with the tape the other end of the wire to the positive terminal of the battery. Using another length of wire, connect the negative battery terminal to the remaining terminal of the buzzer. Punch a hole on the card board and using the fish line, tie this to a doorknob. Once you open the door, the card board will be pulled out of the clip and the circuitry will be completed and cause the buzzer to sound off.

Now that you know how to make burglar alarms, you are all set to help your son with his science project.

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Burglar Alarm Systems Offered by DSC

Posted on December 28th, 2007 in Brands by Alarm

DSC is one of the makers of burglar alarms that are commonly used in both private and public establishments to ensure the safety of the people and of other important or valuable things.

DSC has manufactured several products, making it easy for customers to choose the perfect DSC burglar alarms to be installed in their place.

One of the DSC burglar alarms available in the U.S. market is the “DSC PC1616NK Power 1616 Alarm System” that can be bought for US$54.95. DSC has released three Power Series burglar alarm systems in 2007 and the said system is one of those. The features of this DSC burglar alarm include six hardwired zone inputs, thirty two user codes, and eight keypads. The board of this alarm system is expandable up to sixteen wireless and hardwired zones. Although the features of this device can be compared to that of the DSC 632 burglar alarm, approximately one hundred features have been added to this new device that makes it a better product than the old one.

Another product that forms part of the Power Series systems is the “DSC PC1832NK Power 1832 Alarm System.” The features of this DSC burglar alarm is of higher level, having eight hardwire zone inputs that are expandable to a maximum of thirty two wirelss and hardwired zones. But similar to the “DSC PC1616NK Power 1616 Alarm System,” this device also has the capacity to support approximately eight keypads. This device is somewhat similar to the DSC 832 burglar alarm model. However, several features have been added to the “DSC PC1832NK Power 1832 Alarm System,” making it a good buy at US$69.95.

The last DSC burglar alarm model included in the Power Series is the “DSC PC1864NK Power 1864 Alarm System.” This device is considered to be a replacement of the DSC Power 864 burglar alarm model. This has eight hardwired zone inputs that have the biggest capacity to expand, being capable of expanding to approximately thirty two wireless zones and sixty four hardwired zones. This device has one supervisor code and one master code, aside from the thirty two user codes that it features. This burglar alarm is also capable of supporting a total of eight keypads. This is the most expensive of the three Power Series systems, being sold at US$79.95.

DSC also offers wireless remotes and sensors. The “DSC WS4945 Wireless Door/Window Transmitter” device can be attached to any DSC burglar alarm models. DSC designed this device to replace the older model coded as WLS925-433.

Sensors and remotes for automobiles are also available in retail stores that sell DSC products. Among its products are the “DSC WS4949 Two Button Keychain Remote,” the “DSC WS4939 Four Button Keychain Remote,” and the “DSC WS4959 Five Button, Twelve Function Keychain Remote.

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Wirefree Burglar Alarms are Easy to Install

Posted on December 19th, 2007 in Wireless by Alarm

More than two decades ago, burglar alarms were often seen as necessary fixtures for commercial and industrial establishments including offices rather than individual homes because of their high cost and the need to protect valuable equipment and documents. Modern electronic technology and mass production processes have brought these security devices within easy reach of today’s ordinary homeowners. The prevalence of drug-induced crimes against properties and persons has created renewed interest in home security measures among many homeowners. And when it comes to home security, it usually boils down to choosing between installing wirefree burglar alarms and hardwired alarm systems.

Wired alarm systems are more complex and difficult to install and usually require days for a professional to set up. Never attempt to set up one by yourself if you lack basic understanding of home electrical works because these require the installation of lengths of cables behind the walls and panels and beneath the flooring of your house. Wirefree burglar alarms on the other hand are more simple and require less invasive installation techniques that would only take a couple of hours at the most to set up. Unlike the wired systems, wirefree burglar alarms need to have only two cables—one for the external sounder, which is usually an electronic siren and the other for the control panel.

Installing wirefree burglar alarms is very easy and can be performed by the homeowner himself provided he takes the time to read the installation manual for the alarm systems. The important thing to remember in setting up wirefree burglar alarms is to place these in strategic locations where their control panels will be able to cover the widest possible area inside your home. Pick also a good spot that is free from moisture and heat where you could fix in place the external sounders so that they could be clearly heard outside and inside your house the moment they go off.

There is a wide range of wirefree burglar alarms now available in the market. You could choose a local alarm system that issues a high pitched sound loud enough to wake you and your neighbors from your sleep and startling enough to scare the intruder and hopefully make him run away. But for a little extra cost, you could opt for better protection from remotely connected wirefree burglar alarms that can automatically send out a distress call to the nearest police station for armed response to the break-in at your home. Whatever system you choose to install in your house is an investment that is worth your peace of mind every time you retire into your bedroom for the night.

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What is a Burglar Alarm Monitoring System?

Posted on December 12th, 2007 in Monitoring by Alarm

Basically, a burglar alarm is a deterrent to break-ins and intrusions into your home. When somebody breaks into your home, the burglar alarm gives off a loud high-pitched sound that alerts the homeowner and neighbors which normally scares away an intruder. Well and good if the intruder runs away. But what if for some reason, he panics and barges into one of the rooms in your house where you or your loved ones are peacefully asleep? A dangerous and potentially life- threatening situation could quickly develop especially if the intruder is armed. A burglar alarm monitoring system can help prevent this situation by alerting police and security authorities who could quickly send units to your residence to help secure the safety of your home and family.

The moment an intruder breaks into your home, the burglar alarm monitoring system sounds off the siren, takes control of your telephone system and sends out a distress call to your security call center. Upon receipt of your system’s distress call, the call center gets in touch by telephone with the homeowner to verify that the distress call is not a false alarm. Upon determination that a robbery is indeed in progress, the call center accordingly notifies the police station and provides details about the location of the break-in.

Most burglar alarm monitoring systems are equipped with their own power source like an internal battery so that even if there is a power interruption, as in cases of hurricanes or when the intruder intentional cuts off your power lines, the system will still be operational. The battery charge levels of the burglar alarm monitoring system is continuously monitored by the security call center which notifies the homeowner in case the system’s battery charge level changes drastically and needs to be replaced.

Some burglar alarm monitoring systems are fail proof even when the telephone lines are down because they are equipped with their own internal cellular phone unit which is programmed to dial up the call center and issue a distress call in case of a break-in. Burglar alarm monitoring systems are more expensive not because of the extra features of the burglar alarm unit itself, but mainly because of its capability to alert and request for police assistance. Despite the extra cost, no amount is too high a price to pay for your peace of mind, the security of your home and the safety and protection of your family.

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What is a Burglar Alarm Circuit?

Posted on December 5th, 2007 in Alarm Kits by Alarm

A simple electric circuit built into an entry way is what makes a basic burglar alarm work. The electricity in a burglar alarm circuit starts to flow when a channel is provided between two points of opposite charges. By either opening or closing the circuit, the electricity is turned on or off. Electrically operated appliances are turned on or off by flicking the switch. A burglar alarm sounds off when its sensors detect intrusion into an entry point of a house like a window or a door.

A burglar alarm circuit can be classified into two general categories. The first is the closed-circuit system which means that the circuit is close when the entry way like a door is shut and that the electricity continues to flow as long as the door remains shut. The alarm is trigger off the moment the door is opened and the electrical circuit is cut off. The second is the open-circuit system which basically switches on the electricity by completing the circuit once the door is opened. A burglar alarm circuit of the open-system type can easily be rendered inutile by any intruder by cutting the connecting wires that is why closed-circuit systems are generally the better choice.

There are many ways of building a burglar alarm circuit into an entry way. A simple device makes use of an electromagnetic switch that is turned on and triggers the alarm once the door or window is opened. Another simple switch is a button that is positioned between the door and the door jamb. The alarms does not sound off for so long as the door or window is close, but once it is opened the button is released and sounds off the alarm. These switches are flawed in the sense that the burglar can turn off the alarm by merely closing the door or window.

The effective burglar alarm circuit incorporates a control box that monitors the electrical circuits positioned in various entry points. Once it detects a change in the electrical circuits it sounds off the alarm continuously until the homeowner types in the security code on the control box keypad. Often times, these control boxes are hidden from view so that the intruder will not be able to find and disable it. A burglar alarm circuit in modern systems makes use of thin foil wires that run through window panes, metal strip triggers underneath mats and carpeting and other innovative high-tech triggers like motion detectors and infra-red sensors.

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