house. The system could also actually be set up so that pressing
two certain buttons together on the remote keypad would act as a panic button,
and activate the alarm even if the system was not set. I am going to place three remote keypads in the house,
one by the front door and one by the back, so that the system can be set/unset
upon entry or exit to the house without having to go to where the main control
panel is. Also this means that the entry/exit time could be decreased thus
making the house more secure. The other one I shall place on the landing
upstairs, so that the system could be partially set before going to bed, or if
for example, somebody went out without realising that somebody was still
upstairs in the house, that person could quickly deactivate the system before
the alarm was set off. Placing just three means that there shouldn?t be too
much unnecessary wiring around the house connecting the control panel and the
remote keypads.Zones of protection (4) You can actually set up zones of protection in your house,
so that when the alarm goes off, LEDs can indicate which zone the problem was
meaning that you know exactly where the intruder entered. Or if for example you
are having difficulties with the alarm consistently sounding for no apparent
reason then you can find out which zone the alarm is being set off in and discover
and fix the problem. Also when you set the system, you can set only certain zones
of the house to be protected. I am going to set up four zones of protection in the house,
with the kitchen garage and hall area being zone one, the living room and dining
room area being zone two, the bathroom and landing area upstairs is zone three,
and the three upstairs bedrooms are zone four. This is so that the things that
need to be protected most are grouped in zones, and when only certain zones of
the system are set then the family could easily just set the system to protect
the two zones which contain the items that most need to be protected inside the
house.Shock sensors on windows (7) A shock sensor, or vibration detector will actually
detect any vibration upon the windows they are placed on, and send a signal to
the main control panel to activate an alarm. These are very useful because they
attempt to stop anybody actually getting into the house, rather than simply
setting off a siren once somebody has already entered. Vibration or movement of
the windows activates them, such as that from somebody attempting to smash the
window. There is a picture of a shock sensor in the table below. I am going to place 7 shock sensors on windows throughout
the house, on all of the four upstairs windows, and on the kitchen lounge and
two upon the large patio windows in the dining room. This is because I feel
that shock sensors are very useful since they set off an alarm before entry to
the house is gained, and not after somebody is already in. I am not placing
shock sensors on the porch windows, or the window of the back door because
somebody just knocking on the door could set this off. PIR detectors (6) Passive infrared detectors, or movement sensors detect any
movement in the room they are placed. An infrared beam is sent into a room, and
when this beam is broken, for example by a person walking across the room, then
if the system is activated a signal is sent to the main control panel which
then contacts the bellbox and sets off a siren. These should be placed in areas of the house that contain
important items that need protection, or items which would be expensive to
replace. They should also be placed in the main areas of the house that an
intruder is likely to enter into. They should also be placed so that the infrared beam does
not pick up movement through windows, as this could then set off movement
outside the house. I am going to place seven PIR detectors around the house.
These will be placed in the hall, lounge and dining room downstairs, but not
actually in the kitchen since there are very few objects of importance that
could be taken from the kitchen. Upstairs I shall place PIR detectors on the
landing, so that anybody venturing upstairs will immediately be detected, and
in each of the three bedrooms so the contents of these rooms are protected, and
anybody climbing through the windows in these rooms will be detected. If a family have pets such as dogs or cats in the house when
the alarm system is set then these animals by movement could set the system
off. The way that I have placed the sensors, the pets could be in the kitchen
while the system is on without setting it off, but if the family wished for
their pets to have the run of the entire house then a pet guard is available,
which stops the infrared beams below a certain height so animals low on the
floor cannot be detected.Internal alarm sirens (2) An internal alarm siren is basically a siren that can be
set up inside the house, so that when the alarm goes off it can be heard
clearly inside the house also. These will be activated by a signal from the
control panel to activate an alarm. They could be necessary if the family sets the alarm system
whilst sleeping, so that they could definitely hear the alarm if it went off.
Also when an intruder enters and the alarm goes off they may not always hear
it, but if an intruder hears an extremely loud siren inside the house this may
encourage them to leave. I am going to place two of these in the house, one in the
hall downstairs, and one on the landing upstairs. This will ensure that they
can be heard from any area in the house.Rearm facility Within alarm systems, once the alarm has been activated
it is only allowed to sound for twenty minutes, due to regulations and noise
pollution. After this time a light on the bellbox will continue to flash. After
the siren has stopped, the system is often deactivated, meaning that if a
burglar comes back after twenty minutes, they have already gained entry to the
house and will be able to quickly get in and take what they want without the
system sounding an alarm because it has been deactivated. However it is
possible to have a rearm facility on the system, so that once the system has
been activated it will rearm itself, and not be deactivated so that if the
burglar does come back the alarm will sound again. This will be set up within the control panel in the
house, as I feel that this would be necessary in case of an intruder actually
attempting to enter twice. Panic/personal attack button (2) A panic button can be placed anywhere in the house, or the
remote keypad can be set up so that when two set buttons on the keypad are
pressed together a siren will sound. This will work even when the system is
deactivated. I believe that a panic button would be necessary in the
house because when people are in the house it?s likely that the alarm system
wouldn?t be activated, meaning that if there was a break in no alarms would go
off, so they could press the panic button to set off a siren so that people in
the area would know there was a break in. I am going to have two panic buttons in the house, one in
the hall and one on the upstairs landing. This is so that there is one within
easy reach whether you are upstairs or downstairs in the house.RedCARE There are a number of options instead of RedCARE, and I
have outlined some of these before describing RedCARE. A speech dialler could be used, which is activated by the
system alarm going off. A message can be recorded, for example ?10 Oak Street
is being burgled,? and up to five telephone numbers can be dialled to relay the
message to. Mr Peterson could set this up to dial the number of a security
company, who upon receiving the message would come to the house. However
monitoring station and callout fees would have to be paid. A speech dialler
would be connected to a telephone line, which means that it does rely 100% upon
the telephone line being open. A speech dialler is less reliable than a digital
communicator, which also does rely on a telephone link between the alarm and a
commercial monitoring station, but what a digital communicator does is send a
signal to an alarm receiving centre, who contact a responsible person (key
holder.)? The key holder could be a
security system that will come and check the house for you; this means that
callout fees will have to be paid. A digital communicator also does rely upon
the telephone line not being cut, which is where RedCARE comes in, which I will
explain next. A digital communicator is activated by a signal from the
control panel, or a siren being set off in the house. I have decided that a digital communicator is necessary
because if there is nobody in the area to hear the siren, the burglar could
just take whatever he or she wants and leave, with nobody realising or knowing
who it was, but with a security company actually coming to check the house the
burglar could be stopped in their tracks. RedCARE will monitor BT telephone lines that are
connected to alarm systems. When an alarm is set off, then a signal is sent via
the actual RedCARE network within seconds to the monitoring centre. This
monitors 24 hours a day, and if the line is cut then this can be instantly
detected. Again, monitoring station fees and callout fees are applicable, but
this is much more secure than any of the other options, since it will detect
line cuts so the house is certain to have somebody checking it in the event of
an alarm going off or a telephone line being cut so that an intruder can
attempt to enter without the security company being called.Heat detector (2) A heat detector or temperature sensor does a similar task
to a smoke alarm. They are commonly a bi-metallic strip. When the temperature
rises, this cause the strip to bend, which will meet a contact and create a circuit,
and an alarm will sound as a result. As the temperature will always rise in the
event of a fire, these are very useful. I am going to place two of these inside the house, one on
the landing and one in the hall. I am placing them here so that they can detect
fires both upstairs and downstairs. One should not be placed in the kitchen,
since normal cooking temperatures could cause the strip to heat up and set off
an alarm. These should be in the house, as fire protection is
extremely important. Floodlights (1) Floodlights can be placed outside the house, and activated
from a movement outside. These are useful as you can see if anybody is outside
the house from whether there is a light, and if there is a light you can
clearly see whoever is outside. They are also useful when coming home in the
dark, so that you can see where you are going once you enter your back garden
where there are no streetlights. One floodlight should be placed outside the house, above the
bathroom window, so that the back garden will be lit up if any movement is
detected out there. These will be good for seeing people outside and being able
to see outside in the dark yourself, as the light can also be set to not switch
off. The lights will only be activated due to movement in the evening and night
times, and not during the day when it is light and you do not need a light.Magnetic door contacts (2) These are made in two halves, and when a door is
opened/closed this will create a circuit as the two halves join together, and
an alarm will be set off. If somebody obtained a house key, then these would be good,
as they would set the alarm off since the person entering would not know the
security codes for the alarm system. Also if the family were to set or partially set the system at
night then they would be aware if anybody was entering the house while they
were sleeping, because an alarm would be set off. These should be placed on the front and back doors to the
house; so that they can detect people entering the house, if they were placed
on doors inside the house this would be useless because the intruders are
already inside. These are activated when the door is either opened or
closed, depending on which way that they are made, and they send a signal to
the control panel, which will activate an alarm.Perimeter protection Infrared protection is set up by transmitters, which look
a little like posts, placed around the area that you want to protect. Infrared
beams being broken activate it. Several beams are transmitted between the posts
at different heights, and if all of the beams are broken together an alarm will
be sounded. All the beams have to be broken at once so that animals such as
cats or birds do not set off the alarms by travelling through the beams and
breaking them, as the only thing large enough to break all the beams would be a
human. This will be set up all around the house so that if anybody
enters into the area around the house when the perimeter protection is on an
alarm will be set off. This is the only place it could go, since it wouldn?t be
any use inside the house. It is good at stopping people before they actually
get close to the house. CCTV cameras (2) A closed circuit television camera can tape everything that
is in its view. It can tape all the time, or just be set to tape at certain
times. CCTV cameras that sense movement can just tape when they sense a
movement. Cameras can be fitted with the facilities of panning,
zooming and tilting; they can also operate in low light. CCTV can also interact with the alarm systems, it can be
connected to the system, and when the alarm is activated the camera will begin
to record. They may also relay information to somebody whom would then sound
the alarm. The cameras that I feel would be best for the house are one
placed on the back wall of the house that is activated by movement, so it would
be able to record anybody in the back garden of the house, and one at the front
of the house that will tape at certain times of the day. CCTV cameras are very good if you want high security, as
even if somebody does manage to get into the house you do have them on tape
which could aid you in finding out who they are.The inputs and outputs of the equipment in the advanced
system, including pictures System
Equipment Input To
Equipment Output
To Equipment Picture Discreet control panel Signal from equipment in the system or remote keypad Signal to bellbox to set alarm off or activating/
deactivating system Remote keypad Key presses Signal to control panel to set/unset system Shock sensors Vibration or a shock Signal to control panel to activate alarm PIR detectors Movement Signal to control panel, alarm activated Internal alarm sirens Signal from control panel Siren activated Rearm facility Alarm set off once, signal from control panel Sets system again Panic/personal attack button Pushing of button Signal to set siren off Heat detector Heat Metal strip makes circuit, alarm goes off Floodlights Movement, or switching on Light comes on for a period of time Magnetic door contact Opening/closing of door moves contacts apart Signal to control panel to set off siren Perimeter protection All of the beams being broken by somebody passing through
them Siren activated CCTV camera Movement or camera set to record Records whatever is in view RedCARE Phone line cut or alarm activated Sends message along lines to monitoring station Advantages of the advanced
security system ·
This system is top of the range, and will protect the family
very well from a lot of eventualities to an extremely high standard of
protection.·
Even if somebody did manage to get past the security, then
there are CCTV cameras, which will film everything that they can see, so they
will have pictures of the intruder on tape that should aid them in discovering
exactly who it was. ·
If the family do think that the system doesn?t provide
enough security, which is unlikely in this top of the range system, then they
could upgrade it very easily to something more suitable to their needs. The
same goes the other way; components can be removed if the family feel that it
isn?t necessary in the system. ·
Perimeter protection stops anybody coming close to the house
without an alarm being sounded when it is set. This is very helpful if people
want some privacy and/or do not want people attempting to enter their home. ·
The rearm facility means that if a burglar tries again to
enter the house the system will not be deactivated, and a siren will still
sound. ·
The panic buttons mean that if the system isn?t set and
somebody enters the house when others are in there, they can still get help by
simply pushing the button. ·
RedCARE will mean that if the phone line is cut, or whenever
the alarm goes off there will be somebody there checking the house and what has