DIY house alarm

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Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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Location
Dublin, Ireland
Hi folks,

We'll hopefully be moving into our new house in a while, which is pre-wired for a burglar alarm but comes with none fitted. Has anyone got any tips on where to source an alarm? All I can seem to find online is wireless models which I don't want to use as the wires are there... Ideally looking for one that can take a sim card and send an SMS/call when alarm is activated.
 
You need to know how the house is wired with what core cable, how you want to configure the system, i.e. window sensors, PIR, door entry, combination of the above?

How are you wired for keypads, what about the control panel, do they expect the control panel and keypad to be in the same place?

And crucially how many zones you want / need.

We wired with multiple Texecom Premier keypads, using a 48 zone metal box control panel, using combinations of window / pir / door sensors, combined with an integrated multi zone smoke alarm system.

Amazing system to use, but i will warn you, hard to program.

We used http://www.cts-direct.net/index.php?route=common/home for some parts, haven't got the other websites to hand at the moment, but we purchased kit from all over the place.
 
Hi,

Thanks for reply - finally have some more information :)

Looks like they've wired the house in 4 zones, which is fine as far as I'm concerned.
I'll need a remote key pad setup as the control panel is upstairs.
It looked like they used 6 core cable throughout but I'd have to double check it to be 100% sure.

There are wired smoke alarms too, I'll have to chase the wires to see if these are included for smoke detection to be added to the alarm system.

The house hasn't been wired for any PIRs so I'll just be fitting shock and contact sensors throughout. Any tips on the contact sensors - I see cheap, grade 1, grade 2 etc?
 
Honestly, pointless having unmonitored/ DIY alarm.

Even if someone does call the police, unless they saw people breaking in the police won't respond to it due to the number of false alarms. And if they saw someone breaking in you wouldn't need an alarm.
 
Thread hijack. We don't have an alarm, and I don't really want one as said, people often ignore them. However, I am tempted to stick a fake box on the outside just as some kind of deterrent. Every house around us has an alarm fitted, making us a more likely target one would assume.

What say ye? Worth the hassle?
 
id say so. if every house around you, they would likely choose your house if you havent got one! its why I got one. 47/50 houses on our street had one (I did count!)

£10 fake alarm box, £10 flashing LED circuit + battery that should last 2 years, 20 minutes install time. Sell it to the other half as you think it will make her feel safer;)

win-win!
 
pitchfork said:
Honestly, pointless having unmonitored/ DIY alarm.

Even if someone does call the police, unless they saw people breaking in the police won't respond to it due to the number of false alarms. And if they saw someone breaking in you wouldn't need an alarm.
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Agree but the prices for full monitoring are huge so going to have a GSM system which will contact me, my family (5 mins away) and a friend (1 min away).
 
This is the sort of system I need. Is there a particular make or model of system that's better suited? 48 zone is way ott for the house I'm renovating.
 
I like the Texecom stuff, loads of support, documentation is ok to follow, they have full sets of install guides etc, though you sometimes need to hunt through the documentation to get the answers.

For a smaller system i'd prob go for: http://www.cts-direct.net/intruder-...ritas-excel-panel-cw-lcd-rkp-cfe-0001-texecom

8 zone as standard, just add: cable, 12v battery, bellbox and your choice of pir / window / door contacts.
 
I've been doing loads of research over the last while and the Honeywell Galaxy G2 comes highly recommended. My rough break down of equipment at the moment:

Honeywell Mk7 Keypad - ebay
Honeywell G2 control box - ebay
Texecom 3E bell box - CTS
Texecom AED-0001 shock & contact sensor - CTS
CTS Internal siren - CTS
Including 13 shock & contact sensors, I'm coming up at around £300 for everything I need which is decent. I'll need to add a 12v battery too.
 
I really dont see the point in house alarms mate, a professional will not be put off by an alarm, random smash and grab druggies likely will.

I just got a couple of fake (they are real boxes, but have nothing in them) alarm boxes and screwed them to my house. The house looks like it has a high end alarm system from the street to deter petty thieves, which is surely the only important job an alarm does anyway?
 
Firestar_3x said:
TBH i think even the thickest of idiots will assume a bell box with no live flashing led lights is fake.
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The "fake" boxes are complete with "fake" status LED's etc :) They would need to be inside your house already before they know that the boxes are not actually real.

Isnt it too late at that point?
 
Jez said:
The "fake" boxes are complete with "fake" status LED's etc :) They would need to be inside your house already before they know that the boxes are not actually real.

Isnt it too late at that point?
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Slightly different situation, i think fitting 'nothing' to the outside of your house is a bad idea these days, makes you a target.

I suppose the only real advantage fitting a real system over some fake boxes would be time to react should someome break in at night.
 
Yeah indeed, hardly an advantage worth spending much time or money on?

Plus you have the downside of having to set the system and disarm it when you vacate the house etc. I really dont see a real system as worth bothering with.
 
I've always had an alarm and it is a pretty effective deterrent over here, especially if there are other houses surrounding it that don't. In our small estate, when I was growing up, there was only one house that didn't have an alarm and was burgled 3 times in as many years, the rest - 0. To be honest, it's a small cost compared to the actual property itself!
 
pitchfork said:
Honestly, pointless having unmonitored/ DIY alarm.

Even if someone does call the police, unless they saw people breaking in the police won't respond to it due to the number of false alarms. And if they saw someone breaking in you wouldn't need an alarm.
Click to expand...


Not really pointless, my latest Homewatch police mail includes...

X 2 Unknown Offenders Approach Front Of Address; Remove Beading And Window; Offenders Enter Address Which Triggers Alarm Offenders Disturbed Make Off Exit As Entry Make Off In Unknown Direction
Occurred on Friday 19th December between 05:42-05:44 on Surrey Street, Ashton
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If we had bothered to arm the rooms, and not just the entry and exits, the motion detectors would have picked up the burglars who gained entry to our house, as we slept, when they kicked a hole through the kitchen ceiling and dropped in from the roof.

To compliment the now armed alarm we have CCTV and security lighting. The neighbours have made changes as well, thus at least drawing that to the attention of the would be burglars and widening the effects of the increased security.
 
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