Jon Anderson wrote:

Got a wake up call yesterday. I work from home out of my garage.
Generally spend about 80% of my waking hours in the shop (or so it seems
sometimes...). Been gone most of the last week helping my parents move.
Last night a fellow two doors down (or a quarter mile along my dirt
road) came by to tell me he'd been robbed yesterday to the tune of about
$60k. There's been several thefts in the last two weeks in this area.
Time to think about security...
Surplus Center has a 4 zone alarm control for $120 that includes dial
out to 3 different numbers, and they have a variety of sensors. I'm
thinking of this setup, a cell phone, and having the cell phone as the
first call (911 would be second). In none of the local thefts, have
phone lines been cut. Getting a call while in town would likely give me
enough time to get home and block the top of the road with my truck to
prevent perps from getting away. Dead end roads are nice in that regard!
I could then check and see if indeed I'm being robbed, and if so make a
second call to 911.
With 911 response times around here approaching 45 minutes sometimes, I
have to try to insure perps don't get away with the tools I need to
support my family, thus my more direct approach vs relying on a service
like Brinks.

Anyway, would like to know if anyone here has experience with this unit,
good or bad.
It's catalog # 29-A-050, page 151 in the current catalog. Right next to
it is another unit with more sophisticated calling features with fewer
zones, and about $30 more.
I live in a two story, whole bottom floor is garage/shop. I have one
window over the washer/dryer and a wimpy door along the back wall to
worry about downstairs. Garage door opener makes that entry a bit of
work.
Upstairs only have one window and the front door to secure, so I don't
need too many sensors.
The other question is regarding windows and sensors. I see really
needing a breakage sensor on each pane, and a magnetic switch on the
moving window frame. Surplus center has a simple glass breakage sensor
at 7.95 and a fancy 46.95 unit that apparently doesn't need to attach to
the window.
There's also a vibration sensor and a shock sensor at 4.35 and 11.95
respectively. Thoughts on these?

I've done a bit of web browsing, and there's a bewildering array of
products out there. If there's any source with something better and/or
cheaper than Surplus Center's setup, would also appreciate hearing about
it.

Thanks,

Jon


Place I used to work had area motion sensors which are unbeatable but
you can't use
them if something will be moving around like an oscillating fan, a cat
or CNC running by
itself.

Fred