Anyone bought one of these? is it just the box and no strobe?
Buying an active bell box and was wondering to buy a dummy one as well but
would prefer to have the strobe in it as well.

http://tinyurl.com/296d2l

Thanks

"George" wrote in message
. uk...
Anyone bought one of these? is it just the box and no strobe?
Buying an active bell box and was wondering to buy a dummy one as well but
would prefer to have the strobe in it as well.

That one does not had a strobe in it, look at item 19644 on the screwfix
site, but then it is not really a dummy box......

In message , George
writes
Anyone bought one of these? is it just the box and no strobe?
Buying an active bell box and was wondering to buy a dummy one as well but
would prefer to have the strobe in it as well.

Any thief worth his salt will be able to recognise a dummy box, it'll be
a red Rag to a bull


--
geoff

"geoff" wrote in message
...
In message , George
writes
Anyone bought one of these? is it just the box and no strobe?
Buying an active bell box and was wondering to buy a dummy one as well
but
would prefer to have the strobe in it as well.

Any thief worth his salt will be able to recognise a dummy box, it'll be
a red Rag to a bull


--
geoff

Ok maybe I havn't made it clear in the post? I want an active sounder,strobe
and box on the front of the house and a dummy box on the back of the house
but preferably with a strobe in the dummy box and alls I wanted to know is
whether this dummy box had a strobe inside as it has the same blue perspex
panel on the bottom as the active box.

On Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:58:25 GMT, "George"
wrote:


"geoff" wrote in message
...
In message , George
writes
Anyone bought one of these? is it just the box and no strobe?
Buying an active bell box and was wondering to buy a dummy one as well
but
would prefer to have the strobe in it as well.

Any thief worth his salt will be able to recognise a dummy box, it'll be
a red Rag to a bull



Ok maybe I havn't made it clear in the post? I want an active sounder,strobe
and box on the front of the house and a dummy box on the back of the house
but preferably with a strobe in the dummy box and alls I wanted to know is
whether this dummy box had a strobe inside as it has the same blue perspex
panel on the bottom as the active box.

I wouldn't have thought so - the dummy box sells at £7.50.

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{who is at}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk

Hi George
The box you picture is just an empty box.
Dummy by the description is just that a fake.
Some don't even have a backplate you just put 2 screws in the wall and hang
the cover on.
The majority of manufacturers now sell the same top cover and backplate for
the dummy and the active units, the only difference being the electronics
clipped onto the backplate.
Supplying one with a strobe would entail wiring to the box so defeating the
idea of a dummy ,that's why most installers fit active units .
You could do this and just leave out the sounder feed but it begs the
question WHY? if going to all that trouble.

CJ

In message , George
writes

"geoff" wrote in message
...
In message , George
writes
Anyone bought one of these? is it just the box and no strobe?
Buying an active bell box and was wondering to buy a dummy one as well
but
would prefer to have the strobe in it as well.

Any thief worth his salt will be able to recognise a dummy box, it'll be
a red Rag to a bull


--
geoff

Ok maybe I havn't made it clear in the post? I want an active sounder,strobe
and box on the front of the house and a dummy box on the back of the house
but preferably with a strobe in the dummy box and alls I wanted to know is
whether this dummy box had a strobe inside as it has the same blue perspex
panel on the bottom as the active box.

The other point is (AFAIK) that thieves really don't care about house
alarms unless they are recognised ones which phone through to a control
who call the police

Alarm goes off - so what ?

who would bother reporting it ?

and how long does it take them to get through if they did

and the other other point is that having an alarm which is not approved
is a liability when it comes to insurance

--
geoff

"geoff" wrote in message
...
In message , George
writes

"geoff" wrote in message
...
In message , George
writes
Anyone bought one of these? is it just the box and no strobe?
Buying an active bell box and was wondering to buy a dummy one as well
but
would prefer to have the strobe in it as well.

Any thief worth his salt will be able to recognise a dummy box, it'll
be
a red Rag to a bull


--
geoff

Ok maybe I havn't made it clear in the post? I want an active
sounder,strobe
and box on the front of the house and a dummy box on the back of the
house
but preferably with a strobe in the dummy box and alls I wanted to know
is
whether this dummy box had a strobe inside as it has the same blue
perspex
panel on the bottom as the active box.

The other point is (AFAIK) that thieves really don't care about house
alarms unless they are recognised ones which phone through to a control
who call the police

Alarm goes off - so what ?

who would bother reporting it ?


That depends how well you know your neighbours?

and how long does it take them to get through if they did

and the other other point is that having an alarm which is not approved
is a liability when it comes to insurance

--
geoff

Tell me... do you have an alarm system installed on your property?

In message , geoff
writes

The other point is (AFAIK) that thieves really don't care about house
alarms unless they are recognised ones which phone through to a control
who call the police

Alarm goes off - so what ?

Depends on the locality. On the odd occasion an alarm goes off here
neighbours check quite quickly to see if there are any obvious signs of
unauthorised entry. The last time it happen 4 turned up within a few
minutes.

who would bother reporting it ?

See above


and how long does it take them to get through if they did

Not long to get through but of course the actual response time varies
considerably

and the other other point is that having an alarm which is not approved
is a liability when it comes to insurance

I appreciate that they are not taken into account when calculating the
premium but a liability - that is very unlikely.

An alarm/alarm box may not deter the clued up 'experienced' thief (other
factors may) but they may well deter the opportunists and 'apprentices'
who will move on to apparently safer pickings.
--
Robert

In message , George
writes

The other point is (AFAIK) that thieves really don't care about house
alarms unless they are recognised ones which phone through to a control
who call the police

Alarm goes off - so what ?

who would bother reporting it ?


That depends how well you know your neighbours?

and how long does it take them to get through if they did

and the other other point is that having an alarm which is not approved
is a liability when it comes to insurance

--
geoff

Tell me... do you have an alarm system installed on your property?


I could tell you, but I'd have to kill you ...

If someone entered my house, I would know, and I don't think that they
would remain within the house for any longer than it took them to get
out

I DO think that dummy boxes are an open invitation - "look I'm
pretending I have an alarm system" ... whether you do or not

--
geoff

geoff wrote:
In message , George
writes
Anyone bought one of these? is it just the box and no strobe?
Buying an active bell box and was wondering to buy a dummy one as
well but would prefer to have the strobe in it as well.

Any thief worth his salt will be able to recognise a dummy box, it'll
be a red Rag to a bull

I fitted a dummy box for a guy a few weeks ago, it was from a local alarm
company complete with their logo & phone number, matched all the real/dummy
boxes on the estate.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

geoff wrote:
I could tell you, but I'd have to kill you ...


I wonder where that line came from......

:-)


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

On Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:58:25 +0000, George wrote:

"geoff" wrote in message
...
In message , George
writes
Anyone bought one of these? is it just the box and no strobe? Buying
an active bell box and was wondering to buy a dummy one as well
but
would prefer to have the strobe in it as well.

Any thief worth his salt will be able to recognise a dummy box, it'll
be a red Rag to a bull


--
geoff

Ok maybe I havn't made it clear in the post? I want an active
sounder,strobe and box on the front of the house and a dummy box on the
back of the house but preferably with a strobe in the dummy box and alls
I wanted to know is whether this dummy box had a strobe inside as it has
the same blue perspex panel on the bottom as the active box.

Generally (probably always) dummy bell boxes are devoid of contents; i.e.
bell, battery, leds and strobe.
The dummy box has a small deterrent value of making a house appear from a
distance as if it had an alarm system. This in turn where some houses do
and some don't /might/ cause a potential robber to go elsewhere.

If you just want the strobe and maybe leds you buy a normal bell box and
set it up to not use the sounder. Most panels will support several bell
boxes or maybe more.

--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html
Choosing a Boiler FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/BoilerChoice.html

In message , The Medway
Handyman writes
geoff wrote:
In message , George
writes
Anyone bought one of these? is it just the box and no strobe?
Buying an active bell box and was wondering to buy a dummy one as
well but would prefer to have the strobe in it as well.

Any thief worth his salt will be able to recognise a dummy box, it'll
be a red Rag to a bull

I fitted a dummy box for a guy a few weeks ago, it was from a local alarm
company complete with their logo & phone number, matched all the real/dummy
boxes on the estate.

Ah, but that's a different kettle of hovercrafts


--
geoff

"geoff" wrote in message
...

snip
The other point is (AFAIK) that thieves really don't care about house
alarms unless they are recognised ones which phone through to a
control who call the police

Alarm goes off - so what ?

A few years ago, someone broke into one of my sheds (non-alarmed) and
took a chainsaw. He then forced a window of my clock workshop (omg - I
nearly advertised then), stuck his arm through, and triggered the house
alarm. He scarpered, leaving the chainsaw a few yards away.

My conclusions:

The alarm did frighten him off, and was therefore effective in this
case.

He would not have seen the house alarm box from the direction from which
he approached, and might therefore have been deterred had there been
another box (real or dummy) where he would have seen it.

I'm not so sure about my second conclusion, because he may not have
realised the workshop would be linked to the alarm, or may have been
prepared to risk it.


and the other other point is that having an alarm which is not
approved is a liability when it comes to insurance

Only, I think, if you've declared it such that they've taken it into
account in assessing the risk.



--
Kevin Poole
**Use current month and year to reply (e.g. )***

geoff wrote:
In message , George
writes

SNIP


If someone entered my house, I would know, and I don't think that they
would remain within the house for any longer than it took them to get out

I DO think that dummy boxes are an open invitation - "look I'm
pretending I have an alarm system" ... whether you do or not


No more so than not having one at all surely.

Not sure how many burglars are opportunist wee scrotes/druggies, and how
many are pro's who would actually be capable of recognising different alarm
systems.

cheers

David

On Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:43:08 +0000, geoff wrote:

Any thief worth his salt will be able to recognise a dummy box, it'll be
a red Rag to a bull

Sadly most thieves aren't: evidently the quality of training these days
leaves much to be desired. What is the Guild of Thieves doing to promote
and maintain standards in the profession, I hear you ask?

So a dummy box is probably as much use as a real stand-alone system: if
brain-addled tealeaf is prepared to break in thinking he'll set off an
alarm which no-one will pay any attention to anyway, because people don't,
then it doesn't much matter whether it really does go off or not. And it
saves the hassle of setting and resetting it and the cost of installation
& maintenance of a real system, and saves winding the neighbours up when
it goes off accidentally while you're away. As they do.

Of course if you've got something worth the attention of real skilled
professional thieves, and a proper monitored alarm system, it's a
different ballgame.

--
John Stumbles

I used to be forgetful but now I ... um ....

"Ed Sirett" wrote in message
...
If you just want the strobe and maybe leds you buy a normal bell box and
set it up to not use the sounder. Most panels will support several bell
boxes or maybe more.

and if not get the panel to drive a relay and then have a chunky PSU to
drive the various bells / sounders / flashing lights / etc .....

On Fri, 07 Dec 2007 11:02:44 +0000, John Stumbles wrote:

On Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:43:08 +0000, geoff wrote:

Any thief worth his salt will be able to recognise a dummy box, it'll
be a red Rag to a bull

Sadly most thieves aren't: evidently the quality of training these days
leaves much to be desired. What is the Guild of Thieves doing to promote
and maintain standards in the profession, I hear you ask?


I hear that the colleges are full so they are letting some go home early.
No surprise the standards are slipping. The other day they carefully
mangled the lock mechanism on the van rear door whilst failing to spot
the KASP lock. What a waste of their effort really.



So a dummy box is probably as much use as a real stand-alone system: if
brain-addled tealeaf is prepared to break in thinking he'll set off an
alarm which no-one will pay any attention to anyway, because people
don't, then it doesn't much matter whether it really does go off or not.
And it saves the hassle of setting and resetting it and the cost of
installation & maintenance of a real system, and saves winding the
neighbours up when it goes off accidentally while you're away. As they
do.

It is more to make the occupant feel secure than to add any real
security.



Of course if you've got something worth the attention of real skilled
professional thieves, and a proper monitored alarm system, it's a
different ballgame.
Just slows down them (Ocean's 10+n team) down a bit.



--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html
Choosing a Boiler FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/BoilerChoice.html