Hello,

I'm hoping for economic and straightforward suggestions to alarm a
shed. It's a wooden shed, approx 20ft x 30ft, and about 1.5ft above
the ground on stilts. It has mains power. There has been a rise in
crime in the area recently so I would like to alarm this shed as it is
a little secluded from the house and has some valuable equipment in
it. One of the people who uses the shed has special needs so I do not
want to use a key pad or timed entry system. I know it would not work
in a power cut, but I would be happy with a mains only system if it
simplified things

Instead of a keypad I think it would be possible to hide a switch
under the floor of the shed that is accessed from the outside. There
could be an discreet indicator inside the shed like a blue LED near a
window or something to show to was on. I think it would be sensible if
the alarm could be triggered by a door contact switch or PIR. I am
thinking of an alarm that would trigger a loud siren rather than a
silent alarm.


TIA

wrote:

Hello,

I'm hoping for economic and straightforward suggestions to alarm a
shed. It's a wooden shed, approx 20ft x 30ft, and about 1.5ft above
the ground on stilts. It has mains power. There has been a rise in
crime in the area recently so I would like to alarm this shed as it is
a little secluded from the house and has some valuable equipment in
it. One of the people who uses the shed has special needs so I do not
want to use a key pad or timed entry system. I know it would not work
in a power cut, but I would be happy with a mains only system if it
simplified things

Instead of a keypad I think it would be possible to hide a switch
under the floor of the shed that is accessed from the outside. There
could be an discreet indicator inside the shed like a blue LED near a
window or something to show to was on. I think it would be sensible if
the alarm could be triggered by a door contact switch or PIR. I am
thinking of an alarm that would trigger a loud siren rather than a
silent alarm.


TIA

I would put a reed switch behind the wood panelling in a known but unmarked
location and use a neodymium magnet as the "key". Unless someone observes
you in action, there is no visible mechanism to attack.

--
Tim Watts

On Nov 13, 6:33*pm, wrote:
Hello,

I'm hoping for economic and straightforward suggestions to alarm a
shed. It's a wooden shed, approx 20ft x 30ft, and about 1.5ft above
the ground on stilts. It has mains power. There has been a rise in
crime in the area recently so I would like to alarm this shed as it is
a little secluded from the house and has some valuable equipment in
it. One of the people who uses the shed has special needs so I do not
want to use a key pad or timed entry system. I know it would not work
in a power cut, but I would be happy with a mains only system if it
simplified things

*Instead of a keypad I think it would be possible to hide a switch
under the floor of the shed that is accessed from the outside. There
could be an discreet indicator inside the shed like a blue LED near a
window or something to show to was on. I think it would be sensible if
the alarm could be triggered by a door contact switch or PIR. I am
thinking of an alarm that would trigger a loud siren rather than a
silent alarm.

TIA

Something along lines of:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wireless-H...em2eb8b04 29c

GSM takes a PAYG sim card and phones a number in case of alarm along
with siren, key fob control possibly suitable for people of limited
mobility also has panic button which will also dial all numbers
stored., tend to be a range of sensors available, PIR, door contact
etc Usually open collector output available for triggering relay for
lights etc.

Limited battery backup ,but cutting power directly before forcing
entry won`t help any intruders.

Had similar installed for nearly 2 years, initial false alarms to do
with PIR placement ironed out , been stable since. well under 100 quid
at time.

Physical security in way of real padlocks and pad bars or decent
shackles on solid doors be first line of defence.

Cheers
Adam

On 13/11/2011 19:49, Tim Watts wrote:
wrote:

Hello,

I'm hoping for economic and straightforward suggestions to alarm a
shed. It's a wooden shed, approx 20ft x 30ft, and about 1.5ft above
the ground on stilts. It has mains power. There has been a rise in
crime in the area recently so I would like to alarm this shed as it is
a little secluded from the house and has some valuable equipment in
it. One of the people who uses the shed has special needs so I do not
want to use a key pad or timed entry system. I know it would not work
in a power cut, but I would be happy with a mains only system if it
simplified things

Instead of a keypad I think it would be possible to hide a switch
under the floor of the shed that is accessed from the outside. There
could be an discreet indicator inside the shed like a blue LED near a
window or something to show to was on. I think it would be sensible if
the alarm could be triggered by a door contact switch or PIR. I am
thinking of an alarm that would trigger a loud siren rather than a
silent alarm.


TIA

I would put a reed switch behind the wood panelling in a known but unmarked
location and use a neodymium magnet as the "key". Unless someone observes
you in action, there is no visible mechanism to attack.


You can also buy for around £9 alarms that pull out a pin when the door
is opened and sets an alarm off, the pin is connected to a short length
of string (you can make this longer) I have one on the door and another
looped through some items in the garage so if they disturb those items
the alarm goes off. I just undo a clip to deactivate (this stops the pin
being pulled, disconnects the string from the pin) it can be deactivated
/ reset by a 4 digit code but I never bother.

On Sun, 13 Nov 2011 19:49:14 +0000, Tim Watts wrote:

I would put a reed switch behind the wood panelling in a known but
unmarked location and use a neodymium magnet as the "key".

Until the little bits of damage that occur everytime the magnet is
placed mount up...

Unless someone observes you in action, there is no visible mechanism to
attack.

But anyone with a magnet has a "key". As a keypad is out how about a
proximity device of some sort?

--
Cheers
Dave.

wrote:

I'm hoping for economic and straightforward suggestions to alarm a
shed.

You could tell it you're going to burn it down; that should frighten it!

More seriously, you might just get away with a flashing LED at each window,
in the same way that nearly every locked car has a visible one.

Long ago - years before all cars had flashing LEDs - I had a black plastic
box screwed on to the car dashboard; the box contained an LED, the small
integrated circuit that made it flash, and an ultrasonic transducer (not
connected to anything) that poked through the front of the box but made it
look more like part of an 'active' alarm system. The thing was wired to a
dry battery in the glovebox and a switch under the dashborad fascia.


--
Jeremy C B Nicoll - my opinions are my own.

Email sent to my from-address will be deleted. Instead, please reply
to replacing "aaa" by "284".

Dave Liquorice wrote:

On Sun, 13 Nov 2011 19:49:14 +0000, Tim Watts wrote:

I would put a reed switch behind the wood panelling in a known but
unmarked location and use a neodymium magnet as the "key".

Until the little bits of damage that occur everytime the magnet is
placed mount up...

Unless someone observes you in action, there is no visible mechanism to
attack.

But anyone with a magnet has a "key". As a keypad is out how about a
proximity device of some sort?


This is all true - but on the basis we're dealing with thick pikies in the
dark rather than Thomas Crown...

--
Tim Watts

On Sun, 13 Nov 2011 20:59:47 +0000, Jeremy Nicoll - news posts wrote:

Long ago - years before all cars had flashing LEDs - I had a black
plastic box screwed on to the car dashboard; the box contained an LED,
the small integrated circuit that made it flash, and an ultrasonic
transducer ...

I had similar but instead of the ultrasonic transducer it had some
4mm sockets to connect radio gear to the cars 12v. Guess when that
car was knicked? Yep when the flashing LED wasn't for some reason...

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Sun, 13 Nov 2011 10:33:29 -0800 (PST), wrote:
Hello,

I'm hoping for economic and straightforward suggestions to alarm a
shed. It's a wooden shed, approx 20ft x 30ft, and about 1.5ft above
the ground on stilts. It has mains power. There has been a rise in
crime in the area recently so I would like to alarm this shed as it is
a little secluded from the house and has some valuable equipment in
it. One of the people who uses the shed has special needs so I do not
want to use a key pad or timed entry system. I know it would not work
in a power cut, but I would be happy with a mains only system if it
simplified things

I'd go for deterrence rather than an alarm. People ignore alarms until
they become a nuisance and by then whatever damage/theft is going to
take place has already happened.
Personally I'd go with a proximity detector that either yells at the
approaching individual: "Oy you, get away from there" or sounds like a
large dog.

In article
,
writes
Hello,

I'm hoping for economic and straightforward suggestions to alarm a
shed. It's a wooden shed, approx 20ft x 30ft, and about 1.5ft above
the ground on stilts. It has mains power. There has been a rise in
crime in the area recently so I would like to alarm this shed as it is
a little secluded from the house and has some valuable equipment in
it. One of the people who uses the shed has special needs so I do not
want to use a key pad or timed entry system. I know it would not work
in a power cut, but I would be happy with a mains only system if it
simplified things

Instead of a keypad I think it would be possible to hide a switch
under the floor of the shed that is accessed from the outside. There
could be an discreet indicator inside the shed like a blue LED near a
window or something to show to was on. I think it would be sensible if
the alarm could be triggered by a door contact switch or PIR. I am
thinking of an alarm that would trigger a loud siren rather than a
silent alarm.

I agree with the loud sounder approach, I have always put a deafening
sounder just inside the main entry point of any place I am trying to
protect.

This one is internal but recommended:

http://cpc.farnell.com/SR02959

It has a moving coil element which IME means a more penetrating sound
and makes it more noticeable over long distances. Far better than piezo
element Sound Bombs IMO.

External boxes are often overpriced and have poor sounders, I prefer to
buy a dummy and fit the guts of the above sounder or the SAB variant:

http://cpc.farnell.com/SR02960

or with a strobe:

http://cpc.farnell.com/SR02962

If a door is likely to be kicked in I'd put a shock sensor on it:

http://cpc.farnell.com/SR04710

With a little relay jiggery pokery I'll let a light kick or 2 set off
the sounder for the duration of the shock sensor trigger. Most panels
can set a trigger count on shock sensors so you can avoid false triggers
unless the perp repeatedly triggers the sensor.

In closing I'd definitely say get something with a GSM (or some kind of
wireless) link, ideal for slightly remote protection.
--
fred
it's a ba-na-na . . . .

On Sun, 13 Nov 2011 23:51:29 +0000, fred wrote:

I'm hoping for economic and straightforward suggestions to alarm a
shed. It's a wooden shed, approx 20ft x 30ft, and about 1.5ft
above
the ground on stilts.

If a door is likely to be kicked in I'd put a shock sensor on it:

With a nice hidden area underneath with a reasonable space to work in
the floor is probably the weakest point...

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Nov 13, 6:33*pm, wrote:
Hello,

I'm hoping for economic and straightforward suggestions to alarm a shed. It's a wooden shed, approx 20ft x 30ft, and about 1.5ft above
the ground on stilts. It has mains power. There has been a rise in
crime in the area recently so I would like to alarm this shed as it is
a little secluded from the house and has some valuable equipment in
it. One of the people who uses the shed has special needs so I do not
want to use a key pad or timed entry system. I know it would not work
in a power cut, but I would be happy with a mains only system if it
simplified things

*Instead of a keypad I think it would be possible to hide a switch
under the floor of the shed that is accessed from the outside. There
could be an discreet indicator inside the shed like a blue LED near a
window or something to show to was on. I think it would be sensible if
the alarm could be triggered by a door contact switch or PIR. I am
thinking of an alarm that would trigger a loud siren rather than a
silent alarm.

TIA

Thanks for your suggestions everyone.

I've been thinking. I have seen a light switched on by a PIR for sale
for less than ten pounds. I could fit that inside the shed, switched
by a hidden external switch. I could then attach a wire to the bulb
terminals running to a siren. Assuming I could find a suitable siren I
could fit it externally in a dummy bird box of some kind. Okay I would
loose the door contact switch but it could still be good enough, and
pretty cheap.

What does the panel think?

On Nov 13, 9:04*pm, Tim Watts wrote:
Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Sun, 13 Nov 2011 19:49:14 +0000, Tim Watts wrote:

I would put a reed switch behind the wood panelling in a known but
unmarked location and use a neodymium magnet as the "key".

Until the little bits of damage that occur everytime the magnet is
placed mount up...

Unless someone observes you in action, there is no visible mechanism to
attack.

But anyone with a magnet has a "key". As a keypad is out how about a
proximity device of some sort?

This is all true - but on the basis we're dealing with thick pikies in the
dark rather than Thomas Crown...

What use is the key if you dont know where to put it? Good idea imho,
if you can ensure noone ever sees you use it. If they do though, its
useless.

Dont even think about using magnetically operated contacts on a shed
door. They'll be so unreliable as to be quite useless. A PIR would be
good.

And do make good use of the element of surprise. If the alarm
triggers, make it scare the sht out of them. A 500w bulb will ensure
they cant see a thing, but everyone can see them.


NT