Re: Writer needs info on burglar alarms

["Tim Walters" <tim.walters@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Jim Rojas" <jrojas@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:PzFhe.5333$Iw1.2887@xxxxxxxxxxx
> There no need for space when you deal with fictional writing. Let their
> imagination do the rest.


I think this depends on the readership one is writing for.

I remember seeing a 1980s film set in occupied Germany in the period
immediately after the end of the war. It was a British production, so I was
expecting reasonably high standards of historical accuracy. In one scene, a
village inhabitant walks into a tobacconist's shop, asks for a packet of
twenty Camels, pays for them, and walks out.

Anything wrong with that?

Only that in Germany, up until the currency reform of 1948, Camels didn't
COST money; they WERE money. You know the sort of thing: a blow job = 1/2
cigarette; 1 lb of butter = 2.5, etc.

My imagination couldn't get around that fact, so I just couldn't swallow the
story.

I'm not aiming to produce a manual for apprentice burglars but, as the
information I'm looking for has been in the public domain for at least 17
years, a large number of the readers I'm aiming at are going to know about
it.

(Besides, alarm circumvention in 1988 ought to be well superseded by newer
technologies by now.)

So anything you could suggest as to how the false keypad could register the
order of the keys pressed would be much appreciated.

Thank you again for your responses.

Tim



Electronics has become smaller and smaller with
> every passing decade. The keypad on the wall was probably designed 10-15
> years ago. I would not be surprised if space was an issue, it could be
made
> real small like a credit card size calculator.
>
> Take the space shuttle for example. Nasa has reduced the weigh of the new
> shuttles by almost 1/3, due to advancements in electronics. A 2 lb laptop
> can run the entire ship. When it was originally designed, the computer
> probably weighed 50 lbs, and was bulky.
>
> Jim Rojas
>
>
> "Tim Walters" <tim.walters@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:d67770$975$0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Hm. This is interesting. But how does the false keypad register the
order
> > of
> > the keys pressed? There's not going to be a lot of space available for
> > anything complicated.
> >
> > Tim
> >
> >
> > "Jim Rojas" <jrojas@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> > news:vXvhe.14263$qn1.10537@xxxxxxxxxxx
> >> That's an easy one. I also saw something like this on an old Mission
> >> Impossible episode.
> >>
> >> Mount an identical phoney keypad on top of the real one. The phoney
> >> keypad
> >> will capture a code and act as a real keypad. The theif can then go
back
> > at
> >> anytime, remove the phoney keypad, whuch will display the code, then
> >> break
> >> in at will. The same keypad can also have the ability to show armed at
> >> all
> >> times after hours, just in case there is a guard making a tour of the
> >> building. Not far fetched at all.
> >>
> >> Jim Rojas
> >>
> >>
> >> "Tim Walters" <tim.walters@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> >> news:d660bm$ac$0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >> > I'm writing a story set in 1988. One of the characters has to break
> >> > into
> >> > someone's house. He's not a burglar, but a professional architect
who's
> >> > kept
> >> > abreast of the latest developments in household security. The alarm
he
> > has
> >> > to disarm is up-to-date at that time. But he needs not only to
> > deactivate
> >> > the alarm, but also to conceal the fact that it's been disarmed.
> >> >
> >> > If it's an infrared heat detector with a four-digit disarming code,
it
> >> > would
> >> > also be helpful if, after disarming the device once, he could now
work
> > out
> >> > what that code was so as to break in again more easily later on.
> >> >
> >> > Thanks in advance for any help.
> >> >
> >> > Tim
> >> > (For e-mail s u b r u b)
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>
>