Re: Help with 7 Circuit Project?

["Brett Griffin" <brett@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Robert,

I appreciate your counterpoints in this article.

I have not read that statistic before about more break ins during the day
than at night.  I find that interesting.  I will definitely do some more
research into this and other reports.

As far as your questions regarding the HAI system, I would be pleased to
chat with you offline about ideas and tricks you can do with the HAI system.
I have been challanging the dealers I had trained to come up with a task
that I could not perform with an HAI system and 3rd party products.
Provided those task can be controlled in some way already, for example dont
get silly and ask me to make it rain, but I have thought that one thru, and
depending on your persepctive I could make it happen (hollywood style).

I agree lighting is not the only aspect but this article was written while I
was working for HAI, and the direction was to write an article on ways you
could use lighting to make a home safer at night.

To answer a few of your questions you posed:

1. HAI is defaulted to flash one light in a alarm state.  You can easily
write a 2-3 line program to flash all lights.
2. You can use HAI logic to minimze security concerns like you desire, but
for liability reasons, I can discuss this offline with you. On a side note,
you may need to consider upgrading you panel to the Omni II or Pro II.  The
omni LT has only 100 lines of programming, and it sounds like you are going
to have fun with the programming.  I have an 18 unit job coming up with Omni
LT's if you decided you wish to upgrade, I would be willing to work a deal
for you, if your deistributor does not want ot exchange it for you.
3. Recommendations on the front door cam on a phone.  If i undertsna dthe
questin, I have used both the IPAQ 6315 tmobile phone and more recently the
Motorola MPX 220.  Both are great phones, and will play video from your home
via Weblink.  Personally I like the MPX-220 better, because it is smaller,
but you loose screen size.  It is really a preference issue, however the
IPAQ did not work well with bluetooth, at least mine (circa August 2004).
4. I monitor eight forums to answer questions on HAI products and
programming, when you get closer to programming drop me an email and I will
give you some tips and tricks.  I will also be producing a training on HAI
programming soon as well.

--
Brett Griffin, Home Technology Consultant

Architechtronics, Inc.
get to know home technologyT
p. (610) 825.7018 f (215) 827.5484

*top 10 reasons to use Architechtronics for your next project
http://www.architechtronics.com/top10.html

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-------------------------------------------


"Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:RIOdnefaeIFfBVnfRVn-uQ@xxxxxxxxxx
> Brett,
>
> I've read through your article and have a few comments on some excerpted
> paragraphs:
>
>> Lighting is often referred to the best defense against break-ins. If
>> someone is committing a crime, they are most concerned about
>> being seen. This is the primary reason many break-ins happen in
>> the dark hours of the night.
>
> Most burglaries actually happen in the daytime.  The primary concern of
> most
> burglars is not to be CAUGHT, nor to enter a house where someone might
> shoot
> them or engage them in a confrontation.  Here's the first stats I found
> through Google that confirm the breakdown:
>
> Occurrences       Time                       Value of property stolen
> 652                 (6:01 p.m.-5:59 a.m.)    $1,022,171
> 911                 (6:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.)    $2,244,070
>
> www.co.fairfax.va.us/ps/police/pdf/Pg0899.pdf
>
> More than twice as much stuff (dollarwise) got stolen during the day in
> Fairfax than at night, at least during the year of the report.  A
> well-designed lighting system isn't going to be much of a deterrent to the
> daytime burgling professionals.  Get a big honking siren or bell (maybe
> more
> than one) and make it clear that you've got a security system in place and
> operational.  Then worry about the lights.
>
>>To discourage a night break-in, illuminate dark areas of the property.
>
> I'd much rather spend the money on good locks and alarm equipment.  I've
> heard of more than one burglar who simply defeated the lights by
> unscrewing
> the bulbs when casing the place in the daylight.
>
>> Many homes now have decorative shrubbery, bushes or trees that
>> provide dark spots for perpetrators to hide. Your installation should
>> include ground lighting to take care of these areas.
>
> When a local neighbor was nearly killed by her demented boyfriend I did a
> "walk around" her house with a local detective specializing in "shoring
> up"
> houses against potential attackers.  The first thing out of his mouth was
> "that shrub must go" in reference to a big bush an attacker could hide
> behind.  Even if it's well-lit, someone could easily hide behind it and
> not
> be seen.
>
>> They can be programmed to come on when the home is
>> unoccupied or based on time of day.
>
> If you're going to depend on lighting to be part of a "security scheme"
> then
> I'd recommend using something that varies the time a light comes on and
> off
> each day.  If it's not variable, the local crackhead juvey probably
> already
> knows no one's home.  I (and the detective) also strongly recommended
> motion
> sensored lights.  I have them and I know when they flick on, I should take
> a
> look outside.  I do the same when my neighbors' floods come on late at
> night.
>
>> Lighting can become as sophisticated as turning on the master
>> bedroom light at 2 a.m., the hall light a few seconds later and the
>> bathroom light for five minutes, and then turning them all off.
>
> I would say that the best deterrent a lighting system can provide is to
> mimic your actual usage patterns when home.
>
>> Unfortunately, many installers opt out of installing sensors
>> because they often void the warranty of the windows.
>
> Are you sure it's not more because they are such a pain to install?  While
> it's nice to have a few window sensors you can use to keep windows
> partially
> opened and yet still alarmed, I've seen very few alarm companies actually
> recommend or install individual window sensors.
>
>> By having a control system that communicates with both the
>> lighting and the security system, you now have integration.
>
> Now this is an interesting area I wish you had expounded on since I just
> bought an Omni LT and am wondering exactly how to design the system so
> that
> false alarms (now fined heavily in my area) are virtually eliminated.  To
> that end, I hoped from what I had read about the Omni that I could use a
> lot
> of conditional logic to evaluate security situations.  What I want is a
> NASA-like control system that has independent logic analysis.  To generate
> a
> central station alarm, the system has to be CERTAIN that a real security
> breach has occurred.  That means more than one sensor has been tripped and
> other conditions have been met that indicate it's a real alarm and not
> just
> a nearby lightning strike.
>
>> Lights can be programmed to illuminate the house if a break-in
>> were to occur -- a tactic that could potentially thwart a break-in
>
> This is why I liked the HAI systems.  Since I already had X-10 controlling
> most of my lights, I could use the OmniLT to flash all the house lights
> when
> an intrusion has been detected.  This is useful for a number of reasons.
> It's likely to be disorienting to the burglar.  Whereas I know my house by
> feel and can navigate in the dark, flashing lights in an unfamiliar
> environment is likely to make the burglar want to flee.  ALL the lights
> flashing also doesn't reveal MY position, which is usually going for the
> Colt Python in the closet.   Planning for deliberately hostile intruders
> became more important after the attempted murder in my neighborhood.  Most
> alarms installers plan for burglaries, not homicidal attacks.  The
> approach
> to each problem is a bit different.
>
>> Once the door opens, the motion sensor trips, and the control
>> system turns on all lights in the home and starts to flash the front
>> porch light.
>
> Why just the porch light?  I hope the LT can flash more than one
> house/unit
> code!
>
>> Add Cameras - You may consider integrating cameras with security
>> and lighting systems. One tactic a burglar may use is to case the
>> house over a period of days. For instance, a burglar may pose as a
>> service person, and ring the doorbell several days in succession to
>> determine what times of the day the house is unoccupied.
>
> Agree VERY strongly.  Burglars always take a look around first and
> recording
> all of the front door interactions is a very, very good idea for a number
> of
> reasons.  It's why I just bought a DoorFon!  The recently sentenced BTK
> killer might have passed by a house marked with modern day lamb's blood -
> the CCTV camera.
>
>> By integrating doorbells into home control systems, the press of a
>> doorbell can trigger several events. First, it can immediately turn
>> on the outside lights.
>
> This is done in my house with X-10's REX.  They've done a fairly good job
> of
> handling the lights and with the volume turned up, the Robodog is great
> fun.
> Panhandlers really don't like houses with dogs.  My next project is to
> take
> the old MP3 player I have with a broken (and unfixable) battery door and
> turn it into a real Robodog that's capable of playing more than just one
> lousy bark (I actually use TWO Robodogs triggered by different sensors -
> makes a hell of a realistic ruckus).  But I dislike the DS10A sensor for a
> number of reasons and want to graduate to something more reliable very
> shortly.
>
>>This also is convenient when an unexpected guest arrives. Second,
>> the camera at the front door could begin recording the image for
>> several minutes. Lastly, the system can be configured to call and
>> notify you when someone is at the front door.
>
> These are all great ideas.  The problem is the implementation.  I've not
> been impressed by the reliability of most of the front door cam systems
> I've
> seen.  Since we often have very long power interruptions here (multiple
> days) I want something that can also function on batteries for a long
> time.
> I've got a kludged system built from X-10 electronics and Sony ExView
> bulletcams, but I'd like something better and something that uses very low
> standby power.
>
>> For those interested in taking it to the max, you can speak to
>> someone at the front door while observing them on your
>> Windows®-based smart phone or PDA phone. The person
>> at the front door would have no way of knowing whether
>> you are at home or in Tahiti. Talk about foiling the thieves!
>
> This is also something I'd like to do.  What do you recommend?
>
> --
> Bobby G.
>
>
>