I've bought a house which is comprehensively wired with PIR and magnetic window/door detectors. All the wires run to an apparently broken Texecom alarm panel in the loft. I don't have the remote keypad or any security codes for it.
Replacement alarm panels seem to sell for less than £100, but I would like one that I can interface to my PC, so that I can do things like sending out an email when motion is detected. Ideally I'd like to do this via the serial port, so that I can write my own monitoring and alert-sending software.
Any recommendations for a cheapish DIY-friendly alarm panel?
There was a time when there were several of us on here with Cytech Comfort alarms. These fail the 'cheap' test - they never were cheap, but they're now significantly more expensive than they were when I installed a couple 10 years ago (BTW, both still working fine). They can do serial or ethernet connection via add-on cards. Software is available (Windows), but the raw serial/ethernet protocol is fully published so you can write your own (which is what I did).
In addition to the security alarm function, it's a fully featured home automation (HA) system. If you were only going to use it as an alarm, I'm guessing there are cheaper systems, but I'm way out of date with what's on the market now. If HA interests you, then you might consider the additional investment in a Comfort system worthwhile.
System is designed for either DIY or professional install, but you will need some knowledge of programming to configure it. The programming is extremely powerful and you can use that to do pretty much anything you can think of.
It can be programmed to conform to UK requirements for monitoring with police response, but would need to be on maintenance contract with your ability to program it locked out. Otherwise you can have it monitored without police response, or unmonitored, and have programming access.
Wouldn't you be better off interfacing to a dialler that would call your mobile when motion is detected? You can even get a GSM one that will text you.
Well, in my case, I would probably open a browser and have a look at the images from the cameras inside my house. It's primarily for re-assurance that my house hasn't been burgled while I'm away. I'm rarely far from a PC, so email is adequate. In the past, I have configured my house to send SMS messages when motion is detected, but that can become expensive if something malfunctions.
I'm now looking for a way to link the large number of wired burglar alarm sensors to my PC. I like serial ports, because they're easy access from code. I'd like to avoid installing anymore 3rd party software on my PC. I could link the sensors directly to the PC, but having a conventional alarm panel would probably be more appealing to buyers if I ever wanted to sell this house.
I suppose I could always connect the wire that activates the sounder to the serial port via a suitable circuit, but I was hoping for something a bit more sophisticated.
The Texecom range include models that can use a USB-Com serial interface. It is not something I have used but please email me for the installation and user manuals if you think they may be of use to you.
By asking a neighbour if anything looks amiss, I mean like an open door or window, or signs of a break in. Not to take any action which could endanger themselves.
Of course I believe your house is situated in an isolated location. Mine could be checked by neighbours from their windows. ;-)
The neighbours can't see our place from their windows but it's not isolated. The road betwixt town and village is less than five yds from where I'm sat... The closest neighours are more than a 5 min walk away, plenty of time for nerdowells to be in out and away. even if they drove round your still looking at 5 mins or so by the time you found the key etc...
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