Do-it-myself alarm, I guess

[Frank Cox]

The alarm company that I phoned to ask about getting a motion detector installed in my lobby doesn't seem to be much interested in the job since they haven't bothered to call me back again after I talked to them the first time.

Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, because maybe I can put one together myself at a lesser cost.

(Time I got, so if I can do it for less that suits me.)

Unfortunately, I don't know enough about how these things work to determine exactly what I need to get what I want and I'm hoping that some of you much-smarter-than-me folks might know more about burglar alarms than I do.

I want to put either one or two motion detectors in my lobby and have a switch (a standard light switch maybe?) beside the door that opens into the lobby so I can leave the lobby, go through that door, lock it behind me and turn on the motion detector(s). The next morning I can just turn that switch back off, unlock the door and go about my day.

And I want to have two buzzers activate if anyone's moving when the alarm is turned on.

Any suggestions for what kind of parts and power supply would work for this? I think there would somehow have to be two circuits, one that goes through the switch and the power supply to power the motion detectors and one that goes through the power supply and the motion detectors to power the buzzers. I think this would just require one switch but I'm not entirely clear on how it would fit in to work with both of those circuits unless it somehow just activates and deactivates the power supply somehow?

If I could get some idea of what to order I can probably put this thing together but as I said, I don't know enough about how burglar alarms work to know what I need.

[Leo Enticknap]

There are burglar alarm systems that are self install, with the components communicating with each other wirelessly. The two biggest ones in the US appear to be Ring and Simplisafe. I'm guessing that they aren't the only ones, and I don't know what their offerings in Canada are like. You buy a base station (which has a cellular modem built in, for communication with the monitoring service if wifi goes down) plus the components you need (entry sensors, motion detectors, cameras, panic buttons, smoke and CO detectors, water leak detectors, sirens, etc.), register each sensor to the base station, and then install them where desired. Because they are wireless, there is no tearing up drywall or messing around with fish tapes to run cables. After the initial investment in the system, the only ongoing expenses are a subscription to the monitoring service (if desired - if you choose not to have it, the system will still alert you through a phone app) and batteries.

The two drawbacks I can think of is that because communication between the components is wireless, regular battery swapouts are needed. In our system, most of the sensors take CR2032s that last around a year (which only cost 50c or so if bought in bulk), but one or two require more expensive batteries. On our system, a range of 200ft is claimed between the base station and the sensors. That's no problem for a residence (unless you live in Buckingham Palace!), but I guess it could be for a theater, even a small one. Still, if you're having trouble finding an installation contractor, maybe a self install system is worth looking in to?

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

The RING stuff is sold by Amazon around here... While the motion detect part seems to work just fine on them, the video quality in dim light is basically unusable in most cases. The old adage of... We can take 500 line resolution images of the surface of mars, but we can't get a clear image of the bank robber here at home applies well to these motion control video detectors. Personally, I would just install motion detector lights to scare off anyone that breaks in. Nothing more, and nothing less...

[Ryan Gallagher]

More traditional (non-wireless non-battery) alarm systems tend to be a 12v or 24v circuit, with an SLA battery backup. But the systems out there are a minefield of cheap less than desirable gear.

But in this era the wireless self install ones seem to be all the rage. Their ecosystem is pretty complete, including cameras, glass-break detection, door and window switches. The real perk is the ability to monitor it all with an app. If the alarm goes off in your lobby what are you gonna do? Immediately call the police? Or be tempted to investigate (and put yourself at risk)? The remote view of at least a couple cameras would be a real boon for you since you live on the property. If for example, you spotted an intruder with a weapon via a camera, you could sneak out the back door and call the police from offsite.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

These are typical as-is images from night time Ring Cameras and others. Not at all admissable in court. As I said .. we see Mars much better...

[Dustin Grush]

You might want to tale a look at Reolink brand cameras. In addition to just being a camera, they offer motion/person/vehicle/animal detection, a multitude of recording options, push notifications to a smart phone, local viewing, and more, all without a subscription. They have Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and POE options. They can be stand-alone, or part of a system, and can be set up with a smart phone or in a browser. I've been pleased with them thus far and am surprised at what all they can do. You'll likely end up with more functionality over a standard alarm system for less money.

[Frank Cox]

That Reolink looks very interesting indeed! They seem to have cameras with built-in motion detectors and that sounds like exactly what I want. I'll look into this some more.

Thanks for the lead!

[Terry Monohan]

Frank with a home made lobby motion alarm you may get up in the night by a mouse or stray cat inside your theatre that will set off the alarm. Don't forget the booth or inside of the theatre space also not just the lobby area.

[Scott Jentsch]

The Ring cameras work really well for light-duty purposes, but they are subscription-based and cloud-based, so that may or may not enter into your consideration. Also, like Leo said, I don't know if/how the system works in Canada. For low-light situations, you can get Spotlight cams, which have motion-triggered lights, that will help with video captures. More than anything, I like that they can notify me of motion detection and I can review the footage to see if it was someone or just a cat through (I believe Ring cameras distinguish people from animals).

If you want to go with something more flexible, but also more expensive, and not subscription-based, check out Synology's surveillance setups. (https://www.synology.com/) You can buy a NAS with the number and kinds of hard drives you want, choose from the list of approved cameras to get the features that you want, and then buy the number of licenses that you need to operate the number of cameras that you end up with. The software runs on the NAS and stores the footage for your review. Synology makes really solid hardware and their NAS operating system is quite good. I've used their NAS and router products for several years, and have been very happy with them.

I've not used the surveillance stuff personally, so I can't get into its ease of use and feature-set, but I know of theaters that use Synology setups and are pleased.

[Mike Blakesley]

Frank with a home made lobby motion alarm you may get up in the night by a mouse or stray cat inside your theatre that will set off the alarm.

We have a Ring camera at home, and during the "dog days of summer" we get alerted sometimes in the autumn afternoons by wasps flying around it. Our front doorway gets the warm afternoon sun and the wasps love to hang around there, unfortunately. Other than that the camera works really well -- we have a motion-detecting porch light so the camera gets a good shot of anyone coming to the door. The battery in it is rechargeable and needs refreshed every couple months.

[Frank Cox]

Since this alarm stuff seems to be over my head, especially since it's hard to get real information about the components needed to do what I really want to accomplish here, I have arranged for an assessment from an alarm company that does work for some of the local banks here. They'll have a tech come to see me the next time he's in town.

I miss Radio Shack. I remember they used to have a whole section of burglar alarm sensors and controls in their catalogue, all of which would work together since it was their own stuff.

Anyway, I figure I'll be able to get something that works from an outfit that actually does this stuff.

[Jack Ondracek]

Years ago, when I traveled to one of my rural drive-ins daily, barefoot, through 4 feet of snow, we didn't have Ring cameras or internet. Police response was 20 minutes plus, and they usually told you there wasn't much they could do. The best outward-notification system I could get out there was a mini-cassette-based phone dialer from Radio Shack (yes, I miss them, too).

What occurred to me is the bad guys like it quiet, so they can hear if they've been discovered. Break that silence and their "range of awareness" closes in and they're likely to be a bit less brave. In my opinion, a silent system would be useless at that location.

Given the limitations of the time, I bought a simple Radio Shack panel, a couple of motion detectors, 2 of the loudest outdoor sirens I could get and a couple of nice enclosures for them. I installed all of that INSIDE my snack bar, with acoustic support from concrete floors and concrete block walls. I also added a contactor, that turned all the interior and field lights on with the sirens.

The night I got the alarm, I arrived to find the Sheriff's department already on-scene, and one of the side doors, taken off its hinges. There were exactly 2 muddy boot prints on the floor, which was as far as the bad guy got before all Hell broke loose. We didn't catch the guy, but I like to think he spent the rest of the night, laundering his shorts. That was the only break-in I ever had there.

My current system is also loud and shocking, but still pretty simple. My local alarm company installed a DSC panel (you can find them with a Google search, if you want to DIY). I've got a nice collection of motion sensors, door switches and smoke / heat detectors. I also have temperature sensors in my walk-in cooler, freezer and the booth. The system notifies a monitoring service through my wired internet connection, but is also backed up with a cellular-based wireless module. The system wasn't all that expensive and I think I pay something like $15/month or so for monitoring and the cell subscription.

All of the sensors here are wireless, including a couple of additional remote keypads. Depending on usage, I'm getting 3 - 5 years out of the batteries. Everything communicates with the keypad, so you get about 6-months notice that something wants a new battery. If you ignore that until a battery goes completely dead, there is a trouble indication that you can't clear until you replace the offending battery, which you can get at all hardware and Walmart stores, most drug stores and Office Depots... all of this meaning that, if you wish, you can maintain most everything yourself.

[Ryan Gallagher]

Years ago, when I traveled to one of my rural drive-ins daily, barefoot, through 4 feet of snow, we didn't have Ring cameras or internet. Police response was 20 minutes plus, and they usually told you there wasn't much they could do. The best outward-notification system I could get out there was a mini-cassette-based phone dialer from Radio Shack (yes, I miss them, too).

What occurred to me is the bad guys like it quiet, so they can hear if they've been discovered. Break that silence and their "range of awareness" closes in and they're likely to be a bit less brave. In my opinion, a silent system would be useless at that location.

Along those lines of thinking, you could just leave music playing in the lobby over-night, and a light on somewhere. It might be just enough for them to assume someone is in the building and turn around.

Sometimes the cheapest option is worth trying. (In addition to your other research into systems).

[Frank Cox]

The alarm guy came yesterday and sent me a quote today for over $6,000.

I suspect they just don't want to deal with small customers.

So I guess I'm back to either do-it-myself or forget it and just rely on my new security door.

Maybe it isn't worth the hassle.