Wireless Security Cameras And Sensors: How To Build An Integrated, Comprehensive Home Security Syste

Getting a home security system is not something to put off for the future

, to jot down on that list along with getting fit and picking out a great outfit for your cousin's wedding. It's something that should qualify as a top-level priority for anyone seriously concerned about their own well-being, that of their family and that of their personal possessions. These days, installing a home security system is far from being the colossal hassle it was in previous years, when the technology was still fresh and adequate knowledge confined to those with an understanding of sophisticated electronics and complicated, arcane computer user interfaces. Wireless security cameras and home security sensors, of both the infrared and contact variety, are sufficiently easy to install that you can learn all you need to know in an hour of web-surfing. What's more, they're cheap enough to make the cost-risk equation a real no-brainer.

Creating a Hollywood-style spy camera inside a teddy bear, a toy, or a paperweight is one carnival trick that's become very easy to perform. You can set these covert wireless security cameras up as an integral part of your home security system, even if you know no more about computers than your typical 7-year-old kid. Just drill a hole in the underside of the device you're using to conceal the camera, cut a lens hole, drill another hole in the surface on which you plan to keep the ornament (for the power cable) and voila, you're all set. If the feed cable is a USB, then the camera doesn't even need to be wireless - you can power the device and retrieve information simultaneously. Note that you can save a lot of money on storage space by using basic motion detection software, which will activate the recording function on your cameras, thus eliminating the need for constant recording.

It's also possible to have the device activated by various kinds of home security sensors. Infrared sensors activate when an object of sufficient heat moves across their detection field. Contact sensors, by contrast, are activated by the opening of a window or door, an action which either opens or closes the circuit made by the two installed sensor pads, which in turn sends a signal to the central home security system hub to which the sensors are wired. Another type of home security sensor utilizes UWB (ultra-wideband) radar. For the purposes of motion detection, these sensors function by 'staring' over a fixed range and sensing any change in the average time taken for the signals the device emits to be returned.

These are the same kinds of motion sensors that activate your porch light when someone walks across the driveway. The technology has been around for a long time, and has just about been perfected, to the point that upper-range home-security systems incorporate sensors with pet-human discrimination technology. PIR detectors can be made to discriminate between pets and humans by use of a modified lens or mirror that vertically stretches the zones in regions closer to the sensor, an effect that reduces the size of the 'blip' created by, say, a cat, and increases that created by a person. The industry term for such discriminator home security systems is 'pet immune'. Wireless security cameras can be programmed with software for a similar effect.

Remember, throughout all of this, that the location of your wireless security cameras and home security sensors is probably the most important consideration when it comes to setting up a modern home security system, especially if you're trying to keep prices down. Windows, doors and skylights should be first on your list of things to cover, as these are the only points by means of which a criminal can reasonably access your home. If you can only cover a limited number of your access points, rather choose to focus on the more obscure, the doors and windows away from the street, where exposure to public view would, normally, prove too much of a risk for would-be intruders.

Perhaps even more importantly, you'll need to think about the monitoring of your system. If you're going fully independent with your system, the best thing you could possibly do is install a loud alarm siren to be activated upon intrusion, or, if you're really willing to go the extra mile, an automated telephonic system to contact the police with a looped, pre-recorded voice message. Neither of these options is as effective as being signed up with a good home security company. Home security companies, such as ADT, offer better response times than police in most parts of the world. Furthermore, if consulted from the beginning, such security companies will install your wireless security cameras and home security sensors in a fully integrated home security system that they'll be responsible for monitoring - which, for a relatively small fee every month, will really be the ultimate assurance of peace of mind.

by: Jeffrey Parker.

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