| The term 'DIY home security system' probably, for | | | | switch which in turn activates your alarm siren and |
| most people, calls to mind the image of a young | | | | brings the cops running. You secure one of them to |
| McCaulay Culkin, beating the heck of the marauding | | | | the door or window, and one to the frame, and run a |
| crooks in Home Alone I and II. Of course, Home Alone | | | | cable from the contact to a powerpoint. They're truly |
| was an early 90's phenomenon, popular in a time when | | | | ideal for building DIY home security systems because |
| auto-detection, visual and information technology were, | | | | they're cheap, easy to install, and are readily available |
| despite decades of concerted effort, in their infancy, | | | | in hardware stores. |
| and something only qualified systems engineers or | | | | If you've decided to rig up a full-fledge home security |
| genius geeks could really do with as they pleased. | | | | camera system as part of your DIY effort, you could |
| But computers have traveled light years in the past | | | | arrange your contacts in such a way that they'll |
| couple of decades. Hardware glitches, though still not a | | | | activate your security cameras, setting them to record |
| thing of the past, are far rarer, and operating | | | | as soon as the circuit is broken. For DIY home security |
| technologies such as media recording and storage and | | | | systems, there's no reason to get anything more |
| motion detection is now a fairly simple business, | | | | sophisticated than a webcam to act as your security |
| accessible to anyone with the time to skim through a | | | | camera. These can be had for under $20, and are |
| short user manual or do a little browsing on the internet. | | | | widely available in department stores and through |
| You can, believe it or not, actually build pretty efficient | | | | computer supply chains. |
| DIY home security systems using simple webcams of | | | | Going infrared, by contrast, can be a very costly |
| the sort people use to chat online. With a little more | | | | business. While the cameras are down from their |
| cash in hand, you can even override issues of poor | | | | 1970s pricing (which had them at around fifty thousand |
| lighting by installing your own infrared security cameras. | | | | adjusted US dollars) those available from FLIR, the |
| You should keep in mind, before you get too caught up | | | | pioneering infrared security camera company, still |
| in building a DIY home security system that turns your | | | | bottom out at the, some might say, prohibitive price of |
| home into a hi-tech fortress, that the most effective | | | | $2000. The benefits of infrared security cameras are, |
| form of crime prevention is really simple common | | | | however, definitely not something to be sniffed at. |
| sense. More than half of all burglaries occur as the | | | | They can record detailed, high quality footage even in |
| result of negligence - someone leaving a door or | | | | complete darkness. This they do by the use of |
| window open, or forgetting to put the alarm on. Make | | | | microbolometers, which read off the black body |
| sure that your spouse, children, and any other residents | | | | radiation of objects (which, relating to heat, is |
| of your home are set in the ritual of locking doors | | | | something humans and animals have a lot more of |
| whenever they leave, even if it's only to run a quick | | | | than, say, furniture or walls). Integrating infrared security |
| errand. | | | | cameras into your DIY home security system would |
| Building on this, you'll need to think about installing | | | | also eliminate the need for smoke sensors and, by |
| contact sensors at all of your access points - your | | | | rendering your home security camera system immune |
| doors, windows and so forth. These are paired | | | | from changes in atmospheric conditions, bring it firmly |
| electromagnetic pads which, once separated, trip a | | | | into the 21st century. |