5 Types of Car Alarms

According to the Insurance Information Institute, a car is stolen every 24 seconds in the United States. Vehicle security has come a long way in the past few years, but many car thieves are upgrading their technology as well. In order to understand how to protect your car from thieves, it’s important to have a basic understanding of the different types of car alarm systems, and how they operate to protect your vehicle from theft.

Passive Car Alarms
A passive car alarm system is simply an alarm that doesn’t need to be manually armed when you leave your vehicle. Instead, the alarm is automatically activated when you turn off and lock your vehicle. Some of these systems have a special key equipped with a microchip, which disables the alarm when it is inserted into the car’s lock. This is usually the type of alarm system that is included in newer model vehicles. In some vehicles, a passive car alarm system will also include other security features (such as disabling the ignition, or locking the wheels).

Active Car Alarms
An “active” car alarm is a system that requires you to manually arm it when you lock or leave your vehicle. If the system is not armed, it will not activate if a car thief attempts to break in to your vehicle. These manually activated alarms do have a few advantages over passive  car alarms especially for people who want to have more control over the operation of their vehicle’s security features.

Factory Alarms
When someone refers to a car alarm as being a “factory” alarm, this simply means that the alarm system was installed before the car was distributed for sale. In most cases, these types of alarms are installed while the car is still being constructed. Though it’s not accurate to say that all factory car alarms are inferior (especially due to advancements in car security), some people still opt to uninstall the factory car alarm, and install a custom security system. Depending on what level of security you want for your vehicle, you can always ask about customizable security options when purchasing a new vehicle. In most cases, you can modify or switch the security system installed in a car directly through a car dealership, before receiving your vehicle.

After-Market Alarms
After-Market alarms are security alarms that are not installed by the manufacturing company of a specific vehicle. They may either be installed by the buyer of the vehicle, or (in rare cases) by the car dealership. Some people choose to install after-market car security systems in order to have more control over the operation of their vehicle’s security. Customized car alarms can range in price from around $75, to upwards of $2,000 for vehicles that require heavy security.

Silent Car Alarms
Due to some car owners complaining about the excessive noise from their car’s alarm system, silent car alarms are now available. Instead of emitting an audible alarm or siren, silent ones transmit an electronic signal to a device held by the owner of the vehicle. Though this does eliminate the sound problem, it also does not have as many advantages as audible alarm systems. Silent alarms will not scare off potentail car thieves, and won’t alert nearby bystanders that  car’s security is being breached. Because of this, silent car alarms are not very popular among car owners.

How to choose Home or Business Video Surveillance System?

There are various kinds of Security Systems with kinds of functions in the online stores, however, which one is best for you? Before your decision, ask yourself for several questions.

For Camera:

1. Where are you going to mount the camera?

Then the answer can help you decide to choose how many home dome cameras and how many outdoor bullet &weatherproof cameras.

2. How long is the visible and night vision distance?

 Usually, the visible distance of cameras can be up to 50', 80', 135', etc. Take a look the IR Night Vision as 1/3" CCD for an instance:

1)      1/3" CCD & 3.6mm lens camera ( 15m IR night vision)
2)      1/3" CCD & 6mm lens camera ( 20m IR night vision)
3)      1/3" CCD & 8mm lens camera ( 25m-30m IR night vision)
4)      1/3" CCD & 12mm lens camera ( 40m-60m IR night vision)
5)      1/3" CCD & 25mm lens camera ( 100m-120m IR night vision)

3. How much the viewing angle?

Most video surveillance camera are installed in one location permanently. For this case, fixed-focus lenses are the most cost-effective. If you want to be able to move your camera, variable focus lenses are adjustable, letting you change your field of view when you adjust the camera. If you want to be able to move the camera remotely, you'll need a pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) camera. On the other side, the price is much higher than the standard ones.

4.How much details of the camera image?

Of cos, the resolutions of the cameras are very important too. Generally speaking, 380TVL is low-end, 420TVL/480TVL is good for security work, 540TVL is very high quality. If you're going to want to see detail, upgrading to a higher resolution is a good choice.

For Digital Video Recorder:

1. How many locations do you want to watch?

This also helps you to decide how many cameras and what kind of cameras will you choose. There are usually 4 channel, 8 channel, 16 channel, and 32 channel.

2. Does remote access need or just for local monitoring?

The MPEG4 & H.264 are the two mainly popular video compression formats for digital video recorders. However, you need to make clear the difference of these two formats: MPEG4 (good for local storage) V.S. H.264 (Network transmission, remote access needed). However, personally, I recommend on H.264, which is widely used with remote access control.

3. How long do you need to save your recordings for?

500GB and 1 TB are hard drives are usually installed in the DVRs. Generally speaking, 500GB HDD is enough for your home and small business for more than 30 days at H.264 compression of 4 channel.

Wireless Security Alarms Fact And Fiction

With the recent economic downturn, protecting your family and your home has never been more vital. Wireless security alarms can be an affordable--and simple--way to make sure your loved ones and possessions are secure in these tumultuous times.

If you're in the market for a wireless alarm here are a few talking points to help you know what's fact and what's fiction when buying wireless security alarms.

Myth No.1: They're Expensive

Some folks "claim" wireless alarms will bust your budget. But the truth is: from the ultra expensive models in the 300 range to the super-budget models near 50 dollars, wireless security alarms can be a seriously frugal way to keep your home from intruders.

Even more so when considering that home monitoring systems can run close to 100 dollars a month--and requiring at times contracts of two years.

If you're leaning toward the cheaper side you probably wont' have every bell and whistle; getting a wireless camera system will be difficult at that price. But for a no-frills set-up it's very doable at around 200 dollars.

Myth No.2: Installation is...Hard

No matter what kind of diy home security a person is looking at, there is always one unspoken fear looming.

How ever will I be able to install this thing? Is it difficult? (Hey...I don't even know how to program my Tivo.)

But actually installing a wireless alarm system is quite easy. With a few simple connections you're good to go. (This really applies to new homes, where you can access walls and crawlspaces.)

Note: My beloved wife set up a wireless alarm at my mother-in-law's. If she can do it, I promise...

Myth No.3: Not Good for Fido

One common critique of wireless alarms is that they are prone to being set off by pets.

While this may have been an issue 15 years ago, most wireless alarms today have pet sensors to ensure no false alarms happen. This ensures that if you're hearing an alarm it's the real thing--and you have the time to safeguard your family from someone who should not be there.