My Defense @ Home

[alfsauve]

Thought this might be  good place to share a little trick I use.

First though, I've always divided up "defense" into several categories.

Early Warning
Target Hardening
Subtrafusion
Passive Protection
Action

Let me share, my early warning, which has worked quite well.   

My Bichon, Whiteout (whom I now call her Michael the Wonder Dog) barks only when important things happen, like a leaf falling in the next county.  But, like most dogs, she produces too many false alarms and is easy to ignore.  (She has, to her credit, saved the house from burning down by alerting us of a fire....another story for another post.)   However, I devised a method for detecting most attempts to approach my home.  And for detecting attempt to TP my front yard.

I live in a typical Atlanta subdivision of 3/4 acre lots, but my house is unusual in that the driveway is 125' long and most of the front yard is un-cleared.  So it's natural to come down the driveway regardless of your intent.   Behind the mailbox is a large bush (5'h x 4' diameter), and right behind that is a small flagpole.   I ran electrical wires to the flagpole and mounted two motion detectors WITHOUT their lights about 3' high on the flagpole.  One is pointed to the driveway and one to the cleared part of the front yard.   With proper adjustment they do not detect cars in the cul-d-sac or in the neighbors driveway.   NOW, and here's the twist,  I ran the wires, normally used to turn on lights, back to the house and hooked them to a relay, which in turn activates the house doorbell.   (I put an extra bell in my bedroom to insure I couldn't ignore it.)

So try to cross my yard or walk down my driveway and my doorbell alerts me you to your presence.   Unless you're running, I have about a minute to check out the window and take action.     Yes the occasional rabbit or possum wakes me up, but it is a small price to pay.   It can false a lot during the day with squirrels, so I put a switch on it in the kitchen to deactivate it.

No one comes to my door at night without me knowing about it first.  And if I'm expecting a delivery, then I turn it on during the day, while I'm working in another part of the house.   Works good on Halloween too, though MTWD seems to have that duty nailed.

I used the existing doorbell circuit because it was there, but there's no reason why you can't have a separate alarm, other than the wiring involved.

Alf

[DonWorsham]

Thought this might be  good place to share a little trick I use.
  ...mounted two motion detectors WITHOUT their lights about 3' high on the flagpole. 

Cool idea. Looking forward to the next in the series.

[PegLeg45]

Good idea, Alf.
I have one of these  http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=149945
It works OK, but I like your idea of 'hard-wiring' it from the house.

[1776 Rebel]

Think about a passive magnetic system...

http://www.rbtec.com/mbs404.htm

Where you can't cover the area with H Field detectors, wrap the inside perimeter (close to the house) with concertina wire.

http://www.razorribbon.com/super.html

[tombogan03884]

Think about a passive magnetic system...

http://www.rbtec.com/mbs404.htm

Where you can't cover the area with H Field detectors, wrap the inside perimeter (close to the house) with concertina wire.

http://www.razorribbon.com/super.html

Blackberry bushes or roses work as well and don't make it look like a secure facility in a spy movie. Use Beach roses instead of the hybrid varieties , they are hardier and the hips have medicinal and food value.
If you are going to use the rose hips DO NOT USE systemic insecticides  !

[Sponsor]

[alfsauve]

The Pyracantha (Firethorn) bush is natures very own concertina wire.  VERY effective against penetration.

http://www.english-gardening.com/Plants_pop_ups/firethorn_pyracantha.html

[Fatman]

Hedge/ 'border wall'  plant? Osage Orange.

A single row of hedge trees planted a foot apart would yield a fence that was "horse high, bull-strong, and hog-tight" in 4 years. Some farmers would weave the already twisted and intertwined limbs of the young trees tightly together, a technique known as "plashing," for a more impenetrable barrier. Use of the Osage orange tree as hedge was so common throughout most of its introduced range that "hedge" became the tree's common name.

So good it was cut down  used as abatis by the soldiers in the civil war. Only problem is it needs pruning to keep it reasonable.

And I have this:



It can handle 4 sensors, has a battery backup.  I installed it after an extended period of vandalism and break ins occurred in my neighbor hood.  4 sensors allowed me to cover  the most likely approaches to the house. They have a thirty foot sensor range and transmit (wireless) up to 1,200 feet.

[MikeBjerum]

Ahhhh ... the advantages of living in the country.  High Tensile fencing makes a great deterrent.  Of course I'd never try to electrify anyone coming to our home, but 15 joules will not only keep virtually anything IN  , but you can connect it to a steel ground rod and not disable it 

You may think you've grabbed electric farm fencing in the past, but you ain't had your eyeballs really glow till you've rubbed up against this stuff 

[1776 Rebel]

M58 reminds me of when I lived in the ghetto. In a four story apartment house, 48 families. A half dozen heroin dealers moved in and took over the building. Couple of murders, muggings etc. The few elderly or just plain hard working folks who were left then started to install "ghetto gates". Steel accordion gates installed on the inside of the windows. Take some lamp cord, wrap the hot wire around a part of the gate and plug her in ! Hot damm that stopped the burglaries.

[PegLeg45]

M58 reminds me of when I lived in the ghetto. In a four story apartment house, 48 families. A half dozen heroin dealers moved in and took over the building. Couple of murders, muggings etc. The few elderly or just plain hard working folks who were left then started to install "ghetto gates". Steel accordion gates installed on the inside of the windows. Take some lamp cord, wrap the hot wire around a part of the gate and plug her in ! Hot damm that stopped the burglaries.

Also serves as a low-buck 'ghetto alarm system'.