Table Of ContentTHE
LARM
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Burglar and
Fire Alarms
Dan McTague
Doug Smith
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The
Alarm Book
A Guide to Burglar and
Fire Alarms
Dan McTague
Doug Smith
LIBRARY
N.W. TECHNICAL COLLE@E
| Prescott Hill
Laconia, NH 03246
Butterworth-Heinemann
Boston London Oxford Singapore Sydney Toronto Wellington
Copyright © 1987 by Butterworth-Heinemann, a division of Reed Publishing (USA) Inc.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Recognizing the importance of preserving what has been written, it is the policy of Butterworth-
Heinemann to have the books it publishes printed on acid-free paper, and we exert our best
efforts to that end.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 91—76607
ISBN 0-7506-9316-9
Butterworth-Heinemann
80 Montvale Avenue
Stoneham, MA 02180
10987654321
Printed in the United States of America
Dedicated to Robert Hannum
Authors’ Note:
THE ALARM BOOK is the result of a collaboration which began several
years ago out of our desire to provide a practical and objective handbook on
the professional alarm industry. Dan McTague contributed seven years’
experience engineering and marketing commercial alarm systems. Veteran
news reporter Doug Smith directed the writing to keep it objective and
informative to the nontechnical reader.
Acknowledgement:
The authors would like to extend their appreciation to numerous friends in
the alarm industry for their cooperation in this project. We owe special
thanks to API Alarm Systems, Los Angeles, for supporting this book in its
formative stages. We also thank API and Alarm Device Manufacturing Co
(Ademco), New York, for providing photographs from their libraries. Finally,
we are indebted to Ron Dalton of API for his technical comments on the
final manuscript.
Notes on Style:
Throughout this book, we frequently use the term UL Approved. Actually,
Underwriters Laboratories of Santa Clara uses a different term, UL Listed,
for products and services which it has determined meet its performance
specifications. As a matter of style, we have adopted the popular usage, UL
Approved, because we think it more accurately represents the accepted
force of UL Listing in the marketplace. Underwriters Laboratories does not
discourage this usage.
As much as possible, we avoid the use of trade names to describe the
products and services of professional alarm companies. It is common in
the alarm industry, however, to use trade names rather than generic names
to describe the products of a particular alarm company. On occassion trade
names have slipped into our text. This sould not be considered an
endorsement of one product over another, as there are usually many
products that do the same task effectively. You may find an alarm company
using a product that does not appear by name in this book. That does not
mean it is necessarily of lesser quality than a similar device we name. All
photos used in this book are for the purpose of example and do not
constitute a recommendation of a particular manufacturer’s product.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part I
UNDERSTANDING ALARMS
GETTING IN FOCUS 1
mereCYCLES OF SECURITY <5; 6.0. iors co rar ee es 6
PPUIEERINTIOR AN ALARM |... cssees se cc uss ot ilbrewid.ok . 7
SINT GY BUN IN 21 GE oe ee ee re oY Se 9
THE CENTRAL STATION jak
WHAT DOES ‘NON-APPROVED’ MEAN? .............0.ccccccccececcececeees 12
WHAT DOES UL APPROVAL’ MEAN? ... e.cco0socual2es.o eaedel:eedhl.. .. 14
PERE THAN LiL APPROVED ooo. oooccc occsvecivccdicccdicsuscvasselh. 15
CHANGING TECHNOLOGY IN THE CENTRAL STATION...............5. 15
WHAT IS THE RESPONSE TO AN ALARM? ...........0cccccccceccececceces 18
PEATE PATROL SERVICES peak: caste Heed nts Sani Ob 20
PENDING THE VEIL OF ILLUSIONG cc. sitet learnt Shoes eno 21
BASIC BURGLAR ALARM PROTECTION 29
aS TH LEAST NERD? (22.0.0 0ac2v. 100s io.seeebarueee- =, 26
THE MINIMUM ALARM: AN EXAMPLE ...00.........000000sseseeeeeeeeeeees 26
IS A MINIMUM ALARM SYSTEM ACCEPTABLE? ..............2205000000 30
BALANCING PROTECTION AND COST 35
HOW ELABORATE AND HOW EXPENSIVE? ........00000000ssessssrerreees 35
WHAT IS THE RIGHT SYSTEM FOR THE RISK AND BUDGET?........ 39
THE TOOLS OF SECURITY
ZONING ALARM CIRCUITS TO KEEP THEM SIMPLE..................-.
1. Types of Sensing Devices
Mechaniéal:Contact. sc 9.097) 2. eee ee ee
Damage-Induded Circuit Interruption.............................
Interruption of Light Beam... -..:221. 9 -0eee0e o0s e7e 7-ee
Reflected’ Energy «cise ssacget ede re ee
Infrared Radiation 2: s22.< sit; cn e.9 aoe oe ee ee
Capacitance «..6..4ci1.eR ase ceuees saee ao eeee0e2
2. Special Trip Points, Vaults and Safes
OOPS wiiis vy Sa cade cSt tatoiealee <a Ua ateR ene et eae
Vulnerable Ceilings... 5222. ccs csescavoeense els oe ee eee
Safes and Vaults’... 0.2.03... ssa ee
Multiple Structures... 22.eee ee
Hide-Ins, Hteo so. ..2- 52... soe a ee
3. Holdup Alarm Systems
4. Transmitting Devices and Connecting Lines
Digital Dialer and Ordinary Telephone Line ......................
McCulloh Loop Transmitters and Circuits........................
McCulloh Loop—Double Drop .........02.o e0..c.cc.cc.ce.cev.ee.ue s
Direct Liners eens cen see vances or eine ate nn ee
Multiplex Alarm Carriers and Transponders .....................
Line Security’. & caus 5. 2 See, Ps Doe oe
5. Supervision
Non-Supervised Systems <3. 127.2:4. 22) ee ee ee
Supervised Systems ..75/:.se.te. ec.eesece e
6. UL Certification
Extent'and Gradé ic >. 5.0025. 4 ee ee ee ee
7. Auxiliary Devices and Services
8. Patrol and Guard Services
FIRE, HAZARD AND WATER FLOW oF
Poole EQUIPMENT THATS NEEDED. ..n2 ais MMA 99
Pee EINGUAUL DEORE MEGS) 2 bess asi os Seep ee Coane Poe ee Lape ea 101
1. Manual Alarm Stations 104
2. Automatic Fire Alarm Systems 105
3. Water Sprinkler Supervisory Systems 109
Pire Insurance Rat© DISCOUNIS 3. 5 oon yn Gnd asiaw dee Sa nivjes ov Os ae 112
Ineastrial HazarcdiAlanms. foe. A.aeunt.2 thane ected on4.aceurqnen sn 113
HOME ALARMS 117
PONE W.POINT OF FOCUS—YOUR FAMILY ..... 05.) WUE 117
BASIC ELEMENTS OF THE FULL HOME ALARM SYSTEM ............ 121
INS LTALLATION OF THE HOME ALARM 3.20.92 62.. o1S. .4a.e 131
PRE-WIRING DURING CONSTRUCTION Uio cio ad. Sc. Line dee tine de el 132
RAMEES S ALARM V9b. MS eo anna iiss sas do oat teem naubere 2 eae 133
eeed 8a d Biotec UAE wash G OMES vie ales Fite gh inal’ aoe 134
WHAT IS MINIMUM SECURITY IN THE HOME? .......................65 134
Part II
LIVING WITH ALARMS
BUYING THE ALARM 139
GHECKLIST OF PRACTICAL STEPS 0.2 vvest cin cducrepio dete nant ans omongeas 139
Os COSTLY MISTAKE. nociiscs da send onp saslennaa-<eiivaepleeamsasne s 141
Et eeOW- BID PROBLEM oncs iscss caercaes cons gee sein os se clea es ba ba-55 00 ome 142
PARKING OVEFCAN OLD ALARM (cies cece sisi se eises sea'y case nae amas nee aes 143
UNDERSTANDING THE ALARM CONTRACT ..........c.e.ce. e0ee5e .en s 144
SAMPLE ALARM SYSTEM AND COSTS. ...........000ccccseseeeeeeeeeeeees 145
WORKING WITH ALARMS 157
TURNING THE ALARM ON/OFF cacicin.ts formes 5 Note8 tea oe olor wretercte chtane ti ae ieee 158
CLEARING AND SETTING THE ALARM ...........c.ec .ce.ee.ee. e.ee. ee es 159
EARLY OPENING/LATE CLOSING! i.c65 s2cn sees. ont tnea ge nee ees 161
RESPONDING TO ALARMS 32. scags. 2.0.2 diss vserss ondeeave dss eae erede een 162
UPDATING YOUR ALARM COMPANY 370.0. 225 235.2%. foresee aan dni es eee 163
TESTING YOUR OWN ALARM SYSTEM 37000202 (s2. f2sc.020 dens dae aamede 163
THE NIGHTMARE ALARM 167
ANTIQUATED OR WORN OUT EQUIPMENT ................e.s-s0e0 e2en s 170
MANUFACTURING, DEBECTS ooo crcccks coerce oceseme tena: een ee ee eee 171
PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT™........ Sic it ynes cectae ce seein ded sh one ae eee meee 172
PROCEDURAL FAILURES 2.0.00, 50 265g eee oe cee nate fe eo eee 173
OVERCOMPLICATION OF ALARMS. ...........020.cccsccssscceeessecteewrs 174
MISAPPLIED, BADLY ENGINEERED EQUIPMENT ....................-. 175
DAMAGE. BY SEIRVICEEMEEN 0.555 50:4:siecorasoccrere cioro serena ae elore Selatan 176
Appendices
Approval—Requirements for Certification
The Central'Staton 25.2 8 22 Src Oe ee ccc ee 179
The Alarm System crits sat Sree erie Ao 183
Blueprint of a Protection System and Index 187
