T&T: security - Quite Long - two old emails and an update

[Albin43SDtr]

"Lo All,

On November 1, 2001 and December 13, 2001, I sent the first following 
emails. They are about the installation of the security system I 
installed on the Celestial. It has worked flawlessly since installed 
(except for one door sensor that I ruined when working near it, which 
was easy to replace). I especially like the under-deck sensors. Birds 
do not set it off, but a weight of about 20 pounds will set the 
system off. The system includes an interior motion and heat detector 
that can be deactivated so that the boat can be secured while in we 
are in it if we want. I modified the installation a little, so that I 
can tell at a glance if the system has gone off, what senor set it 
off, and if the siren is on or off - 3 colored LEDs. I can turn off 
the siren when I want to test the system. The entry lights turn on 
for 2 minutes when I deactivate the alarm, so that the boat is 
adequately illuminated to board at night.  When the alarm goes off, 
in normal mode, the anchor light flashes. This makes it easy to 
identify which boat's alarm has gone off, if in a crowded 
harbor.  That I know of, the only false alarm was once when I forgot 
to turn the system off during a near-hurricane force storm. The dock 
lines jerked the boat and the sudden flexing set the alarm off. The 
remote, fortunately, works from inside our house, so it just took a 
moment to turn the system off. I did not want a limited-capability, 
kludged system, so I bought a system that met my requirements. The 
system has 3 levels of protection: Intruder on the boat, opens a 
means of entry or is in the boat. The system wasn't as expensive as I 
thought it would be. The most expensive part would be labor, because 
it takes a lot of hours to install the sensors, and to run all the 
wires. I made up all the modifications and mounting box in my 
workshop and tested it there before installing it. I have no interest 
in the company, except being a very satisfied customer.

<<'lo All,

Last Halloween weekend someone tried to break into our boat and succeeded in
breaking into three other boats on the bayou. It must have been young kids
because nothing was stolen except some snacks from the boats that were broken
into. They left things such as a laptop computer.

No, the culprits were not caught.

Unfortunately, our boat has a dead bolt on the door they tried to get into,
so they just kept working on it. They used a 1/2" chisel. The door and the
door jam is a mess - about a $500-600 mess, I would guess. But the damage is
repairable so it should look like new again soon.

I did a little internet search for boat security systems after checking with
our home security folks. They are excellent for home security systems, but
admitted they were not experts in marine security systems.

The system I selected is sold by Flagship Marine Security of Great Neck, NY.
( www.boatalarm.com ) Their systems are very flexible in that almost anything
can be hooked into it in one way or another, and the system control box is
much smaller than a home-type security box. It can be set up to phone home,
alarm for high water, fire and/or smoke and almost anything else as well as
function as a security alarm. They even sell canvas snap sensors to protect
areas enclosed or covered with materials attached with snaps. The security
system operates on 12 V DC. They had all parts in stock that I ordered.

Finding a location for the control box and its associated stuff became a
prime concern/problem because the system can be armed/disarmed by a
transmitter like those used to unlock car doors - it must be mounted in an
area free of wires and metal which may interfere with the receiver. The
system can use a keypad, too. The control box must be mounted where you can
run a LOT of wires. Running all the sensor, power and output wires will take
some time if they have to be placed behind walls and other
out-of-the-way/out-of-sight places.

The sensors are possibly the most important part of the system. I wanted the
system to alarm if anyone gets onto the boat's deck, then have backup sensors
if they get into the boat. Of course, there are many ways to detect if
someone gets onto the boat, but I did not want false alarms because of birds
on the deck or in case of heavy rain or fog, so optical systems were out.
Touch pads/mats are a possibility, but if an intruder knows what they are, he
can probably avoid them, plus, they are prone to failure due to water
intrusion over time. Flagship Marine offers underdeck-mounted strain sensors.
What I like about these sensors (3" x 3/4") is that they are mounted
(epoxied) onto the underside of the deck, out of the weather and thus are
completely tamper proof. They are not supposed to trigger the alarm due to
normal boat flexing from heating and cooling, rocking, etc. (Time will
tell.......)

The security system can be armed with the interior motion detectors
deactivated. This means that all the other sensors can be working when we are
onboard if we are anchored or docked where we feel we want the alarm system
turned on.

Flagship Marine sells several different sirens - if someone is intruding
on/into the boat, I want to wake the dead, so the one I am installing puts
out 120 dB. We live on a very quiet bayou, so EVERYONE will know if the alarm
goes off. (That is why avoiding false alarms is so important. I don't want to
be kicked out of the neighborhood.)

I will modify the output circuitry (all mods are external to the control box)
to meet my requirements/desires. The system is quite flexible to accept
output mods.

The instructions that came with the system are quite good and additional help
is only a phone call away (I haven't had to do that yet). Even though the
instructions are explicit in what wires go where, it was not intuitively
obvious at first that for some sensors and outputs, the positive DC wire
connects to the control box while for others, the negative wire is connected
to the box. When I drew out the system on paper the way I will install it,
and followed all the circuits from end to end, I found several areas where I
had to rethink the modified installation.

I will report how the system works when it is installed. I am impressed with
the system and Flagship Marine Security so far ..... however, the system is
still a pile of components and instructions. Installation will take a week or
so after I get some parts I ordered for the mods and test them with the
system control box. But first, I have to repair a door and door jam .....

No connection with Flagship Marine Security other than hopefully being a
satisfied customer.

Wayne
M/V Celestial
Albin 43 Sundeck >>

After repairing the door and door jam, and installation of the alarm 
system, I sent the second email on December 13, 2001:


<<'Lo All,

You may remember back a while ago I posted about a security system I was
installing.

(Subj:  Boat Security System (fairly long)
Date:   11/22/2001 8:31:04 PM Central Standard Time
From:   Albin43Tr)

Today I completed the installation. WOW! I am impressed, especially with the
under-deck strain sensors. They take about 20 # to set them off. At first, I
was afraid that birds might set it off. The system I installed is from
Flagship Marine Security of Great Neck, NY. ( www.boatalarm.com ) . All of
the other stuff works as advertised.

I modified the system some, so that I can tell if the system has alarmed and
reset and also so that I can test the system with the siren off with an LED
to indicate that the siren is off (so that I will not inadvertantly leave it
off).

The hardest job was to decide where to put the controller, as it also is a
receiver, so the antenna cannot be shielded by metal, other wires or metallic
plumbing. Also, a total mass of wires about 3/4" thick had to be run to/from
it. The next job was to attach all the sensors. Boats are not made to make
that easy. The under deck sensors must be mounted on perfectly flat areas. I
used the edge of a 4 x 4 sander to level off the rough undersides of the
decks and epoxied the sensors on. Door magnetic sensors proved a problem
because the doorjambs are not placed/configured "just right". After
experimenting, I found an acceptable place and angle I could mount them on
and they work very well. The dual-sense motion detector was a small problem
in that I wanted the wires run inside the wall. It took a while to "fish" the
wire.

The system, as installed works even better than I expected, because the
controller is so flexible. It remains to be seen how reliable the system is
and if it is prone to false alarms.

Many options are available to make the system even more flexible.

No connection other than a so-far satisfied customer.

Wayne
M/V Celestial
Albin 43 Sundeck >>


Take care and be safe.

Wayne
Celestial
Albin 43 Sundeck
Near Panama City, FL