Build a PC-based Home Security System

By George Jones

June 26, 2006

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For system builders, constructing a home security system that can be controlled and managed through a central PC should prove both beneficial and useful to you and your customers. It certainly was for me.

My home city of San Francisco is a fairly safe place to live, but a few break-ins in my neighborhood had me contemplating some sort of home security system. After I heard friends talk about how limited most conventional alarm-based systems are, I found myself wishing for something more functional and more flexible. The only way I could reach this goal, I reasoned, was to build a security system that was somehow integrated with my home PC. This set the gears in motion for what turned out to be a fairly rigorous Recipe.

I had several goals for building a do-it-yourself home security system. First, I wanted a keypad near the door that offered multiple options for arming the system. Next, I required cameras capable of notifying me of suspicious activity near the front and back doors -- as well as motion sensors that would disregard motion by my dogs. I also wanted the ability to automate the lights in my house. Most important, I wanted to manage the settings of my alarm system from a central PC.

With the exception of dog-ignoring motion detectors, I was able to meet all my goals. How? After performing considerable research, both online and over the phone, I finally found a company that provides every service and device I was looking for, including dog-ignoring motion detectors (though my dogs were too big for the sensors) and a cool biometric door lock. That company was Smarthome.com in Irvine, Calif. It offers numerous devices for protecting, securing, and automating houses.

That said, I was dismayed by the company's woefully inadequate installation manual. Over the course of two days I'd stripped wires, spliced cables, and scratched my head over the manual's puzzling diagrams. All this made my task much more difficult than I'd anticipated. I eventually figured it out, but only after grasping some key principles and wiring logic.

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