Protecting Your Home Away From Home
by Norman L. Millett So, you’ve decided to put a large portion of your hard earned money into one location, referring to that beautiful coach you’re scrambling to convert, and your thoughts are cruising down those interstates with your ears slicked back and a grin plastered on your face!
But wait! Aren’t you forgetting a little something? No, not the genset, not the air conditioning, but something on the list that should have been addressed before construction started: A security system. "What?", you say, "why would I need a security system?" Sad to say, but it’s true, we live in a society where some say "what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine, too!"
Well, maybe I caught a few of you before you’ve gotten too far along in the conversion process. 12v security systems are one of the hottest selling aftermarket products, only because there are some people who can’t keep their hands off of other people’s property. Whether at home on their real estate, or home on the interstate, the problem exists.
"So what do I do?", you say. Well, if you are into a little more work, installation of a 12v alarm system is not that difficult a procedure, although I recommend that you take time to plan out this installation and carefully read the instruction manual before you start this project. By planning ahead, you will be able to go for the best approach to your particular coach installation and take steps to avoid the majority of problems that could occur. Use good wiring practices, use good quality connections and if you solder, use heat shrink, not tape, to cover your splices or connections. Take the time to make good ground connections - most common problems are in poor connections - and learn and have fun.
An alternative is that you can take it to a specialist to have the work performed. Some even come to you. Whatever you plan on, let me give you an idea of what is available to you in this 12v bus alarm security market.
First of all, you need to look your coach over and try to think where someone can get in. Some places that come to mind are the windows, doors, vents, sky lights, storage bays, engine compartment, batteries, genset, propane compartments, etc. Now that you’ve put that list together, and for those that haven’t gotten too far along on their conversion, now’s the time to run wire to each location that you want protected, because the time it takes to run wires after the coach is completed will be more difficult, if not impossible .
At this time, also have a place that you can mount the main control module. That’s the box that triggers the alarm when a sensor has been tripped. You want it in a place that only you know where it is located and, preferably, inside, out of sight. Select a location that is away from extreme heat and moisture and this is where you will start running all the wires that you have going to your sensors.
The kind of wire you would use, would be the size that matches the wire in the kit. What I would suggest is running two wires to each sensor, but most of the time just one is required. Running the second wire will cover you just in case. That way the wires will be there when you’re ready to install the windows, doors, vents, etc. At that time, you will better determine if you will have to use the second wire. If you don’t use it, put a butt connector on it and you will always have a spare wire that you can use at a later time. You also want to protect these wires with some sort of conduit to prevent you from putting a screw or staple through it, when you continue with the rest of the conversion.
When mounting a sensor, one needs to remember not to make it easy for the thief. That’s where your imagination comes in. Try to conceal your wires and locate them were they can’t be defeated. Now, at this time, let me inform you as to what type of sensors are available.
The most common type of triggering sensor is the pin switch. It is a self-grounding plunger type switch. Self-grounding means that the second wire you ran will not be used because the switch is grounding itself to the chassis of the coach and will not require a return ground to the control module.
Pin switches come in all different types and sizes; adjustable and non-adjustable. These are mainly used for doors and hatches, like the switch on your car door that turns the dome light on. If the material that the switch is mounted on is not grounded, or is isolated from ground (plastic, for example), then you use the second wire to furnish a ground to chassis.
Another type of sensor is the Micro Magnetic switch, used mainly for windows where one part of the switch is mounted to the side frame of the window or vent and the other half is mounted to the part that moves or slides. That way, when the window is opened the switch is triggered.
There is a closed loop sensor that detects a disconnection such as a trailer, awning, antenna or something else attached to the outside.
A pressure switch is normally placed under the carpet so when it is walked upon, or weight applied, it triggers the alarm.
There’s a mercury switch, where entry points are protected where conventional switches won’t work. It contains a little ball of mercury that, when moved from a closed position and no longer makes contact, it triggers the alarm.
There are adjustable motion and shock sensors that cause the alarm to go off in the middle of the night and in parking lots due to motion or shock to the vehicle, like when someone bumps or moves the vehicle. Gusts of wind and cats jumping on the vehicle will set the alarm off and although people are used to alarms going off for these reasons, the object of the system is to draw attention to your vehicle should a legitimate reason occur, such as an attempted burglary. So if you want your alarm to go off at the chance of anyone bumping your vehicle, then add this feature. My opinion is that it’s a non-required item or at least you should be able to toggle it on or off.
Another sensor will sense when the coach is way off level, like when your vehicle is being jacked up and/or towed and your wheels are about to disappear. There are interior motion sensors and glass breakage sensors. If you want it covered, I’m sure that there’s a sensor for it.
The object of an alarm system is to deter a thief and draw attention to the vehicle and that’s the last thing a thief wants, is attention. The thief wants to get in and get out, undetected, as quickly as possible. So what we have to do is make some noise and draw attention and scare the thief away.
Most alarms come with a siren or noise maker of some sorts, but on a bus, that’s a big object to cover. So give ‘em a shot of air horn or sirens from front, back, sides, etc. Some alarm systems are capable of flashing the headlights. This feature works good at night, too! There are talking processors, that if you feel you need to communicate with the thief, individual messages can be broadcast out through a loudspeaker. There are interior sirens which are so loud as to generate pain and suffering to whoever gets into the vehicle. If the thief isn’t deaf when he enters, he will be.
Another deterrent is to have an LED flashing in plain site next to a warning label that your vehicle is protected. You could put them all over, one on each side and around the doors and windows. You just might get the thief to go shopping to someone else who didn’t think a alarm was necessary.
The best part of the alarm system is the arm/disarm transmitters. This is the little transmitter you hook to your key chain that arms and disarms the alarm system. When you push a button, some alarms will chirp to let you know when it is armed ,or disarmed according to how many chirps sound and the voice ones will verbally tell you that the alarm is activated. But the inexpensive alarms will have a delay activation, where you have a preset time to get into the vehicle and either punch a numbered code into a keypad on the dash or get your keys in the ignition to deactivate the alarm. After having the alarm go off on you for being too slow, you will appreciate the transmitter style.
On the transmitter models, the range differs according to each model but most of the good ones will have a bus-based antenna extension for greater range ,so you can chirp that sucker clear across a K-Mart parking lot if you want to arm or disarm the system!
Another safety feature of an alarm system is the panic button. It’s usually a button located on your transmitter, hooked to your keys that, if pushed and held for longer than one second, will trigger your alarm so if you’re approached in a parking lot or some place unexpected, push that button and it will give you that precious time to make your move. Also, there is a panic switch that you will install in the coach that you can get at easily in case an emergency. It just may save your life!
While I’m talking about the keypad transmitter, it has a small battery inside that makes the thing transmit; no juice no transmit! You change the batteries yearly whether they need them or not, or have some spares handy. Nothing more embarrassing than to not be able to disarm your alarm because you only had enough juice to set the alarm, but not enough to disarm it.
The alarm is going to go off, so now what will you do? During the installation, you secretly placed a switch that only you know of and as soon as you unlock your door and open it, the alarm should turn off. If you placed that switch close to the entrance you won’t have to listen to it for very long, but if you didn’t, Oh boy, what a treat! Moral of this story is - - keep a good battery in the keypad transmitter. Most alarm systems come with two keypad transmitters. I suggest purchasing two more as backups for what ever crisis may come upon the original two and keep them in a safe place.
How long will the alarm sound? Some have settings where you can let it rip for 1 to 10 minutes before it resets and rearms itself, but if the point of intrusion is not reset (like if the door or window is not shut) it will just keep cycling off and on till you come and check the situation out and reset your zones. Some are made to go until you manually reset them or your battery goes dead which ever is first. Get the adjustable - you don’t need the headaches!
Other items of interest, which you may or may not want to add to your system, are relay activated items such as solenoids to open spring loaded doors used mostly for trunks on cars. With a little imagination you might be able to come up with something for which you can use this function.
These alarms come with a starter ignition kill feature where when hooked up, the coach’s ignition system cannot be started while the alarm is active. Once disarmed, you can start the coach. If for any reason after the alarm is installed and the coach won’t start, the relay sometimes goes bad and is usually the cause. Check there first.
Well, this is just a quick over view of what is available to you and there’s a lot that hasn’t been covered. If you wish to pursue this, alarm systems are quite readily available at car stereo places and major electronic outlets. Check with the sales person and put together a system that suits you.
Pick up a bus alarm security system and help put your mind at ease by protecting your home away from home.
Norman L. Millet is a businessman from Mesa, Arizona who operates his own shop, Executive Audio Communications. Norm has many years of experience in mobile alarm systems and is considered to be an expert in his field. If you would like to know more about bus alarm systems, you can e-mail Norm at normillett@uswest.net.
