cabinalarm.com Blog

Sophistication and high technology leaves much to be desired. This actually happened in Las Vegas while visiting the grandkids.

We rented a 2011 Dodge Charger. It was a really sharp car and had all of the toys. Al Gore, I do apologize because it was definitely not one of those “Green” machines that we should all strive to drive but I’m in Vegas and I need something with some guts to make it on and off the 15 and 95. I drove it for a week…plenty of power but that freaky key module was something else. When it’s in your pocket you simply push the brake and press the little button and the car starts right up. There is no ignition switch like every other vehicle I’ve driven for the past 35 years of my life. I’m impressed but it was still a little awkward. I was uncomfortable with that little module, sometimes I left it on the dash and other times I dropped it in the coffee cup holder just to keep it from bouncing onto the floor. Keeping it in my pocket just seemed wrong.

Monday morning we have to get to the McCarron Airport. We stopped at the McD’s off Ann Road before getting on the 95 and on the way out the car wouldn’t unlock. I walked around it a few times and finally it unlocked. We got inside then it wouldn’t start. It said “No Key” but it was right there in my hand. I tried over and over again tapping it on the dashboard and it suddenly started…GREAT! We are on our way.

I get on the 95 and the dash display announces “THE KEY HAS LEFT THE VEHICLE” like what?…I threw it out the window? The key was still there in the cup holder. Now I need to get gas before I return the car because I don’t want to be charged $10.00 a gallon for the gas but I wouldn’t dare turn it off to fill it up. We called the service guy’s number off the key tag and he suggests we do not turn off the car “DUHHH”! I get to the gas station, put gas in the car while it was running which is a big No No and while I was filling it up it by some miracle found the stupid key. Go figure.

People tend to call us old school people dinosaurs when it comes to some of the new technologies but I was really wishing for a “KEY” when I wanted to get that car started. The second I saw that fancy key I remembered all of the times I had bad connections with the Wi-Fi or when a battery was weak in a remote control for the TV. Those devices become a brick when things aren’t communicating and do I really need all of that sophistication just to start a car?

Sometimes high technology defeats itself. We become vulnerable to the technology because it only works when all of the pieces work together perfectly. I remember the KISS method “Keep it simple stupid” and this key was designed by a very intelligent “Stupid” person. I wanted to smack the designers of this ignition system because all I wanted to do was to drive to the airport like a million other people and a simple key would have done the job. Suggestion designers…put a little key switch on the dash as a backup and let that little key stuck in the module like one of the Swiss Army Knives toothpick really save the day when the module fails. If it happened to me it happened to many other people.

When I designed the Cabin Alarm, Shed Alarm and the Trailer Alarm System I used the KISS method. I stayed far away from wireless technology, key pads, key fobs, motion detectors, etc. and stayed with the low tech wired devices that are known to be robust and don’t give false alarms. I knew adding on all kind of high tech fluff would only increase the probability of trouble when the Cabin, Shed or Trailer Alarm was supposed to be standing guard in the middle of a long cold winter. It’s a plain and simple, robust and a very noisy and powerful alarm system that was designed to be ready when left alone for long periods of times. You will never hear the Cabin Alarm announce “the Cabin Alarm System has left the building”.

www.cabinalarm.com

There’s the neatest little store near my camp in Stocton NY.  It’s the Cassadaga Shur Fine 

www.cassadagashurfine.com

There website doesn’t tell it all.

Someone forced the valve on my gravity fed hydrant open a few winters ago and it flooded my outhouse with a few thousand gallons of water.  They cranked everything open for maximum damage and it was like a frozen Niagara Waterfall inside.  It was a real sad mess.  Thankfully it all froze solid stopping the flow but the problem was I had no way of shutting off the valve and it was like a timebomb waiting to thaw out.   I ran to the local Shur Fine and got lots of gas canisters for my latern and a new lock for the valve.  I was able to thaw out the valve by placing a metal trash can over the hydrant with the lantern inside.  After about 24 hours of thawing I was able to shut it off and lock it up.

I can’t trust some people to be decent but I can trust the Cassadaga Shur Fine to keep stock for those who have camps and country homes.   I’ve also rushed there a few times after arriving at camp to find out that someone had broken into my shed.  Again I’ve rushed to the Shur Fine to get new hindges locks and latches that had been hammered or smashed off.  It seems to be a hobby of some locals to damage property and take things that aren’t theirs.  I should probably install a Shed Alarm myself  www.shedalarm.com but frankly speaking I only keep some tar and roofing supplies in there as well as some nails, junk and gas for my mower.  It really isn’t worth it but maybe I’ll do some R&D on some new devices for a real world test.  The crooks seem quite regular and predictable so I’ll get a chance to see how they operate under extreme conditions.

Anyways we had placed a black rough metal dragon fly with a glass body over the grave of our black lab that was killed a few years back..she was poisoned by someone at our camp.   Someone laced a deer carcass with rat poision or simply tossed a few chunks around the property for her to find.   She always ate first and asked questions later so she was an easy target and some people obviously aren’t dog lovers.  She loved chasing dragon flies around our little pond so it was a good memory for us.  We removed her collar before we put her in the ground and we drapped her collar over the wings of the dragon fly.   Our other Reggie would visit the site often on his way to the pond.  Someone apparently tresspassed this summer and like it so much they took it collar and all.  Now try and figure that one out.  It’s kind of creepy to think someone would be that low.   The Shur Fine didn’t have a replacement dragon fly but I’ll forgive them on this one.

The Cassadaga Shur Fine has gas and almost everything else.  It’s like a mini mall and truck stop.  They’ve got all kinds of groceries and a kitchen to cook pizza and make subs and wings.  I love the chicken wing pizzas.  They also have nails, nuts and bolts, saw blades, black pipe and fittings, stove pipes..where can you get stove pipes now, shovels and hand tools, rope and chain.  They may have shot gun shells..I should look next time.  They’ve got electrical items and fuses for your home and car.  There’s stuff there you hardly find in a hardware stores.  They also have those Moon Pies and Elk and moose jerky.  Oh yeah..beer too.

Stop there on your way through Cassadaga and see what I’m talking about.  You don’t see stores like this all that often anymore.

Love the place.  Home Depot and Walmart can get lost.

Steve Lord

Please remember also to visit  www.cabinalarm.com for your cabin, shed and trailer protection needs.

In Western NY we’re waiting for the return of the Mammoths.  I hear Al Gore talking about this Global Warming hype but all I want to know is where is my piece of the action?

It’s December 7th 2008 and Chautauqua Lake is already freezing over.  The only natural event stopping it from freezing completely is the 30 mph winds (with a -10 degree wind chill) that’s breaking it up.  It started snowing three weeks ago and it hasn’t stopped since.  The lawn chairs left on my deck are now hibernating under the 3′ of snow and everything has taken on a fairy land appearance like large white mushrooms.  I keep saying I’ll dig them out and put them away when it stop snowing but it’s still snowing and it’s been colder than a nun’s “you-know-whats” in January.

The real joke to all of this is Buffalo still had green grass a few days ago.  What’s up with that?  Buffalo is known for having all the snow and I’m surprised they aren’t still mowing grass.  They’ve been getting off easy this year and and I know they are next.  They really deserve it this year.

Anyways; I’ve dragged out the snow shoes and plan on using them.  The snow blower’s in tip-top shape and my swimming trunks are tucked away.  It looks like its going to be another long winter but I’m preparing to deal with it.

Keep warm everybody and have a Merry White Christmas.

Steven

www.cabinalarm.com

www.shedalarm.com

FYI for everyone who sees those annoying commercials by Billy Mays and decides to buy one of the HandySwitch devices to control lamps in their home. 

Please be WARNED!!!!

I bought one of these for $14.99 and installed it and it worked great.  The next day it was dead so I went to the hardware store and bought two 12V – A23 garage door opener batteries and the unit was working again.  I made the assumption the original battery had been sitting around for a while and it must have been weak.

That evening I went to the store and locked my Chrysler Pacifica using the remote key fob and everything was fine.  When I got home I couldn’t lock the car with either my key fob or my wifes.  I was forced to lock the car manually using the interior switch.  The biggest problem with this was if you opened the door with the key the alarm system is activated and you have to jump in and turn the key to get it to go off. 

The car was obviously messed up so I also asked my wife to plan on taking the car to the dealer since it was still under warranty and they need to find out why the key fobs aren’t working.  The electronics that monitor the key fob must be messed up.  It was cold that night and I started thinking the cold was affecting the electronics.

The next morning I went to unlock the car with the key fob and it was working just fine.  Dam!  Now I was looking at some funky intermittent problem which are the worse to trouble shoot.

We got home that night and we realized our HandySwitch was dead again. 

In the back of my head I was kind of wondering about the possibility that something was jamming the frequency used by my keyfob.  I first wondered if my new neighbor changed the garage door opener and it was possibly stuck on jamming my keyfob.  Then it dawned on me “could it be the HandySwitch”.  I remember the directions talking about the frequencies and codes and it mentioned the problems when you use two devices in the same place.  I put another fresh battery in the unit and turned the light on and tried to lock my car.  It worked fine.  I had my wife turn off the light and suddenly I wasn’t able to lock or unlock the car with the keyfob.  I had my wife perform the same experiment as a sanity check and it did the same thing.

Here’s the issue:  The HandySwitch seems to be draining the battery when it’s in the off position.  It must be emmitting some serious junk in the Mhz range when the switch is in the off position and this mode is draining a good battery dead.

I pulled the battery from the device and I’m returning the unit to the store.  I’m wondering if anyone else has experiences such a ridiculous problem with a HandySwitch.  Many people may have had the same problem but it was a real stretch to get to the bottom of the problem.  It’s about the stranges problem I’ve ever seen with a product obviously bought by so may people.

www.cabinalarm.com

www.shedalarm.com

We would arrive at our camp and our two Lab Mix mutts would jump from the truck and take off running. Rachel would take about 20 steps then a giant leap into our smaller pond then return to shake it all off on our camps front porch while we were carrying provision in.

Reggie wouldn’t leap into the pond, but he would start his routine of sniffing out all of his favorite spots to see if someone had stopped by while he was out.  Both of our pups just loved camp and they would watch us during the week to see the signs of us going to camp.  They would watch for us to touch the cooler or possibly put on the hiking shoes, touch the truck keys, water jugs, bins, or what ever else we touched before going to camp.  The word “CAMP” could’t be used in a sentence without a burst of excitement by both dogs.  If I ever uttered “Do you want to go to Camp?”, all hell would break loose.

I heard from a local gun club member that the NYS government was in with the insurance companies to cut down on the deer population.  NYS released coyotes in the area to eat the fawns and thus cut down on the car/deer accidents.  This sounded really stupid, but some hunters didn’t get their deer so it may have seemed logical to some of them.  I tried to keep from laughing at such a ridiculous theory, but it all seemed somewhat harmless and I didn’t put much more thought into it.  I figured these guys would be out gunning to get the coyotees.

That spring we went to camp just after the snow thawed and we noted that there was a deer carcass in the woods.  The animals had dragged it around and it was mostly eaten except for the skin and some bones.  I wasn’t sure if Reggie and Rachel had messed with it, but they are dogs and dogs would be pleased with such a find.

Later that day Rachel coughed up little green chunks in the cabin, but I made an assumption that it was the Greenies that I gave her earlier.  Something must have upset her stomach and she seemed OK later so we didn’t make anything more out of it.

We went on our Spring Vacation in North Carolina for a week and put the dogs up at a local kennel.  Upon returning we were told by the kennel that Rachel had a toenail that was bleeding and they had a lot of problems stopping it.  We were a little upset since they obviously cut the toenail too short and caused the problem.  We were able to get it to stop so everything was OK and the dogs seemed happy to have us back.

That following weekend we went back to camp and Rachel and Reggie did their routines, but Rachel just seemed a little bit off her game.  Our neighbor asked if she was OK, she seemed to stop and squat quite a bit.  We said we noticed that too, but it was probably nothing.  That evening Rachel got really sick.  We contacted our vet and they took her in for the night for tests.  She was dead by morning.  She had been poisioned.

We went back over the past three weeks and realized that someone had most likely planted rat poison on the deer carcass for the coyotes, but it looks like it only killed our dog.  Reggie was taken back to the vets for tests, but he checked out OK.  I asked the DEC to check out the property, but they didn’t see anything suspicious.  The evidiences was gone and so was our dog.  The fact of the matter was poisoning dead deer to kill coyotees just doesn’t work.  The coyotees prefer fresh kills and don’t scavange like dogs.  It is also wrong and illegal as hell.

My wife and I were a couple of basket cases over the ordeal and Reggie really missed Rachel.  We buried Rachel near the pond she loved so well, right about on the spot where she launched her big dive into the pond.

Reggie was really depressed and didn’t move around much.  We knew we had to find him a new companion to keep him from getting lonely.  We took him along to various shelters to check out the available strays.  Reggie wasn’t happy with most of our choices, but we finally found a female in the shelter in Bradford PA that he seemed to totally ignore.  We took them for a walk and they would sniff the same spots and they acted like they had known each other for years.  It almost made us belive we found another Rachel.

We took her home and we named her Trixie.  Reggie loved her and they played and played.

If you ever read Stephen King’s, “Pet Cemetery” you’ll remember how they would try to bring back their dead pets, but these revived pets were just not quite right.  Well it seems like we had run into the same problems trying to bring back Rachael. 

Rachel stayed close to us at camp and loved to chase dragon flies.  Rachel was good in the house and was well trained.  She loved to ride in the truck with passion.  She would actually try to chase cars from inside the truck and she would bark the whole way to camp.

Trixie on the other had ran off and got lost.  She did like the pond, but that was about it.  She rode quietly in the trucck and she couldn’t be left alone in the house.  She had to chew something (shoe, book, paper) and we had to start crating her.  The other big problem is she gets lost big time.  She wandered off about four times at camp and we’ve decided to keep her leashed.  The last time she got lost it was for three days and she ended up at a shelter 10 miles from camp.

We love Trixie and we know she isn’t Rachel.  Rachael is gone and there will never be another one.  She was special.  Trixie isn’t Rachel, but she is Reggies friend.  We are sad that she isn’t more like Rachel, but we should have remembered “Pet Cemetery” and realized any attempt to bring Rachael back would probably go quite wrong.  It looks like it has, but we’ll try to make the best of it.

We’re trying to get over the bad feelings of Rachels death, most likely caused by poisioning at camp.  We fear a repeat of the poisoning so we walk the area frequently looking for suspicious things.  Our feeling of camp may never be the same thanks to some idiot who believes putting out poisoned carcasses will help him get a deer next winter.

Two weeks ago we heard the coyottes howling in the evening.  They seem to be doing just fine.

Listen up fellow cabin owners,  you can do something besides wring your hands and wait for the next break-in!

You’ve probably heard this line; “Don’t leave anything in your cabin because someone will just break-in and steal it”.  The old timers will tell you that you should expect to be “HIT” about every 5 years or so.  Well…..this may be so, but I own a cabin, pay my taxes, mow the grass, fix the roof, cut the wood and “don’t accept the status quo”.

Camp is that special place I go to get away from the stress of my job and the daily rat race that we call modern living.  The last thing I want to do is go to camp and find out that some half wit dead beat broke out a window and hauled out my tools, furniture, gas grill, or my wife’s favorite frying pan.  It’s my place, my property and my responsibility to protect it.

How do you stop these crooks in their track?  You can’t duct tape a shot gun to a chair aimed at the door with a string tied to the trigger and the door.  It seems like an effective crime stopper, but its really quite illegal and it will probably shoot you or someone totally innocent by accident.

You can, however, install a Sun Wind and Wire Cabin Alarm System www.CabinAlarm.com which runs on a 12V battery, uses no power when armed and incorporates a 140 db (as loud as a shot gun) internal pain generating siren to drive the crooks out and away from your property.   The price is very reasonable at around $240.00 and is quite simple to install.  Now you would think this would be enough protection, but if you have some doubts there are some Extreme Measures that you can take to make you feel even better and the crooks won’t appreciate any of these.

You can attach a “BURGLAR BOMB” www.stopthecrime.com to the Cabin Alarm.  I should note that this product has no affiliation at all with www.CabinAlarm.com , but it can be wired directly and it will definately put things in your favor.  The Repulsar I and Repulsar II Burglar Bomb unload 6 ounce aerosol can/s containing capsicum (OC Pepper) into the cabin causing immediate problems to the idiot trying to enter the cabin.  The spray is a nontoxic inflammatory agent that causes uncontrollable coughing and sometimes nausea and excessive tearing.  The crooks primary concern will be to get away and the spray will dissipate with some airing out.

Still not enough?  Well, I got this idea from someone the other day on my comments form.  You can purchase an IMPCO 12V DC electric solenoid shutoff valve L-416-12V and use it to load propane into a $250 ZON Mark 4 Propane Cannon (grunt grunt) as Tim Allen might confirm; to let out one nerve rattling, blast from hell www.suttonag.com/Zon.html .  The 12V solenoid can be wired directly to the Cabin Alarm.  ZONs website says a 20 lb tank of propane will run for 17,000 blasts.  You can hook it up the the Cabin Alarm timed output so it will stop after a few hours.  When you’re at camp you can use the propane to grill some steaks or chicken.

Let’s put this Cabin Alarm with these Extreme Measure in perspective:

You’re a lazy, no good, half witted, gut-less cabin robbing crook (do you get the feeling I’ve also been robbed?) and you break into a cabin to get some stuff to sell at the local bar.  You know the cabin is an easy mark and there is very little risk of getting caught since its late at night in the middle of a work week.  You sneak onto the property and you bust open the door with a log and super loud sirens go off.  You step inside and you realize the noise in the cabin is an unbearable 140 db siren and its busting your ears.  You cover your ears and realize the air is filling with a gastly, burning fog, “what the hell is that” and you stumble for the door and suddenly you hear a nerve jolting super loud blast from outside the cabin……….. you’re so scared you don’t realize you’ve shi**** your pants…. you poor baby.  You’re tripping over your own feet on the way out and you never look back.  The experience gives you nightmares for years.

The Cabin Alarm with a few Extreme Measures seems to pretty much provide the security you need, but you don’t have a phone line and you want to be called about the break-in.  Look for a distibutor who carries the DigiCell, AnyNET Network Access Module.  For a few hundred dollars and a minimal fee of about $8.00 / month you can be notified about the break-in, see www.uplink.com/DEALERS/products.asp for more information.  The DigiCell AnyNet system isn’t affiliated with www.CabinAlarm.com ,but it will connect directly to the Cabin Alarm.  A customer gave me this tip and wired one up to a Cabin Alarm kit himself.

Before you read this article I bet you never knew you had so many amazing choices available to protect your special place in the woods or on the lake.  Most people really believe you just have to live with the break-ins, but these things are available and they don’t cost you an arm and a leg.

If you know of any other Extreme Measures for your cabin or camp protection that just might go along with a Cabin Alarm, drop me a line and I’ll put out the word. 

Steven.

Here are some security tips you should know if you own a cabin / camp / cottage or whatever you call your special place to get away from it all.   These tips come from my website www.cabinalarm.com, but it seemed like a good idea to include them with my blog. 

• Install gates at all entrances and lock them up.  Post no trespassing signs at all entrances and along all
  property lines.   
  

• Get to know the local residents and ask them to keep an eye on your cabin / camp when you are away.  
  Give them keys to your gates and offer them use of your property in return like allowing them to cut hay, cut
  wood, or hunt.   
  

• Give your cabin / camp the appearance that someone is around.  Leave an unused vehicle in the driveway
  to give the impression that you are there.  Leave a radio and light on in the cabin if you have power.   
  

• Talk to the local Sheriff and local conservation law enforcement officer in your area. They can help keep
  tabs on your property.  
  

• Don’t leave guns in your cabin and if you can’t replace it, take it home with you.  If you do leave valuables,
  put them out of sight and lock them up for sure.
  

• Photograph valuable items and keep the photos in a safe place.  Record all serial numbers and put
  distinguishing marks on the items.  Never leave receipts for items purchased or personal documents in your
  camp / cabin.   
  

• Keep good insurance on your property.  Some homeowner’s policies cover your belongings at your camp,
  but not all.  Make sure your valuable items such as ATV’s, boats, mowers and tractors are covered.
  

• Store generators, ATV’s, tractors, mowers, boats, or other high priced equipment inside and out of sight.  
  Secure them individually to concrete with heavy chains and strong locks.
  

• Don’t leave tools around that help with a break-in.  Many burglars are opportunists and will use item’s
  available.  Lock up tools like bolt cutters, screwdrivers, hatches, axes, hammers, and sledgehammers.
  

• Keep keys to outbuildings, gates, ATVs, or other vehicles hidden or with you.  If a burglar breaks into your
  cabin / camp, don’t provide them additional access.
  

• Contact the local authorities immediately if a break-in has occurred.  Stay clear of the crime scene until they
  arrive.  You might destroy critical evidence.   
  

• Install a Cabin Alarm (www.CabinAlarm.com) to drive intruders out and away from your property.  Burglars don’t like loud
  sirens and most will leave the area immediately.  You or your neighbor is the last person they want to meet.
  

My mind was wandering on a ride back from camp one afternoon.  I took note of the number of pop (soda for the non WNYers) and beer cans along the road and I came up with the theory that you could drive from Chautauqua County to Albany NY without any money in your pocket.  That’s roughly 360 miles.  I see the cans and I want to pick them up, but when you travelling at 40 – 55 mph it’s hard to just stop and pick them up.  If you are walking its no big deal other than you end of carrying the large garbage bag like some big old junk collecting hobo.

I counted cans that I saw and there were about 1 – 2 cans every mile and that was just the ones along the edge of the road.  In reality there was probably more in the ditches.

So if I had a vehicle that get about 20 miles per gallon (my old Ford F150 forget it), gas at $2.65 a gallon, cans pay $.05 at the stores and the trip of 360 miles,  I would have to find 954 cans to fund the trip.  This would amount to 2.65 cans per mile, probably more like 4 cans per mile counting the stops for pick-up and drop off at the stores.

Anyways if you ever have a lot of time to waste.  Give it a try and see how far you get before you either get run over stopping to get cans, or run out of gas. 

You could improve this process by buying one of those long claw thingys that you can reach out your window to grab cans close by, or have someone with you to just hop out and grab the cans. 

Enough about this for now.  If I have anyother mind blowing theories I’ll be sure to post them.

I’ve had quite a few requests for a Cabin Alarm that resets itself after someone breaks in.  I have to give the bad news that this feature isn’t available due to various reasons.

The problem is; if someone breaks into your cabin they will most likely leave an opened door or window.  There will be total shock since the quiet night suddenly turns into a screaming welp inside and outside the cabin, totally unexpected since cabins rarely have any type of alarm system.  The chances are the guy is going to get the hell out of there and not come back.  If he has a vehicle he’s taking the chance that a neighbor heard the ruckus and is waiting patently at a window to get a glimps of a vehicle racing from the scene.  There’s also a chance that a neighbor camper is on his way with a shot gun to see what’s going on.  It’s really a big unknown and the uncertaintly really changes the rules of cabin break-in.

Many ask me; “what if the guy waits patiently in the woods for the alarm to shut off”?  First of all this person doesn’t knows how long it will go.  If it’s set for 2 hours, that’s a pretty long wait especially if the payoff isn’t know.  Most people don’t keep cash and their gold jewlrey in their cabin so a two hour wait in the woods for a coleman stove, a box of old tools, or maybe a chainsaw just doesn’t sound worth it.  Now if you have a gun rack hanging on the wall and your shades are wide open, then it may be a whole different story.

Cabin theives are opportunists and they pray on the fact that the property is unoccupied and they can sneak in and take things at their leisure.  There little chance of getting caught and they may even have time to make a sandwich, warm up a cup of Joe, or even do a little artwork with the paint left in the back room before they head out to the next cabin.  If you have a 140db siren bustin your ears, the cup of Joe is out.

I’ve also been asked; “If someone breaks in and waits it out, can the system have a motion detector to see if they come inside”.  Well, you can get a motion detector, as long as it has a N/O switch.  This will draw power and eventually drain a battery, but this can be overcome with a solar panel.  Unfortunately you would still have a door open and the movement would have also been sensed by the motion detector.  The alarm would still be in the same state.

My opinion is check your cabin often or have someone in the area do a walk around once a week.  This is your best defense to a robbery.  No alarm system can protect your remote property if you just don’t check on it.