Get to know the various tips and tricks for installing a DIY Home Security Alarm System.  Making sure you take proper precautions when installing your Home Security System will insure proper functionality and less headaches.

• First, when mounting the main panel or keypad, remember to check the signal strength and quality of various locations throughout the home.  Ensure that your signals can be received by your base unit without interference, and that you do a couple of tests at minimum in order to ensure that your setup works without a hitch. If you cannot determine signal strength, ensure that your base unit is able to receive alarm signals without a problem.

• Avoid having metal around your devices, and use metal detectors and other such devices to ensure that there is no metal around to interfere with your signal transmission qualities. Metal acts as an antenna, and can seriously mess up the signal strength and direction of your wireless alarm system.

• When engaged in do-it-yourself installation of a wireless alarm system, ensure that, as far as possible, your units’ aerials are pointing straight down, towards the ground. This will ensure they receive the greatest possible radio wireless coverage, without which your alarm system is basically useless. Also ensure that the units are positioned at some distance from other electrical devices, whose current could interfere with the signal.

• Any metal object around your transmitter and receiver base will derogate from its signal quality – this cannot be emphasized more. The importance of keeping your units away from metal objects is paramount when performing DIY home alarm installation.

• When in doubt, do not interfere with the interior of the transmitter, or receiver, and especially do not manually alter the length of the aerial using cutters or scissors, since this may void your warranty and will definitely impact your signal strength adversely. Frequencies are very precisely set in such devices, and altering the length of the aerial will cause your system to lose and drop frequencies much more often. In addition, do not try to augment the length of your aerials – this has much the same effect as trying to shorten it.

• Keep electrical equipment such as generators, lamps, computers, AV equipment, TV’s, and DVD players, and power distribution units away from the receiver, as these, and large metallic objects such as steel shelving and indoor boilers can interfere with the passage of radio signals between the components of your system.

• Avoid having your remote aerial and cable running in opposite directions, where possible, and do not let them run in the same direction. Make sure your aerial cable is picking up the correct signal strength before you decide to get it shortened or extended in any measurable way. Avoid running wires together is the take-home message here, whether these wires belong to your system, or to the power mains.

• Thick walls interfere with signal transmission, so make sure your devices are within reach of each other electronically. If all else fails, you could mount your receiver aerial in the attic, if you have one, since this will make it possible for the signal to pass through the thinner floorboards than to have to find a route through or around the walls.