Yeah, but their ankles would really, really hurt.

Like Ree I also have an ADEMCO system that I purchased thru the net. My system is both hardwire and wireless. It has proven to be extremely reliable. It covers both my home and my workshop building. I have multiple alarms that are located in areas that would be incredibly difficult to defeat, and battery back up of the system should someone try to attack my electric power, or my phone line for that matter. I have several small pocket dogs (unfortunately my large white German Sheppard dog passed a while back ), believe me they will alert to any sound, familiar and unfamiliar. A trigger of the alarm system will initiate a response from my neighbors as well as the police. A trigger of the alarm system and my little “yippie dogs” will initiate a response from a "MEAN OLD SOB (ME)".

I am now looking into CCTV monitoring to add to my home defense scheme.

Is any system perfect? Nah, but the different elements can together afford some level of piece of mind.

If any of you look into CCTV let me know. I can giveyou some pretty solid advice on gear if you are looking.

Thanks I appreciate the offer. It'll probably be a little down the road though.

I would love to have a camera covering my front door that can transmit (wireless) to a receiver which I could then connect to one of my spare video inputs on my TV. That way, when the doorbell rings, I can just switch over to that input to see who's out there. Would also be nice to have some level of data logging, like a snapshot every 5 seconds when motion is detected. Haven't taken the time to research that, but I imagine something like that exists, right?

Right, geese are much better.

Try Swann's "Red Alert" Micro DVR kit. It's available at Microcenter for around $200; the DVR has motion detection software built in and a few other cool things. The kit also includes a 4 ch wireless day/night camera and all the cables you should need to hook it up.

(I've got mine hooked up in my Explorer as a wireless video feed scanner/recorder. So far I've found at least 80 separate unencrypted wireless camera feeds in the south of the river suburbs alone.)

I had a simple Brinks system, but gave that up when we got our dog. He's a rat terrier, and an excellent watchdog from the loud audio alarm standpoint. Between the hearing and the smell, dogs can be very effective. I think he could deliver some biting action in a pinch and hopefully buy us a couple additional seconds. Without going into details, he once turned 20 lb. Cujo and held the CenterPoint Energy guy at bay shockingly well during a surprise encounter for both. I don't know whether he would fall for the Hogan's Heroes "give the dog a steak" distraction, but I digress...

*****

The point of my post (yes, there is one): IANALarm system expert, but whichever system you choose, give careful thought to

- placement of glass/door/window sensors: since you're probably not covering them all, which are the most likely to be breached? Can you provide effective coverage with just a few sensors at choke points?

- placement of motion sensors. During the day, if anyone is home, can you set up a living space and still have a perimeter alarm active? At night, when the motions are set, can everyone move freely in their bedrooms and get to bathrooms without tripping the alarm? Curtains flapping in the breeze can trip a sensor, so give thought to which upper story windows you like to have open. Incidentally, small pets can be ignored by motion sensors via adjustment, as I recall from my Brinks literature. A motion sensor can cover many windows and doors, eliminating the need for sensors on them.

- keypad placement. Mark is right about a keypad in or near the master bedroom -- I did not do this and had to rely on a key fob, which had fewer features. I regretted my choice.

- backups for power outages and/or cut phone lines

- a reminder system to reduce false alarms. When I set the motions, I would place a chair or some other obstacle at the end of the hallway as a reminder that the motions were set and that passing that point would trip the motions.