Wireless CCTV: Connecting a Burglar Alarm System, Part 1

January 12th, 2021

Wireless CCTV cameras or IP cameras are the digital replacement for traditional CCTV, but the technology is sophisticated and there is a lot more you can do other than looking at your home or business from across the internet.  For example, you can connect these cameras to most good burglar alarm systems, so that when a camera detects movement, the alarm system will trigger.  You can also set up your cameras so that when the burglar alarm is tripped, you will get an instant text message on your phone.  These amazing new features offered by your local provider in Houston, TX can bring many an old alarm system into the 21st century without the cost of replacing it and here in part one of this two-part series, were going to look at the things you will need in order to achieve this.

The first thing you need is a wireless internet CCTV camera that has a digital I/O port and an alarm system that has a spare digital I/O port too.  Incidentally, this is just a technical name for a little block of connectors where wires can be attached.  Most serious wireless CCTV cameras have such a port.  If your alarm system has one of these ports, it will be inside the alarm control box.  Not all systems have this, but many do – just take a look in the manual.  If you no longer have a paper copy of the manual, search the support section of the system manufacturer’s website where you can often find an electronic copy.

Having verified that your camera and alarm box has digital I/O ports, you will also need to check a few other things in the alarm system manual and the camera manual.  (If you have not yet bought the camera, find an on-line copy of the manual to carry out these checks before you spend your money.)  First of all, check the voltage and power specifications of the camera’s output port and the alarm’s input port.  Do the same check on the camera’s input port and the alarm system’s output port.  Basically, you need to make sure that there is a match, but it is true to say that most wireless internet CCTV camera ports are designed to work with most alarm system ports.  Next, find the precise connectors that you need to use within the connection block that makes up the port, both on the camera and the alarm box.  The next thing you will need is a length of alarm cable to reach from the camera to the alarm control box.  This cable will typically have at least four strands, but if you can only get eight core or whatever, no problem, we’ll just be using four of the wires for this task.

Once you have reached this stage, you will want to know how to connect everything up, which we will look at in part two of this series, not to mention how to configure the alarm system and camera to make everything work, which we will describe in part three. If you have any more questions feel free to reach out to your local dealer in Houston, TX.