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	A REMOTE ALARM REPORTING SYSTEM
by Tom Petruzzellis Start ı Under the Hood ı Building Tele-Alert ı Putting It To Work ı Customizing Your Tele-Alert System ı Sources and PDF If youıre going to have a home-control system, it helps to have a convenient medium for checking the data the system gathers. In Octoberıs issue of Circuit Cellar, Bruce Winter designed a response system that broadcasts information over a home audio system. In Novemberıs issue of Circuit Cellar, Mike Baptisteıs Embedded Living column will explain how he designed a TV module that enables him to view information from his home-control system on his television screen. If youıre not sure about a talking house or donıt want to be interrupted while watching your favorite shows, you might be interested in a multichannel microprocessor-controlled remote event/alarm reporting system that can contact you via cellular phone, numeric pager, or computer. Designed to monitor up to eight different alarm or event conditions from various types of sensors and report the particular channel that was activated, the Tele-Alert can be configured to monitor voltage levels, temperature changes, movement, windows, doors, safes, perimeters, as well as computer equipment. Because the system is used with your existing telephone line, no additional charges are added to your monthly phone bill. The Tele-Alert can be programmed to call you (or a friend, relative, etc.) on your cellular phone. Simply reprogramming the Tele-Alert will convert it to notify you via a numeric pager instead of your cellular phone. A modem daughterboard currently under development, will permit the Tele-Alert to call your PC and report different alarm messages based on the input channel activated. In this mode, each Tele-Alert system is coded so a number of different reporting stations can call into a central PC. The Tele-Alert kit contains the PC board, resistors, capacitors, diodes, integrated circuits, resonator, PIC controller, reset switch, IC sockets and headers, and software. The kit does not include an enclosure, but does include the cellular phone and pager programs and is expandable for future applications. The Tele-Alert is compact as well as expandable. All you have to do is attach a 9-V power supply, connect your telephone line and the sensor connections, and youıre ready to go. There are three optional enhancement modules currently being developed. The optional motion module allows the Tele-Alert to detect movement. The motion module also contains two normally open and two normally closed alarm loop channels so a number of alarm sensors/switches can also be used. The optional temperature/voltage level module allows your Tele-Alert to monitor up to four temperature or voltage level presets, and report the changes via your cellular phone or pager. The optional listen-in module enables you to listen in to the area being protected for up to two minutes. These optional enhancement modules can turn your Tele-Alert into a multifaceted alarm system that protects your home, cottage, or office. NEXT Circuit Cellar provides up-to-date information for engineers. Visit www.circuitcellar.com for more information and additional articles. For subscription information, call (860) 875-2199, subscribe@circuitcellar.com or subscribe online. ıCircuit Cellar, the Magazine for Computer Applications. Posted with permission.