Frame alarm

[framinzfun]

I was watching a show yesterday on Discovery called "It Takes a Thief", it's a great show, it has two ex-home thiefs who help people burglar proof their homes... cool show. Anyway, the homeowner had a Picasso in his closet, so they decided to hang it, and put some sort of an alarm on the back of it that went off when it was removed from the wall. The problem I saw with this, was that in order to put it on the frame, they cut away the dustcover, and put it in a corner of the frame. Sort of defeats the purpose of a dustcover, doesn't it? Has anyone ever seen one of these? And where do you get one?

 

[boxer1]

http://www.isisasset.com/products/prd_arts_collections.htm

 

[Puppyraiser]

And what if no one is home to hear the alarm???

 

[Mike Labbe]

I own a small alarm company as one of my sidelines. (only 17 clients, mostly family and friends)

Framinzfun: There are a whole bunch of methods to do this, without damaging the dust cover. Some sensors could even be mounted under the dust cover, and work via magnetism. A plunger type sensor could also be installed on the wall, to trigger if the art was removed. The link boxer1 posted is pretty interesting, too. The device transmits a signal every 15 seconds, and will trigger an alarm if the art is removed from the building. For high end art, light beam, motion, or vibration sensors are sometimes used.

Ellen: Alarms generally call a central office, which then notify the police and your work or cell phone. (or the on duty security staff, if it's a facility that has one)

That show is a real eye opener, isnt it? It's scary how easily and fast people can ruin your home, and how much time they have to do their thing before an alarm would bring the police.

Mike