By Thandi Skade
At just over the length of a ruler, the Skunk Alarm is small, but carries a punch ... literally.
It is a security alarm that "attacks" intruders with a spray of non-harmful, but "repulsive and irritating" pepper gas the second the passive sensor detects movement in a room.
Skunk Alarm owner Shane Judge said that criminals intent on breaking into your home or office would do so in spite of the security measures you might have in place, but, he explained, the purpose of the pepper spray alarm was to prevent the criminal from stealing anything or at the very least minimise the quantity of goods the robbers got away with.
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"The unit was designed to stop the smash and grab (theft) in those five minutes it takes the armed response company and police to respond," he said.
Judge explained that, similar to a home alarm system, the Skunk Alarm system unit was mounted with a passive sensor that would pick up movement and immediately release a pepper bomb.
The alarm is activated and deactivated by a remote control that will beep twice, informing you that the unit is armed.
A black LED indicator box with a red and green light is installed outside your front door, and will tell you whether the alarm is armed or if there has been an intrusion.
Solid red means the unit is armed, solid green means the unit is charging, while flashing red says the system has been triggered and warns a person to proceed with caution.
"The passive (sensor) will detect any movement in the designated area and immediately release a five second burst of a hurtful, but harmless natural mix of pepper gas without chemicals," he said.
Judge added that a 10 second time delay was used on the entry door and the exit door "with an audible alarm to warn that the unit is still armed".
There are, however, no time delays on the passive sensor.
As an extra security feature, in the event of accidentally pressing the remote control and arming the alarm, the unit has a 10 second time delay that allows you to disarm the unit before the pepper gas is released.
Each pepper gas canister lasts eight sprays, but when the security unit has sprayed six pepper bombs, it will sound eight short beeps every time the alarm is armed with the remote.
It would also "squeal for half a second" at random intervals, which Judge said served as a warning that the unit needed to be serviced and the gas canister replaced.
The standard Skunk Alarm unit costs a once-off payment of R2 995, excluding VAT, but includes installation, two remote controls and a pepper spray canister.
Additional options include installing an SMS alert unit that sends the owner an SMS alerting them that the alarm has been triggered, when it is activated or deactivated, when there has been a power cut or when the transmitter plug has been pulled out.
It will also notify you when your unit needs servicing.
Alternatively, you could add the teledialler unit, on which you pre-record an emergency message that will be sent out to up to five people via a landline call.
For more information call 0860 07 58 65 or 0860 10 32 62 or visit www.skunk.co.za
- This article was originally published on page 11 of The Star on May 22, 2009
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