Meeting The Challenges Of Advanced Outdoor Security Around The World

The Most Effective System in the World
The pattern recognition capability built into the Magal-Senstar Fence Protection System (FPS) has been repeatedly shown by independent testing to be the most effective in the world. This is not surprising. The FPS sensor extracts the maximum amount of data from the fence. The approach blends 25 years of understanding the basic forces at work in structures with the real world knowledge of the effects generated by the natural environment.

Modern Fence Protection Components
A strain sensitive fence protection sensor contains two component parts: the sensor cable which senses the fence vibrations on the fence and the signal processor which analyzes that data.

The Big Three
The three key elements for an outdoor sensor are the following:

High probability for detecting an attack on the fence whether cutting, climbing or any type of breach of the barrier.

Low nuisance alarm rate - too many unwanted alarms will cause the operators to lose confidence in the system.

Not vulnerable to defeat - all elements of the sensor should be supervised electronically and the sensor self-protected against tampering.

No Hot or Dead Spots
One important characteristic of the cable is uniformity. If the sensor cable does not have equal sensitivity over its entire length, the results will be "hot" spots and "dead" spots for which compensation adjustments cannot be made in the processor.

The sensor cable used in Magal-Senstar's FPS is an electret transducer cable that is specially manufactured with a permanent electrical charge throughout its entire length. The charge is stored within the cable dielectric material. The transducer sensor cable is then able to detect mechanical vibrations in the fence fabric caused by an attack. While the sensor cable picks up all vibrations in the fence, the "brain" of the sensor is the signal processor.

Each small vibration sensed by the transducer cable produces an electrical pattern. When the system is connected to an oscilloscope, those patterns are very recognizable.

Magal-Senstar tests every foot of the cable for sensitivity and a chart recording of the results is shipped with each reel of cable. Certified Cable saves you both money and headaches.

Always in "Quiet" Readiness
Another characteristic of our electret cable is the very low "background" noise. This characteristic enables the cable to produce significant signal changes from a "quiet" state to an "event" status. This difference is referred to as a high signal-to-noise- ratio. If the sensor cable is inherently noisy, the signal processor will have great difficulty distinguishing between an attack and the environmental effects of wind, rain, etc.

Point Detectors Don't Cut It
Point detectors mounted on fence posts don't perform well in detecting cutting in the middle of a fence panel. If point detectors are mounted in the center of the panel, they have difficulty detecting climbing at a post. The Perimeter FPS-2-2 linear sensor is ideally suited to detect both climbing at the post and cutting at the bottom of a fence panel. The FPS-2-2 performs better simply because it is closer to the action.

Tailored For Extreme Sensitivity
Fences are actually more rigid near posts and pull structures than in the center of fence panels. This makes detection of climbing especially difficult in these areas. Unfortunately, this is where most climbing attacks occur. The sensitivity of the FPS-2-2 system can be tailored simply by adding more cabling at these rigid areas. This increases the sensitivity where it is needed most.

Some Tough Jacketing
FPS transducer cabling with the current jacketing was first installed in 1981. These installations are still in daily service and the cable shows no evidence of deterioration or loss of sensitivity.

For those areas where potential vandalism is a threat to the sensor cable, we recommend Helisensor Armored Sensor Cable. Helisensor is FPS transducer cable encased in a flexible metallic jacket which connects to the FPS signal processor. The insertion is done by the factory, so there is no opportunity for the sensor cable to be damaged by a third party trying to pull the sensor cable through the armored jacket at the installation site.

Who's Afraid of Lightning?
Protecting any outdoor security system from lightning damage is important. Perimeter has been building outdoor systems for 25 years, and this solid experience has allowed us to develop survivable electronics. Gas discharge tubes and transient bypasses are used on each line that leaves the enclosure. This approach may cost a bit more, but a system downed by lightning can be much more expensive. Even when repaired, the system will probably fail again during the next lightning storm, unless survivability is built in.

Self-Testing Saves Shoe Leather
It is always important to know the sensor is in proper working condition. Walking the fence line and initiating an alarm is certainly one way to determine this. However, an electronic self-test is an important diagnostic tool that can be initiated several times a day (during shift changes) if desired. The FPS processor sends a signal to each zone that electronically exercises the sensing as well as analyzing the circuitry for each zone.

See Everything All at Once
One of the newest FPS system innovations from Perimeter is EDAPT (Environmentally Derived Adaptive Processing Techniques). EDAPT taps a previously unused source of information for making alarm decisions - the information from all zones simultaneously. This enables the MSI MX Control and Annunciation Unit to "see" all of the activity for the entire perimeter before making an alarm decision. The result of this new advanced processing technology is substantially lower environmentally caused nuisance alarms, while experiencing the same high confidence level in detection.

Several Versions to Choose From
The FPS is manufactured in several models. The differences in these various models are:
(1) Packaging - one zone or two per enclosure, or 30 zones per enclosure mounted indoors
(2) Sensor cable entry - regular electret or Helisensor
(3) Communication - relay outputs or integrated multiplex transponders (4) Standard FPS processing or EDAPT advanced processing.

For more than 30 years, Magal-Senstar, Inc. has led the industry in the development of creative outdoor security products. As the actions of terrorist groups continue to escalate and the costs of prison construction continue to rise, the need for new, effective and innovative security systems is greater than ever. Perimeter Products continues the quest. The search for higher quality never ends. Our products now stand guard around the world in diverse and hostile environments. These systems watch over prisons and critical NATO bases, protect missile sites, nuclear power plants and even borders between unfriendly nations. Our security systems and concepts have no boundaries.