Alarm and Security Programming

Dar Scott provides programming services for the alarm system industry and for related security and AV industries.

Background

Dar Scott brings his expertise in electronics, systems and software development to the creation of alarm system software interfaces and control systems. These have involved systems using components such as PECOS, Diamond I and II, and other software systems as well as field hardware and video components from Infographic Systems, Northern, Modular Integrated Technologies, and others. These involve a range of operating systems including, well, no OS at all.

Dar Scott has created drivers and software interfaces for a variety of devices using DCOM, serial (RS232, RS485, RS422) and TCP/IP networking in a variety of protocols from raw binary bytes to email. Dar Scott has created drivers and IP routing applications for video in both NTSC switching environments and network routing environments. Because of his microcontroller background, Dar Scott is able to create custom software for field panels, too.

Dar Scott has developed security system and AV control communication protocols used in the alarm system industry and in building and AV controls.

Experience in cryptography and network security projects allows Dar Scott to apply these to a wide range of situations including those in physical security and other alarm environments. He has set up firewalls, VPNs and custom protection software to isolate alarm systems and other secure environments from other networks.

Dar Scott creates computer-based operator panels using a wide range of development tools but especially using the Revolution environment for quick design of operator panels suitable for either touch-panel control or "computerish" control or both. His experience in operator behavior allows these to be optimized for efficient use when installed.

Alarm Software Development Lab

Dar Scott's electronics and computer lab in Albuquerque includes a wide variety of computers and lab-bench equipment needed for stress testing and verification. The lab has a high speed network as well as high speed Internet access allowing testing and demonstration to work across the Internet via remote control software or direct IP. Power and communications are filtered or isolated. The video section includes cameras, monitors, and computer interfaces. The lab includes all Microsoft operating systems (and all Microsoft Windows related products such as SQL server) as well as Apple Macintosh operating systems (including OS X) and Linux systems. The lab software tools include a wide range of network tools, remote control tools, security tools, serial emulation tools, computer emulation tools and network emulation tools. Development tools include all Microsoft tools as well as a variety of tools for a wide range of operating systems, especially OS X, and a wide range of programming languages.

In particular, the lab includes a computer controlled alarm contact generator, which can simulate supervised contacts and their faults as well as bus and power faults, computer controlled power supplies for battery and AC system alarm testing, and a variety of serial interfaces including RS-232, RS-485, and RS-422. In addition the lab includes a full Enterprise Edition of Revolution for creating operator panels and full applications to be deployed on Windows 9x, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Macintosh OS X, Macintosh Mac OS (PPC or 68K), Linux and Unix (FreeBSD, HP-UX, SGI IRIX, AIX, Solaris Intel, Solaris SPARC and SunOS SPARC).