Home/Systems/Situational Awareness
Bunker Systems
Situational Awareness: know what is happening outside.
The most dangerous moment in a bunker is opening the hatch without knowing what is out there. Situational Awareness puts radiation, toxic gas, air quality and weather sensors outside, cameras on every approach, and all of it on one screen inside. It runs without internet, so you can see what is happening and decide when it is safe to go out.
Three tiers
Priced,
installed.
Optional in every bunker. Add it in the Builder, or later. Prices are installed in Utah, including equipment, labor and commissioning, and are confirmed in writing after the site visit.
Basic
$9,800installed
Radiation, weather, smoke and eyes on the entry.
- Outdoor radiation counter (GQ GMC-500+ class) in a vented enclosure on the sensor mast
- Radiacode 110 gamma spectrometer at the entry to check people and gear coming in
- Weather station: temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, wind, rain and UV
- Outdoor air quality monitor: smoke and dust (PM1, PM2.5, PM10), plus gas and VOC indexes
- Four NDAA-compliant 4K cameras on the entry, hatch and approach
- Network video recorder with about 30 days of storage
- Wall screen inside with a local dashboard that shows radiation, weather, air and cameras together
- Alarms for radiation, smoke and high wind, on the screen and an audible sounder
- Galvanized sensor mast set away from the hatch, in buried conduit to the bunker
- Surge protection at both ends of every sensor and camera line
Standard
$34,500installed
Toxic gas, thermal vision and radar on the approach.
- Everything in Basic, with the weather station upgraded to a Davis Vantage Pro2
- Toxic gas monitor pulling outside air through a sealed sample line: carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, oxygen and flammable gas (Honeywell MultiRAE class)
- Ozone and nitrogen dioxide sensors with dual particle counters, plus a second particle monitor
- Six exterior 4K cameras plus a zoom camera that pans and tilts
- Thermal camera that sees people, vehicles and fire in darkness and smoke (Axis Q1961-TE class)
- Short-range radar that tracks movement on the approach and points the cameras (Axis D2210-VE class)
- Fiber-optic run from the mast, so no copper data line crosses the bunker wall
- Gas-tight multi-cable seal for every sensor and camera penetration
- Battery backup for the screen, recorder and sensors
- Alarm levels set for your site at commissioning, and the household trained to read the screen
Premium
$124,900installed
First-responder and military-grade detection.
- Everything in Standard
- First-responder area monitor outside: gamma radiation, toxic gases, VOCs and weather in one weatherproof unit (Honeywell AreaRAE Plus class)
- Chemical warfare agent detector for nerve, blister and blood agents and toxic industrial chemicals (Smiths Detection LCD 4 class, sold subject to the maker's approval)
- Handheld multi-gas detector to check the airlock before the hatch opens (Dräger X-am 5600 class)
- Professional 4K cameras (Axis class) and a 30x zoom camera with a wiper (Hanwha class)
- Two thermal cameras and two radars covering the full perimeter
- Professional recorder with redundant drives
- A second screen in the sleeping quarters and a backup dashboard that takes over on its own
- A spare sensor set sealed in a Faraday enclosure
- Alarms from the area monitor and chemical detector wired into the dashboard
See the screen
Outside right now, Ogden.
Radiation, air quality, weather and alerts on the Situational Awareness screen, running on live public data.
How we size it
The numbers
behind it.
Radiation
The outdoor counter reads the dose rate where you would stand, not where you are sheltered. Fallout decays quickly: by the 7:10 rule, every sevenfold increase in time cuts the dose rate about tenfold. The screen shows the trend, so you can see when it falls to a safe level and follow official guidance on when to leave.
Chemical
A rail or highway spill of chlorine or ammonia is far more likely than an attack. Standard measures common toxic gases through a sealed sample line; Premium adds a detector for chemical warfare agents. Before anyone opens the hatch, a handheld check confirms what the fixed sensors report.
Biological
No civilian sensor can tell you in real time that a specific germ is outside. Systems that claim to identify one take minutes to hours and cost more than $50,000. Your protection is HEPA and NBC filtration, staying sealed, and official alerts by radio. We will not sell you a box that pretends otherwise.
No internet needed
Every sensor and camera reports to a screen inside the bunker on a local network. In Standard and Premium, data crosses the wall on fiber, which carries no current, and every copper line has surge protection at both ends.
Questions
About
situational awareness.
Will it tell us when it is safe to go outside?
It tells you what is measurable: the radiation dose rate outside and how fast it is falling, toxic gases, smoke and particles, the weather, and who or what is moving on your property. You decide with that information and the official guidance on the radio.
Can it detect a biological attack?
No civilian system can identify a biological agent in real time, and we will not claim one does. Your filtration, a sealed shelter and official alerts are the protection.
Does it need internet or the grid?
No. It runs on a local network and your battery bank. If you have Starlink, you can also view it from your phone when you are away.
Why are cameras here and not in communications?
So you see everything happening outside on one screen: the air, the radiation, the weather and the cameras, side by side.
Prices set 2026-11-01 from published retail equipment prices plus installation. Brand names describe the class of equipment; we may substitute equal or better equipment based on availability. Subscriptions, well drilling and septic systems are quoted separately.
Build it your way.
Pick a bunker, choose each system and see the installed price, then reserve with a deposit.