On Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:08:42 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm, Randy quickly quoth:
Excellent!
That could work, but it could be easily sidestepped by lifting your legs over it.
I have these X-10 systems for my entryway:
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Scroll down to the set, consisting of the chime, EagleEye IR detector, and RF transmitter. $45 + s/h. (less on eBay)
And I saw this $20 special in the recent HF ad:
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Put 2 strips of tape over the right and left edges of the IR detector to limit it to a narrower area of detection. It will cover the full height of the garage door automatically.
-- The only way not to think about money is to have a great deal of it. -- Edith Wharton
My shop has no windows so on nice days I like to keep the overhead door open. Well some kid watched me welding for awhile then decided it was safe - snuck in and stole my laptop computer that was connected to my CNC mill.
Got him on video, filed a police report.
I need some kind of photocell and beam across the doorway to alert me if anyone walks in. Can garage door safety beams be used? I have a couple of friends that can wire up or build me a circuit to make them work, I just don't know how the work, is there a NO or NC output on those? I was told you cannot just jumper them out, so I'm thinking it's more like a signal output rather than a switch closure output.
I need some kind of photocell and beam across the doorway to alert me if anyone walks in. Can garage door safety beams be used? I have a couple of friends that can wire up or build me a circuit to make them work, I just don't know how the work, is there a NO or NC output on those? I was told you cannot just jumper them out, so I'm thinking it's more like a signal output rather than a switch closure output.
The rounded piece is an infrared motion detector, the larger part its remote receiver & alarm. If you mount the detector behind the garage door track it would mask the garage interior and only view the door opening. They work pretty well, but the chime sound becomes annoying quickly.
I have the exact same problem, being in downtown Nashville a few blocks from the homeless mission. I call my alarm "bum alert". I have an infrared beam with a NO output sending power to a VERY audible chime. The beams are placed just inside the overhead door at 24" high. I have a bypass switch so I can kill it while backing in a trailer or other such blockage. The trick is placing the chime far enough away from the beams that the average person can't tell where the trigger is.
Before I had mine installed, I would turn around and have a bum three feet behind me wanting a handout. More than a few times. I have had people try to jump it, but most of the time they trip it.
Here are the beams I use:
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I had a set left over from a gate operator job. A security buddy flowed me the chime and a power supply & I was set. Less hassle than a pooch.
About 6 min long, 65 meg file. Don't know about the legal ramifications of putting it on youtube. Guy goes form watching me to checking out the pickup truck several times. I guess when he fiqures I'm busy welding he comes in sees the laptop and takes off with it, does spend enough time to take the power adaptor too.
Pawn shops I checked at said they would not even buy something that old. I need old because I need a serial port.
or more likely 2 of them mount hi/lo to make it hard to duck under. I can mount this inside hidden by the door track. Anything outside I would not trust.
I know one place that uses an am or fm radio. When a person activates a trigger (Opens the door and finds themselves inside a small cubicle) the radio blares out at about 120 db. - in the shop but well heard in the cubicle.
You can use many different triggers. The beam works fine but leaves a visible trail in dusty or smoky conditions. You may want to install one to give them something to dance around while they activate another one. :-)
A very simple motion sensor works well. You can rig a flood light sensor so that a bulb comes on or you can screw in a plug and have it activate the above mentioned radio or anything you can plug into that outlet. Sensor does not have to be mounted on the flood bulb set.
Personally, I'd use a couple different switches so they never know what or which triggered the notice or you may make them progressive. The first one could turn on a light or sound a small chime in the location you expect to be in. This one could figuratively say, "Someone just rounded the corner of the building." The next one could sound a different alarm and let you know their progression. The time lapse in between the two would tell you their approx. speed (sneaking, running, etc.) When they walk past a yellow lined do-not-enter area (or whatever you choose) you could make it sound like all hell has broken loose! This way they'd know that you knew! Bells, whistles, lights, the works! :-)
It can be as simple or complex as you wish to make it. First, You need to know. Second, They need to know that you know. They could be casing the place for a return when you're not around. You can get auto dialers to call you or anyone else if the place is entered during certain periods of time. I know of one auto dialer that calls several different numbers and announces that a high level alarm has been triggered or that there seems to have been a bearing failure in a lift station - giving the identity of the station.
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