Simple cheap alarm design.

[rebb]

Pat, it's just my opinion, but the thinking involved in this alarm system is part 'electronic tech' and part' free thinking'....the free thinking part is not 'so usual' in society at large, and i enjoy watching it put down to read anywhere i find it. frequently on a variety of topics. that kind of thinking is the genesis of artistic creation....i do it on a crude level mechanically (as do many ag/rural people-city dwellers don't seem to get to develop this, or don't have the dna to). an example i still think of is the use by a muffler shop to make a muffler man out of parts as part of their advertising....

having said that, my electronics skills are 'i barely know series from parallel' and get them backwards from time to time....i am best if i have a wiring diagram with specific common names for parts (as like you first schematic).

yah, when you have time, do me a schematic, please. both for the pushbutton garage door interrupter, and the inside delay switch; i bet i could use a single pole light switch, complete with box/plate cover, etc., and put it inside the door just slightly apart from my light switches; would only be found by accident if you dint know...that 'hide it in plain sight' has come in handy for me over the years....

this is just great...thanks again.

spent the last two days puppy proofing my place; got two catahoula mix pups at the pound...couldn't belive somone would abandon the lil fellers at the pound....like finding gold in the trash....

re: electric fence controllers...i tried to get my Dad to wire his truck wheels for Mother's lahso apso (she was nuts over little dogs, but this one loved to mark Dad's wheels, and he was incensed over it). he woont do it; i told him the guy i knew in high school dint die from p'in the fence (that still makes me laugh ) i think the dog eventually took a long walk on a short pier, although Dad said it was 'stolen'.....an electric fence controller will get yer attention!

rebb

 

[patrick_g]

Another little "brute force and awkwardness" solution which can be substituted for a fence charger in some applications is:

Parts list:

1. 120VAC water control solenoid valve from a junked dishwasher.

2. IR motion detector security light.

3. water sprinkler

4. Misc water hose, electrical wire, wire nuts, tape, etc.

Project description:

You use an IR motion detector type security light in the TEST position (to defeat the solar cell that normally keeps it from coming on during daylight hours) to control the solenoid valve instead of a light bulb. The inlet side of the valve is connected to a faucet and the outlet side to a sprinkler (I used a portable RainBird type.)

The sensor (security light module) and the sprinkler are NOT collocated (could be but I avoid flooding the control module)

Operation: After you have water to the valve, a sprinkler on the outlet side of the valve (with any reasonable length of hose between), and the sensor module mounted where the sensor can "SEE" the zone of interest, you ensure the sensor is in TEST position.

If a moving IR target is detected by the sensor the sensor module turns on the power to the load which is the valve which turns on the water to the sprinkler. In the test position the IR unit typically switches off again after about 10 seconds (may differ per IR module model) after it ceases to detect motion. The unit does not waste much water but will scare the stuffings out of a dog or cat looking to deposit a "love note" in the protected zone.

I found that ordinarily the dog or cat would be a block away by the time the unit timed out (10 sec) having been frightened by the hissing of the air being purged from the line, well before water actually sprayed out.

I used to get 1-3 "deposits" in my front landscaping daily. After installation of this little gadget I got none whatsoever for the duration I used it. I watched early one morning after just installing the devilish device and along comes John Doe with his dog on a leash. He lets the dog go into my front yard (on the leash) while he waits on the sidewalk. I notice he is not carrying a plastic bag or anything to collect the "mess" so I know he has no intent of cleaning up. The dog walks into the yard and is detected. The valve opens and water starts purging the air from the line though the sprinkler. The dog takes off like he has been zapped with a jillion volts and yanks so hard on the leash he spins the guy around and drops him to one knee and he is almost dragged into the street before he can get to his feet. It was hard to not laugh out loud.

This sceanario was repeated with the various dogs both on leash (most fun) and running loose. The only time the sprinkler ever actually sprayed water was if two animals came along in quick succession. The sound of the air frightened them away. The dog walkers thought they were just unlucky to be there when my automatic sprinklers came on. I followed the advice of W.C. Fields, "Never wizen up a chump, never give a sucker an even break." In other words I invoked, "Don't ask, don't tell."

Then the neighborhood kids, while chasing a ball or whatever, discovered that if they jumped back and forth over the sprinkler it would spray them so they would put on bathing suits and do so. They thought the sprinkler saw them when actually the sensor was mounted many feet away under an eave of the house. The result was the same, they were causing the sprinkler to run so much water that it ran down the gutter which is an offense and carries a fine in San Diego (during a shortage... nearly all the time)

The IR controlled sprinkler also trained my postman to stay on the sidewalk and not take a shortcut through the lawn and through a hedge I was trying to get to close up a gap he kept open.

I told a jillion people how to build these things and years later it was a commercially available product called a Rain Crow. The Rain Crow is battery powered and has the detector and the sprinkler collocated. I prefer separating the detector and sprinkler.

I replaced the IR controlled sprinkler with ultra sonics and still never got another "love note" from a dog. I installed the IR sprinkler in the back yard as cats were using my raised bed veggie garden for a litter box. That was fun to watch too. A cat gets on the stucco wall (in lieu of a fence) and when it jumps down into my back yard it is detected and the sprinkler is energized. The cat immediately jumps back out of the yard and typically no water is sprayed, just some air gets purged from the hose. NO more cat "sign" in my raised veggie plot.

Anyone feel free to ask for any needed clarification as what may seem clear to me when I write it can be clear as mud to a reader.

Pat

 

[patrick_g]

yah, when you have time, do me a schematic, please. both for the pushbutton garage door interrupter, and the inside delay switch; i bet i could use a single pole light switch, complete with box/plate cover, etc., and put it inside the door just slightly apart from my light switches; would only be found by accident if you dint know...that 'hide it in plain sight' has come in handy for me over the years....

this is just great...thanks again.

Rebb, I tried to delete this message but couldn't. I need to mod the drawing. I may not get back to this for a few days but I will do it for you.

Pat

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Hey Patrick that is hilarious! I love it.. I may have to do that just to watch the fun..Sometimes a little Yankee ingenuity is more fun than a barrel full of Monkeys.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

See that is another great idea.. My daughter and I have been training dogs to help handicapped people. So we can control our own dogs but not the neighbors. When we train dogs to stop barking when they shouldn't be we use a squirt bottle with vinegar in it. Squirt them in the face a few times if they don't stop barking when you tell them NO BARK! Might be fun to nail the dog from 10 yards away with a super soaker full of vinegar... When I was growing up my younger brother and sister would get into my room. So I made a curtain out of aluminum cans. Then I took a power supply and drove an old multivibrator from a car radio to make and break 12 volts to a car igniton coil. That put a very hot voltage on the cans.. You could adjust the voltage up and down with the power supply and get arcs between the cans. After they got blasted out of their shoes a few times they quit going in my room.. To this day we all still laugh about that.
I have been an electronic tech for 30+ years now. The last 20 years I have been at a Company that makes the worlds best passenger jets.. Working in a electronic laboratory.. I get paid to have fun now.

 

[woodlandfarms]

The last 20 years I have been at a Company that makes the worlds best passenger jets.. Working in a electronic laboratory.. I get paid to have fun now.

You work for Airbus?

Just kidding. I am all for a global economy but it blows my mind Airbus got the refueling contract, and I just read that an Italian company is now going to build the new presidential helicopters...

Hmmmmmm...

 

[Soundguy]

That's a really.. Hmm.. issue.. I agree..

soundguy

 

[rebb]

Pat,

no worries...haven't got all my wire run for the basic system yet....been working on chicken brood boxes, too. have to git 'er done by noon; 90% humidity, 95 degrees here....bleh! 6 hours in the morning, two or so in evening my old body will stand this kind of heat.... wish that gulf air would go back where it came from!
rebb

 

[patrick_g]

Pat,

no worries...haven't got all my wire run for the basic system yet....been working on chicken brood boxes, too. have to git 'er done by noon; 90% humidity, 95 degrees here....bleh! 6 hours in the morning, two or so in evening my old body will stand this kind of heat.... wish that gulf air would go back where it came from!
rebb

We hadn't used our A/C until last Monday. Wherever and however you exorcise your hot and humid air, maybe you can get some of ours to go with it. I wilt entirely too quickly in heat and humidity.

As regards alarm stuff. Wire your garage door(s) with sensors (switches) just like everything else. That will be compatible with any mods I provide.

Pat

 

[rox]

Patrick,
You ideas are hilarious. I start out reading about the alarm system, I can visualize the system locked inside the pump house and imagine a thief get blasted by the siren, yup that sounds good. Then you move onto the dog and cat automated sprinkler systm both uber creative and at the same time hysterical especailly your description of the guy with the leash and for the grand finali the ultra sound dog barking correction device. The first item made me smile but the final two had me laughing outloud. Especially the part about the hellicopters. There should be some type of TBN awards, you know like the acadamy awards or Tony awards, there should be something like that at TBN. I would nominate this post. It's so darned funny, but at the same time we are all nodding our heads, saying, "Yup that would work'

 

[TrippleT]

You need one item to finish the job with LOL

 

[Soundguy]

Hey pat.. I love the soft thup-thup -thup of subsonic9 in a supressed M11.. reminds me of a bird flying by.. Addd a felt lined brass catcher to the open bolt and you don't even have to worry about the jingle-jingle..

soundguy

 

[rebb]

Pat,

do you know how to tell when a politician's fabricating the truth? his/her lips move.

they'll say anything to get their face in the feed trough....imo
rebb

 

[patrick_g]

Pat,

do you know how to tell when a politician's fabricating the truth? his/her lips move.

they'll say anything to get their face in the feed trough....imo
rebb

I understand what you mean. If you are not careful how you ask the question you give away a clue as to your personal stand on the issue which may cause the candidate to "customize" their response. I am a trained analyst and know how to ask questions. Open ended questions with no possible yes or no answer are the most revealing, usually, although politicos are slippery and will talk for a while without answering the question. Works for them in press conferences but doesn't so squat with me because I can bluntly repeat the question and point out which part went unanswered, still without giving away my personal position.

It does make some of them a bit ill at ease because they don't know what to say to please me. Isn't perfect but it is the best thing I can do if the candidate has no historical records on their position. Guys running for reelection have past baggage to give away some info but first timers have to be treated a bit more creatively.

Pat

 

[patrick_g]

To incorporate a series switch, (N.C.) normally closed to allow alarm to set, to cover the garage door is just adding yet another switch to the series daisy chain of switches. The difficulty lies with setting the alarm with the garage door closed. You would have to set the alarm from outside the bld. This will require the controls of the alarm to be accessed from outside the garage or... you need a delay to allow you to exit the alarmed space's perimeter before the alarm is set and ready to be triggered if any switch is opened.

Another consideration is how do you enter the alarmed space without setting off the alarm? Again, the alarm controls can be accessible from outside the alarmed space such as in a locked box on the wall but that is a vulnerability which perhaps would be too easily taken advantage of by a BAD GUY. Even if inside the locked box there were 10 switches in random up and down status with only one of them controlling the system and the others just there to confuse the enemy, you still risk having a BAD GUY exploit the box as a weakness.

A workable solution for each of the two difficulties listed above is in both instances the use of a delay circuit, a timer. The alarm system user needs to decide what duration of delay is sufficient for him to gain entry to the alarmed space and go to the "secret switch location" and disarm the timer prior to it going off but not make the time so long that the bad guy has ample time to try to find and disable the alarm.

Egress alarm delay (departing):

How long will it take (plus a safety margin) to go from the location where you set the alarm to exit the garage and close the door? This is NOT a really critical thing. If you give yourself two minutes then the alarm is not active until after two minutes. You have to go from the alarm control location to the car, get in the car, drive out, and get the door completely closed within 2 min. Not hard, if the car starts right up.

Some users like to wait near the siren location until after the alarm has had time to arm to be sure the alarm does not sound just to be sure (or whatever.) This is prudent and a reason why you don't want a 5min delay as you sit waiting tapping your foot cussing your decision to choose 5 min.

Was that 3 min? Should I want another 15 seconds or what? You can buy LED indicators that have all the circuitry built in to be a flashing light with no other components needed. One of these located where you can see it and hopefully the bad guy too from outside the house can be wired in so it comes on when the alarm goes active after the delay timer sets the alarm on your departure. They are cheap, work fine, and last a long time. A good idea. You can use several of them mounted in different locations because if the flashing red LED is seen by a prospective bad guy he may just go away.

Ingress alarm delay (arriving):

You want to pick an ingress delay time that will allow you to access the SECRET SWITCH to turn off the alarm before the siren goes off. A secret switch location that is not inside a closet or behind a partition or otherwise out of sight to your companions will be a secret only until you arrive home with a non-family member with you in the car (or likewise your significant other and her friends or... A closet with a hidden switch or other clandestine arrangement is a good idea. You only have to hide the switch well enough to make it likely to not be found before the time out lets the siren go off. After the siren goes off the "secret switch" will not silence it.

I'm attaching a sketch to this post but will continue with another post to talk about it.

Pat