Re: Want to build your own alarm gizmo?

[tourman <robercampbell@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Apr 17, 10:06=A0am, "Bill" <billnomailnosp...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I've been involved with electronics related work for many many years. Fro=
m
> way back in the "relay control panel" days...
>
> When electronic chips and microprocessors first came out, all the equipme=
nt
> needed to program and build your own circuit boards cost thousands of
> dollars. I wanted to play around with this, but could never afford it...
>
> All that has changed! A company called Parallax now makes a product calle=
d
> "What is a Microcontroller? Basic Stamp kit". And this is sold at Radio
> Shack or on the parallax.com web site store (in the Basic Stamp / BASIC
> Stamp Programming Kits area) for $70.
>
> And that is all you need! It comes with a serial cable to connect to your=
 PC
> and the programming software editor. And you can program it from your PC.
>
> Note: If you have a laptop without a serial port, there are problems with
> USB to serial adapters which do not work (like the kind which sell for $4=
0
> in office supply stores). But on the parallax.com store they sell one whi=
ch
> works in the Accessories > Cables/Converters area for $15.
>
> Anyway I've been having fun playing around with this. Making LED's flash =
and
> so forth. But then I noticed all the sensors and communication add/on
> devices you can get to add to this circuit board. This would be in the
> Sensors and Accessories / Communications areas.
>
> They even have RFID readers and Bluetooth add on boards! (Thought you guy=
s
> would be interested in that stuff...)
>
> The Basic Stamp microcontroller is very easy to program, but this is a ve=
ry
> simple microcontroller. It can only do one thing at a time. So you can't =
be
> making a sound on a speaker and at the same time check to see if someone =
is
> pressing a button. Or if you do, you need to get the timing just right.
>
> They do make other microcontrollers which are faster or have multiple
> processors in the same chip (Propeller), however those would be more comp=
lex
> to program. The Propeller chip can include "assembly language programming=
"
> which is very advanced programming - not for beginners! If you are new to
> programming, I would start with the Basic Stamp What is a Microcontroller=
?
> kit.
>
> Then I would not use this stuff to "reinvent the wheel". If there is a
> security product out there which suits your needs, it would probably be
> tested and designed to prevent false alarms and so forth. The wireless
> products would probably be better designed with low battery alerts and so
> forth. So best to use those products if they are available.
>
> But I know every now and then in the security business you get a customer
> who says "Can you do this?" or "Can you do that?", then no product availa=
ble
> for that... Now maybe you can build your own!

RHC: Sir, not to burst your bubble; however, I very much doubt that
any serious alarm professional would consider such a thing for use on
any system connected to the authorities (and this IS a newsgroup
comprised of alarm professionals by and large...).
In the DIY market, I suspect you might have an application, since no
real harm (or good) is done when the alarm goes off. Speaking
personally, I have yet to find a security application that is not
covered by at least one manufacturers products (and usually many
more).
No matter how well it may work, I doubt there would be a need to
resort to such a "cluge", since any custom arrangement must also be
serviced after the fact.

Anyway, best of luck