Re: Suggestions wanted for Motion Detector delay/time-out

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"John W" <Don't_Spam_Me@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:Oq6dnS0Ha-DK31neRVn-sA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> I have a similar application but use an ADI Ocelot as my Home Automation
> controller.  If two of the three X10 wireless Motion Detectors in the
> driveway get a detect with 5 seconds of each other, the Ocelot tells the
ADI
> SpeakEasy to announce "Someone's in the Driveway".

Nice! Polling is a great way to make sure the sunbeam and squirrel chasing
Hawkeyes don't bother you with incessant false alarms.   I assume you're
putting those signals on the powerline for the Ocelot to detect them.
Doesn't it have the probability of interfering with valid house X-10 traffic
when someone is loading groceries or performing some other task likely to be
seen with multiple detectors?  I had to abandon my outside Hawkeyes for just
that reason.  An approaching delivery truck would spook all the squirrels
and birds at the curb and they would move toward the house, triggering the
detectors.

> The Ocelot then ignores subsequent detects for 2 minutes to avoid the
> problem you are experiencing.

Are you doing this with C-Max or via a program like HomeSeer?

> Before I added the SpeakEasy, the Ocelot just beeped an X10 Universal
> module.

Neat.  I have a UM connected to a Hawkeye mounted between the screen door
and the house door.  When playing back some Christmas tapes through the home
theater tonight the dog heard the recorded ding-dong tone and headed
straight for the door!

> Doing this without a programmable controller like the Ocelot would be
> difficult and the Ocelot is much less expensive than your current
> solution...

The dog's reaction to the recording of the universal module got me to
thinking there are a lot of parameters to every door opening.  Is it an
ingress or egress?  Is the door locked or unlocked?  Is there a car in
driveway or not?  Where are the animals (is that sneaky dog or cat trying to
make a break for it)? Are you, as Grandma used to say, letting all the cold
out?  A
"door open" event in the spring or fall is usually less of a problem or
expense than one open in the winter or fall.

A really smart home would check me when I left to make sure I had my cell
phone, my wallet, my keys and the proper outerwear based on the NWS
forecasts for my area.  It would also know the difference between family
coming and going and friends and neighbors.  It would switch the car to
whatever program I had been listening to in the house, warn me of potential
delays, advise me where to buy the cheapest gas and when.

Well, I can dream, can't I!?  :-)

--
Bobby G.