Motion sensor lights.

Radio Shack sells various buzzers, also your local hardware store should have a buzzer in trhe doorbell area. You just have to wire up the power supply for the buzzer to the circuit that turns on the lights.

Unfortunately these usually operate at mains voltage, no isolation transformer, like the electronics in a lamp dimmer. You would need some sort of relay or small transformer added in to isolate for a buzzer etc.

-- Diverse Devices, Southampton, England electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on

OK, Thank you for your input. cuhulin

If it's *in addition* to the bulbs lighting, a separate photosensitive system could run the noise maker.

Here you can buy a unit that runs on AA batteries and has a noise maker. You could open it up, remove/disconnect the speaker and run a set of wires to a remote speaker and a "wall wart" for power.

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel gsm@mendelson.com  N3OWJ/4X1GM

"N_Cook" wrote in news:gir6od$b71$1 @news.motzarella.org:

Simple? No. But almost simple. Put a current transformer in series with the outdoor lights. Use the secondary of the current transformer to drive a sonalert buzzer.

You may need to find out how much current your outdoor light draws, and wind your own transformer.

You may also need to put a diode and or a zener across the transducer to protect it from too much voltage.

--
bz

please pardon my infinite ignorance, the set-of-things-I-do-not-know is an 
infinite set.

bz+spr@ch100-5.chem.lsu.edu   remove ch100-5 to avoid spam trap

In message , bz writes

Too complicated.

Most stand-alone motion sensors have a 4-way strip 'chocolate block' power connector. These enable you to connect: Neutral (common power in and power out to light). Ground/earth (common power in and power out to light). Live In (power in from switch). Live Out (switched by sensor relay, and out to light). [Note: If you want to override the sensor, and have the light always 'on' when the power switch is 'on', you connect another switch between the Live In and Live Out connections.] To connect a warning buzzer (or any other device) as a 'slave' of the light, simply take a power feed back from the Neutral and Live Out connections (ie in parallel with the feed to the light). This can be connected to a normal AC power receptacle/socket, then use a suitable cheap wall-wart DC power supply to power the buzzer. This will buzz whenever the light is lit.

Note that many newer motion detectors have don't need the additional switch for the override function. This is cunningly provided by switching 'on'-'off'-'on' within 2 seconds. If you do this, the light stays on. To restore the sensor function, you switch 'off', wait about

10 seconds, and then switch 'on'. However, the principle is the same. As described above, simply take a power feed back from the Neutral and Live Out connections.

I've never actually done this, but it just HAS to work!

--
Ian

Exactly as I've done it, several times. The system is mounted under an eave on my detached workshop, and the buzzer is under an eave near my back door, mounted on a 1/4" plywood 'sounding board', so that I'm aware of activity. The worst part of the project was aiming the sensor to avoid false alarms, as the front sidewalk is kinda close.

All doable with off-the-shelf X10 hardware...plug it in and play. They have motion sensor outdoor lights which send an X10 signal when triggered. That signal can enable any one of dozens of modules, including a sounding unit which simply plugs into any convenient outlet. Other modules plug into the wall and provide a switched outlet controlled by the same signal--by which any sort of sounder, light or any other 120v device can be triggered. An unlimited number of modules can be simultaneously switched.

AIRC, one even includes a wired or wireless TV camera.

Someone steps on the porch; voila'! a dedicated video monitor comes on at the same time as the light on the porch, showing the caller (or intruder, as it were) at the same time a beeper sounds. The video signal can be routed to a computer and trigger an email alert, with recorded video...or viewed live from any web-connected computer.

jak

Try here

DRIVEWAY ALERT SYSTEM

Never be caught off guard again with this completely wireless infrared alert system.

Place the sensor anywhere on your property and the receiver anywhere in your house up to 400 ft away Receiver chimes when sensor is crossed Weather resistant

Requires one 9 volt and three C batteries

ITEM 93068-2VGA

$16.99

sells a Telespy Telephone Intrusion Notification System, telephone.

$74.50 The telephone looks like my cheap Slimline corded telephone I bought for about $8.00 at a Wal Mart store a few years ago, but the buttons are on the handset thingy.I don't tote a cell phone though.If I did, I would probally buy one of those Telespy telephones, I think. I had forgotten about

I think I will look at their website. cuhulin

Dunno, that sort of lamp is usually mounted outdoors, in a high and inaccessible position. Stick the ct indoors, at the feed end of the supply cable, save on weatherproofed glands, cable, etc. I do it that way, any old tiny mains transformer with a 1V ish tap on the secondary will do. Or wind a couple of turns over the bobbin and slot between bobbin and core. Feeds a 12V postage stamp sized relay, so two sets of isolation to keep that nasty, spikey 240VAC stuff away from my ttl.

Usual caveat forthe unwary when playing with cts, watch out for high voltage if you open circuit the secondary winding.

Lucky you! Take a look at the modern ones, value engineered until the last penny is shaved off the kit.

Not if the bulb is broken, I've a couple of dozen or so security lights on my warehouses, that log onto an pee-cee alarm system, so get a broken bulb alert.

It does, that's a feature! Light is on for some tens of seconds after power-on, gives confirmation to user, provided he can see the lamp. My lights are powered on when the alarm system is set, so illumination to exit the property, and a log of unlit ones.

Regards

David P.

In message , David Powell writes

True, true. Oh course, if you're using a stand-alone sensor (which is what I was really talking about), this can be mounted relatively low down (where it will be more selective in what triggers it), with the light being mounted higher in order to give a wider coverage of illumination.

There are not many transformers with a 1V tap on the secondary.

Yes, you'll probably need to do this. Of course, you'll probably need to do a bit of experimenting to determine the number of turns required.

Indeed. The current transformer is a good idea, but is much more of a home-construction project than a bit of simple DIY. Of course, if the light bulb blows, you won't get any alarm. However, you would usually notice if the light wasn't working.

My experience with these things is limited, but surely there is always some form of connection block? You can't get much cheaper than a bit of 'chocolate block'.

A blown (and therefore unlit) bulb won't stop the alarm (as I described) from working. The 'alarm' voltage will still be fed to the wall-wart transformer. Of course, except for not lighting up, you won't get any indication that the bulb is not working. For a completely 'comprehensive' system, would need to use a combination of current sensing and voltage sensing.

Thank heavens for that!

--
Ian