First tests with the Microwave Radar Movement Sensor RCWL-0516

that is really cheap (as in inexpensive)! :O

FWIW, this guy's a combo PIR+Microwave Detector:

Danke,

On a sunny day (Sat, 12 Feb 2022 18:08:09 -0000 (UTC)) it happened "Don" snipped-for-privacy@crcomp.net wrote in snipped-for-privacy@crcomp.net:

Good point, I do not have a cat, but he one from the neighbors often sleeps in front of the door and sometimes watches me with big eyes through the glass...

I tried to make this Doppler sensor directional by wrapping the glass jar in alu-foil (as in alu-foil hat) but it is still omni-directional and extremely sensitive:

For a PIR I need to drill a hole, the idea was just to avoid that with this thing. I have a big PIR sensor from the old house.

I remember reading a story somewhere about how a cat-door was made virtually cat-proof to interloper cats just by adding a time delay to the detector.

The cats who lived there would simply jump thru the door, since they lived there. Other neighborhood cats would hesitate at the the threshold to inspect, setting off the alarm

Hah, I wish that would work for me, but I doubt it. There is one neighbor cat in particular,a young male, solid black color, that has earned the moniker "Lucas" as in "Prince of Darkness" :-) This critter is so ballsy that he will walk right into my house in search of my cat's food...

Invest in a Super Soaker. ;)

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Well he already knows how to get away with the crime!

But I think an unfamiliar cat just jumping through a door into an unfamiliar place violates a deep instinct in a cat, though I'm sure many are smart enough to figure out the trick and override that instinct if the cat worked at it.

Randomize the time delay and it might take one a while, though.

Well, sure, except he doesn't come in if I'm there...he knows better, he will get chased. My old cat gets really brave too if I'm there for backup! Cat door with an rfid chip reader? If it didn't cost a fortune, I might do that :-)

hmm, ideas, ideas & more ideas! :-) All of this is great, but I need selective terror tactics, not universal...