Electronic monitoring, home confinement!

Looks like the range is specifiable...

Try this...

Yes, I've been to their site. Thanks for looking it up. But I wonder, "specified" by whom? If It can be specified by the "administrator" or is it something done at the factory? It would matter in asking the court, r/e the convenience, to them, of re-configuring the unit... These people are less likely to address my request if it involved sending the unit back to the factory, more likely to allow me more range if it is something that can be done easily! Keep in mind that the officials I'm dealing with answer most inquirys with a "Yep!", "Nope!", "Mite!", "Huh?" or "Duh!"

Thanks for your reply. LJ

Yep! Been there too! Thanks! LJ

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Having read the rest of the thread, so far, I think what I'd do if I
were in your shoes (easy for me to say, since I'm not) is to call
whoever's on your case and let them know that since they can't supply
you with range data what you're planning on doing is walking  away
from your confinement area until the telephone light goes on or the
range light changes color, (I'll bet that's what happens when you
leave your confinement area; the thing calls the cops and sends its ID
so they'll know who it was) and then go back in.

If they think that's a bad idea, then ask them to send a cop over so
that he/she can take the walk with you just to make sure you're not
trying to do something funny.

Understood. But I think we may be barking up the wrong tree, seeking a technological solution to a policy problem.

Sounds like your mailbox is in bounds, according to the terms of your confinement* so just go ahead and fetch your mail; you'll learn soon enough whether an alarm gets sent. In any case, you'll be in your house when the police arrive, right?

*If the mailbox is out of bounds, then you would be looking for a way to beat the machine, so based on what you said, it must be in bounds.

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St. John Smythe

Thank you John. But if I were to present that sort of ultimatum to them they would simply get their "doe-in-the-headlight" look and pack me off to the CJ... Which if I were younger and had someone to look after my place I'd have gone to in the first place. But again thanks! If the "good-ol'-boy" that looks after this comes this way I'll DO that! But it's way too much to have him come out at my request... Thanks! LJ

Point is I don't know if my mailbox is out of bounds or not. It IS out on the paved road, probably all of at least 100 yards from my front porch! As far as "terms of your confinement" as you put it, read back and you will see that it is my contention that I have not been sufficiently informed of them. I want only to go back to Court where there is someone that can READ to ask for clarification and an extended limit, if that is indeed possible.

LJ

Yes, that's an untenable situation. I should think that "may I go to the mailbox" should be within the grasp of your local authorities.

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St. John Smythe

Let me rephrase my last post for you St. John. 'ONE' of my points is that I've not been sufficiently informed of the terms of my program, particular to the range limitation. The other issue is as to whether or not the range can be increased. I can only believe that if the range CAN be increased, then the unique circumstances pertaining to my rural environs would justify it. I want to know something of what I speak when addressing the Court. On another note, you can dispense with your comments as you seem to be of the same mindset/intellect as the "Bubbas" that run the operation here. You sound like a LEO and I would not expect a non-partisan, objective view from you.

That sounds very unfair to me.

Agreed.

The problem is that in pracice all sorts of things effect the range of radio communications. It's a problem for the makers because in order to guarantee say 300ft in all conditions some people will find it works over a much longer range. Take CB radio... With the right conditions you can either get

10 mile range or half way round the planet. Those conditions are out of the control of the manufacturer. Things like the height of the base station above ground will effect the range as might simply watering the lawn or atmospheric conditions at different times of the day.

Best ask the court to specify a distance in feet. Tell them how far it is to the post box or better still give them a site plan and ask them to mark the boundary. Then you might have grounds to complain if it doesn't allow you that range.

Thanks! LJ

Just one bit of parting advice: have a lawyer represent you in dealings with the court/authorities. What you're about to get stuck to like Tar Baby is a policy problem, not an electronics puzzle. Resolve the policy issue, and the technology will follow. The expression, "wag the dog" comes to mind.

--
St. John Smythe
EE, never a LEO, never a bubba

Point taken. LJ

OK! So I see now that the "75-300" foot range is the "range of the range" if I understand correctly? I was thinking that the unit could be set for a specific distance 'within' THAT range... DUH! Am I on the right track here?

LJ

"LJ" wrote in news:1118493809.274258.28090 @o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com:

You certainly should consult an attorney before you go get he mail. Maybe call the post office and have them eiother hold the mail until your time is serverd, or bring it to your house (yeah, right).

Sell the dog.

What were drinking when you got into the fight?

Joe

--
Mini ITX and other computer goodies:
www.brokenacres.rite2u.com

I was eating homemade roast beef & mashed spuds & drinkin' a Beer. I went there often, being single and the bartender being a great cook! Until some "Bubba" decided to f*ck with the "Hippie dude!" That'll teach him to bring a bat to a gunfight! I got off real EZ, but all agreed that it was self defence... I bought a George Foreman Grill and keep my brew in the fridge!

LJ

Yes. Whoever sets up the equipment can adjust the range so that it restricts you to as little as 75 foot or as much as 300ft. However as I said before its not like setting up an invisible curtain - it's not precise. Ever listened to a radio station in your car and driven out of town - it fades in and out for many miles. It's hard to define a point at which you are "out of range".

--- Yes. Unfortunately, since the thing isn't a transponder and is merely an RF transmitter sending an RF carrier (perhaps modulated) to the receiver, what's happening is that the receiver is responding to the _amplitude_ of that carrier to determine whether or not you've overstepped your bounds. Unfortunate in the sense that just about everything will affect the amplitude of the received signal and the range setting will, at best, be a crude approximation.

I think that these things are designed to detect when someone is gone _permanently_ and to give the cops a heads-up fairly quickly when that happens. I read on the web somewhere that there's also a delay setting, ostensibly for momentary signal fluctuations below the range set threshold which keeps the thing from sending false alarms.

Or blowing your leg off if it's one of the ones with an explosive charge in the "bracelet" ;)

-- John Fields Professional Circuit Designer