I purchased a radio transmitter controlled dog door not long ago.
formatting link
Problem is, I occasionally forget to take the collar off when I take the dog to a park where he goes in the water. I've now gone through three of these $40 items. Naturally I'd like to be able build the transmitter myself. First, it stands to reason I'd need to know the frequency it receives on. I have no e.e. background but have repaired electrical devices. Is this a possible and/or practical endeavor?
Assuming you mean collar, they do make water proof ones. But beware, this can seriously burn the dogs neck if it accidentally starts shocking continuously. There was a report about a sad case where someone hadn't turned it off and the dog was in electrocution until battery depletion, it almost died.
Ours works at 27MHz. But please make it a habit to turn it off and take it off.
From his original post, it doesn't sound like a shock collar he's talking about. It sounded more like some sort of electronic "key collar" (I'm imagining something a bit like a garage door control transmitter that constantly transmits a very low strength signal that only a really close receiver can pick up) that trips the latch on the doggie-door so the dog can come and go freely, but the next door neighbor's cat, the squirrel, the skinny burglar, and so on are kept out. (Why am I getting a cartoon image of the dog, sans collar, spotting neighbor cat through the living room window, taking off for the doggie door at a dead run, and doing a classic cartoon against the unmoving doggie-door? That would be one reason to not get in the habit of taking that key-collar off! :) ) I'm thinking that if this thing is an RF unit (Haven't heard whether it is or not), the quickest fix would be to just pot the whole circuit board, leaving the battery connection exposed. Simplest/cheapest way I can think of to do that would be to melt some (relatively high-temperature, so that it doesn't start dribbling out if there's a heatwave) wax and pour it into the casing until it's full, leaving only the battery compartment/connectors to be able to get wet. Hot-melt glue would likely work just as well.
Of course, if it isn't an RF transmitter, that idea is probably garbage.
--
Don Bruder - dakidd@sonic.net - New Email policy in effect as of Feb. 21, 2004.
I respond to Email as quick as humanly possible. If you Email me and get no
response, see Short
form: I'm trashing EVERYTHING that doesn't contain a password in the subject.
Actually I can often tell with both of our dogs why they are barking. They have many "modes", including fire engine mode if one comes along. Aaaroooooooieee.... the Rottie Mix can hold the tune for more than five seconds. Even the wild foxes around us are amazed.
You should replace the whole system with something that uses a passive RFID-type tag on the collar, like the things at stores. No batteries or electronics, so you can leave it on all the time.
ElectronDepot website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.