Motion Sensor Possibility

[GlowingHair]

First, thanks to everyone on the forum for taking me from an intimidating blank screen to what I consider a robust system.

 

Since I have nearly achieved what I set out to do, I am thinking of other HA possibilities, and it occurred to me that I do not have a great way to know when my trash has been picked up to I can retrieve my bins. Not a big deal, except in winter when I don't want to trek down the slippery hill of my driveway to find the bin still full, assuming I make it down upright to begin with. Can anyone think of a reason that a motion sensor attached to the bin wouldn't work? I know they are designed to sense something moving past them, rather than them actually moving, but maybe if is installed on the back of the bin, it will see movement when the truck lifts it for emptying. There isn't much sidewalk activity during the day, and where the bin is stored, the back is next to a fence, so not much movement there. Or is there something else that might work better?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Also, and this is just idle curiosity: am I the only woman into home automation, or have I not run across any posts from others? It seems most of you are concerned with WAF, while I have zero HAF (good thing he lives in a separate house!).

[larryllix]

First, thanks to everyone on the forum for taking me from an intimidating blank screen to what I consider a robust system.

 

Since I have nearly achieved what I set out to do, I am thinking of other HA possibilities, and it occurred to me that I do not have a great way to know when my trash has been picked up to I can retrieve my bins. Not a big deal, except in winter when I don't want to trek down the slippery hill of my driveway to find the bin still full, assuming I make it down upright to begin with. Can anyone think of a reason that a motion sensor attached to the bin wouldn't work? I know they are designed to sense something moving past them, rather than them actually moving, but maybe if is installed on the back of the bin, it will see movement when the truck lifts it for emptying. There isn't much sidewalk activity during the day, and where the bin is stored, the back is next to a fence, so not much movement there. Or is there something else that might work better?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Also, and this is just idle curiosity: am I the only woman into home automation, or have I not run across any posts from others? It seems most of you are concerned with WAF, while I have zero HAF (good thing he lives in a separate house!).

Welcome to the forum!!

 

Not that many women are OCD enough to get involved with HA, or not lazy enough?

 

If you have some distance my best guess would be the RF signal is just too far away from the nearest dual-band device that is capable of converting the RF signal to the powerline signal.

 

Another thought is that the MS is behind metal, sheilding it from that device mentioned above when it sends it's detection signal.

 

Another thought to prove this would be to plug in a dual-band device (OnOffLinc or LampLinc) into an extension cord with a rainproof bucket over it, close to the bin pickup location, for trial.

 

 

Ohh. another thought. CAO Tags are small, send motion, temp, humidity etc.. and aare about 1.25' square by 1/4" thick.

 

I have one that reports in when my wife is within about 1.5 miles away, from the glove compartment. They run 25-40 each and the manager about $60 to handle all units. I have four and everybody here, usuing them is really impressed.

[stusviews]

A motion sensor doesn't really detect motion, it actually detects slight changes in heat such as exhibited by a moving human or other animal. that's why they're called passive infrared (PIR) sensors. So, moving the bin is unlikely to cause a signal to be sent.

 

Yes, there are women on the forum, but it's male dominated, probably because males are more likely to be tinkerers. Maybe that will change

[jasont]

Ohh. another thought. CAO Tags are small, send motion, temp, humidity etc.. and aare about 1.25' square by 1/4" thick.

 

I have one that reports in when my wife is within about 1.5 miles away, from the glove compartment. They run 25-40 each and the manager about $60 to handle all units. I have four and everybody here, usuing them is really impressed.

 

 

So if you could adhere one of those to the inside of the trash can lid, I'm assuming it'd "report" when the lid gets opened.  Do you know how quickly they report movement?  I'd love to use one on the inside of my mailbox door, but it's an all metal mailbox.  If they take a second or two before they transmit movement, the mailbox door would hopefully be open.  Hoping if you can sense one 1.5 miles away within a car, maybe I could sense one 50 feet away in a metal mailbox?  

[larryllix]

So if you could adhere one of those to the inside of the trash can lid, I'm assuming it'd "report" when the lid gets opened. Do you know how quickly they report movement? I'd love to use one on the inside of my mailbox door, but it's an all metal mailbox. If they take a second or two before they transmit movement, the mailbox door would hopefully be open. Hoping if you can sense one 1.5 miles away within a car, maybe I could sense one 50 feet away in a metal mailbox?

 

To be truthfull, I have never used one for motion yet. My long distance report is OutOfRange signal from the manager.

I have the X, Y , and Z axis positions reporting to my ISY but have never done anything with them. They change when you move them but haven't spent time with them yet, only temps and humidity, so far.

 

You can stick on inside your solid metal refrigerator or freezer and the signal is still strong from the other end of the house. When I first got them, I tried to walk to each end of my street, about 1000' each way and I could not lose signal inside an all brick house. I tried double metal cookie tins but I couldn't shield them enough to test the OutOfRange signal.

[stusviews]

I have one that reports in when my wife is within about 1.5 miles away from the glove compartment.

 

It's really difficult to find things in the glove compartment from 1.5 miles away.

[larryllix]

It's really difficult to find things in the glove compartment from 1.5 miles away.

Sure enough but it gave me time to hide the girly magazines and replace her HeMan magazines, before she got home.

[KeviNH]

Why not use an Open/Close sensor (2843-222)? 

 

Use it with the magnet to detect when the lid is opened, or better yet hardwire it to a tilt sensor to send a signal when they dump the can into the truck.    With the latter option, could even seal it up completely against the elements and it'll still detect being tilted.

[Ajax]

Just bought these for work but they have a output and relays i am sure you can tie to an iolinc i think and the range is about 1/2 mile and you can use the magnetic switch...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00OMOKADW/ref=sxts2?ie=UTF8&qid=1476926179&sr=2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65

[GlowingHair]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think may give the CAO tags a try. It will be a new challenge, which will be appreciated. It will be a couple of weeks before I get to it, though.

 

I did somehow manage to build a pretty strong network, so distance doesn't seem to be much of a problem here. My tiny z-wave network (compared to Insteon) works fine with just a single device on each of the three floors, and the Insteon signals travel over 100' outside beyond the location of the ISY and PLM, which is about all I need. So far, anyway.

 

I DO have OCD tendencies. I also like to know how things work, and I've taken things apart and reassembled them since before I started grade school. I think what it really comes down to is that I love gadgets, all kinds of gadgets. Even when they frustrate me enough to want to scream. At least HA is practical. And, money well-spent, I think.

[larryllix]

Look for the CAO weatherproof Tag also. As a sideline you will get temperature and humidity very accurately.

 

Is the ZWave network your husband's that you allowed him to have so he doesn't feel left out?

[GlowingHair]

Z-wave is all mine - all of it is all mine. The only thing I have done that he appreciates is this: I have a Lutron dimmer/timer in the ground floor bathroom, that is not part of my HA solution (yet, anyway - I'll see if I can put a micro module, if I have a neutral - that's a whole other topic) and since it works differently than any other switch in the house, I have "operating instructions" framed outside the bathroom door with a motion-sensing LED light (also not part of HA) to highlight them, and a color-changing LED light in the toilet He likes the fact that between the motion-sensing light and the toilet bowl light, he doesn't have to turn on the bathroom light at all. Since he hasn't missed the bowl yet, that's an OK attitude. I cherish these small victories. A big victory is my housekeeper's acceptance. She particularly likes the Echo integration.

 

I did get him a decorator outlet and a SnapPower cover for the hallway in his house so he would quit complaining about how dark his hallway is aqt night but he hasn't installed it yet. Do you know about SnapPower? I really like them, but I wish they could be used with GFCI outlets since I think they would be most beneficial in the bathrooms. I have two SnapPower covers in the hallway in my master suite and I love 'em. Haven't tripped over anything in the dark since.

[brjohnso]

So if you could adhere one of those to the inside of the trash can lid, I'm assuming it'd "report" when the lid gets opened.  Do you know how quickly they report movement?  I'd love to use one on the inside of my mailbox door, but it's an all metal mailbox.  If they take a second or two before they transmit movement, the mailbox door would hopefully be open.  Hoping if you can sense one 1.5 miles away within a car, maybe I could sense one 50 feet away in a metal mailbox?  

 

 

The new "Pro" sensor tags have an incredible radio. I have one inside my all metal mailbox, and I can talk to it from the basestation in the house. There are a number of 1/2" holes in the bottom of the mailbox, so perhaps the signal is escaping from there?

[larryllix]

The new "Pro" sensor tags have an incredible radio. I have one inside my all metal mailbox, and I can talk to it from the basestation in the house. There are a number of 1/2" holes in the bottom of the mailbox, so perhaps the signal is escaping from there?

Wow! The CAO Tags are like that too. I can't make them drop signal at either end of my street about 1000' each way. One in the glove compartment triggers about 2km away from home. Scary!

 

The higher frequencies are usually line of site as they don't bend or reflect off things well.

 

What is the ZWave frequency?

[stusviews]

What is the ZWave frequency?

 

908.4 - 916.0MHz in North America