On Thu, 02 Feb 2006 09:55:58 -0600, HerHusband
wrote:

Does anyone make a "wired" motion sensor that can be mounted remotely
via a low voltage cable?

Everyone does.

Hmm... Any web links?

I don't hunt for weblinks when others can hunt for them themselves.
(I'm amazed at how many do this for others, and I think it is nice of
them.)

I haven't been able to track these down. All of the

Any burglar alarm distributor sells motion detectors. The names of
alarm *makers* used to be Moose, Ademco and some others. Most are
still in business. Also many detectors are made by separate
companies.

Dual-tec was the first one with dual motion detectors, but I suspect
everyone makes them by now. It uses both PIR and iirc ultra-sonic
and requires signals from both to set off the alarm. But such
caustion wouldn't be necessary if all that will happen is that the
porch light will go on. My PIR lights go on with the wind sometimes,
and that's ok.

"wired" motion sensors I have seen are either built-in to a floodlight
assembly, or are designed to wire directly into a 120V line.

Those are finished products.

I finally realized that your question above is incomplete.

OK, I'll clarify.

I have a pair of outdoor porch lights that I want to control via a motion
sensor. Because of their appearance, I do not want to use the screw-in type
of motion detector.

I want to be able to manually turn the lights on from inside using the
standard toggle wall switch. This should override the motion sensor in case
I want to sit out at night and read a book or something.

When the toggle switch is off, I want the lights to respond to the motion
sensor.

They sell porch lights like you want. I have one. They have a built
in motion sensor, which only works when the toggle switch is On. One
changes from manual to auto mode by flicking the switch in the proper
way. (on then off then on, quickly.). It's easier to set to automatic
during the darkness or during the light, I forget which. Mine has a
brass finish which iirc, I thought was deteriorating after about 8 or
10 years. That is too short, but after a bit of degrading, it didn't
get any worse in the next 5 or 10 years. I think. I'll go look at it
if you want me to, bu it is almost dark out, so it will have to wait
until tomorrow.

With a standard sensor, this would be easy to implement by wiring the
switch and motion sensor in parallel.

You'd need for the sensor to contol a relay that could handle 110v.
Those are easy enough to find. You could power the coil in the relay
with the same low-voltage power supply, a little black box, that
powers the sensor.

All of this is probably less than 50 dollars, although shipping might
put it over, especially if you have to buy from two mail order places.
(one for the sensor and one for the relay and power supply.) Try
mouser.com Maybe they have sensors. There's one other whose name
escapes me. Even Radio Shack should have an acceptable relay,
although mail order will have greater variety. RS has transformers
to, but they seem over priced.

Without extrra fiddling and another relay, this won't have the "power
failure means On" feature that some timers and some sensors have, but
sometimes that's a good thing.

A few months ago I picked up a "wireless" motion sensor at Lowes. It
consists of a wall switch receiver that wires in, and a remote wireless
sensor that runs off batteries. It is made by Carlon, and is NOT X-10
compatible.
After trying several locations for the sensor, the location that works best
is above a bank of windows, just under the porch roof, on the corner of the
building. This detects movement in the driveway, as well as along our front
walk. I know the sensor is detecting our movement, because it glows briefly
each time we move around in the driveway.

You'll definitely want to turn off the "glow", which is there for
testing. Otherwise, it will be a warning for burglars too, and a
target for shotguns.

Unfortunately, the receiver wall switch is not responding to the motion
sensor signals. I tried moving the sensor closer, but anything more than a
few feet from the switch and it quits working. And, of course, the closer
location doesn't detect movement where we need it.

I don't have a problem fishing a cable in for a wired motion detector, but
because of the location over the bank of windows, it would be very
difficult to get a cable to the sensor. And, because of the window headers,
I would have to use a surface mount electrical box.

I could run a length of conduit down the outside corner of the building,
but this wouldn't be very attractive, especially since it's the first thing
you see when you approach the house.

I looked into the wireless X-10 motion sensors like the Eagle Eye. But, I
would need to buy the sensor ($27), an X10 RF receiver ($29), and an X-10
Wall switch ($54). With the results I experienced with my current wireless
motion detector, I'm a little hesitant to spend over $100 on a similar
system, and not have it work either.

So, I was trying to find a motion sensor that didn't rely on RF or
powerline signals, and didn't require a 120V power line run to the sensor.

What I had pictured was a sensor that could mount above the windows, with a
small low voltage cable that runs back to the switch, and/or a
transformer/relay that I could mount in the crawlspace or something.

Of course, the whole package should cost less than $100, or I might as well
save myself the hassle of fishing wires and go with X-10.

Anthony


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