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-   -   Letterbox Alert finished! (https://www.diybanter.com/uk-diy/380847-letterbox-alert-finished.html)

MM May 8th 15 06:16 PM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html

MM

Jim GM4DHJ at the Holiday Hacienda ... May 8th 15 06:17 PM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 

"MM" wrote in message
...
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html

MM


does that not scare the **** out of the postman ? ......



Tim Watts[_3_] May 8th 15 06:18 PM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 
On 08/05/15 18:16, MM wrote:
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html

MM


I like that - a very nice idea :)

MM May 8th 15 07:34 PM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 
On Fri, 8 May 2015 18:17:59 +0100, "Jim GM4DHJ at the Holiday Hacienda
...." wrote:


"MM" wrote in message
.. .
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html

MM


does that not scare the **** out of the postman ? ......


He's hardly going to hear it from *out*side the house as he's walking
away! Not the way our posties walk, anyway. Speedy Gonzalez is a snail
by comparison.

MM

MM May 8th 15 07:37 PM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 
On Fri, 8 May 2015 19:14:33 +0100 (GMT+01:00), "Graham."
wrote:

MM Wrote in message:
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html

MM


I only know of one other *family* with a mail-box alarm and their
name is *Adams*.


You could almost imagine Thing reaching through...

MM

MM May 8th 15 07:47 PM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 
On Fri, 08 May 2015 18:18:19 +0100, Tim Watts
wrote:

On 08/05/15 18:16, MM wrote:
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html

MM


I like that - a very nice idea :)


Next up: some kind of sensor to alert me if I leave the kitchen with a
pan on the (hot) hotplate. I've ruined at least three frying pans
since I was started on statins. Haven't needed to call the fire
brigade yet, but on one occasion the kitchen was full of smoke.

Then I installed a smoke alarm IN the kitchen!

House (new in 2004) has three interconnected smoke alarms, none of
them in the kitchen. I really need to hook the one I installed into
the circuit, but the trouble is, the circuit doesn't pass by/through
the kitchen at all. I suppose the builder didn't fit one in the
kitchen because the extra one I did fit goes off all the time while
I'm cooking. But it is equipped with a silencer button that gives me 8
minutes respite. I'm always forgetting to prod it, though, and then
I'm just heaving an omelette out of the pan and off it goes,
frightening the life out of me. It's very loud.

Notwithstanding any of the above, I would dearly like a repeated
spoken alert "You have left a pan on the stove!" whenever I forget and
exit the kitchen. Not using bell wire, though! This one will need a
radio or Bluetooth transmitter thingy. I'm surprised no company has
manufactured something, and I did check pretty exhaustively on the
web.

MM

Jim GM4DHJ at the Holiday Hacienda ... May 8th 15 08:07 PM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 

"MM" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 8 May 2015 18:17:59 +0100, "Jim GM4DHJ at the Holiday Hacienda
..." wrote:


"MM" wrote in message
. ..
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html

MM


does that not scare the **** out of the postman ? ......


He's hardly going to hear it from *out*side the house as he's walking
away! Not the way our posties walk, anyway. Speedy Gonzalez is a snail
by comparison.

MM


did you know all posties have a competition going as to how long in a year
they can wear shorts? ......



Tim Watts[_3_] May 8th 15 08:11 PM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 
On 08/05/15 19:47, MM wrote:
On Fri, 08 May 2015 18:18:19 +0100, Tim Watts
wrote:

On 08/05/15 18:16, MM wrote:
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html

MM


I like that - a very nice idea :)


Next up: some kind of sensor to alert me if I leave the kitchen with a
pan on the (hot) hotplate. I've ruined at least three frying pans
since I was started on statins. Haven't needed to call the fire
brigade yet, but on one occasion the kitchen was full of smoke.


Could you get a current transformer around the cooker feed live in the CU?

From there you could potentially do something useful - eg if cooker
drawing 0.1A for 30 mins, sound alarm. Have a cancel button that
puts the detection off for another 30 mins - it would act a bit like a
train drivers vigilence device.

Or if you don't want to mess with the CU, perhaps an IR detector (like
an IR thermometer) adapted to a wide enough view to see the whole hob
and wired to something similar?

alan_m May 8th 15 10:08 PM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 
On 08/05/2015 18:16, MM wrote:
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html

MM



Just wait you get someone like the a******e that delivers the free
papers around my way and who _never_ pushes them fully through the
letter box.

--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

Bob Eager[_4_] May 8th 15 10:09 PM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 
On Fri, 08 May 2015 22:08:25 +0100, alan_m wrote:

On 08/05/2015 18:16, MM wrote:
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html

MM



Just wait you get someone like the a******e that delivers the free
papers around my way and who _never_ pushes them fully through the
letter box.


An enhancement to lock the garden gate shut until the letterbox is closed?

alan_m May 8th 15 10:15 PM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 
On 08/05/2015 19:47, MM wrote:
On Fri, 08 May 2015 18:18:19 +0100, Tim Watts
wrote:

On 08/05/15 18:16, MM wrote:
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html

MM


I like that - a very nice idea :)


Next up: some kind of sensor to alert me if I leave the kitchen with a
pan on the (hot) hotplate. I've ruined at least three frying pans



A smoke alarm fitted fitted inappropriately outside the kitchen door
(above the door) works fine. I have one that can be disabled for a
couple of minutes by pressing the corner of the casing which activates
an internal switch.

Example:
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/KD9060.html


--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

sam[_17_] May 9th 15 12:54 AM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 


"MM" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 08 May 2015 18:18:19 +0100, Tim Watts
wrote:

On 08/05/15 18:16, MM wrote:
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html

MM


I like that - a very nice idea :)


Next up: some kind of sensor to alert me if I leave the kitchen with a
pan on the (hot) hotplate. I've ruined at least three frying pans
since I was started on statins. Haven't needed to call the fire
brigade yet, but on one occasion the kitchen was full of smoke.

Then I installed a smoke alarm IN the kitchen!

House (new in 2004) has three interconnected smoke alarms, none of
them in the kitchen. I really need to hook the one I installed into
the circuit, but the trouble is, the circuit doesn't pass by/through
the kitchen at all. I suppose the builder didn't fit one in the
kitchen because the extra one I did fit goes off all the time while
I'm cooking. But it is equipped with a silencer button that gives me 8
minutes respite. I'm always forgetting to prod it, though, and then
I'm just heaving an omelette out of the pan and off it goes,
frightening the life out of me. It's very loud.

Notwithstanding any of the above, I would dearly like a repeated
spoken alert "You have left a pan on the stove!" whenever I forget and
exit the kitchen. Not using bell wire, though! This one will need a
radio or Bluetooth transmitter thingy. I'm surprised no company has
manufactured something, and I did check pretty exhaustively on the
web.


I think you would be better off with a fully programmable alarm
system with the stove elements as inputs and a movement sensor
in the kitchen so it can detect if you have left the kitchen with
any stove top element turned on. Gets tricky tho when leaving
the kitchen with something boiling which isn't so important, but
its no big deal if its alarms in that situation.

That way you could alarm differently if you leave the house
with any of the stove elements still on and treat the oven
differently. I do sometime choose to go and get something
with the roast cooking in the oven because that takes hours.

And the letterbox sensor can be just another input to that.


Rod Speed May 9th 15 01:24 AM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 


"alan_m" wrote in message
...
On 08/05/2015 19:47, MM wrote:
On Fri, 08 May 2015 18:18:19 +0100, Tim Watts
wrote:

On 08/05/15 18:16, MM wrote:
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html

MM


I like that - a very nice idea :)


Next up: some kind of sensor to alert me if I leave the kitchen with a
pan on the (hot) hotplate. I've ruined at least three frying pans



A smoke alarm fitted fitted inappropriately outside the kitchen door
(above the door) works fine. I have one that can be disabled for a couple
of minutes by pressing the corner of the casing which activates an
internal switch.

Example:
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/KD9060.html


I think what is needed for kitchens is a more intelligent
smoke alarm that only alarms when there is no one in
the room. Trivially easy to implement.


MM May 9th 15 07:29 AM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 
On Fri, 8 May 2015 20:07:40 +0100, "Jim GM4DHJ at the Holiday Hacienda
...." wrote:


"MM" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 8 May 2015 18:17:59 +0100, "Jim GM4DHJ at the Holiday Hacienda
..." wrote:


"MM" wrote in message
...
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html

MM

does that not scare the **** out of the postman ? ......


He's hardly going to hear it from *out*side the house as he's walking
away! Not the way our posties walk, anyway. Speedy Gonzalez is a snail
by comparison.

MM


did you know all posties have a competition going as to how long in a year
they can wear shorts? ......


Our usual postie is a young, pretty blonde woman, but sadly she
~never~ wears shorts. In the local town the male posties do seem to
wear shorts A LOT, but I have a feeling this has more to do with some
kinky desire to feel the wind blowing around the mouse in the house
than just keeping cool. Next time you see a male postie in shorts,
observe whether he squats down a lot to investigate his bike. Any
excuse to free the mouse!

MM

MM May 9th 15 07:36 AM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 
On Fri, 08 May 2015 20:11:30 +0100, Tim Watts
wrote:

On 08/05/15 19:47, MM wrote:
On Fri, 08 May 2015 18:18:19 +0100, Tim Watts
wrote:

On 08/05/15 18:16, MM wrote:
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html

MM


I like that - a very nice idea :)


Next up: some kind of sensor to alert me if I leave the kitchen with a
pan on the (hot) hotplate. I've ruined at least three frying pans
since I was started on statins. Haven't needed to call the fire
brigade yet, but on one occasion the kitchen was full of smoke.


Could you get a current transformer around the cooker feed live in the CU?

From there you could potentially do something useful - eg if cooker
drawing 0.1A for 30 mins, sound alarm. Have a cancel button that
puts the detection off for another 30 mins - it would act a bit like a
train drivers vigilence device.

Or if you don't want to mess with the CU, perhaps an IR detector (like
an IR thermometer) adapted to a wide enough view to see the whole hob
and wired to something similar?


I don't feel confident messing with the CU. It needs a solution that
detects, say, the red warning light that comes on (on the cooker hob)
a few seconds after I've switched on one of the heating rings (each of
the four rings has its own warning light). Although this would mean
that the sensor would alert even if the stove was barely warm, that
would suffice as an initial project.

I'm pretty sure Velleman do a temperature sensor kit. I have good
access to the underside of the cooker hob, which is set into the work
surface (the oven is a separate unit elsewhere in the kitchen).

I already have a Basic Stamp and a Raspberry PI.

MM

MM May 9th 15 07:37 AM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 
On Sat, 9 May 2015 10:24:20 +1000, "Rod Speed"
wrote:



"alan_m" wrote in message
...
On 08/05/2015 19:47, MM wrote:
On Fri, 08 May 2015 18:18:19 +0100, Tim Watts
wrote:

On 08/05/15 18:16, MM wrote:
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html

MM


I like that - a very nice idea :)

Next up: some kind of sensor to alert me if I leave the kitchen with a
pan on the (hot) hotplate. I've ruined at least three frying pans



A smoke alarm fitted fitted inappropriately outside the kitchen door
(above the door) works fine. I have one that can be disabled for a couple
of minutes by pressing the corner of the casing which activates an
internal switch.

Example:
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/KD9060.html


I think what is needed for kitchens is a more intelligent
smoke alarm that only alarms when there is no one in
the room. Trivially easy to implement.


Tell us how!

Sounds very interesting.

MM

MM May 9th 15 07:43 AM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 
On Fri, 08 May 2015 22:08:25 +0100, alan_m
wrote:

On 08/05/2015 18:16, MM wrote:
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html

MM



Just wait you get someone like the a******e that delivers the free
papers around my way and who _never_ pushes them fully through the
letter box.


Well, the Polycell doesn't stop sounding once the flap closes. Just
like closing the door wouldn't switch it off if it were being used for
its original purpose as a door alarm.

MM

Jim GM4DHJ at the Holiday Hacienda ... May 9th 15 07:43 AM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 

did you know all posties have a competition going as to how long in a year
they can wear shorts? ......


Our usual postie is a young, pretty blonde woman, but sadly she


ours is an old ugly blonde wummin'....but she is nice

~never~ wears shorts. In the local town the male posties do seem to
wear shorts A LOT, but I have a feeling this has more to do with some
kinky desire to feel the wind blowing around the mouse in the house
than just keeping cool. Next time you see a male postie in shorts,
observe whether he squats down a lot to investigate his bike. Any
excuse to free the mouse!

well the guy in the next caravan to me here is a postie and he told me all
about it.....not the mouse bit......tee hee




MM May 9th 15 07:46 AM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 
On 8 May 2015 21:09:58 GMT, Bob Eager wrote:

On Fri, 08 May 2015 22:08:25 +0100, alan_m wrote:

On 08/05/2015 18:16, MM wrote:
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html

MM



Just wait you get someone like the a******e that delivers the free
papers around my way and who _never_ pushes them fully through the
letter box.


An enhancement to lock the garden gate shut until the letterbox is closed?


You could take that idea to the nth degree. For instance, letterbox
open + postie more than 1 foot away from door = release hungry*
Doberman.

*The East German border guards deliberately kept the hounds hungry so
that they would attack first and listen to commands second.

MM

Rod Speed May 9th 15 08:35 AM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 


"MM" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 9 May 2015 10:24:20 +1000, "Rod Speed"
wrote:



"alan_m" wrote in message
...
On 08/05/2015 19:47, MM wrote:
On Fri, 08 May 2015 18:18:19 +0100, Tim Watts
wrote:

On 08/05/15 18:16, MM wrote:
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html

MM


I like that - a very nice idea :)

Next up: some kind of sensor to alert me if I leave the kitchen with a
pan on the (hot) hotplate. I've ruined at least three frying pans


A smoke alarm fitted fitted inappropriately outside the kitchen door
(above the door) works fine. I have one that can be disabled for a
couple
of minutes by pressing the corner of the casing which activates an
internal switch.

Example:
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/KD9060.html


I think what is needed for kitchens is a more intelligent
smoke alarm that only alarms when there is no one in
the room. Trivially easy to implement.


Tell us how!


Just combine the movement sensor
seen with PIRs with the smoke alarm.

Sounds very interesting.


Thinking about it a bit more later tho, I'm not so sure
it would be all that useful. I normally cook the evening
meal for something like 40 mins in a convection oven
with me not in the kitchen proper while its cooking.
I just go in there to turn it half way thru and to get it
out to eat it at the end. In a very big open plan room
which has the kitchen along one wall of the L shaped
room. Wouldn't work that well for me.


John Rumm May 9th 15 01:19 PM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 
On 08/05/2015 18:16, MM wrote:
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html


Next, the "internet of things" connection, and a smartphone app to popup
with a "you've got mail" announcement in true Joanna Lumley voice ;-)


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Bob Eager[_4_] May 9th 15 02:11 PM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 
On Sat, 09 May 2015 13:19:59 +0100, John Rumm wrote:

On 08/05/2015 18:16, MM wrote:
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html


Next, the "internet of things" connection, and a smartphone app to popup
with a "you've got mail" announcement in true Joanna Lumley voice ;-)


Start off with an ESP8266 and an Arduino...

MM May 9th 15 05:45 PM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 
On Sat, 09 May 2015 13:19:59 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

On 08/05/2015 18:16, MM wrote:
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html


Next, the "internet of things" connection, and a smartphone app to popup
with a "you've got mail" announcement in true Joanna Lumley voice ;-)


No, no, no! Not Tombstone Teeth! Puhleeze!

MM

MM May 9th 15 05:47 PM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 
On 9 May 2015 13:11:39 GMT, Bob Eager wrote:

On Sat, 09 May 2015 13:19:59 +0100, John Rumm wrote:

On 08/05/2015 18:16, MM wrote:
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html


Next, the "internet of things" connection, and a smartphone app to popup
with a "you've got mail" announcement in true Joanna Lumley voice ;-)


Start off with an ESP8266 and an Arduino...


I can't get my 'ead around all these new, small computers. There's the
Basic Stamp (hardly new any more), the BeagleBone, the Raspberry Pi,
the Arduino, and there are probably several others as well. I got
given a Raspberry Pi Model B for Christmas 2013 and it's obsolete
already.

MM

Chris French May 9th 15 07:20 PM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 
In message , MM
writes
I got
given a Raspberry Pi Model B for Christmas 2013 and it's obsolete
already.


Older version does not mean obsolete
--
Chris French


Graham.[_2_] August 26th 15 10:30 PM

Letterbox Alert finished!
 
MM Wrote in message:
Here is the finished project:
http://www.littletyke.myzen.co.uk/lt...box_alert.html

MM


I only know of one other *family* with a mail-box alarm and their
name is *Adams*.

--

Graham.
%Profound_observation%


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/


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