wireless doorbells

On Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:14:58 +0100, Ian Jackson
<ianREMOVETHISjackson@g3ohx.demon.co.uk> wrote:

In message <FdGdnWfYN4PD20jXnZ2dnUVZ_hGdnZ2d@bresnan.com>, Bob M.
no@nospam.com> writes
"Jeff Liebermann" <jeffl@cruzio.com> wrote in message
news:m9bad5l68mh8jh9jbe1cdlufqem3fs6f9c@4ax.com...


It's not just weather stations. It's any kind or thermometer that
uses wireless for communications. Most of them are on 433.925Mhz.
Also remotes for air conditioners, room lighting, door locks, vehicle
alarms, vehicle keys, SCADA systems, and mess of other gadgets that
involve key fobs and very low speed/thruput wireless data. Just enter
"433.925" into a Google search for some hints.

Also add "ham radio" to that list. 420-450 mHz is a popular ham radio band.

The same 420-450 mHz band is where the US Air Force's "Pave PAWS"
radars operate; they have a range of over 3,000 miles. Located at Otis
AFB, MA, Beale AFB, CA and Clear AFS, AK, these radar beams extend out
over the ocean, primarily.

And, does the OP's house have metal siding? Metal siding greatly
reduces the penetration of the transmitter signal to the inside the
house. I had steel siding at the old place & this one; the old place
had wireless doorbells that didn't always work, even with new
batteries. This place has wired doorbells that always work.

The OP's remedy is to install wired doorbells.

Don't forget that these wireless devices are "made to a price". They
usually employ the minimum amount of circuitry which enables them to
function. They may respond to an RF signal on almost ANY frequency,
provided it is strong enough. It doesn't have to have the correct coding
etc.

Of course, 'electronic' wired devices (even those where no 'frequency'
is involved) also can also suffer from RF interference. But a purely
'electrical' device - like a doorbell - should be OK.

Years back a cop cruiser keying his mic out front could make many
garage door openers operate.

 

[propman]

clare@snyder.on.ca wrote:

Years back a cop cruiser keying his mic out front could make many
garage door openers operate.

.....real bummer if using said garage for growing a little personal
stash. ;-)

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:22:09 -0500, dennism3@dennism3.invalid (Dennis
M) wrote:
(...)

"Turning a Heath / Zenith Wireless Doorbell into a Remote Control
Relay"
<http://www.hackersbench.com/Projects/ding-dong/main.html>

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[Dennis M]

In article <21e9f$4ad61631$d8baf3ed$16203@KNOLOGY.NET>, "amdx"
<amdx@knology.net> wrote:

"Dennis M" <dennism3@dennism3.invalid> wrote in message
news:dennism3-ya02408000R1310091822090001@news.datemas.de...
I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with wireless doorbells. The
last couple of days mine has been ringing a couple of times on its own
(no,
it isn't a pre-Halloween prank). I have some neighbors about 80 feet away
who have an electronic garage door opener, but there's a wooded area
between us and I don't think this could be causing it because it hasn't
happened until now. The main unit inside uses 4 "C" batteries, then the
actual doorbells (one on the front that has a two-tone ring; one on the
back that has a single ring) use some kind of weird tiny batteries. It's
the single ring doorbell that's been acting up, so maybe that's where the
actual problem is.

First, does anybody else hear the ringing?
Mike

Good question, I may need to crosspost to alt.psychology.psychoanalysis.

 

[JIMMIE]

On Oct 13, 7:22 pm, denni...@dennism3.invalid (Dennis M) wrote:

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with wireless doorbells. The
last couple of days mine has been ringing a couple of times on its own (no,
it isn't a pre-Halloween prank). I have some neighbors about 80 feet away
who have an electronic garage door opener, but there's a wooded area
between us and I don't think this could be causing it because it hasn't
happened until now. The main unit inside uses 4 "C" batteries, then the
actual doorbells (one on the front that has a two-tone ring; one on the
back that has a single ring) use some kind of weird tiny batteries. It's
the single ring doorbell that's been acting up, so maybe that's where the
actual problem is.

I'm wondering if wireless doorbells are like smoke detectors, in that
they'll start ringing out of the blue when their batteries start to go low.
The batteries have been in the main unit for about two years now, also
about the same for the actual doorbells.

No but you can get crud in the cheap switches. The way mine worked was
that the battery was in series with the switch so until you press the
button its just off. Battery should last similar to shelf life. The
only way it could have sent a false signal is if the switch was
shorted.

Disclaimer: There is more than one way to skin a cat.


Jimmie

 

[amdx]

"Dennis M" <dennism3@dennism3.invalid> wrote in message
news:dennism3-ya02408000R1510091442350001@news.datemas.de...

In article <21e9f$4ad61631$d8baf3ed$16203@KNOLOGY.NET>, "amdx"
amdx@knology.net> wrote:

"Dennis M" <dennism3@dennism3.invalid> wrote in message
news:dennism3-ya02408000R1310091822090001@news.datemas.de...
I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with wireless doorbells. The
last couple of days mine has been ringing a couple of times on its own
(no,
it isn't a pre-Halloween prank). I have some neighbors about 80 feet
away
who have an electronic garage door opener, but there's a wooded area
between us and I don't think this could be causing it because it hasn't
happened until now. The main unit inside uses 4 "C" batteries, then the
actual doorbells (one on the front that has a two-tone ring; one on the
back that has a single ring) use some kind of weird tiny batteries. It's
the single ring doorbell that's been acting up, so maybe that's where
the
actual problem is.

First, does anybody else hear the ringing?
Mike

Good question, I may need to crosspost to alt.psychology.psychoanalysis.

I had to see if alt.psychology.psychoanalysis was real. It could be a lot
fun, to bad it's
not a busier newsgroup. Light on spam though!

 

[mm]

On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:22:09 -0500, dennism3@dennism3.invalid (Dennis
M) wrote:

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with wireless doorbells. The
last couple of days mine has been ringing a couple of times on its own (no,
it isn't a pre-Halloween prank). I have some neighbors about 80 feet away
who have an electronic garage door opener, but there's a wooded area
between us and I don't think this could be causing it because it hasn't
happened until now. The main unit inside uses 4 "C" batteries, then the
actual doorbells (one on the front that has a two-tone ring; one on the
back that has a single ring) use some kind of weird tiny batteries. It's
the single ring doorbell that's been acting up, so maybe that's where the
actual problem is.

I'm wondering if wireless doorbells are like smoke detectors, in that
they'll start ringing out of the blue when their batteries start to go low.

No. Smoke detectors have to have a special circuit to keep track of
when the battery voltage goes down, because it's a matter of life and
death.

OTOH if the doorbell doesn't work, people can knock. They can bang on
the window, they can telephone, they can send a letter.

The batteries have been in the main unit for about two years now, also
about the same for the actual doorbells.

Carbon zinc, alkaline, nickel-cadmium, lithium ion, NiMH3?????


But I didn't post just to be sarcastic. As it happens, my wireless
doorbell rang at 5 this morning, well before I had to get up. I was
going to ignore it but I thought, Maybe my car is on fire. If it
were, it would probably be too late to do anything about it, but I got
up. I looked out the front window and saw no flames, and no one on
the sidewalk who could have rung the bell.

I went back to bed, and 10 minutes later it rang again.
bzzzzz-=-==bzzz=-=-=bzzzz. By this time I was awake. I'd forgotten
and left the computer on so I went to the computer. It went off 10 or
15 times in the next hour. I've had this thing for about 10 years and
this is the first trouble it gave me. A real cheap one too, maybe
%2.50 from Sunset House, a mail order place.

But I didnt' use any batteries. I have a real doorbell with a
transformer and a bell in the front hall and the basement, but
couldn't hear it in my 2n'd floor office with the computer fan and
radio. In the basement, I rectify the 18 volt transformer output
and use a resistor to lower the voltage to what the button should
take, and when someone pushes the front door button, the button is
powered and the receiver in the upstairs hall makes noises.

Anyhow, I unplugged the receiver and the wall was very dirty behind
it, even though I had had this thing there for maybe 10 years, and 2
months ago it was barely dirty at all. That's as far as I've gotten
so far.

P&M After tomorrow at noon or so, I won't be around for several days.

 

[mm]

On Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:25:00 -0400, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com>
wrote:

But I didn't post just to be sarcastic. As it happens, my wireless
doorbell rang at 5 this morning, well before I had to get up. I was
going to ignore it but I thought, Maybe my car is on fire. If it
were, it would probably be too late to do anything about it, but I got
up. I looked out the front window and saw no flames, and no one on
the sidewalk who could have rung the bell.

And btw, the main doorbell button is as good as new (It's only a year
old) and I have to press it against spring pressure a full quarter
inch to ring the bell. That's not the problem.

 

[Mark Allread]

mm wrote:

On Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:25:00 -0400, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com
wrote:

But I didn't post just to be sarcastic. As it happens, my wireless
doorbell rang at 5 this morning, well before I had to get up. I was
going to ignore it but I thought, Maybe my car is on fire. If it
were, it would probably be too late to do anything about it, but I got
up. I looked out the front window and saw no flames, and no one on
the sidewalk who could have rung the bell.

And btw, the main doorbell button is as good as new (It's only a year
old) and I have to press it against spring pressure a full quarter
inch to ring the bell. That's not the problem.

Just a thought - I had a similar problem once, but my wireless doorbell

had a set of movable jumpers in both the receiver and transmitter to set
a code. I played with it a little (no manual!) until I got them talking
to each other with a different setting - and the problem went away.

 

[Stepfann King]

Just place a sign at your door reading:

I don't have a doorbell. Please yell out Ding Dong.

 

[Tony Hwang]

Stepfann King wrote:

Just place a sign at your door reading:

I don't have a doorbell. Please yell out Ding Dong.
Hi,

No bell? I have door gong, it plays Westminster chime
LOUD. It is a motorized mechanism with 5 tunes pipes. 3 different tunes
for front, side, back door.

 

[Babu H.]

replying to Dennis M, Babu H. wrote:
As the batteries start to lose its voltage it does strange things like
statics. Since the Controller
inside works on pulses the unit thinks its Data and may turn on and send a
signal to the Receiver

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/maintenance/wireless-doorbells-400070-.htm