mailbox sensor?

I'd like to install something like this as well, and some of the solutions in this thread look... ok, but not quite perfect.
 
Mainly, I'd like it to have some dry contact outputs or something, not just a chime on the base, so that I can have it connected to my automation system so it can either notify with an alert when I'm home, or send to my phone if I'm not.
 
My Mailbox is one of the neighborhood ones and it's about 300 feet away. So, just using something easy like an Insteon or Z-Wave door sensor isn't going to cut it.
 
(Finally, with a large mailbox, there's definitely a chance that the mailman either freaks out and thinks it's a bomb or something dumb too. It will almost certainly need a note stating as much.)
 
I recently finished my 2nd attempt at a mailbox signal.
 
First time I stuck a modified Insteon Open/Close door sensor on the lid of my metal mailbox. Modified in that I replaced the reed switch with a tilt (ball, not mercury) sensor. Failed miserably. For one the metal box kills the signal - I got open signals but not close. For another the mail person whips the door shut so the battery bounces around enough to lose contact and then it won't send signals until reset.
 
My 2nd attempt seems to be working perfectly. Same Insteon sensor mounted elsewhere in a fixed position inside a weatherproof box (outside the mailbox metal). With wire going into the mailbox and a pill security contact at the door (search "pill security contact" on ebay).
 
I have a brown mailbox so a brown pill switch and brown wire and brown duct tape make it nearly invisible.
 
Here's the view I get from one of my cameras; the camera has a 2.8mm lens that provides a roughly 90-deg FOV. If I really wanted to 'see' someone at the mailbox, I could get one with a 12mm lens and put it on the corner of the garage you can see to the right of this picture, which would also be ~20' closer toward the road...
 
index.php
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top