Steve
Senior Member
Oh c'mon, you are smarter than that to give up so easily. A few strategically placed holes in the ziploc bag plus lots of steam and the monitor will be toast in no time. Then time for the new toys!
Sensing audio noise and notifying me
- Thread starter beelzerob
- Start date
If you didn't "need" to know exactly which room the sound came through you could run the microphones into a cheap mixing board and have a single output to a pc.
damage
Senior Member
when our kids were babies, we used a wireless baby monitor in their room. a magnetic reed switch on the crib gate would tell the system to turn on the monitor & receiver when the gate was up (and off when it was down or if someone walked into the nursery - nobody really wants their baby talk broadcast throughout the house ). the receiver was placed near a microphone connected to the HA server and would broadcast through the whole house announcement system aka a bunch of speakers connected to the soundcard. the mic input was also encoded by a shoutcast server and could be played on any of the networked mp3 players, any pc or wifi enabled pda (yes it's been a while since they were babies) for portability .
). the receiver was placed near a microphone connected to the HA server and would broadcast through the whole house announcement system aka a bunch of speakers connected to the soundcard. the mic input was also encoded by a shoutcast server and could be played on any of the networked mp3 players, any pc or wifi enabled pda (yes it's been a while since they were babies) for portability .
beelzerob
Senior Member
Well, that's a good point. I think in most cases, I just want to know WHAT the sound is, not where it comes from...though I wonder how bad it gets when 3 different microphones pick up the same sound.
I'm back to the issue of microphones....are there cheap solutions out there for that? I'm assuming I'd only need 2 wires to it?
If you want to limit the sound to one mic at a time, as well as know where it came from and control the threshold, you can do all of that with a gated automatic mixer typically used for conference rooms and such. The Shure SCM-410 is a popular model. They're pretty pricey new, but I've seen them go dirt cheap on eBay. That allows multiple mics, but only one will turn on at a time depending on the noise threshold.
For open air mics the consensus seems to be use PZMs (pressure zone microphones). A popular choice is the Crown PZM-11. As usual, eBay is your friend if you catch a used one.
For open air mics the consensus seems to be use PZMs (pressure zone microphones). A popular choice is the Crown PZM-11. As usual, eBay is your friend if you catch a used one.
beelzerob
Senior Member
Hmm...well, if 22/4 or cat5 wire isn't going to cut it, then I think I can safely remove microphones as an option.
A quick ebay shows 1 for $95 buy it now....cheap enough for ONE, I suppose.
It does show 3 terminals, and seems to indicate a power source is needed too. So I take it that I couldn't just put a 3.5 mm plug on it and shove it into my PC's audio card??
A quick ebay shows 1 for $95 buy it now....cheap enough for ONE, I suppose.
It does show 3 terminals, and seems to indicate a power source is needed too. So I take it that I couldn't just put a 3.5 mm plug on it and shove it into my PC's audio card??
That crown mic does require power. Most condensing mics do. Most pro grade mixing boards have the power supply built in - it's called phantom power and is generally something like 48v. The voltage is sent down the regular microphone lines in that type of setup. Looking at the specs from the Crown link, it takes voltage from 12 to 48v. It looks like you could add a 12v power supply to power it.
WayneW
Senior Member
If you are just trying to do simple "listen-in" type stuff (not voice control) then don't overlook the Elk stuff. You don't need high end gear to hack a basic idea what is happening in a room/house.
http://www.elkproducts.com/products/m1/M1_...y_Listen_In.htm
http://www.elkproducts.com/products/m1/M1_...y_Listen_In.htm
But to access the ELK listen in feature, I think you have to call in - either by regular POTS or by an IP connection. It isn't something you could turn on and leave on for a longer period of time.
That is better for calling and checking on the house when there is an alarm, or checking on the teenage kids to make sure they aren't throwing a party while you're gone. (A IP connection is required for stealth mode - otherwise the phone rings and ELK will pick up after a few rings).
I guess it might be possible to use the ELK module and hack the output and somehow get it to work with a whole house audio system. But that certainly isn't the "out of the box" experience and it would take some "creative engineering" to get it done (if it's even possible).
That is better for calling and checking on the house when there is an alarm, or checking on the teenage kids to make sure they aren't throwing a party while you're gone. (A IP connection is required for stealth mode - otherwise the phone rings and ELK will pick up after a few rings).
I guess it might be possible to use the ELK module and hack the output and somehow get it to work with a whole house audio system. But that certainly isn't the "out of the box" experience and it would take some "creative engineering" to get it done (if it's even possible).
If you just want a budget friendly, sensitive, and non-powered mic to feed a sound card, check out the SuperCircuits PA-3.
beelzerob
Senior Member
$10, now you're talkin'! It has 3 RCA type connectors?? It sounds like 1 RCA connector is the actual sound, so an RCA to 3mm plug would be enough enough. And I guess the 12V wall wart goes across the other connections?
So, would this be ok over 22/4 or cat5, or would I still need some kind of fancy shielded wire?
It has 3 RCA type connectors?? It sounds like 1 RCA connector is the actual sound, so an RCA to 3mm plug would be enough enough. And I guess the 12V wall wart goes across the other connections?So, would this be ok over 22/4 or cat5, or would I still need some kind of fancy shielded wire?
