Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[gizak]

Hi,
I've got an eagle eye (MS14A) that I'm using to alert and turn on lights for me as solicitors/guests approach the house.  I've noticed many false triggers and after a bit of searching found that the motion detector uses heat to trigger.  Well, I live in AZ, and in the summer it's especially hot.  I'm assuming that any small gust of wind is constantly triggering the sensor.  I saw the schematics thread and that's a bit more then I'd like to do.  I've tried placing the motion detector in the window near the front door and it won't trigger.  I'm not even sure how the ms14a is detecting if the temps are hotter then a human body lol.

My only idea is to use 2 sensors, the first one (placed farther from the door) turns a flag on for a few seconds, then turns off.  The 2nd one (placed a little closer in) then checks against the flag to verify somebody is really coming, if it's on, then execute the macro to turn on the lights (if night time), or chime (if day time).

Anybody have other ideas or suggestions to prevent false triggers?

[Puck]

I found that pointing the motion detector downward greatly reduced my false triggers.

Mine are attached via velcro ( thanks Dave_x10_L ) to my eaves and point down over the area I want covered.

[Boiler]

gizak,

My only idea is to use 2 sensors, the first one (placed farther from the door) turns a flag on for a few seconds, then turns off.  The 2nd one (placed a little closer in) then checks against the flag to verify somebody is really coming, if it's on, then execute the macro to turn on the lights (if night time), or chime (if day time).

Actually, that's a clever solution.  The down side is that you'll still be sending a lot of false RF to your CM15a.  Even though you have a smart macro that won't act on the trigger, your tying up the CM15a.  It's not an overly powerful device (I can't quantify this), but in general I try to keep the false traffic to a minimum.

Puck's suggestion is a good one and may work well in AZ.  I've tried this in IN and found that I have far to many "critters" and leaves that still cause false triggers.  I use the velcro technique for attaching the units as well.

I have a awning over the front porch and a deck over the pack patio.  I oriented the motion sensors on the posts supporting these two structures so they were facing the house.  It took a little "tuning" to get the sensor out of direct sunlight, but the false triggers are greatly reduced.  I still have problems with birds (particularly the ones that nest in my wifes decorative wreaths on the front door).

I've spent a fair amount of time in Tucson and Phoenix (work related).  Your environment is different from mine in the Midwest, and your solution may be as well.  I'm not sure if the CM15a can trigger on Scorpions, Tarantulas, or Rattlers (you've got nasty critters out there) or how 120^o temperatures (personal experience) affect the sensor.

[gizak]

Thanks for the tips, I was actually thinking of mounting it up there under the shingle edge since the walls are all stucko and don't make for good mounting surfaces.  Not sure if velcro will stay attached to the unit though (due to the heat again).  I'll have to wait for my brain to go into overdrive again to see if I can come up with any other solutions.

[tom j]

Hi,
I've got an eagle eye (MS14A) that I'm using to alert and turn on lights for me as solicitors/guests approach the house.  I've noticed many false triggers and after a bit of searching found that the motion detector uses heat to trigger.  Well, I live in AZ, and in the summer it's especially hot.  I'm assuming that any small gust of wind is constantly triggering the sensor.  I saw the schematics thread and that's a bit more then I'd like to do.  I've tried placing the motion detector in the window near the front door and it won't trigger.  I'm not even sure how the ms14a is detecting if the temps are hotter then a human body lol.

My only idea is to use 2 sensors, the first one (placed farther from the door) turns a flag on for a few seconds, then turns off.  The 2nd one (placed a little closer in) then checks against the flag to verify somebody is really coming, if it's on, then execute the macro to turn on the lights (if night time), or chime (if day time).

Anybody have other ideas or suggestions to prevent false triggers?

Well welcome to the club! I had so many problems with useing these in daylight I just basically gave up and use mine exclusively at night to stand watch over my new Jag, used to still get a lot of false alarms little critters like dogs cats ect so I placed a little piece of tape across the bottom of the lens so it can't see all the way to the ground and walla, absolutely no false alarms! but concerning the daylight issue I believe and I've been told that it's the sunlight, cuz no matter how hot the night breezes are I don't get any false alarms at night. I also have a sensor on my porch witch is partially enclosed as long as I keep it out of direct sunlight I can use this one in daylight with no false alarms. This little thing has been worth it's weight in gold! with two hidden and pointing at my new car, no one can even breathe on it without me knowing it and has prevented my car being stolen on at least several occasions. It's been going on two years without even one attempt, just wish it worked in direct sunlight going to contact a local University's school of electrical engineering and find out if they can be modified to work in daylight. I'm so impressed I'm actually thinking about writing MIT and try to find a grad student that might need a few extra bucks to modify a few for me.

Tom j
 

[gizak]

Lol Tom,
Wish I had a jag!  I'd have security all over myself too.  I suspected sunlight as being an issue so I checked night time logs and the motion detector went off at least once if not 3 times an every hour!  That's what drove me to actually get some help (thanks so far guys).

Yesterday I finally got myself outside to mount the little guy so that he points down.  I checked the logs this morning and it hasn't gone off once!  Now for the daytime test, I'm remoted in to my home pc and will be checking the logs throughout the day.  *crosses fingers*  I'm gonna be so happy if this works, cause then I can move on to fix other problems lol...

[Walt2]

I wish X10, or someone, would make a radar based motion detector.  They never have false triggers.  Well, at least the ones they (not X10) sell for alarm systems.

[Walt2]

Yesterday I finally got myself outside to mount the little guy so that he points down.  I checked the logs this morning and it hasn't gone off once!  Now for the daytime test, I'm remoted in to my home pc and will be checking the logs throughout the day.  *crosses fingers*  I'm gonna be so happy if this works, cause then I can move on to fix other problems lol...

Does it still work (trigger) when you want it to?

[gizak]

Well, I'm at work now so can't test, but I'll be randomly test it over the next few days to see how it works.  From what I can see remotely in the log, there have been no triggers...  eggcellent!  Unfortunately, I'm seeing triggers on my side motion detector which isn't mounted up yet hehe.

I'm also testing some indoor motion detectors too, actually they are the security ones.  I made a bulk order of 5 cause my dad wanted some for his security system, and I have the plugin in AH to utilize the spares to execute macros.  It's not always executing the macro, so I'm trying to determine the cause.

If you are having trouble with non-triggers, check the log to see if AHP is actually receiving the signal.  Helps determine if it's a range issue, bad motion detector, wrong house code, or a bad macro.  Mine was a little bit out, so I plugged in a tranceiver to ensure AHP see's it.  I just set the motion detector to B1 and the Tranceiver to housecode B.

[tom j]

I wish X10, or someone, would make a radar based motion detector.  They never have false triggers.  Well, at least the ones they (not X10) sell for alarm systems.

I was thinking about the tech that allows motion detectors to see shapes, I just would want mine to pick up people but this might not be the solution for everyone whata' you guys think.

Tom j

[tom j]

Lol Tom,
Wish I had a jag!  I'd have security all over myself too.  I suspected sunlight as being an issue so I checked night time logs and the motion detector went off at least once if not 3 times an every hour!  That's what drove me to actually get some help (thanks so far guys).

Yesterday I finally got myself outside to mount the little guy so that he points down.  I checked the logs this morning and it hasn't gone off once!  Now for the daytime test, I'm remoted in to my home pc and will be checking the logs throughout the day.  *crosses fingers*  I'm gonna be so happy if this works, cause then I can move on to fix other problems lol...

Yeah I really love it, didn't get one over night getting close to the big 5-0 so it took awhile. But I had the same problem with the sensor going off so many times at night my wife said I was going to drive her crazy worrying her about that car and well... TAKE IT BACK. Ooh no! so that's when I did some reading well a lot of reading and tried the tape, bet it would work for you, you're probably picking up little critters maybe you might want to give it a try. Oh and the Jag it's not the big one just the S Type, but I really love it my wife just jealous cuz I don't let her drive it that much.

Tom j

http://www.edmunds.com/apps/vdpcontainers/do/MediaNav/styleId=100862439/firstNav=Gallery/photoId=20114613

[-Bill- (of wgjohns.com)]

I wish X10, or someone, would make a radar based motion detector.  They never have false triggers.  Well, at least the ones they (not X10) sell for alarm systems.

Actually, my experience with "microwave" motion detectors is that they are really good at picking up birds!      

I would like to see a "dual-tech" motion detector for X10 i.e. PIR (like the current ones) and microwave.  They require a trigger from both technologies before triggering an alarm and are much less susceptible to false triggers.   

[tom j]

I wish X10, or someone, would make a radar based motion detector.  They never have false triggers.  Well, at least the ones they (not X10) sell for alarm systems.

Actually, my experience with "microwave" motion detectors is that they are really good at picking up birds!      

I would like to see a "dual-tech" motion detector for X10 i.e. PIR (like the current ones) and microwave.  They require a trigger from both technologies before triggering an alarm and are much less susceptible to false triggers.   

Say Bill whata' think about the new pattern recognition ones, think they would consume way less power then a battery powered PRI & Microwave.

Tom j

[tom j]

Say Gizak I agree with Boiler I wouldn't over tax the CM15a, just don't think it's up to the task, this thing is made in China and is a x10 product don't forget.

Tom j

[-Bill- (of wgjohns.com)]

Say Bill whata' think about the new pattern recognition ones, think they consume way less power then a battery powered PRI & Microwave.

Tom j

I haven't actually had a chance to play with those.