PIR for motion detection in the garden & notification

Joined
18 Oct 2013
Messages
1,098
Reaction score
10
Location
London
Country
United Kingdom
Hi

Can anyone suggest any way of detecting movement in the garden (ideally potential intruders) that can activate a security light or some automated notification sequences to a mobile phone using zwave or any other protocol?

I think GJD offer something but I'm not too au fait with their products.

Thx.
 
How large is the garden, What do you need to detect and what do you need to ignore ( cats, dogs etc ).

What access routes are there. ?

What surreounds the garden ? A low fence that can be easily climbed over anywhere along it's length or a thick impenetrable hedge with one gate way through it.
 
Garden length is about 40m and 15m wide, neighbour's house and gardens to all sides. Very high 2.2m fence /trellis / shrubs on one side and lower fence of some 5.5ft on the other but we plan to install newer higher ones. No gateways to either neighbour.

We have no pets although cats badgers and foxes do unfortunately enter our garden.

There are two narrow 0.5m passage ways from either side of the house from front to back, one side having a locked metal gate and the other blocked by rubbish.

I'm looking to mainly have a sensor to protect the sides of the house and the patio area which measures approx 6m deep by 15m wide.

Thx.
 
Covering just the entry points is as effective as covering the whole area. PIRs are far less sensitive to a person walking directly towards them ( blue line ) than they are to a person walking past them ( green line )

My suggestion would be a pair of 180 degree PIRs on the corners of the house.

two 180\'s.jpg

As far as I am aware there isn't a PIR that has both the ability to directly switch mains ( for the lights ) and also has the anti tamper features that an alarm system would need. ( at least not one that is cost effective for the domestic market ).

So either use alarm type PIRs to an alarm system and the system provides a contact closure to operate a contactor to switch the mains to the lamps. Or mains switching PIRs ( with no tamper detection ) that switch the mains to both the lights and a mains operated relay. (230 volt coil ). A contact on the relay then informs the alarm system that the PIRs have activated.
 
To be honest. it looks like a box of gimmicks that far exceed what you need

I would fit two Steinel IS 180 sensors wired in parallel to control the lamps. They do not have tamper detect features but would detect the person before they got close enough to tamper.

There are various ways to notify the alarm system when the lamps are lit. The method would depend on the input circuit of the alarm you choose.
 
I'm not sure I would want an audible alarm to go off - just the lights, this should make the system more simple to setup right?

Do you know how to setup a notification system though ie email to phone etc?

I take it those sensors you mention are weather rated for water protection?
 
I use GJD Opal 12v sensors and have them connected back into a Galaxy Dimension panel on link zones which are linked to relay outputs, but are benign and do not trigger any alarm condition. The link zones trigger events and this is picked up by the Galaxy self monitoring where I currently have it send an SMS via the selfmon monitoring platform. I started off with just email until I adjusted the sensors to avoid false triggers.

If you don't want to invest in an alarm panel, you could always cobble something together with a Pi and its I/O.
 
A Raspberry Pi - Small and low cost Linux computer. There would be a bit of a learning curve in installing / configuring the softwate.
 
I'm curious as to how you setup the layout because essentially this is tiny server right? Where do you keep it?
 
Are you a security installer of lights and CCTV by any chance?
I am an electronics design engineer and have had some involvement with security systems ( design and evaluation ) but not an installer other than systems for a few friends and relatives.
 
Back
Top