Society of Robots - Robot Forum

Electronics => Electronics => Topic started by: milton on April 16, 2007, 02:28:45 PM

Title: Help with control (RC/wireless)
Post by: milton on April 16, 2007, 02:28:45 PM
Hi.  New here.   I am looking for info on where I can buy wireless gear.   I have a flood detector for a basement and it is basically a sensor (activated by the presence of water) and a alarm unit (the alarm is like a smoke alarm).
The alarm unit is seperated from the sensor by about 5 ft. wire connection.

What I want to do is convert it to wireless, whereby I can keep the alarm unit in another area (up to 100' away)
and leave the sensor in the basement area.

Where can I buy wireless parts to do this sort of thing ?     

Nothing too fancy, and the smaller and cheaper the better! 

Thanks~
milton

Title: Re: Help with control (RC/wireless)
Post by: ComputerGeek on April 16, 2007, 05:31:50 PM
READ THIS FIRST: http://www.fcc.gov/oet/dockets/
If you think that this is just some kid pulling your leg or being overly careful then wait until your neighbor presses her life alert button but the call doesn't get through because your basement is flooded! Also if you can't tell me what a ham is off the top of your head, then please just skip this post.

Now to answer your question  ;D try toy stores, hobby supply shops, or do my personal favorite take apart something that you don't use anymore. Are you looking for a schematic or just a 'plug and chug' unit?

A schematic for a simple receiver can be seen here: http://www.edn.com/archives/1994/081894/17di4.htm#fig1

A schematic for a low quality transmitter can be seen here: http://www.geocities.com/tomzi.geo/1-transistor/1-transistor.htm

Your transmition range will depend largely on your environment it's especially difficult because your coming up from a basement 100' is a very long distance in the small low power RF world. I'll be keeping an eye on this post.
Title: Re: Help with control (RC/wireless)
Post by: Admin on April 24, 2007, 08:14:28 PM
You should determine what type of signals are being sent by that wire, first. Do some probing with a multimeter or oscilloscope . . .