Question for Techies - Roadside Mailbox Delivery Alarm (Misc.)

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Since I sell over eBay, I get checks and money orders delivered to my roadside mailbox. The mail is delivered within about a 90-minute window in the afternoon, so I try to keep an ear out for the mail delivery vehicle. Sometimes I hear it, sometimes I don't.

I've recently seen TV ads for a driveway alert system sold by K-Mart. Apparently it is mounted on at least one post at the end of the driveway and, when the beam is broken, it remotely transmits a signal to a unit in the house which gives out a signal. Ad says distance is up to 500'.

I'm wondering if this would work if I mounted one at the back of my mailbox? If a beam end point is needed, perhaps it could be mounted on the door. Would the signal likely transmit outside of a metal box? Would I need to switch to a plastic mailbox?

For people in other situations, it would seem to have other benefits. If someone is playing mailbox baseball, you might follow them to get the vehicle license number. If someone were to take mail out of the box, you might be alerted quick enough to also get their license number, since they would be stopping at other boxes.

My knowledge of electronics is zilch. Any thoughts from you techies?

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), December 03, 2001

Answers

Ken, Skip the driveway alarm, Get a mailbox alarm. http://www.smarthome.com/ has lots of neat devices to play with. One of them mounts on the lid of your mailbox. When it is opened, It will send a signal to an inhouse alarm. This helps with both mail delivery and vandals. http://www.smarthome.com/7466.html is a direct link to the mail alert.

Gary

-- Gary (gws@columbus.rr.com), December 03, 2001.


in my part of the area,, there are some home bound elderly people,, that cant get around very well and such. They installed those remote door bells,, when the mail is delivered,, the mail perosn, hits the button,, ringing a bell in the house,, all by remote control,, that may be something. Also saw a pully system,, set of to the flag,, that rings a bell when lowered,, but that is a direct control and would have wires/rope from the mail box to the house

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), December 03, 2001.

If you have a very nice mail man like we do all you have to do is ask him to blow his horn when he puts something in the box. This is know as the KISS system. KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID.

-- Mel Kelly (melkelly@webtv.net), December 03, 2001.

The Dr. Leonards mail order catalogue has a mailbox alarm for $9.95 plus s&h.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), December 03, 2001.

I don't trust roadside mailboxes ~ alarm or not! I got a post office box many years ago. Of course, I'm mobile. Guess it wouldn't be so easy for those who aren't.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), December 03, 2001.


While working at a junkyard, we were often in the back of the yard and people would come in and to the counter without us knowing anyone was there. An electronics techie buddy of mine installed a similar alarm- the beam went across the driveway and triggered a bell inside the shop and out back. Its quite basic. There is, however, the matter of running a wire (i don know if it was a power cord but suspect it was more like a phone cord) to the "eye." The eye shoots a beam to a reflector. If the beam is broken and the eye cant "see" the reflector, it triggers the alarm. A door bell on many shops is the same and you could use one IN your mail box by attaching the reflector to the door and mounting the eye in the back of the box- it would also stay dry that way... The eye is pretty sensitive and will pick up leaves, mist, etc- so we often turned our alarm at the junk yard off- it was annoying at times to come huffing up the hill and have no one there! Like I said, the wire might be a real drawback if your box is a ways from the house.

-- Kevin in NC (Vantravlrs@aol.com), December 03, 2001.

There is a company called postal vault (www.postalvault.com) that makes a product that will allow regular delivery of mail that will drop into a lockbox that cannot be gotten into with a key. Comes in many sizes. This way you don't hav to worry about vandals, etc. Thought about getting one, but the USPS doesn't come out to the house so we use a PO Box. Also there is a company that make a mail alert device that transmits when the mail box is opened. Silvo Hardware Co.>>Mail Alert found this at www.michaelholigan.com. Also the above product as well came from this site. As for an alternative for mail delivery and vandals, there is a plethora of wireless cameras that are motion activated that can be used for vehicle identification. This way you can have the act on tape as these hooks up to a VCR or your computer with the right cards etc. Hope that this information works for you. Have a great holiday season.

-- Jonathan (jonathan_sz@yahoo.com), December 04, 2001.

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