Wiring doorbells

[Kim]

And it still doesn't stop every WVM courier that delivers here bashing the door with his fist ... ignoring the quite obvious bell push.

We've tried a couple of approaches to this problem:

Firstly, the doorbell being rung is logged by computer.  This gives us the authority to conclusively declare that the courier didn't ring the bell when grinking (taking care to mention the DDA) their delivery office.  With some companies this has proven to be effective.

Secondly, sticking an extremely obvious "please use the doorbell --->" sign in the middle of the door.  This was even more effective, but then we got burgled and the police patiently explained that it was our fault for having a "please use the doorbell --->" sign on our door.

Thirdly, there's a vibration sensor on the door, which successfully detects WVM knocking.  Unfortunately it also detects windy weather, nearby fireworks, the neighbours closing their door, etc.  Marginally helpful if you're waiting for a delivery, but not something you'd trigger the alerting system with.

I'd quite like to try a motion-detection webcam pointed at the door area...

[Kim]

Kim, I prostrate myself before your awesome audio rcognition skills. Identifying an inkjet printer as an Epson by the sound on a loudspeaker in an adjacent room is something akin to Godly

Not that hard: it was having a paper jam.

Also, I suspect there was some standard RPG character generation going on there:  While I'm rather good at identifying mechanical noises, I struggle to make sense of speech in the presence of background noise.  If I were blind and in a wheelchair I expect I'd be telekinetic.   

[Panoramix]

I am rather disappointed that nobody from the yacf geek fellowship managed yet to define a set where 0 + 0 = 1 (or bollock my idea and prove that this is not possible)

[perpetual dan]

Thirdly, there's a vibration sensor on the door, which successfully detects WVM knocking.  Unfortunately it also detects windy weather, nearby fireworks, the neighbours closing their door, etc.  Marginally helpful if you're waiting for a delivery, but not something you'd trigger the alerting system with.

I've always found vibration sensors to be less than special. Would a contact microphone make it easier to identify background from bang? ... or a pressure sensor under the doormat?

Back to OP - my gran has a flashing light doorbell. Sounds like it may be the way to go if hearing loss is getting worse.

[Kim]

Would a contact microphone make it easier to identify background from bang? ... or a pressure sensor under the doormat?

I like the camera idea (using Zoneminder or similar) at the moment.  Mainly because you get a picture of the offending numpty to cut out and keep.  And can identify Chris The Christian from the spooky church down the road before accidentally opening the door to him.

Back to OP - my gran has a flashing light doorbell. Sounds like it may be the way to go if hearing loss is getting worse.

The OP also says she's blind (though of course that comes in many flavours, some of which aren't incompatible with bright flashing lights).  Hence I raised the idea of a vibrating pager system.

[perpetual dan]

Would a contact microphone make it easier to identify background from bang? ... or a pressure sensor under the doormat?

I like the camera idea (using Zoneminder or similar) at the moment.  Mainly because you get a picture of the offending numpty to cut out and keep.  And can identify Chris The Christian from the spooky church down the road before accidentally opening the door to him.

In which case a speaker and suitable audio processing to have some fun with silly voices are surely called for as well? Or maybe...

<tinny music>
Welcome to Kim's house. Your visit is important to us. To help us process your knock as quickly as possible please either knock or press the doorbell after the tone...
<beep>...
Thank you, now please choose from the following options...
<knock | ring> once if your visit involves leaving me a card and vanishing into the distance with my parcel if I don't answer soon or you are a cake bearing friend.
<knock | ring> twice if you've come to tell me about god.
<knock | ring> thrice if you want me to set up a direct debit to a charity or have a marketing survey.
Otherwise please hold and smile at the camera and your query will be dealt with shortly.

Missed the blind bit in the OP, sorry.

[fuzzy]

It was actually demonstrated to us by our Physic's Master

Rather amusing that most Poster's here think Computers

Seems your English teacher was as poor as your Physics teacher  

Would I be right in thinking that you are almost certainly one of the only contributors to this thread who doesn't hold a University Honours degree as well?  

If it helps, I don't

[mrcharly-YHT]

Me neither.

<looks at 18 pages of electronics schematics on desk>  But I might know a little bit about wires and stuff.

[Wowbagger]

Neither have I.

[Panoramix]

It was actually demonstrated to us by our Physic's Master

Rather amusing that most Poster's here think Computers

Seems your English teacher was as poor as your Physics teacher  

Would I be right in thinking that you are almost certainly one of the only contributors to this thread who doesn't hold a University Honours degree as well?  

Me neither

Grandes écoles - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[mattc]

And it still doesn't stop every WVM courier that delivers here bashing the door with his fist ... ignoring the quite obvious bell push.

We've tried a couple of approaches to this problem:

Firstly, the doorbell being rung is logged by computer.  This gives us the authority to conclusively declare that the courier didn't ring the bell when grinking (taking care to mention the DDA) their delivery office.  With some companies this has proven to be effective.

Secondly, sticking an extremely obvious "please use the doorbell --->" sign in the middle of the door.  This was even more effective, but then we got burgled and the police patiently explained that it was our fault for having a "please use the doorbell --->" sign on our door.

Would it be to painful to repeat what their patient logic was? I'm stumped 

Incidentally, WVM and our postie claim to not use bells cos 90% of the time noone hears doorbells. So why not ring the bell AND knock? For the cost of 1.5seconds it seems a no-brainer.

[Jaded]

I don't have a degree, I have about 45 seconds.

[Kim]

Would it be to painful to repeat what their patient logic was? I'm stumped  

Having a "Please use the doorbell  ---->" sign on your door suggests that you might be a little bit deaf, and therefore an old person with vast quantities of cash and jewellery hidden under your mattress, or something.

I didn't challenge this at the time, as I'd recently woken up and, while wearing a distinctly suboptimal amount of clothing, stumbled upon a burglar who threatened me with violence in a fairly convincing manner.

Incidentally, WVM and our postie claim to not use bells cos 90% of the time noone hears doorbells. So why not ring the bell AND knock? For the cost of 1.5seconds it seems a no-brainer.

My thoughts exactly.  Our problem, which is hardly unique on streets like this, is that while we can usually hear the knocking, unless we're actually in the front room it is indistinguishable from someone knocking on the door of any of a number of adjacent houses, or indeed from the sounds of nearby building work.

[mattc]

Perhaps the answer is to get a sign with:

Please use the doorbell, as knocking will set the dogs off.

[barakta]

Kim, I prostrate myself before your awesome audio rcognition skills. Identifying an inkjet printer as an Epson by the sound on a loudspeaker in an adjacent room is something akin to Godly

Not that hard: it was having a paper jam.

You should hear the audio renditions she can do of various impact dot matrix and indeed fairly passable inkjet noises.

She keeps declaring that she's not doing printer impressions and subsequently doing said printer impressions which keeps me in the LOLz.

[barakta]

Back to OP - my gran has a flashing light doorbell. Sounds like it may be the way to go if hearing loss is getting worse.

FWIW I am deaf (and not blind) and have a cheap £22 quid Flashing Light doorbell from Home - connevans.co.uk in my office. Best Piece of Assistive Tech yet - shame I let people fuck me about for so long before getting one. 

I no longer have to worry about banging (there's a lot of building going on nearby) being possible door knocks or colleagues knocking timidly as "not to disturb me" (yes I know *eyeroll*) or finding someone STOOD right next to me cos I've not noticed them coming in.

Now the doorbell presser is pressed, they get enough audio to know it's gone off, and I get some nice strobing which they all hate but works for me.  I can switch my hearing aid off and work in proper peace and ignore all the random noises and vibrations from our silly building.

And the batteries have lasted 8 months so far, proper Duracell C and AA cells ftw - I'd heartily recommend them for any elderly person who needs a cheap portable solution and suspect you can have more than one receiver on the same channel.

[Tim Hall]

Perhaps the answer is to get a sign with:

Please use the doorbell, as knocking will set the dogs off.

What you need is:

PLES RING IF AN RNSER IS REQIRD.
       


        Underneath the bell-pull there was a notice which said:


       
PLEZ CNOKE IF AN RNSR IS NOT REQID.

       

[Wowbagger]

Do you have trouble with delicate words like MEASLES or BUTTEREDTOAST?

[Wowbagger]

The doorbells arrived this morning. I'm most impressed by the tiny battery which powers the button: 23A, 12V.

[Tim Hall]

Do you have trouble with delicate words like MEASLES or BUTTEREDTOAST?

I have to read them very carefully, first from left to right, and afterwards, in case I missed some of it, from right to left.

[delthebike]

The doorbells arrived this morning. I'm most impressed by the tiny battery which powers the button: 23A, 12V.

I hope the wireless doorbell doesn't end up like ours and gets set off by a nearby neighbours bell push, 50 metres away, or a Range Rover Vogue parked directly outside.

Our bell also needs frequent resetting as it loses the signal from our button and doesn't ring.  A fiddly procedure of remove a battery from the receiver, put it back, and push the button.

[rower40]

Perhaps the answer is to get a sign with:

Please use the doorbell, as knocking will set the dogs off.

Very good!
Or, appropriate for the technophile household:

Please use the doorbell, to briefly stun the attack dogs.

[Wowbagger]

The doorbells arrived this morning. I'm most impressed by the tiny battery which powers the button: 23A, 12V.

I hope the wireless doorbell doesn't end up like ours and gets set off by a nearby neighbours bell push, 50 metres away, or a Range Rover Vogue parked directly outside.

Our bell also needs frequent resetting as it loses the signal from our button and doesn't ring.  A fiddly procedure of remove a battery from the receiver, put it back, and push the button.

I hope not as well.

I bought a model which had had 40 reviews and was averaging well over 4.5 stars in customers' assessments. I'm possibly naive when it comes to stuff like this, but there were other, apparently similar, products which had had poor reviews, in some cases for precisely the reason you mention.

[border-rider]

We had one at the last house; worked fine with no dramas.

We now have one here, seems OK so far, but interference from neighbours is...unlikely.