Outdoor Gate Sensor

I'm currently running Indigo with only an Insteon interface but I'm open to adding others if necessary. We've recently installed a pool and now have 5 gates around the outside of the property. I don't necessarily want to add these to my alarm system but I would like to receive a notification if a gate is opened and I'm not home, or if it's after I've shut the house down for the night etc. Seems relatively simple but I'm not finding an outdoor rated wireless open/close sensor. The furthest gate is at least 100 ft from the house and most of the rest of my devices. I do have a shed/pool house that has cat 6 run to it and a few insteon devices that are more like 50 ft from the furthest gate.

I'm open to adding a device in the pool house that then communicates back to the main Indigo host and or something that can communicate directly.

I also have a DSC alarm panel that is currently linked to Indigo so if that is an easier solution I'm open to that as well.

Any thoughts?

thank you
Jason

I've got a couple of the Insteon wireless door/window sensors on my gates and they've both been very reliable. One gate is about 30 feet from the closest dual-band switch and the other is about 50-60 feet away. They're mounted inside cheap plastic project boxes from radio shack to protect them from the rain.

Terry

Terry -

Thanks, just to confirm you are using INSTEON 2843-222 WIRELESS OPEN/CLOSE SENSOR?
I'm surprised that adding the extra enclosure doesn't interfere with the operation.

thanks
Jason

Yep, that's the one. The little plastic boxes are very thin and cheap, I doubt they block anything except the raindrops hitting them. I did put a very thin bead of silicone caulk along the top seem just to assist with water rejection. I haven't noticed any event-drops, and one gate (the one farthest away) gets used several times a day. To see if I missed any open/close events I set up a simple counter in Indigo to count the number of opens and closes - the numbers have always been equal telling me that if I've missed any, I missed both and open and close event...If the gate has been open for longer than 30 seconds Indigo announces over the Sonos (thanks Nick!) I also have Indigo send a text when it's open & closed and I'm not at home.

I bought the first sensor at a local Best Buy to try thinking that if it didn't work it would be an easy return, and for the first few days I had the sensor inside a ziplock bag - screwed to the gate. That worked well but wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing.

This is the enclosure I used: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2062280

Since I have room inside the enclosure, I've thought about adding extra battery capacity. They've been going for a few months with no problem, but I've probably got room for a C or two AA batteries if I added a separate battery holder and tied it into the sensor's contacts. That'll be a potential project for when the original batteries die though...

Terry

Thanks a lot, ordered the sensors today.

If you still need to protect a gate (or anything outside), a load of external options are available for DSC - wired or wireless.

External security can be in the form of contacts, pressure plates, photo beam, motion sensors, ultrasonic, buried cable (leaky cable), fence detection, analytical CCTV.... Loads of choices!! Let me know if you need any details.

I liked the idea you guys had and, having a couple of these sensors around not in use, I grabbed the Radio Shack enclosure mentioned. I verified the RS part number and dimensions I got matched yours.

There is chance I'm missing something, but my sensor will not fit in this project box.

The sensor I have is a 2421 - the Smarthome site says, "Please note that INSTEON Wireless Open/Close Sensor (2843-222) is the new product name and number of TriggerLinc (2421). The product and functionality are the same."

The dimensions match those of the 2843-222 as listed on the Smarthome page (http://www.smarthome.com/insteon-2843-2 ... ensor.html).

How did you manage it? Did you cut the sensor plastic down? It does sit in there diagonally nicely, but that puts the sensor wire pretty far from the case edge.

Re-reading your post and seeing your comment about their being room in the box for extra battery capacity, there is no way I have the same project box. Hmm.

Thanks - Mike