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Step 6Setting it up.
Okay, this is what all of you have been waiting for. Except for you, I saw you skip to the end.
There are two ways you can connect this. Laser and sensor on the same side, or laser on one side and sensor on the other. Either way works. Let's talk about the pros and cons of each approach.
Laser and Sensor on the same side:
Pros: Laser camera and Laser Sensor can be powered from the same supply. Simply put both near an outlet and you're good to go. Power switch on the laser can power off the sensor too. Nice. This enables you to do advanced things like using a Power Module to only power up the laser sensor if one of the wireless cameras sees movement with its Infrared sensor. Being an intruder, how would you like to walk up to a house only to see a laser detection system arm itself as you approach. Too cool.
Cons: You need a mirror to bounce the laser back to the sensor. No big deal, but the mechanics of such a thing are a bit tricky. Also, the mirror can, and probably will, distort the laser beam. This is because most mirrors are rear reflective, meaning the laser has to pass through a layer of glass before being reflected. Also, as a more practical matter, the mirror could just get dirty. I'm using a mirror that I "borrowed" from my wife and it seems to be fine so far. I'll likely replace it with something less likely to get me in trouble.
Laser and Sensor on opposite sides:
Pros: No mirrors to worry about, less distance traveled for the laser.
Cons: Need a power supply on both sides. You could power the sensor module with the AAA batteries as designed, but I haven't tested/calculated the current draw of my modifications so it could potentially go through batteries like crazy.
In the Motorola Homesight software, the Water Module is discovered and works as expected. In this case, the module shows "Dry" when normal, and "Wet" when the laser has been interrupted. Sweet!
There are two ways you can connect this. Laser and sensor on the same side, or laser on one side and sensor on the other. Either way works. Let's talk about the pros and cons of each approach.
Laser and Sensor on the same side:
Pros: Laser camera and Laser Sensor can be powered from the same supply. Simply put both near an outlet and you're good to go. Power switch on the laser can power off the sensor too. Nice. This enables you to do advanced things like using a Power Module to only power up the laser sensor if one of the wireless cameras sees movement with its Infrared sensor. Being an intruder, how would you like to walk up to a house only to see a laser detection system arm itself as you approach. Too cool.
Cons: You need a mirror to bounce the laser back to the sensor. No big deal, but the mechanics of such a thing are a bit tricky. Also, the mirror can, and probably will, distort the laser beam. This is because most mirrors are rear reflective, meaning the laser has to pass through a layer of glass before being reflected. Also, as a more practical matter, the mirror could just get dirty. I'm using a mirror that I "borrowed" from my wife and it seems to be fine so far. I'll likely replace it with something less likely to get me in trouble.
Laser and Sensor on opposite sides:
Pros: No mirrors to worry about, less distance traveled for the laser.
Cons: Need a power supply on both sides. You could power the sensor module with the AAA batteries as designed, but I haven't tested/calculated the current draw of my modifications so it could potentially go through batteries like crazy.
In the Motorola Homesight software, the Water Module is discovered and works as expected. In this case, the module shows "Dry" when normal, and "Wet" when the laser has been interrupted. Sweet!
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