Rick and his wife Cathy, have a modest home out in the suburbs, where they also have two teenage girls and a preteen boy. "Basically," Rick says, "there’s pretty much company over all the time." Rick and Cathy’s house seems to be the house for the kids to hang out. That doesn’t leave a lot of time for private moments, and those private moments can be very suddenly interrupted. So Rick prepared a "company arrival" system.

He started out by putting an EagleEye Motion Sensor at the top of his driveway, and set that to a chime in his living room. Then he set up another motion sensor on the porch outside the front door at the foot of the stairs. At the foot of the stairs coming up to the porch, the motion of the guest sets off a "Singing Cowboy" they have sitting up by the front door.

Also at the porch, their motion sets off another motion sensor that they have hooked up to a tape deck inside the living room. "Play is always depressed so it plays my customized digital doorbell song on a 5 minute endless loop tape... Until I press the ActiveHome wall button near the door, that silences it."

"If it’s evening," Rick continues, "the front deck illuminates as they reach the top stair sensor." "No matter who it is, their arrival is always heralded by ActiveHome sensors and macros."

Featured Articles - Listing of Recent Postings
August 30 - Cameras Catch the Car Vandals
July 23 - Remote-control Units Help Country's Biggest Student Film Festival
July 2 - The X10 Mechanic
April 19 - FloodCams Catch the Vandals

Customer Stories - Index