Protecting the Mail

October 15, 2001 - According to the law, it’s a federal offense to tamper with the U.S. mail. Of course federal offense or not, that’s never stopped a would-be thief from trying to find checks or cash or credit cards or any other type of information that they may be able to glom from some unsuspecting mail recipient.

That very thought was on Cesar Tan's mind as well. "We always get home very late," he says, "And our prime concern is about our mail." He also made the point that you "never really know what the mailman has delivered to you so if something is missing, you won’t really know it." Perhaps the only tip-off that someone was taking your mail would be when something you were expecting doesn’t arrive. Even then though, most people assume that it was the fault of the person mailing the parcel, or the fault of the Post Office itself. Still, there are occasions where another possibility is added.

So Cesar came up with his own idea. First off, he wanted to see if anyone was tampering with his mail. Secondly, he wanted to keep it safe even if everything was all clear. He was being proactive.

First Cesar took his NightWatch camera and hooked it up inside his house. That way it was safe and nobody could get to it.

Once his NightWatch was set up, he aimed it toward the mailbox. "I chose the NightWatch so that you can also capture actions at night," Cesar said.

Then he hooked up VCR Commander II.

Once that was in place, he attached an EagleEye motion sensor inside the mailbox. (In a previous How2, there are step-by-step instructions on how that is done.)

"This is how it works," he says. "Whenever anyone opens up the mailbox, it triggers the EagleEye motion sensor, which sends a signal to VCR Commander," which in turn starts the video recorder.

So far everything seems to be just fine. The only face he has on the video is that of the mailman, but if anyone does try to "snoop," then they will find themselves on that tape. Once there, all Cesar needs to do is take a quick trip to the police department and they’ll take it from there. Cesar will have all the evidence they need.

X10 is keeping so many things safe, right down to the mail.

Send comments or feedback on this article to xzone@x10.com