One of the hardest parts about being a parent is when the kids start to grow up and go out on their own; when they start asking to borrow the car, or they ask if they can go to parties, or dances, or out on dates. Most parents cringe as they watch their child grow up and enter the big bad world all on their own. But the parent relents, just so long as the child agrees to be home by a certain time, what we call curfew. "Be in at midnight," we tell our kids, but unless they’re Cinderella, there’s often no real incentive on their part if they don’t think you’re going to wait up for them. And if you do wait up for them, that means you’re going to be missing valuable sleep.

Well, as unpopular as this may be among the younger generation, we’re offering peace of mind for every parent out there. We’re going to show you how to curfew proof your house by using motion sensors to let you know exactly when the kids get home.

For this How2, you’ll need either the EagleEye (MS14A) or the Hawkeye Motion Sensor (MS13A), and a Transceiver Module (TM751) to receive the signal from the EagleEye and a Remote Chime (SC546). You may also want to use an XCam2 (VK49AS), or the NightWatch (SC21A) or VCR Commander (UX21A). After all, if there’s a discrepancy between your story and your kid’s story, you’re going to need proof.

1. The first thing to do is to set up your motion sensor. In this particular instance, we’re going to set up the EagleEye with a Remote Chime that will gently wake you up so that you will be able to check the clock when the kids come home. The best placement for your EagleEye would be on the porch, near the front door. After all, curfew means "in the house."
2. Next, pick an address on your EagleEye. The instructions for picking the address are inside the compartment where the batteries are kept (2 AAA batteries).
3. Secure the EagleEye to your front porch where it has a good range to detect movement.
4. Now set the address on the Transceiver so that it matched the address on the EagleEye.
5. And finally, set the address on your Remote Chime so that it matches the address on the EagleEye and the Transceiver.
6. If you want to, you could also use a lamp to let you know the kids come home. To do that, you would follow steps one through five, and then instead of using a chime, you would use an ActiveHome Lamp Module (LM465).
7. Then plug the lamp into the lamp module. Rather than a chime, the lamp will turn on, waking you up.

So now, when the kids come home, you will either hear the chime or you’ll see the light, and you will know that they are safe and sound, thus allowing you to sleep easier.

Now we know how you parents worry about you kids when they’re out, and we hope that this helps you sleep easier.

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