Fine tuning the motion detector security lamp

The first few nights, the motion detector light (a Heath/Zenith Secure Home SH-5105) was on all night.  I checked the settings the second day, but it appeared that the lamp was not in all-night mode nor was it in test mode.  My first major change was to change the sensitivity to minimum and the time from 20 minutes to 1 minute.  That successfully kept the light from being on all night, allowed multiple testing after dusk, and it appeared that anyone passing the northeast corner of the house would be detected.  I tried walking into that region from both extremes, as close to my house as possible, and as far from my house as possible.  But it wasn't until Saturday near dusk that I made the final (?) adjustments.  I ramped up the sensitivity a little.  It was hard to tell how little would work best because the motion LED kept flickering just with me standing on the ladder.  So I tried setting it to about 9:30 position.  That detects an incoming walker about 5 feet before reaching the northeast corner of the house.  And in the few nights since then, including at least one windy night, there were no false detections, or at least I never saw the light come on or stay on.  I also adjusted the time back to 20 minutes, which I feel will wear out anyone's patience who shouldn't be there, but also be convenient for doing garden work at night.

On Sunday, after a great afternoon concert and dinner, I mowed the front yard including both north and south side yards.  There were lots of small broken limbs from my mimosa tree (invasive in some climates and planted by the previous homeowner over 22 years ago) which needed to be picked up.  There have been some windy days since the last mowing two weeks before.  I also got the lamp in the computer room connected to the outlet controlled by the new Insteon wall switch.  Strangely, the X10 module and computer controller had been working perfectly after the removal of the old X10 keypad wall switch, it was switching on at night and off during daytime as it had been supposed to do but rarely did recently, but it was not nice to have no control over the lamp from the new wall switch.

Here are pictures from the box of the new motion detector lamp my electrician chose.  It's very sophisticated in many ways, including a second "creep zone" motion sensor under the main detector, many different settings, and a ramp on/off feature to preserve the life of the light bulbs.  But while the main housing is metal the motion detector module is plastic.  We'll see how long the thing lasts, but I've had all metal lamps burn out their transformers in just a few years, and it seems that daytime sensors for outdoor lamps don't last that long either.

And More Upgrades

Video Doorbell Inside Monitor

Last week I installed the video intercom doorbell I purchased in 2013.  Back in November or so I asked  electricians how much it would cost for them to install the outdoor part.  After they estimated $180, I decided to do it myself.  This turned out to be a lot of work, despite only requiring 4 holes in the exterior Hardie Panel wall.  I started working on it during the week, doing a little bit each day before going to work.  On the first day, I figured out the drill bits required for pilot holes and drilled a set of holes.  But when I tried to install the video module, it wouldn't fit in the space available between trim pieces.  So I had to patch the first two holes, and then I was confronted with the issue of finding suitable caulk.  Most of the large number of tubes of caulk (case and a half) have actually been used by now.  The tube of caulk in the gun was useless.  Finally I found the very first tube of caulk I bought in 2011 which had never been used because of the almond color.  But that was better than white for patching holes in my taupe siding.  I also decided on a slightly lower height.  The specifications called for 61 inches high, but I couldn't figure whether that meant 61 inches from the threshold or 61 inches from outside the door, which is 5 inches lower.  The final position splits the difference.

I finished the outdoor installation, and then did the indoor unit installation too, on Friday afternoon, which was a holiday at work.  For now I've chosen the "Meet the Jetsons" ring tone, which rings outdoors and inside.  Everyone who rings it loves it.  I added a label to the doorbell button "Door Bell" so people know at once what it is.

On Friday evening I reworked a pile of audio components in the living room so as to include the new digital converter (now on the bottom) and a new tuner (on the top) so I have two FM tuners accessible through my whole house audio system.  The large digital converter had been patiently waiting in the living room for installation for almost 4 weeks.  I moved the new 20 port ethernet switch into it's permanent location under the kitchen table, and plugged it into AC power, but have not started transferring ethernet connections to it yet.  (The new ethernet cables I needed for that just arrived on Tuesday.)

New equipment pile with two tuners

On Saturday I mowed the entire back yard, unstaked the oak tree, and a helped a friend re-install the solar lights on the trees by the back fence.  She had broken the light cord last October, and I repaired the cord a few weeks later, but it took months to get together to re-install the lights.  Meanwhile the lights had been sitting patiently on the patio, actually working fine in that location.

Before Mowing

On Sunday I had a wonderful party and showed off the back yard to some new guests.

[pictures not taken after mowing yet]

On Tudsday electricians John Jones and TJ installed a new motion detector light on the north side of the house.  The solar powered motion light I installed there a few years ago has stopped working (possible dead bulb or dead battery) and I could have fixed it, but it never had as much light or as much persistence as I would have liked, and when John Jones gave me a surprisingly reasonable estimate for a new AC powered light there last year, I decided I would eventually do that.

The metal cased Heath/Zenith motion light was on solid all Tuesday night, possibly set off by moving trees (it was very windy) or heat from the AC compressor.  I checked the switches and they had been set correctly.  On Wednesday afternoon I readjusted the motion sensor downward (for smaller range) and turned sensitivity to minimum.  I figured I would first try the opposite extreme from the maximum sensitivity the electricians had set.  I worried that because of the AC it would never work right, so I might have to make it an all night light instead of a motion light, and then also get expensive LED bulbs because otherwise the 200W power consumption (from halogen bulbs) would be excessive.  I started looking at the possible Philips and Sylvania bulbs I might use.   Well it seems that minimum sensitivity works just as I would like it to do, from testing on Wednesday night.  No matter how I approach the side of the house from the front, the light turns on.  And yet, tonight anyway, it does not seem to be triggered by AC or moving trees (though it isn't windy and the AC hasn't been running much).

The electricians also installed two new Insteon wall switches, first for the kitchen light dimmer (which had been an X10 controlled dimmer, but because of location it cannot be controlled from my ISY controller which nominally does X10, but X10 can't cross circuits very well in a modern home).  I haven't programmed the new switch yet, but it linked perfectly to my ISY controller.

I also replaced the X10 Keypad in the computer room with an Insteon equivalent.  So now everything in my home has been changed from X10 control to Insteon, which works much better and has better features too.

Tree Stake Removed

I removed the support on my small oak tree last Saturday afternoon.

The support had come with the tree in the original can it came in.  The nursery said it should be removed only after one growing season.  The nursery itself planted the tree in July 2012.

I could have removed it in 2013 but I forgot until late enough in the season that I decided to wait until spring of 2014.  Even now, a friend worried about removing it.  But I've always had the opposite worry, about leaving the support on too long for the tree to develop correctly.

Here's an article on removing tree stakes.

I still haven't removed the stakes on the Pomagranate, which was planted in August 2012 by some landscaping people.  The tree nearly fell over last year and I had the people who planted it come back and restake it then.  At the time, I feared for its very survival, but it has done OK.  It was problematic for many reasons…basically the hole was made too big in very hard clay soil, backfilled with soft soil, so the tree took on a permanent tilt.  Because of wire in the ground, it had to be placed either too close to the fence (as it was actually planted) or too far into my lot for walking convenience.  Last year it started growing branches on the reverse side, so it is beginning to seem more balanced.  Because of this, I'm putting the unstaking off until next year.  It is only supported very close to the ground.