Our baby monitors (a Sony and a Graco) don't reach from the kids' rooms downstairs to our bedroom upstairs. Why are these things so underpowered? Don't they test them in real houses?
I'm going to buy every model at Fry's and try them all out to see if one is powerful enough. (Why bother with online reviews; I'm a sucker for hands-on, scientific method!) If none of them work, I wonder if there's an easy way to run some sort of wired intercom over our Cat5 cable? When I was a kid we had Radio Shack intercoms that transmitted over the powerline, I think. Do those still exist?
Or is there some kind of computer network based solution?
I was getting excited about using a couple of pairs of Motorola FRS 2-way radios, but then I found out that that is seriously discourage by fans of the over-crowded FRS spectrum, and possibly against FCC rules.
Any recommendations would be great.
8.06.2007
Audio surveillance
Posted by John Edgar Park at 9:28 AM
2 comments:
They probably do test them in real houses. I'm not sure yours is a real house. I've seen lots of houses, and none of them look like yours.
I remember those intercoms! I didn't know they transmitted over the power lines. I wonder if you can find a set of those on ebay?
I looked at intercoms back when I wired my garage. I used a hard wired version, but it was junk. They do have wireless, but I'm sure you would run into the same problem. I've never seen any that use cat5. Could you try inventing some way to broadcast audio over the net? Convoluted, but it might work. And you could monitor the kids using your Blackberry while you drill giant holes in big pieces of steel in the garage.
I've used our GMRS radio's in a pinch (in a hotel room while I was downstairs during a wedding reception). The voice activation is not as good as a baby monitor, so you don't hear the noises that build into screaming, you just suddenly hear screaming (btw, if you find a way to speed up an elevator, let me know for future reference).
Your idea of testing all the monitors available at Fry’s is probably the best idea. The readers of Epinions will love you for it.
They probably do test them in real houses. I'm not sure yours is a real house. I've seen lots of houses, and none of them look like yours.
I remember those intercoms! I didn't know they transmitted over the power lines. I wonder if you can find a set of those on ebay?
I looked at intercoms back when I wired my garage. I used a hard wired version, but it was junk. They do have wireless, but I'm sure you would run into the same problem. I've never seen any that use cat5. Could you try inventing some way to broadcast audio over the net? Convoluted, but it might work. And you could monitor the kids using your Blackberry while you drill giant holes in big pieces of steel in the garage.
I've used our GMRS radio's in a pinch (in a hotel room while I was downstairs during a wedding reception). The voice activation is not as good as a baby monitor, so you don't hear the noises that build into screaming, you just suddenly hear screaming (btw, if you find a way to speed up an elevator, let me know for future reference).
Your idea of testing all the monitors available at Fry’s is probably the best idea. The readers of Epinions will love you for it.
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