Scratch-built railroad crossing signal

rr-xing-from-home-store-parts

At first glance you would think this is the real thing, but [Kevin] built this railroad crossing signal from parts you can find at the home store. We keep seeing traffic lights used as web-connected signaling devices. This would be right at home for that type of setup, but [Kevin] built it with railroad enthusiasts in mind. He used Google SketchUp to design the frame for the signal, then … [Read more...]

A doorbell pleasing to both the ears and eyes

campanello-doorbell

When [David] moved into his new house, one of the things he noticed was that his doorbell was pretty lame. Coming from a home equipped with a solenoid and chime bell, his new wireless solid state doorbell sounded terrible to him. Crummy sound aside, the doorbell hardly ever worked properly, but alas, other projects cropped up and years went by before [David] addressed his doorbell problem. Like … [Read more...]

A doorbell loud enough to wake the dead

really_loud_doorbell

[Ed Nauman] runs a machine shop, which we imagine can be quite loud at times. Sick of never hearing the doorbell when he was busy working on things, he decided that the solution to his problem was a new doorbell...an incredibly loud doorbell. His Really Loud Doorbell (RLD for short) is actually a pretty simple device. We imagine he could have wired up an old alarm bell instead, but where’s … [Read more...]

Doorbell hack makes coworkers less annoying

doorbell_wav_player

Hackaday reader [Sprite_tm] works in an office building that used to house several businesses, and as a remnant of the previous configuration, a doorbell sits in the hallway just outside his office. Several of his coworkers get a kick out of ringing the doorbell each time they enter the office. While not annoyed at the practice, he was getting tired of the same old “ding-dong” and decided to … [Read more...]

Growling doorbell lets you know guests have arrived

wireless_doorbell_hack

[Sean] was screwing around online looking for nothing in particular when he came across a mailbox hacked to notify the homeowner when the mail had been delivered. Since his mail is delivered via a slot in the door, he had no use for the hack as is, but something similar soon came to mind. His dog isn’t too keen on visitors, and he figured that he could save himself a bit of grief (and a lot … [Read more...]

Snail mail notification system

IMG_20100930_205211

[Mime] lives on one of the upper levels of an apartment complex. The mailboxes, being located at the ground floor can be somewhat inconvenient to check regularly. [Mime] decided to rig up a device to let him know when his mailbox had been accessed. He started with a wireless doorbell, thinking he could use the door side button inside his mailbox as a trigger with only some slight modification. On … [Read more...]

Replacing the driver board in an old-school door chime

old-school-chime-driver-replacement

[Dan Kouba's] parents replaced their doorbell button with one that lights up and found that the chime wouldn't stop sounding after the button was pushed. These lighted buttons use an incandescent bulb in parallel with the button (a piece of hardware we've hacked in the past). It draws a small amount of current which isn't enough to trigger the chime, but it is just enough that the chime unit … [Read more...]