Pager Projects: Secopage 35EV

Special applications give the locksmith the opportunity to provide those custom solutions which differentiate him from the competition. You pick up tricks of the trade on the job, by researching (example: reading The Locksmith Ledger) or a combination of both.

I first used Secopage 35EV a long time ago in a job for the Internal Revenue Service. I had just installed an alarm system in their sprawling office and warehouse complex. Since it was the IRS, they had all kinds of equipment and information for which they were bound by law to protect.

They had 24/7 guard service. After hours and weekends, one guard was supposed to protect the entire premises. The problem that was presented for me to solve was: If there is a visitor, a delivery, or some type of alarm while the guard was on tour, how would he know?

I supplied them with a Secopage, which provided a unique and inexpensive solution to their problem.

A few years ago, I was faced with an application challenge when we installed an alarm system for a client who was deaf. He wanted to know when the phone rang, when someone was at the front door, if the alarm was going off, if a hurricane was coming, and if the house was burning down from wherever he was in the house or outside in the yard.

We had lots of auxiliary equipment -- specially designed strobes and vibrators which were OK for when he was in certain rooms, or in certain areas of the yard.

His favorite feature was the Secopage. If someone comes to the door, a pressure mat triggers the pager. If the phone rings, the pager notifies him and answers using a special typewriter-style phone. If his weather radio signals an approaching storm, the pager tells him. If his alarm system is alarming, the pager alerts him.

It is his constant companion, and it brings him an independent lifestyle and peace of mind that makes these special applications rewarding to do.

Last week I was once again asked to solve a similar problem. An office had an access control, but there were frequent visitors. A doorbell could be used to notify staff of a visitor, but that would make a lot of noise and distract office workers.

The person charged with the responsibility of screening guests and letting them into the promises we frequently away from the desk. How could we notify the person there was a visitor wherever they were in the facility without disturbing the rest of the employees, and oh yeah, do it inexpensively? Of course I had plenty of ideas, but the solution they went for was Secopage.

Secopage monitors up to two zones per premises or vehicle, plus has a manual paging button included which is handy for set-up purposes.

You are able to connect to nearly any type of burglar alarm control panel, vehicle alarm, communications panel to the transmitter, either a voltage input or a dry contact.

The transmitter is a miniature size and is easily concealed anywhere inside car or customer premises. I used a 1500mA switching wall wart power supply like I use for IR video surveillance cameras to power the transmitter.

The Secopage uses Citizen Band frequencies to operate, and the transmitter requires an antenna. What type of antenna you will require depends completely on the installation environment, but you MUST connect some sort of antenna to the transmitter, if for no other reason to ‘load’ the transmitter output so it doesn’t burn itself out. I was pressed for time on this project and could not wait for delivery of the antenna SECO offers, so I ran over to Best Buy and got one from the automotive installer. She had one which had the right coupler on it and at a reasonable price, and it worked like a charm.

Secopage Features

Positive and negative instant input triggers.

Range up to 1 mile (4W output). Actual range may vary, depending on environment, installation, and/or antenna.

More than 1 million possible coding combinations.

Connect to a CB antenna, car AM radio antenna (cable included), or strip antenna (E-35ANT).

Automatic power antenna control.

Immunity circuit to eliminate false alarms.

Belt-clip receiver (Model E-35RV) (Included)

Code learning receiver learns up to 3 transmitters.

Alphanumeric display indicates which zone (1 or 2, or manual) of which premises or vehicle (A, B, C) was triggered.

EEPROM design stores codes up to 1 year without power.

Stores the last 6 pages for easy recall.

Unattended page indicator.

Low battery indicator (2 AAA batteries not included).

For more information on Seco-Larm products, contact your local locksmith distributor or Seco-Larm, telephone 800-662-0800, Web Site: www. Seco-larm.com..

Essex PEB Pushbutton Switch

We needed to provide a stylish and easy-to-see visitor button for guests to press in order to trigger the pager.

My first choice for pushbuttons is Essex. They look great and last forever.

Essex PEB Series Piezoelectric Switches are industrial grade, stainless steel, illuminated, timed electronic soft touch piezo buttons designed to operate in various high-use, harsh and vandal prone environments. They are designed for all commercial, institutional and industrial indoor and high demanding outdoor applications.

The PEB Series feature a unique jumper selectable, bi-colored illumination status. Brilliant red, vibrant green or no illumination can be selected to show Relay ON or Relay OFF status. Illumination can also be controlled externally.

PEB Series features include:

Superior Vandal Resistance

Stainless Steel Construction

Weather Resistant Design IP65

Two Outputs

Adjustable 1 to 40 second output time

Essex PEB Series Switches can be custom engraved (Red) or laser marked (Black).

Essex proprietary Piezoelectric Switch Technology

Circuit Assembly Encapsulation

Vandal Resistant Stainless Steel Construction

Field Selectable Illumination