# Quick and Easy Way To Make Sound Activated Props Work as Motion Activated



## A Guy In Town (Sep 5, 2016)

So, does your modification create a dry contact, or a DC voltage source? You say this will trigger props, but HOW?



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## Scary Papa (Jan 31, 2012)

Sorry A Guy In Town, , I think you might have found this post before I was actually finished with it. The system works by sending a signal to the speaker just as it would if it was being used as designed for a driveway alert that chimes. The difference is with the speaker removed from the receiver and placed over the sound sensor of the prop and with the 5 or 10 ohm resister wired into one of the speaker wires the speaker doesn't chime but it will still activate the sound sensor. That was the tip from BobbyA that makes this system work so great.


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

Thanks Scary Papa for the tutorial. I was one of those who asked for it and will be doing a few of these for next year's props. Great photos and everything looks clearly laid out and will be easy enough to do. Like the tip on the glue when ready to paint. As for the channel heads up, I still remember ROTFLOL reading your original post somewhere on the original driveway alert thread where you figured out the importance of the channels! So vivid I can still picture the chaos I envisoned reading your description. The haunt was in a barn if I remember correctly. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to do the tutorial.


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

Great tutorial, Scary Papa! I've been meaning to make some of these and hopefully I will soon.
Thanks!


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## Eigengrau (Sep 4, 2013)

could you eliminate the speaker all together and solder those wires directly from the motion sensor to the sound sensor in the prop? would the motion sensor then activate the prop?


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## iggyman72 (Oct 17, 2012)

Fantastic step by step! Thank you for taking the time to create the tutorial. Much appreciated.

Lovely Day...


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## Scary Papa (Jan 31, 2012)

Ghost of Spookie, Yeah that first year was really a hoot. That was the first year I figured out that the driveway alerts could be used to trigger sound activated props but I wasn't smart enough to realize that if I used more than one alert on the same channel when one PIR activated it would send a signal to all of the receivers on the same channel. Actually our haunt is not in our barn but outside on ten acres. It was hilarious when all those props would activate at the same time. Finally BobbyA took pity on me and told me how to find the channel each alert worked on on the back of the box. Who knew? Anyway, thanks for the reply and nice comment.

Hey DaveintheGrave, good to hear from you again. Glad you thought the tut might be helpful.

Eigengrau, I am not expert on electronics so this questions might be better answered by BobbyA or J-Man or one of the other gifted forum members but I don't think removing the sound sensor from the prop and wiring in the driveway alert directly to the sound sensor wires would work, I believe the sound activated props work on receiving an actual audio input to trigger. That is what happens with the speaker on the driveway alert triggers even though with the resister inline you can't hear any sound. I think by removing the sound sensor from the prop it would not activate. However, I now remember doing just this very thing on a cheap snoring skeleton I bought and it actually did (and still does) work but afterward I was told that this might burn out some of the electronic components so I never tried it again since this method is so successful.

iggyman72, thank you so much for the nice comment. Let me know how it works for you if you try it.


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## ScaryCanuck (Sep 13, 2010)

apologies for the silly question but what is PIR ?


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## Scary Papa (Jan 31, 2012)

ScaryChuck, not a silly questionnat all. PIR means Passive Infra Red. A PIR can detect slight changes in tenperature such as the change in temperature of the environment when a person passes in front of the PIR sensor. It acts sort of like a switch and props.that are motion activated use PIR's for their triggers. At least that's what the big boys tell me.


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## doto (Nov 20, 2009)

Your tutorials are always well done, and allow many of us with lesser knowledge to achieve things we couldn't otherwise....Thank You.


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## Scary Papa (Jan 31, 2012)

doto, thanks. I am happy that the tuts seem to be a little helpful to my forum friends. But I have to say I am really not very knowledgeable about any of this stuff. It is mostly trial and error and a little bit of theft of other members ideas along the way...LOL


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## JoBu2016 (Sep 19, 2016)

So if the motion sensor is re-activated again before the prop has finished it's thing will it shut off or reset the prop? 

Also, what happens if you don't wire it with the resistor? will it not work or break something


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## Scary Papa (Jan 31, 2012)

JoBu2016, excellent question. The answer is no. Once the PIR activates the prop it will go through its normal sequence (whatever that may be) and will not stop or reset if people walk in front of the PIR during its routine. 50 people can walk in front of the PIR while the prop is activated and nothing will happen. Once the prop is finished with its routine it will reset normally and then will activate again if the PIR is triggered by someone subsequently walking in front of it. This set up does nothing to change the way the prop operates. The prop will function the same way if would if someone triggered the prop through the normal sound sensor. All this setup does is trigger the sound sensor.


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## jtrothrock (Aug 30, 2016)

I went to Harbor Freight today to look at the driveway alarms and noticed they have three different model numbers. There was only one model number, 93068,had channel number on it and they only had one in stock. The instructions for the other two did not mention the ability to change the channel internally. Can you change the frequency internally on the mode numbers 62447 and 61910? I would love to implement this idea however if I cannot get ones with different channels or change the channels in the other two models then I unfortunately will have to look elsewhere for these alarms. Can anyone provide any input on the different models? Thanks.


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## tinafromidaho (May 8, 2008)

I love these things, I use them on larger props and do it the idiots way by just turning the volume down to the "low" setting for the chime sound and zip tying the receiver part up against the prop sensor that's triggered by sound and camouflaging it either under a dress or something. It has worked incredibly well for me. I will save this and possibly to the "high tech" version in you tutorial. I have to say though, even the way I do it is awesome. This is one of the best things I've learned.


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## Scary Papa (Jan 31, 2012)

jtrothrock, yes the driveway alerts that do not have a channel designation can be changed to different channels. BobbyA provided this information in one of the numerous replies to my original tutorial on using these driveway alerts. He said you can change the channel by moving the jumpers on the circuit board. However, I have never tried this as I normally can find these alerts at Harbor Freight with different channel designations. Here is the link to my original post where BobbyA provides the tip on how to change the channel designtion. Hope this helps.

http://www.halloweenforum.com/tutor...923-extremely-simply-pir-prop-trigger-16.html


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## Scary Papa (Jan 31, 2012)

tinafromidaho, I'm glad the tutorial was useful for you. It really is a quick and easy way to use a PIR to activate props. However, I do really encourage you to give the improved method a try by simply extending the speaker wires and adding a 10 ohm resistor. You will be amazed at the result. And it is not really hard at all once you do it the first time.


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## Scary Papa (Jan 31, 2012)

tinafromidaho, I am glad this information was useful for you and that your props work so well using this setup. However, I would encourage you to try the improved version by simply cutting the speaker wires and extending the speaker and adding a 10 ohm resistor to one of the speaker wires. It is very easy to do and you will be amazed at the result. Oops looks like my original reply posted after all. My Bad!!


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## Scary Papa (Jan 31, 2012)

Oops...I believe I forgot what I think is an important point when hacking the driveway alert. When you paint the sending and receiving units be sure to tape over the PIR window in the sending unit. If you paint over the PIR window the sending unit will be blind and cannot see out. And don't forget to remove the tape after painting the sending unit. Also, tape over the LED light in the front of the sending unit and the lights on the front of the receiving unit. Also, tape over the "ON/OFF" switch and the "HI / LO" switch on the receiving unit. I use painters tape but you can use any tape that you want. It is important to tape over these places so you don't cover the markings. You will want to be able to see which is 'ON" and which is "OFF" on the receiver as well as which is the "HI" and LO" setting on the receiver after you paint it. You will also need to be able to see the lights working on both the sending unit and the receiving unit in the event you are not sure if the unit is working. If you have painted over them you will most likely not be able to see them light up. You can just lift off the tape to see if the lights light up. If the lights light up it is working. You can then just cover them again with another piece of tape. Also, tape over the 6v adapter port as you don't want to get paint there and foul the plug receiver in case you decide to use a power adapter to power the receiver. I leave the tape in place except for the "ON" /"OFF" switch on the receiver and the PIR window on the sending unit because I don't want the lights to be seen when the unit activates in the Haunted Forest. I"m sure everyone is smarter than me and already figured this out but just in case I thought I would try to keep you from learning the hard way like I did.









One other thing I do when painting is I do not paint the bottom of either the sending unit or the receiver. Here is where I write the channel number of the alert and also what I set the alert up to trigger. I have several props in our haunt that use these driveway alerts (about 25) so I don't want to get mixed up and put a channel 9 sending unit to trigger a Dracula prop with a channel 14 receiver. Believe me when I tell you...IT WON'T WORK ! However, it will trigger the Headless Harry prop at the other end of the Cemetery...don't ask....


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## PennyCash (Aug 29, 2013)

Thank you for this tut as mechanically challenged as I am it's pretty clear and straight forward.... Awesome!


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## Scary Papa (Jan 31, 2012)

PennyCash, You are very welcome. Please try this. It is pretty quick, very easy, and works really well for just a cheap way to make your sound and motion activated props work with a PIR


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## jtrothrock (Aug 30, 2016)

Just did the first one of these and am thoroughly impressed at how easy it was and well it worked. Got a few more to do.


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## ScaryCanuck (Sep 13, 2010)

Pardon my ignorance here and i am needing to make this adjustment to my props, but what is pir?

Cheers


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## Scary Papa (Jan 31, 2012)

ScaryCanuck, no worries. I didn't know what that meant either when I started. A PIR means "Passive Infra Red". The PIR sensor will measure the heat given off by someone walking in front of the sensor window and will trigger based on the difference in the temperature of the heat source (person) and the ambient temperature. This is a very simple explanation and I am by no means an expert on electronics. Other forum members can give you a lot better explanation of how these things work.


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## Scary Papa (Jan 31, 2012)

jtrothrock Yep, they are quick, easy and cheap.


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## jtrothrock (Aug 30, 2016)

The driveway alerts are on sale for $9.99 right now with coupon. Gonna pick a couple more up this week.


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## Jason stewart (Oct 7, 2016)

So I just did this hack and soldered in a 10 ohm resistor and the speaker still chimes when activated. I tried moving it to the other wire with no change. Anyone have any idea what might be going on??


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## Hauntings by Design (Jan 2, 2010)

This is a great tut. Thanks for sharing.


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## Jason stewart (Oct 7, 2016)

I replaced the resistor I had used with a different 10 ohm one and still get a chime from the speaker. I followed the directions explicitly. Anyone have any idea why I still get a chime? Any help would be greatly appreciated.


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## Scary Papa (Jan 31, 2012)

Jason, I just bought a couple of new driveway alerts and I actually had the same issue. I don't know why. I have had no problems like this with my other driveway alerts and I have a lot of them on various props. I just put in a 15 ohm resistor and it solved this problem for me regarding the new alerts. You also might try putting the speaker volume to the low setting if you haven't tried that yet. I did notice that the new driveway alerts I bought had the "ON/OFF" and Speaker "HI / LO" on the same switch rather than two different switches. J-Man or BobbyA may know what is going on with this.


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## Jason stewart (Oct 7, 2016)

Thanks for the update I will give a 15 a shot. Thanks again.


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## Jason stewart (Oct 7, 2016)

I tried both high and low settings. It was loud either way. I have it triggering a flying cackling reaper, the ding dong of the chime eveytime someone moved was almost comical.


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## FS3 (Jun 19, 2012)

I found out this evening I could tie the speaker leads from the reciever into a plug and use it as a step pad trigger. Not sure if it's bad for the prop but works great. Really increased thr range and reliability of the trigger. I have this clown i wanted to mount up in a tree and was having trouble triggering it up so high.
Also the speaker seems like it works as a step trigger. I took a step here pad apart and it looks just like the speaker..


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