# Talking Motion Detectors



## emrldtrtle (Sep 25, 2004)

*Is this a dumb question?*

I just checked this out and was wondering if these are "buy it now" type items or a regular bidding item? I don't see a number for bidders and, well, I'm just a little confused.  How did you get them? Wanted to ask you before I asked the seller.


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## noahbody (Sep 20, 2003)

It is a "dutch" auction. Which means you can bid on all of them or just one.
If you are interested, below the your max bid enter the quantity you want and then place your bid.


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## emrldtrtle (Sep 25, 2004)

Thanx, noahbody.  First time with that sort of bidding.


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## john (Aug 9, 2004)

Great tip. I think I'll get a few of these. Thanks.


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## Mr Unpleasant (Feb 25, 2005)

I bought 3 of 'em. We'll see how they work when they get here. Planned on using one to add sound to my static owl and one to use for creepy voices when tots walk past the graveyard & and an extra for what our siister minds can come up with. Even though the auction ended he seems to have plenty more to sell.


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## Joel (Aug 31, 2004)

*Anyone?*

Anyone get these yet? Interested in the sound quality. Heck, even if they are a little low in sound quality, beats having to buy the radio-shack kits for $10 and they can always be hacked. Good find Mr. Unpleseant!


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## Marksin (Sep 18, 2004)

let us know how they work as soon as you can Mr Unpleasant


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## noahbody (Sep 20, 2003)

Still waiting for mine (3), I am hopeing they will get here tomorrow.


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## Haunted Howes (Jun 6, 2005)

I have gotten 5 of them and ordered 4 more. The sound is great - clear and loud. Much better then the radio shack units. I think they are well worth the asking price. 

Just my opinion - curious on other opinions.


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## Otaku (Sep 10, 2004)

These look like a pretty good deal for setting up local sound effects. How are they triggered? The pic looks like they use a CdS (light/dark) sensor. Thanks!


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## Marksin (Sep 18, 2004)

what power source battery or plug?.


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## Kronax (Dec 28, 2004)

I bought two of these voice recorders and received them today. I tried them out and they work fine. I used batteries and also a 6volt transformer. Decent sound and it can get loud. Definitely worth the money. I give this two thumbs up.


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## Mr Unpleasant (Feb 25, 2005)

It may take a couple more days for mine to get here. They are/were in California & I'm in NY but I let you all know as soon as I give them the test run. I throughly expect to have to hack a little on these, but we'll see.


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## Skelly215 (Sep 22, 2004)

The seller has listed the item again, with 20 available as of this moment. Here's the link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Talking-Motion-...Z5793616540QQcategoryZ910QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


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## noahbody (Sep 20, 2003)

When I bid on mine he three otheer auctions for more of them. He is going to clean up this year.


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## Joel (Aug 31, 2004)

Got 4 on the way...


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## superstein (Oct 13, 2004)

Do you know how it detects motion?

I had a problem last year at my outdoor haunt when a few motion activated items didn't activate when it was dark. I am assuming they use some type of light sensor since I had no problem during my daylight testing

How do folks get around this? Do you basically use lighting between the path where the TOT would go and the prop?

Thanks

I


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

I had the same problem last year, but it was a cheap sound box I got at the drug store. I've got one of the ones from E-bay on the way, mainly to check it out and see how well it works. I'm hoping it works just like the motion detection on outdoor light fixtures.


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## Mr Unpleasant (Feb 25, 2005)

Hi all, I just received my Talking Motion Detectors and I think they will work fine for adding isolated sounds or voices to a prop. A few of things to mention: they run on batteries or 6v adapter(not included), the motion detector max range in a dimmly lit area seems to be about 6-8 feet and can adjusted, the sound quality is better than expected but still a little intercom like, but can also be adjusted. The mike picks up sound fairly well, including mouth breathing when you speak into directly. All in all, I'd say money well spent and it should add those extra little touches without the pain in the butt of wiring and have to set up a motion sensor.


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## Dr Ghastly (Apr 13, 2005)

I got mine today (and have another on the way). So far I am pleased with it. Relatively nice sound quality, and it makes the addition of sound to my props a lot less complicated than I had planned.

A couple observations and questions -
1) I don't see an on/off switch on this thing - am I missing it? The battery cover screws on, so surely you wouldn't need to remove the batteries every time you wanted to turn it off?
2) There is a small jack for a 6V adaptor. I am thinkingo f using a wall wort with this - what should I set the polarity to?
3) What's the hole next to the adaptor jack?
4) There are two knobs on the back, one labelled "V" and the other "R". SUrely V is for volume (althoughseems to work backward from usual) - but what is the R knob?
5) Batteries not included :-(


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## Joel (Aug 31, 2004)

R = Range AKA motion sensor sensitivity.


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## Jon (Feb 16, 2004)

Thanks alot for posting this! I just ordered 3! If i like them alot, i will end up ordering mine.


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## Mr Unpleasant (Feb 25, 2005)

Anyone else notice that when you first fire these things up that it sounds like some chinese girl screaming into it as a test? Anyway, I've discover another use for this thing, if any of you read my thread about the Bog Monster you'll know that I think it's hysterical to scare people in the bathroom (They are most vulnerable in there and they think they are safe & alone...not so!). I hid one of them in the shower this morning and waited for Mrs Unpleasant to begin her day. The scream was piercing and all I could do was laugh. Of course now I'm in trouble for the rest of day but it was worth it : )

P.S. I think she still loves me anyway


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## Joel (Aug 31, 2004)

Sick, sick man... I LOVE IT!


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## HouHaunter (Jun 9, 2005)

Just got my three today, put one in the bathroom and got plenty of complaints 
Motion detector is real sensitive and triggers easily. Battery operated which is great when your short on outlets like me.


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## Lurks in the shadows (Mar 12, 2005)

Yep, got my three yesterday, wife hates them already!


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## isis11571 (Sep 7, 2004)

i ordered some of these. didn't think about the restroom bit but come to think of it i have a tiny tot who loves to sneak of to the restroom and pour out shampoos,lotions,ect.
thinking placing one in there before he pours again,
could you image him hearing mommy say "Jaxs get out of that!"and shes no where to be seen?
ha !


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## Gothikim (Jul 25, 2005)

Mine were delivered a couple of days ago, and I'm also pretty pleased for the $. I'm bidding on a couple more. The only thing I don't like is the squawky static noise when it senses motion & turns on, but I think if I fiddle with it, I can minimize that. 

Isis11571, you are SO onto something! I think one or 2 of mine may find their way into areas in which my DD (2 yrs) shouldn't be hanging about. May as well get some use out of them before the Big Day!!!


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## Sooz (Aug 3, 2005)

Puuuuuuuurfect find for our low budg haunt! I was just going to burn cd's of sound effects spread out with three or four minute spacers... and *hope*.  Talked hubs into getting at least one, since even if our committee decides not to haunt, we'll have something to yell at the Siamese Terror-in-Fur Twins when they jump on the counter when we're not home!


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## sisvicki (Jan 30, 2004)

Mr Unpleasant, that is hilarious!

Got my six last week, and yes, I heard the chinese woman, too! That was kinda creepy all by itself.

Gothikim, if you figure out how to minimize that, let me know. We played with ours and thought the knob labeled "R" was the motion sensititvity and the "V" was the volume. But after fooling with them, we never could get them back to the way they came.

Also, anyone know what the in and out stuff on the bottom is for? It looks kinda like headphone jacks or something. Just wondering if you could hook the boxes up to the computer to "copy" sounds from the internet? Or is it link more than one together?

I am excited to use these in my graveyard this year!


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## Joel (Aug 31, 2004)

I have some of the same questions and some answers. The port on the bottom that takes a barrel plug is for a 6 vDC wall-wart. The other looks like a microphone port. The linking thing is also a posibility, but if not, I think I can come up with a quick hack to allow you to link two or more together. Also, inside there is a three-pin jumper. Not sure what it is for, but I'm working on it. A simple capacitor between the speaker leads may get rid of the turn-on-pop - again, I'm working on it. If someone else (preferably with a little more than my hobbiest level electronics knowledge) would step-up that would be GREAT! I must admit though, they are better than I had anticipated.


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## madmax (Dec 28, 2003)

The great thing about these...if you like them. The person selling them has thousands, at least that's what they told me. Shipping is a little high.....$3.50 each but They told me that if I order a large lot, shipping would be actual cost. Not $3.50 a unit.

If one of the holes in the bottom is a headphone jack. You will be able to hook these up to a PC speaker. If it's a mic. you should be able to record straight from your PC by using a wire(some else will have to name this wire) from the plug on the recorder to the out mic on your pc.


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## Joel (Aug 31, 2004)

Anyone asked the person selling them if he/she has any data on them?


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## Sooz (Aug 3, 2005)

madmax said:


> If one of the holes in the bottom is a headphone jack. You will be able to hook these up to a PC speaker. If it's a mic. you should be able to record straight from your PC by using a wire(some else will have to name this wire) from the plug on the recorder to the out mic on your pc.


I don't know the name of it, but the cable was less than $5 at Wal-Mart. I bought one to pull audio off of a cassette player onto my computer, just has two male plugs, one on each end. Pretty universal & was easy to find. Worked great.

My auction doesn't end until tomorrow (how long did it take ya'll to get yours?), and as soon as I have it in-hand I'll give it a try and let you know.


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## madmax (Dec 28, 2003)

I just sent my payment, snail mail today so it'll be 7 to 10 days before I get the ones I bought. After seeing them I plan on buying 20+ if they are what Im expecting.


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## Sooz (Aug 3, 2005)

Well, I'll keep tabs on the thread. I'm sure someone will have tried it before I get mine but if not I'll surely post the results!


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## Joel (Aug 31, 2004)

Snooz is correct. The one bottom plug is for a mic or computer input. Mic must be a high-efficiency condensor mic based on my tests. Make sure if you use a computer you use a mono-plug. Still working on the turn-on-pop...


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## pandora (Jul 15, 2004)

Well just paid for two of these yesterday - I really hope they're cool. Can't wait!!!! Nothing like Halloween goodies in the mail to get you going!!!


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## Mr Unpleasant (Feb 25, 2005)

Joel said:


> Anyone asked the person selling them if he/she has any data on them?


 Joel, I asked the sellers but they didn't know. This is the response I got

Hi, 
I'm not sure, but I think that they can be hooked up to 
something else. They didn't come with any instructions, 
so we don't exactly know. Sorry I'm not more help. 
thanks, 
Lise


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## Otaku (Sep 10, 2004)

Joel et al,
I'll wager that the 3-pin jumper is used for single-shot playback or looping depending on it's position. If the port in the bottom can be used for recording from a PC sound card, the playback quality will be greatly improved. One could also attach a 1/8" female plug to the speaker wires (assumng the speaker doubles as the mic in these units) and record directly that way.


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## goofry (Jul 21, 2005)

I tried the jumper on the second position and got a single playback. Nothing with the jumper removed. I'm not sure if there was a recycle time for the single playback position as my 2 year old was needing more attention than the talking box was.


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## Joel (Aug 31, 2004)

I have been unable to find a purpose for the jumper other than to disable the device. No reset is done and no cycling. BTW, the max record time is 20 seconds, not the 1 minute as advertised...


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## sisvicki (Jan 30, 2004)

Joel - seems the one I timed only gave me about 6 seconds. I wonder if that's something that can be adjusted, too?


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## lex (Apr 24, 2005)

Seems like a quick solution for sound effects . Good stuff


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## headlesshorseman (Jun 29, 2004)

Thanks for the heads up on these!! I put my bid in for 5 of them to start with, hopefully no one comes in and raises the bid on me...LOL!!


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## murf1013 (Jun 25, 2005)

ok you've all peaked my interest. could someone explain to me what exactly these are? and i'm not having an actual 'haunt', but i'd like to have some sound fx coming from the ghoul i'll have at the front corner of my graveyard. could i use one of these for something like that?

thanks heaps guys!!!


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## Sooz (Aug 3, 2005)

They're small black boxes that you record a short message/sound effect in (sort of like those keyrings that you can record reminder messages in). We think there's a port to connect to your PC soundcard to record audio directly from your PC to it or to use a microphone with to try to get a better quality recording, I have the cord to do the PC thing, just have to wait for mine to be delivered to test it.

Once you have your message on there you set the volume and motion sensor sensitivity. Set it up where you expect some foot traffic. The message plays whenever someone trips the motion sensor.

This guy isn't sending adaptors with it so unless you have one that will work with it, it's batteries only.

Am I describing it properly?


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## murf1013 (Jun 25, 2005)

thanks sooz! that helps alot! and i think i may have to bid on at least 1


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## Joel (Aug 31, 2004)

The record time is determined by the memory chip inside. Could be that these are seconds with bad chips. Basicly the same as the Radio Shack recorders with a motion detector for the trigger. It will record until you release the record button or the chip's memory is full. Hold down the record button and time how long the red LED stays on. That is your maximum record time. Haven't had any time to play with them lately. Did notice the low-light sensitivity is rather poor...


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## isis11571 (Sep 7, 2004)

these things are awsome ,had to get more, baby grabbed one and sang "twinkle twinkle little star" now i can't bare to rerecord over it, my son(16) grabbed one now when we enter his room one hears "get out!"
hid the other before daughter could find but ,if one has one ,they all get one,
maybe the next ones will be mine
great clear sound,volume is awsome!


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## Skelly215 (Sep 22, 2004)

LOL Isis, I'll have to hide mine from the kids when they get here!


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## Grunge1 (Aug 4, 2005)

Has anyone had success connecting to the motion detector and recording a sound from your pc? I tried just connecting a microphone to it, but it won't record. I did figure out that when I plugged in the mic, it disabled the mic on the motion sensor.


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## Mr Unpleasant (Feb 25, 2005)

It's definitely not another power plug. If tried connecting speakers both powered and unpowered but neither worked. I've tried using a computer microphone to record but that didn't work either. Maybe the microphones for the PC are digital and the TMD isn't. I dont know, I've given up and I am just going to take it for what it is.


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## Sooz (Aug 3, 2005)

I'm still waiting for mine to arrive, but it should be coming in the next couple of days. My auction ended on Friday so if they shipped it right away... (one can always hope!)...

The minute I get it I'll be trying a direct hookup to my pc soundcard with the patch cord I have with two male ends. I hope that works... I really don't want to have to hold the thing up to the speaker to transfer sound effects... but it sounds like it might not.

However if it did disable the internal mic with something plugged into it, chances are hopeful that _something_ will work. I have a compatible vocal mic that I can try (at least the plug is compatible), but it's not of the karaoke variety that you can get for cheap, so I hope that doesn't make a difference.


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## Joel (Aug 31, 2004)

The input that takes a 1/8" male phono plug is for an external input. Tried it. If you use a microphone, it may not work as the system is set up to use a high-efficiency mic. When you plug in the MONO (it must be a mono male phono plug), you physically disconnect the condensor mic built into the back. You may have to turn your sound card up a little...


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

I got mine and it seems to work very well. I noticed the volume knob works backwards from normal. Mine came with a recording of what sounds like a kid saying "Is it on?" I haven't tried it in low light, though.


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## Shilo341 (Aug 28, 2003)

I got two and they seem to work great inside or outside in daylight.The only problem is I want to use them at night in a woods.W#hen I point a flashlight directly at the sensor and then turn it away it activates.If I simply walk by in the dark it does nothing.I was really counting on these in my haunt,so if anyone can help PLEASE do.Rick


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## borrom (Aug 18, 2004)

*stereo plug*

I got mine yesterday and hooked it to my computer with a stereo plug and it worked fine. I had recorded parts of mp3 songs to test and they worked well. I agree they work better with good lighting. I did have an idea though not sure what light bands a light motion sensor receives but if it will take uv or infrared you could setup an led pointing at it in pitch black and when peple break the bean it would go off. Of course this is hoping the the sensor "sees" infrared or uv. If not leaving a flashlight pointed at it will make a good motion beam but kind of give it away.

Also as far as shutting them off there is no off switch but I find if you turn the Range all the way down they will not trigger at all effectivly turning it off.


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## Sooz (Aug 3, 2005)

How long did it take you guys to get yours after your auction ended?

My auction has been over for more than a week and I Paypaled the money within minutes of the end of the auction. I emailed them first thing yesterday morning asking for confirmation that they received the payment and for the ship date... and haven't yet received a response. I was hoping either I'd get a response or the item today, but no dice.

I'm not all that worried _yet_. I would've hoped for a faster response to my email, and I did expect it to be here by now though.


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## madmax (Dec 28, 2003)

I think they are out of the office from friday till monday. That's what they told me and I always had a qucik reply from them.


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## Vlad (Nov 2, 2003)

We just bought two off of the last auction. I'm hoping to add sound to Black Cats werewolf.


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## scorpio (May 9, 2005)

I bought three of them and the auction ended on the 12th I too have not received mine. I have not emailed them as of yet but if no arrival Monday first thing Tuesday I will contact them.


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## SouthernBelle (Aug 30, 2004)

I purchased two of them on the 10th of August and have not received them. I paid the same day.

I have emailed them twice with no response at all. I'm beginning to get very suspicious. :-(


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## madmax (Dec 28, 2003)

I noticed a pattern about this seller. They left feedback on the same date for everyone in each auction. So they could be shipping everyone that bidded on the same day.

Other words, if 4 people won the digital recorders, from the same auction. Feedback was left on the same date for those 4 people. Now if, someone like me was paying by mail and 3 others wwere paying by paypal. I could be the hold up on the shipping. They might be leaving feedback and doing the shipping for each auction....not each winner......Just a guess on my part. But you can't a better feedback rating than the 100% this seller has.


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## Sooz (Aug 3, 2005)

hmmm... I've not received feedback from them yet. I must've bid on the same auction as Scorpio, mine ended that day, too.

I still have faith that everything is on track, it _has_ only been a week and two days. But, if I don't have the item or a return email from them by the two week mark, I'll be a bit perturbed.


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## madmax (Dec 28, 2003)

I got the ones I won today....auction ended on the 9th


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## skidude (Aug 23, 2004)

FYI,

I receive my 3 today, from an auction that closed on the 15th...


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## Sooz (Aug 3, 2005)

Hmm. Must've held a bunch to ship all at the same time. Maybe I'll get mine today. I wish they'd write back with the ship date or just confirmation they got the money... something.


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## scorpio (May 9, 2005)

still nothing as of yet.


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## scarefx (Jul 25, 2004)

I got mine yesterday for an auction that ended on the 11th. Played around with it last night. Motion detection seems a little random. But for $8.50 we can't expect too much.


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## SouthernBelle (Aug 30, 2004)

Well I finally got a reply email (after 4 tries) and get this ... She emailed me that I gave her a P.O. Box by mistake. What a crock!!!!! I don't have (nor have I ever had) a P.O. Box!!! And I read a feedback given to her that she told someone else the same kind of thing (mix up of address).

I think she's stalling. For whatever reason, I have no idea. But I won mine on the 10th and they still have not arrived.

Grrrrrrrrr..........

*mad face*


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## Sooz (Aug 3, 2005)

I've emailed twice just asking for confirmation of received payment and a shipping date. No response yet, first email sent a week ago.

Gotta give her a D minus on communication. I've never left anything but positive feedback but I'm thinking on giving at least a neutral. If it goes on for another week or two with no delivery and no communication, I'd be forced to leave a negative.  It's not like it's on back order!


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## Skelly215 (Sep 22, 2004)

I bought 3 from the auction ending 8/15 and they arrived today. I paid with a money order sent off 8/17. Of course, I'm in California and so is the seller, so that might have sped things up a little.


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## Sooz (Aug 3, 2005)

Yup, all the more reason for us to wonder what the heck is going on over there... it's really odd.

I'm still giving the benefit of the doubt and will wait another week before raising hell. At that point it will have been three weeks... no communication and no delivery by then is rediculous by most seller's standards. Hopefully I'll get it tomorrow and can forget about it.


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## SouthernBelle (Aug 30, 2004)

I hate to leave negatives but I've done it before and won't hesitate to do it on this one. This is ridiculous!


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## SouthernBelle (Aug 30, 2004)

Update: She just emailed me and gave me a full refund. Some story about "shipper lost a fax with all of the orders and information", blah, blah, blah .....

What should I do? Should I leave a negative? A neutral maybe?

Man, I really wanted these, too. :-(


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## netsirk (Oct 6, 2004)

Just got mine today for auction won on the 18th. He sent it ground UPS, which I am sure cost a pretty penny considering I am in Alaska. Have yet to try them out though.


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## madmax (Dec 28, 2003)

SouthernBelle said:


> Update: She just emailed me and gave me a full refund. Some story about "shipper lost a fax with all of the orders and information", blah, blah, blah .....
> 
> What should I do? Should I leave a negative? A neutral maybe?
> 
> Man, I really wanted these, too. :-(



This person has tons of these so, I can't see why, she wouldn't sell you some more. I'm not trying to make excuses for this person (I don't know her/them) but with over 500 sells and a 100% rating. I would tend to believe her reason for the mix up. It still doesn't excus her not returning e-mails but unless a person on ebay has a pattern of sells like this.......I would believe them, this time. So, I just wouldn't leave any feedback, at this time. If it happens to a few more people then I would pop her with a negative.


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## goofry (Jul 21, 2005)

I actually purchased 4 of these. I only won 1 the first time to see if I liked it. That took at least two weeks to arrive. I sent an email asking for shipping info, and when I got home it was on my doorstep. I did get an email back a couple of days later.

I went ahead and ordered 3 more and those came pretty quickly.

I usually try to look for the best in people and give them the benefit of the doubt.


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## flybriz (Aug 4, 2005)

I won 4 of these on the 12th of August and have not seen hide nor hair of them. I just emailed today to see what the dillio is.


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## DaveintheGrave (Feb 12, 2004)

Sounds like the lady is posting things for sale on ebay that she doesn't have in hand yet.
And/or she is trying to sell too much at the same time and can't keep up with the shipment part of the deal.
I bought one and had to E-mail the seller also. By the time she responded, I already had the box.
A good seller on ebay will E-mail you to let you know they received payment and also when it will be shipped.


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## Grunge1 (Aug 4, 2005)

I received my shipment a few weeks ago, but I did email her when I got no response after winning the auction. I received an automated response saying she was out of town and would be back in a few days. I received everything a week later. Maybe she didn't expect this much demand for these little buggers.


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## Sooz (Aug 3, 2005)

...and I'm still waiting...  

It irritates me that a person in Alaska whose auction ended six days after mine received theirs already and I'm still waiting!!! (Although I'm happy you got 'em  )

S. Belle, it sounds to me like she just didn't want to deal with it. Her excuse now is to say she keeps such poor records that she doesn't have the shipping order she recently faxed, in order to fax it again? Well, at least she emailed you. She still hasn't responded to me, and I'm afraid if I send anymore emails she might decide to get me off her back by cancelling mine, too. And I had the perfect spot for this in our haunt.  

Something doesn't add up.


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## Marksin (Sep 18, 2004)

Got a couple of these,they could really come in handy , for props or animatronics with no sound.


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## MsMeeple (Aug 21, 2004)

I keep seeing you all refer to the person as a 'she'.
I bought three as well and according to my receipt it was sent to a John Roscoe?
I had problems setting up the paypal acct to pay for it. Seems I was on the american ebay site instead of the dutch one. I did finally manage to set one up and paid for the items. Hopefully they will be sent to my friend is cincinnati who will then send them to me with a few other items.
I hope this wasn't too complicated for "her"
I could check, but from what I'm reading here that doesnt seem to help.


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## SouthernBelle (Aug 30, 2004)

MsMeeple said:


> I keep seeing you all refer to the person as a 'she'.
> I bought three as well and according to my receipt it was sent to a John Roscoe?


The email I got was from someone named Lise Hayes but the refund I got through Paypal was from Cousins Distributing so I have no idea who she/he/they are.

I just know that I am really bummed that I won't be getting them. Waaaaahhhhh!!!!!!! :-(


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## Hacknslash (Aug 23, 2005)

My email recipt was from John somebody as well....I was thinking it was a "he".


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## Sooz (Aug 3, 2005)

Well, guess what? No response to any emails, but I got the thing today. Not only that but arrived FedEx overnight. I'll leave a positive but note the no communication problem.

Can't ask for more for the price, but it does have a bit of a buzz doesn't it? Turned up loud (I put a lady screaming on it), it's very noticeable from several feet away. I guess you have to pick the right sound to drown it out. I was going to put a police siren on it for our haunt so maybe that will do the trick. For those thinking of buying, it does have a little bit of an "intercom" sound to it.

I hooked it up to my pc with the cord I have with two male ends, in the earphone jack on the soundcard and the other in the box. It worked fine, but didn't get rid of the buzz, and had to play it at a very low volume to keep it from sounding blaring and distorted. Sound quality wasn't noticeably better doing it that way over just holding it up to the speaker to record it.

Mine has 20 seconds of record time.


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## LostboY (Aug 21, 2003)

Well, I was going order one of these and hack it (and post details for you all, of course)- but with the stories going on here I'm not sure if I should....

LosT


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## scorpio (May 9, 2005)

hmm still haven't received mine wonder why? two emails one response back. Sooz our auction ended on the same day. Where do you live? This is really getting frustrating.


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## Sooz (Aug 3, 2005)

North Florida.

It's pretty frustrating to watch all the feedback being posted for them... all of them for auctions that ended several days after, isn't it? 

It has only been two weeks, and although by most standards you should have it by now, it's a relatively short time frame. I might give them one more week to sort out their obviously poor records and then if you still don't have it, send them an email telling them you haven't received it yet, that you want the tracking number, and if it hasn't been shipped you want a refund ASAP. If another week passes without any response, slap 'em with a negative feedback... but I think you should give them that time to respond so they have little grounds to retaliate by giving you one, too. Just be careful with that... some sellers don't accept bids from people with even one negative. 

They seem to do all their feedback responses on the same day (they have several pages all done on Aug 20 and none since). The one negative they received was done after that so you don't know how they'll respond to their first negative yet. Their response to the below neutral seems irrational & unprofessional to me so you never know...

_Buyer's Feedback:
Not the usual Lucie Ann quality...tag resewn in : It did not look authentic.

Reply by smokersadvocate:
Crazy buyer. I kept my side of deal. Irresponsible & dangerous. Sellers BEWARE! _


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## SouthernBelle (Aug 30, 2004)

Seller seems much more concerned about shipping the cigarette machines and the lighters than they do about the recorders. I guess those are either worth alot more or are at hand for shipping. *shrugs*


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## drmort (Sep 30, 2004)

Central Fla
bought mine via Ebay Aug 15th and they arrived sometime last week when I was OOT. All working.


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## scorpio (May 9, 2005)

got message today from fed express no one was home so I got to go down to fed express and get it, or they will try again monday.


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## flybriz (Aug 4, 2005)

*Just got mine*

Better late than never... Not bad for the price... Sound is a little "iffy", and the motion sensor is finicky. Will make for a nice cheap addition to the haunt though. Best of luck to those who haven't received theirs yet!


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## scorpio (May 9, 2005)

got mine yesterday tried it out today. Pretty cool, gonna check it out in the dark. Wondering (pardon me if I missed the post) anyone know if they can be wired to work on a ac cord or do we have to rely on batteries?


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## Mr Unpleasant (Feb 25, 2005)

scorpio said:


> got mine yesterday tried it out today. Pretty cool, gonna check it out in the dark. Wondering (pardon me if I missed the post) anyone know if they can be wired to work on a ac cord or do we have to rely on batteries?


Yes, the hole with the center pin is for a 6v adapter and the other is for an 1/8" audio input.


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## Rockerella (Aug 30, 2005)

Awesome! I just bought 5. They'll also be used to trigger some sound activated props!

Thanks for the link. Was your shipping really $17.50 for 5 or did the seller combine?


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## Dr Ghastly (Apr 13, 2005)

Mr Unpleasant said:


> Yes, the hole with the center pin is for a 6v adapter and the other is for an 1/8" audio input.



Anybody know yet if the center pin is negative or positive?

I took the thing apart and looked at the circuit board, but couldn't tell for sure. It looked a lot like it was negative, but it seems like the center pin is *usually* positive with these types of things... I haven't been brave enough to hook it up and take the chance of frying it.


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## MsMeeple (Aug 21, 2004)

Mine arrived yesterday. It took a week. So, now I'm anxiously reading thru all your posts to see exactly what you can do with them.

MsM


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## klunkerbus (Aug 21, 2005)

Being an avid halloween hacker, I opened mine up as soon as they arrived. The coaxial power jack is for 6 VDC, and the center pin is the NEGATIVE side. I might try triggering mine with an LED stuck in the deep tube where the cds light sensor is. DARK is what triggers the device, so the LED would normally be on and cut out when I want the motion detector to trigger. I've experimented and found that I could also wire a normally closed momentary switch across the cds sensor - pressing the switch causes the sensor to think it just went dark. I'm looking at getting rid of the "click" you hear when it turns on and off - my only complaint so far.


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## Sabre Curt (Nov 9, 2004)

Got my bid in....let's see how it shakes out. I am really interested in the "hacking" of the black boxes.


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## klunkerbus (Aug 21, 2005)

*use with an external speaker !*

After playing around with one of these for a few days, I'm impressed with what my $5 bought. I made the following modifications to mine:

a) added a 12VDC jack and a small 6V regulator board. I try to run everything I have on a standard 12VDC. The output of the 6VDC regulator is connected to the wires coming off the battery compartment. 

b) Added an external speaker jack by splicing into the speaker wires. 

Using an external speaker, I realized that the "click" I heard on the small built-in speaker wasn't nearly as noticeable as with the built-in speaker, and I haven't bothered trying to get rid of it. Using the line input to record a sound clip from the computer and then using a larger external speaker gives pretty impressive sound quality. 

One of my motion detectors will end up mounted to my Flying Crank Ghost. With a little bit of wedging, the talking motion detector will just fit between the aluminum rails holding the FCG motor. A small, mobile-mount speaker will also mount to the top of the frame and will point down at the ghost. My remote control system will trigger the motion detector by manipulating an LED shoved into the detector light sensor. Although I haven't tested it, it is possible that pointing the motion detector light sensor down at the ghost might be enough to trigger it as the ghost moves around!


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## Joel (Aug 31, 2004)

Good stuff klunkerbus. I too try to keep to 12vdc for certain items and run them off a Malibu outdoor light transformer. Out of curiosity, what type of regulator did you use? I know they shouldn't use too much juice, but not sure if a standard shunt will work or if I'll need to do DC-DC.


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## klunkerbus (Aug 21, 2005)

*6VDC from 12 VDC*

Joel - 

As with most audio amps, the current draw of the motion detector will vary depending on the dynamics of the recorded sound and the motion detector volume. When I tested mine, I measured peaks around 125 milliamps on a digital meter. I felt this would result in a reasonable power dissipation (6v across regulator at 125 mA = 0.75W) for a shunt-type regulator. I grabbed a 7806 TO-220 style regulator, and mounted it on a small heatsink about 1 x 1.5 inches. Using silicone glue, this was fastened to one of the sidewalls around the speaker. Seems to work just fine. The intermittent way the motion detector is used, and the intermittent nature of the sound (and regulator current) peaks seems to allow me to get by with that small of a heatsink and no airflow inside the detector case. 

The one thing I didn't like about my mod is that the original 6VDC jack is still there. Without tearing into the detector circuit board, I couldn't readily figure out how to cut the traces to the PCB-mounted power jack, allowing me to use it as the 12VDC input. I added a new jack for the 12V input as an easy way out. I just went and put a piece of electrical tape over the 6VDC jack to keep me from plugging 12V into it. I've fried enough things over the years by feeding them with the wrong juice! Hence my desire to retrofit everything I build or buy to 12V.


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## jfoster (Oct 6, 2004)

Just got 5 of em on Ebay

Jerry


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## dpolking (Oct 8, 2004)

does anyone know how to re-wire one of the $10 radio shack kits so that it constantly plays. The push button on mine must cause a change of state to trip the DAT chip into playing. If i hold the button down it plays the message only once. What I want to do is play the message over and over. I've wired up an amplified speaker to it that will be turned on by a motion sensor. Any suggestions?


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## Joel (Aug 31, 2004)

If you notice, when the Radio Shack player stops playing, the LED flashes. If you wire the LED to the contacts, it will loop until you turn it off once you trigger the device. You can use this feature to link a bunch in series as well.


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## dpolking (Oct 8, 2004)

Joel,

Are you talking about just running leads from each of the legs of the LED to either side of the play switch?


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## dpolking (Oct 8, 2004)

Have had no luck with getting the radio shack unit to loop. Just paid for 2 of the Ebay talking motion detectors. Hope they get here soon.


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## headlesshorseman (Jun 29, 2004)

dpolking said:


> Have had no luck with getting the radio shack unit to loop. Just paid for 2 of the Ebay talking motion detectors. Hope they get here soon.


Hey dpolking, if you hold the 9 volt relay upside down so the pins are facing up and you have the coil pins to your left and the open and closed pins to your right you should hook up this way...top pin to your right (normally open pin) hook your speaker wire here for the unit to loop over and over, OR lower pin to your right (normally closed pin) hook speaker wire here for single playback.

I have pictures I can post if you want to take a look, let me know!


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## SouthernBelle (Aug 30, 2004)

klunkerbus said:


> Being an avid halloween hacker, I opened mine up as soon as they arrived. The coaxial power jack is for 6 VDC, and the center pin is the NEGATIVE side. I might try triggering mine with an LED stuck in the deep tube where the cds light sensor is. DARK is what triggers the device, so the LED would normally be on and cut out when I want the motion detector to trigger. I've experimented and found that I could also wire a normally closed momentary switch across the cds sensor - pressing the switch causes the sensor to think it just went dark. I'm looking at getting rid of the "click" you hear when it turns on and off - my only complaint so far.



*blink blink*

You lost me right after "being an avid Halloween hacker...."

LMAO!


I am sooooo technically challenged!


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## dpolking (Oct 8, 2004)

*Ordered Mind on the 16th still waiting*

Hope they get here soon. What kind of shipping time did you all have with the ebay units? Been 9 days so far for me, still not here.


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## MsMeeple (Aug 21, 2004)

It took 7 days for mine to arrive in Cincinnati.

MsM


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## jfoster (Oct 6, 2004)

I have 4 of them if someone wants them. I'm not saying they are bad but I didn't think they would be heard over the music I'll be playing.

Jerry


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## goofry (Jul 21, 2005)

I just built a trigger LED for my talk box. Using the normally closed side of a relay I am using, I wired up a LED circuit and put the LED in the sensor hole. So far this is working great. Whenever my PIR detector sets things in motion, this little gadget kicks in with an evil witch laugh.


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## daveo1101 (Oct 12, 2005)

Got mine yesterday, can't seem to get them to work. DO you hold down the record button the whole time you are recording? I have three and the instructions are too brief. maybe i'm just not getting it.


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## sisvicki (Jan 30, 2004)

dave - yeah, you have to hold the button down as your record. When you first unpacked them did you try tripping them without recording? 'Cause you should have heard a Chinese woman, what I assume was their factory test, say something in Chinese.

goofry, ya got any instructs for that trigger? in layman terms?


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## Marksin (Sep 18, 2004)

Put one in a coffin that opens up , sounds loud and clear because it is encased in wood .


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## daveo1101 (Oct 12, 2005)

*ok working now - doh!*

Thanks Sisvivki, that was the issue, alkong with some suspect batteries...
all is fine now.


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## Count (Nov 19, 2003)

I bought one of these boxes and it works just fine in normal light but it doesn't work at all in the dark. Not much good for Halloween if they don't work in the dark. Has anyone one else had this same problem?


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## Stench (Aug 30, 2005)

Ditto here, Count....had three, but they weren't worth a hoot last night in the dark!!


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## Sabre Curt (Nov 9, 2004)

I ran mine against a red and blue light (two of 'em). They did fine. I think the fog machine was also setting them off. I have four, but I think I smoked one of them when hacking it to work on an external speaker. They were clear and loud against the backdrop of three different sound loops going on at once. I really hope I can recover the one I smoked.


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## daveo1101 (Oct 12, 2005)

Count said:


> I bought one of these boxes and it works just fine in normal light but it doesn't work at all in the dark. Not much good for Halloween if they don't work in the dark. Has anyone one else had this same problem?


 Had the same problem. I worked around it by having it next to a corpse that was lit by small light on motion detector. WHn light wnt out, the disembodied voice was heard. worked OK for me!


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## madmax (Dec 28, 2003)

Maybe I got, two bad ones, because the recording was awful...I'm glad I didn't buy the lot of 20 because I didn't even use them.


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## MsMeeple (Aug 21, 2004)

We bought 3 of them and had to hack 2 of them in order to work with props in the dark. Pieter put a switch on both of them so that they wouldn't have to rely on motion or lights to work. He disconnected the wires from sensor, then made the wires longer, and then attached the two wires to a switch/button. When the switch/button is pushed, it goes off. Then he attached the boxes to the props so that the switch/button would be pushed when the prop was activated.
The third one had enough light to work so we left it as it was. 
We had a blast with them 

MsM


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## Count (Nov 19, 2003)

If you want them to work at nght you will have to do some hacking as they do not work in low light levels.


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## Voodoo (Oct 15, 2004)

I just got mine. I bought three. I noticed that the sensor is recessed kind of deep. I wonder if they would work better if they were brought forward a bit. 

Another idea would be a laser trip. Anyone know where to get cheep laser trip lights?


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## Vlad (Nov 2, 2003)

We bought two a few months ago, put batteries in the first one, and it just kept endlessly going off, lol. Since so many at the time were having various troubles with them I just set them aside for this year, and figured I would bypass the sensor for next year.


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## mixman2112 (Nov 8, 2005)

Greetings. I found this forum after searching around for halloween ideas for next year. I do a basic yard haunt - mostly atmosphere effects with lights, fog and sound in the yard. I read this thread last week and decided to get one of the talking motion detectors. It took less than a week to get. I have a very similar device that I bought a few years back that I use for the sound effects for a prop. 
I use X10 with a remote control to trigger a store bought ghoul. It's one of those that is supposed to be sound activated but never quite worked right. I added an external power jack since the prop always goes off when you apply power or turn it on. I plug the 6v wall wart into an X10 lamp module along with a small light mounted below the prop for an uplight effect. When I hit the remote, the uplight lights up the ghoul, the ghoul itself shakes & the eyes flash red and the sound gets triggered by the light. It works pretty well but I'm planning on using the new talking motion detector to improve on the sound. I'm hoping to use the external 6v power to trigger the sound. Does anyone know if the sound triggers when you plug in power to it? If it does, I can add that to my lamp module scheme to trigger it all together (and reliably). Great forum.


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## klunkerbus (Aug 21, 2005)

*applying power is no sure thing*

My testing indicated that no, applying power doesn't always trigger the thing. Sometimes, yes, but not reliable enough for me. I ended up pushing a small LED down the light sensor tube and using that to trigger the motion detector. Turning off the LED, or making the input go dark, is what triggers it. Also, be sure you drive a high quality external speaker instead of the small internal one. That made a BIG difference in sound quality for my application.


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## MsMeeple (Aug 21, 2004)

Vlad said:


> We bought two a few months ago, put batteries in the first one, and it just kept endlessly going off, lol. Since so many at the time were having various troubles with them I just set them aside for this year, and figured I would bypass the sensor for next year.


I think they are haunted lol Even after we disconnected the wires to the sensor and made a switch out of it, it would still go off randomly once in awhile when the switch wasn't even activated! We had one laying up on the bookshelf...hacked with a button attached. We're sitting there watching TV and all of a sudden it goes off by itself. Very freaky.

MsM


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## mixman2112 (Nov 8, 2005)

Thanks Klunkerbus. Yeah, I plan on using a decent speaker via an installed jack on the box. I will experiment with a straight speaker and a powered speaker with the box volume set low. Any thoughts on the better of the two routes?


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## strange1 (Oct 23, 2005)

Read all of the posts on this detector.
I like to research things to death before I buy.
Just ordered 3 of them.

1. Am concerned about the delivery time, but it will give me time to try to figure out how to get it to trigger when a light is turned ON.
Its been a while since I've played with any electronics. )
Any Ideas?

2. I read about all of the non-replys to the e-mails that were sent.
At 6.30 this evening ( Sunday ) I sent an e-mail to them asking a question and in 15 minutes I had a reply from them.
I must say this did impress me, hope they are that fast on shipping.

Can't wait to get them and put them into my Bucky skulls.
With my warped and twisted sense of humor it will take no time at all to get my butt kicked.
My wife will be afraid to move in the house HEH HEH HEH.


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## klunkerbus (Aug 21, 2005)

*Plain speaker should work OK*

Mixman - 

Fair question on whether to use just a speaker or a powered amp. The little box seems to have a fair amount of output drive - I ran mine with a plain speaker and didn't have to crank the volume control up very far. Try it before you bother with a powered speaker. Using a basic speaker will save you a power cord and perhaps minimize the risk of hum from the amp. As purchased, my motion detectors had an annoying click when they started up - I found that using an external speaker reduced this considerably for some reason. Just another reason to use an external speaker!


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## strange1 (Oct 23, 2005)

I bought 3 of these detectors and am pleased with them.
Better than I thought they would be.
I have read through almost every message on this forum about these detectors.
Has anyone come up with a way to get rid of that annoying "click" when the detector is triggered.

I put a capacitor on the speaker with no success.
I have tried an external speaker and that helped a lot.

But I would like to get rid of it completely.
Any suggestions anyone?


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## Gym Whourlfeld (Jan 22, 2003)

I had built a talking device using Radio shack's computer chip/kit.
The batteries were dead, I hadn't used it in a couple of years when it sudenly began talking. Maybe the lightning bolt that hit the tree a few feet behind the house , that sent balls of sparks zipping around two computers, a TV a VCR and Disc player and a satelite tv box had something to do with it coming on and talking?
Being very lucky, nothing got screwded up from this heavanly zap.
Things needing batteries to talk starting to talk is strange still though.


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## Otaku (Sep 10, 2004)

After seeing all the posts about the boxes going off by themselves I thought I'd mention something I learned about the Scary Terry boards, which also use a similar chip. I had a false triggering problem until I realized that the design has some ground plane problems. They would go off randomly, but usually when a light switch was flipped. I placed a 0.1 microfarad capacitor between the ground and the trigger input. Solved the problem nicely. I don't know if this fix will work on the boxes, because the triggers have voltage on them (the cadmium sulfide diodes that sense light/dark) whereas the S.T. boards are dry triggered, but it may be worth a try.

However, the box that spoke after it's batteries were dead is IMHO, possessed.


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## Count (Nov 19, 2003)

After receiving one of the ebay talking motion detectors I soon found out that they don’t work at night very well, so I came up with a low tech/low cost solution that works for me as I’m not an electronics wizard. I made a light gun out of PVC and a cheap Walmart Christmas clip light. I use a amber bulb (not opaque) in the light gun which I aim at the motion detector from 12 ft. away or less. Using the amber low watt bulb you hardly notice the light at night unless you are really looking for it. Anyone or anything that crosses the beam or interrupts it set off the talking motion detector. There are various ways to mount the gun so it is hardly noticeable. You can check out pictures of the light gun at :

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnails...1;jsessionid=3E040C074F8A75DDE3E59C3A67037318

Here's what I used to make the light gun.

1 - 4.25” x 1 inch PVC pipe
1 – 6” x ½ inch PVC pipe
1 – 1” to ½” PVC bushing reducer
1 – 1” PVC cap
1 – Walmart Christmas clip light $1.92
1 – small amber light bulb


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## Voodoo (Oct 15, 2004)

That's a great Idea. I'll have to try one out!


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## daveo1101 (Oct 12, 2005)

Count,

That is pretty good workaround, I'll have to try that next year!


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## sisvicki (Jan 30, 2004)

Count! thank you very much - I am definately going to try that. I want to mount one of mine to my cemetary columns so that anyone entering gets greeted by an owl hoot. If I mount an external speaker to the unit and run it up towards the top, maybe I can get rid of my click AND make the sound origin come from where the fake owl is mounted.


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## rogue4 (Oct 29, 2006)

I just received my box today, and I am quite impressed with the design, playback, etc.

I am wondering if anyone by chance has any pictures of how they hooked up their unit to external speakers. Also, what are the two jacks on the bottom of the unit? I believe one is a 6VDC input, and the other is possible an audio input? If so, what kind of plug is needed to interface with this input?

Any information or pictures would be very helpful! Thanks!


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