I like new interesting electronic gadgets. They seem to have a magnetic pull for me. For a time I regularly frequented an electronics store in town called Radio Shack. They carried a huge variety of electronic products. One day I spotted a tiny infrared battery operated alarm being displayed. It cost about $30.00, without the battery. The 9 volt batteries this item used, could run up to $5.00, if you chose to go for the high end Duracell alkaline type. That would give the alarm the longest operating life, per battery. So I bought the little infrared alarm.



It was interesting learning how it worked, and what its limitations were. It had a sensor window in front, which detected changes in heat placements, in a V shaped area ahead of the unit. The alarm had an on/off switch. It also had a 30 second delay feature to allow you to exit a room with out triggering it, after you turned it on. The alarm detected movement by comparing the difference in value, between heat readings from one scan to the next. When movement was detected a piercing electronic, blaring noise was emitted.

The alarm was even sensitive enough to work through a windscreen. In summer there were sometimes people skulking around at night in front of the area where I lived. I found that by placing the alarm in the front window, and setting it to the door bell setting it would ding dong if it detected someone sneaking around at night.

The next idea I had was to eliminate the battery from the alarm. They were costly and the idea of attaching a 9 volt power adapter to the alarm made sense. That way the alarm could be plugged into a household electrical wall socket, and be much more cost efficient. The adapter's direct current chord connector, needed to be modified slightly, since it was not designed specifically, to plug into the alarm's 9 volt battery connector. With this completed the alarm system worked great.

Later when I stared working at a gas station. I found another use for the alarm. The manager of the gas station only scheduled one staff member to work per shift, during the slow seasons. It was the sort of job where you have a lot of work to do. Serving customers and working the cash register was only a small part of the job. There was stalking the store area, baking pastries, cleaning inside and out. So while doing the work away from the front door and cash register area, I needed to know when some one entered the building. Plugging in the alarm by the door and turning it to the door bell setting kept me informed, should any one enter while I was busy working, where the door could not be seen. Faithfully I would plug it in every shift before starting work and then, take it home with me after my shift ended.

The manager liked the idea so much that he asked if he could buy the alarm from me. Thinking it would be a good move to keep him happy, I reluctantly agreed to sell it for a bargain price.