Has anyone had had experience of setting up a DIY version of those theft alarms that shops use for smaller items. The item has a tag on it which sets of an alarm if it is not removed or deactivated as you pass through some sort of scanner arrangement. I would like to incorperate the inductive loop or whatever it is in a door frame.
Need not be to exotic, I am just sick to death of people borrowing my dustpan and brush from my workbench area and expecting me to know where it has gone when they ask for it next time because they have mislaid it as well as their own. G.Harman
Drill a hole through the handle and fasten it to the bench with a small padlock before you leave. Put the key on a hook way under the bench so you don't lose it, but don't let anyone see you getting it. Easier then paying the thousand pounds needed for the electronic tagging system you speak of.
Install a wire loop in the door frame made from 6-core alarm cable. Attach four cores (red, green, white and blue) of the cable at one end to earth and the other two cores to a copper nail which you hammer into the brickwork (NOT the mortar) of the nearest wall. Then, at the other end of the cable connect two cores (red and yellow) to the +ve terminal of a wvzenic valve (usually available from ships chandlers). Connect the -ve terminal of the valve to another copper nail hammered into the nearest wall BUT this time hammer it into the mortar line - NOT the brick (important that). Two more of the cores (green and black) connect to the third screw down on the top hinge of the door and the other two (blue and white) connect to the centre screw of the bottom hinge. Connections to the hinge screws can be made by simply inserting the stripped cores into the hole in the frame and then replacing the screw.
Then, smear some coolsill jelly (domestic stuff - not aviation grade), probably available from a local bakery) on the item to be monitored. The coolsill will dry within minutes and will not leave any residue and is not sticky.
That's it. When you take the item through the door the door frame will emit a loud chime (like when you walk into a shop). If the chime isn't loud enough or you want to activate other sounders etc. use a simple audio coupler.
The only problem with this is that it will not work with red plastic so if your dustpan and brush is red plastic then... it won't work.
Total cost around £30 so cheap.
I have done this in the past and it works just fine although I did experiment and discovered that if I placed some dried apricots in a brown paper bag under the work bench the system gained more sensitivity and activated as the item approached the door as opposed to go through it. It's worth experimenting once the system is installed and working.
Oh and if it fails to work check the surface of your dining table as if that's dusty it will prevent the correct operation of the system.
Naaah that won't work cos they'll lose theirs and still take yours.
I'd buy a load of them and have em all over the gaff. Like I did when I saw B&Q tape measures at 99p. I bought 20. All dayglo yellow. I have them everywhere. Easy to see and if I break one I just chuck it as they're so cheap.
Mind you, if your intimately involved with a particular dustpan and brush then...!
I went in to B&Q and bought 8 radiator bleed keys, all with holes in the handles. When I can find some string, there will be one tied to every radiator by the bracket...
If you rub some coolsill on each rad key you will find they work better. Oh and use green string otherwise the rad keys will distort with the heat of the rad's
Buy a small pot of (crunchy) peanut butter and conceal in the workshop. For a few weeks leave a small dab of it on the brush handle when leaving the workshop. After that you don't neeed to do it any more as by then the mental picture of the state of the handle will be firmly engraved on your "borrowers" minds.
You might joke, but that's exactly the problem I've been having in recent weeks!
I have several toolboxes which are each dedicated to a particular trade (plumbing, electrics, carpentry, etc). And a favourite retractable tape measure which I take everywhere with me.
Problem is that I went out on a job and chucked all the tools into a toolbox. Took me ages to find my tape measure again.
I bought a new 8m one from TLC Direct a couple of weeks ago, and that's now my "favourite". But I must have half a dozen tape measures hidden in different places......
Another option is used by many hotels. The room key is attached firmly to a large dongle which won't fit comfortably in your pocket.
Another alternative you might like to think about is instead of using string use some bungee elastic. That way you will be fooled into thinking you can take it with you, but it will always reliably go back to where it should go ;)
I have to go to France to buy my tape measures. Metric both sides. I could weep with joy about how much easier it is than when you have those medieval inch things in the way, especially on the most useful side.
I have a problem like that. I'm forever losing tools around the place (normally due to SWMBO wandering off with them of course), so eventually when I've finally given up ever finding a missing tool, I buy another one. Next day, without fail, the original shows up. That's why I have 4 identical Stanley knives, 17 tape measures, 8 pairs of pliers... and believe me, having more of them hasn't made it easier to find one... :-(
At the start of each day rub some Algipan or Deep Heat on the handles of the pan & brush, put on a pair of gloves when you use them, if someone else uses them you will know within a couple of minutes after they have been for a pee!
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