OT: Emergency/paging pendant?

[Richard Sterry]

Hello all.

I'm looking for a variant of the emergency pendant gismo, that elderly and/or vulnerable people can use to summon help. Most of these link to phone autodiallers, but I'm looking for something rather more simple - more like a paging device than an emergency alert.

The idea is that the wearer can summon help from elsewhere in the house or grounds, by pressing the button on the pendant. The carer just needs something not too bulky to stick in a pocket, that will bleep when the pendant is activated. There is no need for autodiallers or anything like that - it's not much different from a cordless doorbell really (except that the bell part needs mains power to work, in the case of our doorbell).

A quick Google seems only to show overly sophisticated gadgets, so I am wondering if I am looking for something that doesn't exist. If such a thing does exist, then I just need a little more info in order to narrow my Google search - a brand name, supplier, generic name of such devices, something along those lines.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

[Christian McArdle]

So why not just use a cordless doorbell? Your existing one might require mains power, but none of the one's I've used have done so. Is it that the buttons need to be easier to press?

Christian.

[Andy Dingley]

Cellphone with easy single-button speed dial ? On the right pay-as-you-go it will cost less than anything sold to the "disability" rip-off market.

[Rick Dipper]

Most car alarms can be activated by pressing the remote control ......

Rick

[VivienB]

Our solution needs the ability to identify at least one button from a group - we use a pair of walky-talky type radios which can be bought relatively cheaply now. If the users are capable of remembering which button is which (once set up, only two are needed) they will not only be able to 'call' with a bleep, they can also talk/hear the carer. Being able to talk to my father when he is out in the garden or in his workshop is much easier on my nerves than just a 'bleep' that could be anything from 'time for tea?' to 'I am trapped under my overturned scooter' !!!

Regards, VivienB

[Richard Sterry]

I was not aware if there were any which didn't need mains power for the ringer - I haven't had a rummage round the DIY sheds etc. yet. I'll take a look, but really it depends on how small and lightweight the ringer unit is.

Thanks

Rick

[Richard Sterry]

Indeed, and one could use a cordless phone with two handsets, so one can page the other. However, a handset has to go in a pocket, or on a belt clip or some such mount, and it is all too easy to leave a handset behind when moving about the place, whereas a pendant is always with you. That is why I started this thread.

Thanks

Rick

[Richard Sterry]

Interesting. I had thought of a couple of cheap walkie-talkies, but a pendant is small, unobtrusive and is not likely to be put down and left in the 'wrong' place. That's why the idea appeals.

Rick

[Steve Walker]

I think that recently I've seen a couple of PMR radios that can be worn like wristwatches - could that be a solution?

Steve W

[Richard Sterry]

Possibly, yes. Sounds all very 'Thunderbirds' or '007' stuff ! :-)

Rick

[Peter Parry]

I've tried a couple of these and they work reasonably well although range isn't as good as hand helds. The problem with pendant devices

- particularly if both transmitter and receiver are worn - is that the range is very poor, typically no more than 20-50ft.

[BigWallop]

This is the best on the market just now:

wireless systems are a lot better than 20 - 50 feet I can tell you. The average range inside a built-up area is 30 metres, which is always a lot more than I've ever needed for a wireless personal attack system.

[Zikki Malambo]

Another option is to have a look at the wireless doorbells in the CPC catalogue (can't remember who they're made by, homenet or somesuch I seem to remember). They certainly do personnal attack buttons that you can carry in your pocket, and may by now do a pendant (Otherwise out with the lanyard & bradawl!)

It is homenet, and a few minutes googling should come up with their website.

[Peter Parry]

All the low end ones that use the unlicensed 418 or 433MHz bands are limited to very low power outputs (10mW). It is certainly possible in open conditions to achieve ranges of more than 100m and even with the rudimentary RF modules used in security alarm applications if you are using them back to a fixed system the range is usually adequate. There is of course the perennial problem that the world and its dog uses these frequencies for toys, baby alarms and everything else so co-interference is always likely. There are also much more capable multi receiver personal alarm systems available.

In this case however we are talking about a small pendant (key fob) type transmitter and a similar receiver being carried on another person. In this case as well as power being low the antennae are inefficient and the range achieved will be significantly less than when using a fixed receiver and likely to be close to the figures I quoted. .