Door Openers

You're an engineer. You're asking THIS group??

Yes. There is a powered door available. You mount the transmitter on your pet's collar which unlocks the pet door when the your pet gets near it. Home Depot carries this one:

Sue wrote:

No, I don't want HIM to have control, I want ME to have control. But thanks anyway.

I'm talking about something to open the BIG door between the house and garage. Something like this:

Just because I'm an engineer doesn't mean I know about every gadget out there. :-)

The only other group I frequent is the video forum. :-(

So should I cut the RED wire or not?

I've had problems with remotes not working as stated on the package (designed to operate things in the living room from the bedroom). So I have had to modify them to be enclosed in a metal case (transmitter and receiver - faraday cage), then run a coax cable between the two. Then it works just fine.

And that is the way products are these days. I find they don't work out of the package and I need to fix them or re-design something to get it to work. It used to be you could buy things and they were well designed and tested prior to shipping.

So you're afraid the coyote will get him but you're sure it wont be around between 2:30 and 4 AM?

Why bother? If the coyote is going to get the cat either don't let him out or let him out. Why go to all the trouble and expense of a door opener when the possibility exists that after the first time you use it .... that cat becomes coyote chow?

Put the cat in a part of the house where you can't hear it with a litter box. When it's got to go bad enough it'll use it. After awhile it'll get the message.

Personally, I'd just let the cat out before I went to bed and let it takes it's chances.

Better yet - Open the door remotely and let the coyote in the house.

I figured you could just cobble something together on your lunch hour.

There ya go. Give the cat an ultimatum.

Either s*it in the box or die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Agreed, she should have asked the rocket scientists in the next newsgroup

Yeah, I'm used to that. :-)

Now those look very interesting. Thanks!

Haaa haaa haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. ROTFL.

There ya go. Give the cat an ultimatum.

Either s*it in the box or die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Couldn't you just put a kitty door on the door from the house to garage and if needed put a remote lock on that...seems like it'd be easier/cheaper than controlling the entire door.

There are smart cats and dumb servants.

Then there are dumber servants and dumber cats.

There are also smart servants and smart cats.

That beings said, it would seem that one of the above may apply in this situation.

My mother(servant) has a smart cat that goes by the name Sylvester. So one day Sylvester decides he wants to go out so he reaches up and paws at the lever type door knob. So my mother gets up and lets him out on to the enclosed carport. After a little of this training of my mother he then starts to do the same when he wants back in.

So my mother decides she is tired of getting up every time to let him out she takes some rubber bands and wraps them around the lever so that Sylvester can get a grip and open the door himself when he wants to go out to the car port. Then when my mother want to 'at her discretion' goes and closes the door to either keep the heat in or cold out depending on the weather. But then Sylvester does the same thing when he wants back in and she has to it again. All seems well for a long time.

Then my mother gets tired of always closing the door for Sylvester so she decides to come up with a plan to have the door close automatically. So she takes a bungee cord and attaches it to the door and to the hand rail outside the door. Now Sylvester can open the door to go out or come at his leisure and the door will always close behind him. My mother does not need to tend to the cat since she is a smart servant of a smart cat.

So this TRUE story brings us to this question. Of the three listed above, which are you???

Now I am sure that someone here will find it necessary to make some dumb snotty comment. So for the sake of those that just can't wait read such dribble I will inject the following.

So your mom is an Access Control DIYer. Best of all, it sounds like the cat needed very little tech support. Smart lady. Smart cat. Who could complain about such a terrific combination?

The best part is she's my Mom!!!