BL> Those kid's two-ways at Dickie Smith or Kmart cost about $20
 BL> (batteries not included) the pair over 30 metres, or Dickie
 BL> sells a slightly better version for $70 over 200 metres (no
 BL> licence required).

 PE> I don't have line of sight to my unit from the car, is that a
 PE> problem? I suppose I could take a punt on the $20 one. 

  It's virtually impossible to predict radio transmission in a block
of flats. The concrete has steel rods in it. In some cases you get
hardly nothing and in other cases the building is totally transparent.
You could ask to try the radio link it and return it if it doesn't
work. You can do that at Kmart anyway. Those kid's two-ways are pretty
awful.

 BL> Probably the simplest would be one of those infrared alarms
 BL> that turns the lights on (about $25, lights not included, at
 BL> Dickie or Kmart).

 PE> Actually, it's a lot simpler on that side, I just need to hook
 PE> into the circuit that switches the internal light on when I
 PE> open the door. Except there's a problem - the light doesn't
 PE> come on when I open the door. 

  There you go, then.

 PE> I thought that was a simple case of the light bulb missing, but
 PE> I got another bulb and tried putting that across the contacts
 PE> and nothing happened. I checked the wires from the doors, and
 PE> they exist, but I was unable to chase them back to where they
 PE> are connected, by visual inspection. I'll have to take
 PE> screwdrivers down and try again. 

  It's probably a crook switch.

 BL> An electrician would charge $80 to wire up the alarm/lights if
 BL> there is a power line somewhere handy in the garage, or
 BL> god-knows-how-much if he has to run a line.

 PE> I don't want to run a power line into my car, even if I am
 PE> allowed to (remember that I live in a unit). 

  Not into the car, you dickhead! You want to know when someone is
lurking *around* your car. You don't want to wait till they break in.
If you've got a garage, you alarm the garage, not the car. The
principle is: they have to get into the garage first.

 PE> BTW, I have a council meeting on Monday, and I was thinking of
 PE> getting permission to run a normal cable from my balcony down
 PE> to my car. It's a fairly long way, but I've taken a look, and I
 PE> think I can do it unobtrusively. It's going to be a pain having
 PE> to disconnect and reconnect it whenever I use the car though,
 PE> and I'm not dead sure that I could make it undetectable by the
 PE> thieves. 

  How does the term; "stupid fuckwit of an idea" grab you?

 PE> Basically radio transmission would be best. 

  Either that, or you could get a brain tranplant and reconsider the
problem afterwards Or you could ask a monkey.

 PE> I'll ring Tandy on Monday to see if they have this thing John T
 PE> is talking about. 

  That would make it easy, but I've never heard of it.

Regards,
Bob
  
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
@EOT:

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