Thread: Found The Perfect Prop Alarm

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I went to Home Depot last night, and found the perfect alarm for props. It's made by Doberman Security, it's model SE-0106 Ultra-Slim Window Alert. This alarm is a little bit smaller than the pop-top off a Pringles chip can! It operates off a vibration sensor, so you mount it in a prop, turn the power switch on, and five seconds later it's armed. You can lightly move the prop, and by lightly I mean like how the wind would move it, and it stays off, but anything more than that and it starts emitting a very loud 100db alarm tone. The tone goes for 30 seconds and goes off if no more movement is detected or stays on if it is. It runs off three watch-type batteries that are replaced by sliding a cover off the front, and the back has an adhesive disk on it for mounting to a smooth surface. The price is $9.99.

I put two into my Creature figure, one in the foot and one inside the body. We were testing last night, and found we could lightly bump the figure without it going off, but as soon as we tried to lift it or jostled it, both alarms started going off... just what we wanted. We attached it using two-sided velcro tape so we can just pull it out to replace the batteries or turn it on/off and stick it right back in. We took it outside to see if we could hear the alarm in the house, and it came through pretty well even with the doors and windows shut... sadly, our neighbors didn't seem to appreciate our efforts.

There are two downsides to this alarm. First, it's not waterproof, so wherever you place it you need to make sure it's safe from getting wet or covered from the rain. Second, you need to leave I would guess a minimum 1/4" airgap over the hole where the tone comes out to get the full 100db alarm tone. This was no problem with our Creature, but if we were putting one in a foam-filled prop we would need to cut a slit of about 2.25" x .5" in the back somewhere.

Now I feel much better with the Creature outside.

wow great idea. thats one thing we never have during the season is a good night sleep because of thieves.