Telemetry what method?

[ericmark]

My father-in-law lives next door but one, and my mother lives 6 miles away, both in their 90’s and I want to monitor specially for my mother how she is.



Now I have a spare PLC so fitting door switches and PIR’s to show where they are is not really a problem, but to get that information back to my house is.



I installed a camera at my mother’s house which uses “Hubble” to relay the picture and sound, but it some times does not work, and so we can’t rely on it. There is internet broad band at my mother’s house and it would seem that would be best system to relay info between the two.



I expect there are alarm panels, or other devices like the “Nest” and “Hive” which will send info either to PC or phone. I would have thought the local authority adult social care could have advised me, but it seems they have a monitoring service, but this still uses a phone call though the standard phone line and although it will take over the line from the cordless phones in the house, any wired phone off the hook will stop it working. It also seems to be somewhat deaf and when my mother got stuck I could hear her shouting help with the pet cam but the monitoring service claimed they could not hear her when the camera and their unit were in the same room.



I have needed to travel to my mother’s house many times where the monitoring service has called us because they said the panic button had been pressed but in fact it was my mother who had got out of bed and not returned within the set time, it seems they have no idea why the alarm has been raised.



I am not keen on the camera, being able to hear is enough, and being able to talk to mother would be even better, I have considered Skype and having a PC with remote access from here so I could answer the Skype call and talk to her without needing her to answer the phone. But I failed to get remote desktop working even downstairs to upstairs so between two houses is beyond my ability. Got it to work with XP but not with Vista and Windows 10.



I expect there are alarm panels which tell the owner when things have happened and it may be I can use one to tell me at least what room my mother is in. But which one and how easy are they to set up? Clearly don’t want to pay silly money, but can still spend quite a bit especially if also can be used for other uses. For example if I can get remote desk top I could select and play movies for my mother.



So what ideas do you have? If father-in-law was not next door but one I would go to live with mother, but don’t want to become separated from my wife to look after the two 90+ parents.

 

[GalaxyGuy]

Something like the Galaxy Dimension or Flex can give remote reporting to show zones being triggered (even when unset). You can then connect with the phone app over broadband and check the logs.

You can also program the panels zone activity monitor and this could be used to notify you if 24hrs pass without the detector being triggered (even in day mode). This is really used to detect masked sensors, so the minimum duration is 24hrs - would probably be better suited if this was 12hrs.

Not sure what the Texecom panels can offer - I'm sure Mark and others will be along shortly.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

The budget way will be to learn a little bit more about computers. Remote desktop for instance- usual reason that doesn't work is incorrect firewall permissions (no idea about Vista but Win 10 has similar firewall setup to XP, if you're running a modern broadband modem that'll probably have a firewall in it as well. And remember you need to do the settings at both ends (your house and you mothers' house)

Your PLC- I'd be getting it to telnet its information to you (shoddy but acceptable) or (much better if it is a modern beast with internal http server) you should be able to log on to it from wherever you are (remember firewall settings at mum's house to allow that type of traffic) and check status page and log of actions.

Fun project if you've got the time to get it working

 

[PaulUszak]

Not sure what a PLC is. You don't mean an industrial Programmable Logic Controller do you? The Allen Bradley stuff like http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/plc-cpus/7508624 Deep stuff.

Your best approach is a combination of the standard way and some tech. The standard elderly person monitoring technique is a monitoring service like carelink. Make sure that your mom has the wearable pendant, that's the key to this system working. You may be unconvinced by this, but trust me, it's the adopted standard way for social services, and it works well if you speak to the old folks who use it. £75 /quarter. You might not realise, but you can buy this kit yourself and set it up to dial you and not a call centre.

The tech approach is ip web cams. Get broadband installed for £15 /month and get some wireless cameras. They can connect directly to the router without using an intermediate PC. Some of them also feature audio which can even have external microphones and speakers plugged right into the cameras. Get some small amplified PC speakers and you'll be heard all over the house. Don't worry a jot about the configuration of all this stuff, there are many people who can help you.

If you're prepared to spent unlimited amounts on this, you might consider a second phone /phone line. It would be statistically less likely that both phones would be off the hook simultaneously. Or a spare mobile that's constantly plugged into it's charger.

I don't understand your preference of audio over visual monitoring. This seems to go against common sense. It is also easier to blanket an area with web cams than it is with microphones as you can buy the kit from Argos.

As for a burglar alarm re purposed into patient monitoring, I'm high sceptical. They're not conceived for that and will therefore be a poor substitute. Doors sensors and PIRs only detect movement. The same lack of movement occurs whether someone has fallen asleep watching Love Boat, or has suffered an accident whilst cleaning their rifle. Whilst this is only my opinion (but which is always correct by the way), no social services department will advocate you pursuing the burglar alarm route.

You might also consider an external key safe so that either the social carers can gain access, or a neighbour. About £80 if you fit it yourself.

 

[PaulUszak]

Fun project

No. It's not.

 

[Europlex]

Amazon > Key safe > £14.99

 

[ericmark]

Not sure what a PLC is. You don't mean an industrial Programmable Logic Controller do you? The Allen Bradley stuff like http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/plc-cpus/7508624 Deep stuff.

Yes Mitsubishi not as good as Allen Bradley but will allow multi-inputs to one output to combine things, main point I already have a couple and software to program them.

Your best approach is a combination of the standard way and some tech. The standard elderly person monitoring technique is a monitoring service like carelink. Make sure that your mom has the wearable pendant, that's the key to this system working. You may be unconvinced by this, but trust me, it's the adopted standard way for social services, and it works well if you speak to the old folks who use it. £75 /quarter. You might not realise, but you can buy this kit yourself and set it up to dial you and not a call centre.

She has carelink but they don't seem to know why alerted so often I need to visit to find out.

The tech approach is ip web cams. Get broadband installed for £15 /month and get some wireless cameras. They can connect directly to the router without using an intermediate PC. Some of them also feature audio which can even have external microphones and speakers plugged right into the cameras. Get some small amplified PC speakers and you'll be heard all over the house. Don't worry a jot about the configuration of all this stuff, there are many people who can help you.

Already have one, the Hubble link keeps going down at the most inopportune times. It seems I connect and mother connects to a forwarding thing some thing to do with not having a static IP address.

If you're prepared to spent unlimited amounts on this, you might consider a second phone /phone line. It would be statistically less likely that both phones would be off the hook simultaneously. Or a spare mobile that's constantly plugged into it's charger.

I see no reason why the monitoring station does not use the internet which would remove the problem of phone off the rest, nor it seems does it have a mobile sim card which would also get around the problem.

I don't understand your preference of audio over visual monitoring. This seems to go against common sense. It is also easier to blanket an area with web cams than it is with microphones as you can buy the kit from Argos.

It is the Argos kit I am using, the problem is web cams in bedrooms is not really an option, in the main if I can hear then I can work out what is going on. The cameras sound is just not good enough, with the phone I can hear and talk back but computer I can only hear, and with the phone the time it takes for it to swap from listen to speak and back is too long.

As for a burglar alarm re purposed into patient monitoring, I'm high sceptical. They're not conceived for that and will therefore be a poor substitute. Doors sensors and PIRs only detect movement. The same lack of movement occurs whether someone has fallen asleep watching Love Boat, or has suffered an accident whilst cleaning their rifle. Whilst this is only my opinion (but which is always correct by the way), no social services department will advocate you pursuing the burglar alarm route.

You might also consider an external key safe so that either the social carers can gain access, or a neighbour. About £80 if you fit it yourself.

Key safe fitted from Aldi works well. However mother was taken into hospital the carers were cancelled, yet we found the carer letting her self into the as she thought empty house, she admitted she knew it was empty and could not explain why she was there.

It seems the whole thing may go away, as it seems likely that my mother will not return home. So at the moment it is simply a collecting of information about what is on the market. I clearly don't want to lock my mother into the house in case of fire, even with direct linked fire alarms to the monitoring station. I can't really work out how they know if it is a fire alarm but can't say if bed sensor or panic button pressed?

Something like the Galaxy Dimension or Flex can give remote reporting to show zones being triggered (even when unset). You can then connect with the phone app over broadband and check the logs.

You can also program the panels zone activity monitor and this could be used to notify you if 24hrs pass without the detector being triggered (even in day mode). This is really used to detect masked sensors, so the minimum duration is 24hrs - would probably be better suited if this was 12hrs.

Not sure what the Texecom panels can offer - I'm sure Mark and others will be along shortly.

This seems the way forward, if there is movement then I know which room my mother is in, and together with sound from camera I can work out if I need a mad dash to her house or if it can wait. But at the moment it is all on hold while I wait for news to if allowed home or if she has to go into a home.

 

[PaulUszak]

Get a static ip address. Servers don't really work without them. You might have to change ISP as a lot of consumer ones don't offer them. Also check the small print of any new ISP as to whether they allow home servers. This isn't for the "rules" but that they might block certain ports that you need.

 

[Europlex]

eric, you did change the code didn't you? I hope you informed her employers.

You have just given a very good example for always changing codes whenever circumstances change, no matter how minor.

However friendly you and your family may have become with her remember she is not really a friend just an employee that had special access at certain times.

 

[ericmark]

Employers informed, code not changed, but key removed until mother returns. We change code every 6 months as code if given to Ambulance and other one off services so swapped every 6 months anyway. Unlike the boxes provided by council the 3 number code has to be in correct order, council boxes allow the number to be entered in any order so although 6 numbers it is simple 6 out of 10 so not that many combinations really.

 

[PaulUszak]

6 out of 10

= 210 combinations.

For a key safe that allows keys to be pressed in any order, you should always use half of the number of keys. So for a 10 digit key safe, you should set 5. 5 out of 10 = 252 combinations. Still not that much. You can get key safes that have 12 keys.

 

[ericmark]

6 out of 10

= 210 combinations.

For a key safe that allows keys to be pressed in any order, you should always use half of the number of keys. So for a 10 digit key safe, you should set 5. 5 out of 10 = 252 combinations. Still not that much. You can get key safes that have 12 keys.

I agree but three wheels with 10 digits on each wheel 10 x 10 x 10 = 1000 may not look as good but in fact better. My father-in-law however had the ten push button type for mothering-in-law after she dies he locked himself out, so I tried to get into the safe, he did not remember the number. Attempts as numbers with some past reference like old telephone, house number failed, phoning the council did not help seems once she died the number was lost. In the end with hammer I knocked it off the wall and smashed back open to get key, it was empty, then father-in-law found key in another pocket.

But it showed two things, one hard to get into, and the other no one came to investigate what we were doing. Yes I know people knew who we were but behind the wall where it was mounted no one popped their head around to see. Which is why if mother goes into hospital key comes out of the safe.