2005 - Volume #29, Issue #2, Page #18

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Gate Opener Controlled From House 270 Ft Away

Gate Opener Controlled From House 270 Ft Away FENCING Gates 29-2-18 Rural security doesn't have to be highly expensive, says a Cochrane, Alberta couple who made a remote controlled security gate from a garage door opener, doorbell, and a security light. Peter and Carol Davidson operate a rural bed and breakfast. They wanted the ability to secure their yard and still provide selected access to visitors without having to leave the house. In order to accomplish this, Peter trenched a four-wire telephone cable from his home, down one side of his driveway to a spot just before the hinged side of his gate û some 270 ft. away. He uses this cable to power the gate control as well as a light and buzzer. After building a 3-ft. sq. shed that somewhat resembles a shingled dog house with a hinged access door, Davidson installed a Chamberlain brand garage door opener inside. The opener's 10-ft. long rack extends out through a small opening cut in one end of the shed. The other end of the rack is secured to the gate post, where linkage joins the rack to the bottom of the gate. Davidson placed a piece of inverted eave trough on top of the rack to keep off the snow and rain. "You have to adjust the travel pressure settings downward, but the garage door opener works great for opening and closing my 14-ft. farm gate," Davidson says. "As the gate opens inward toward the property, the shed is positioned almost at the end of the gate when it is open." According to Davidson, most modern garage door openers come with two sensors, which are normally situated on the inside bottom of the door. If the beam is broken, the door will open. He situated these sensors inside the little shed, facing each other because he didn't want winter snow build-up to cause him problems. Davidson's gate is set at 5 in. above the ground, and he says it will push through snow up to 6 in. deep with no problems. He adds that the gate could be mounted higher. Two of the telephone wires run from the opener to the button that controls it, which he located in his living room. From there, he can see through the window to the gateway. The other two wires run from the house's doorbell chimes to a special post on the far side of the gate, where Davidson placed the doorbell button. "We do have a sign on the gate which says æElectric Gate û No Entry,' but people who want to come in can see the illuminated button on a post with a sign and arrow that says, æHouse Bell.' When they push that, it rings the door chime 270 ft. away in our house and lets us know that there's someone at the road wanting to come in," he says. "It's been the best thing ever for security and privacy. You don't have any salespeople come by, and you keep people 270 ft. away from your home," Davidson says. "I have a security flood light on the end of the little shed's overhanging eaves that lights up the gate when you push the gate opener button in the house. If you push it twice, it will only turn the light on and not the gate opener. Then we can see who's there and decide if we want to let them in. The light goes off automatically after 10 min. "If I was building a setup like this again, I would have buried extra cables and put in an intercom, so you could actually ask who was at the gate." The Davidsons also have an opener control they keep on the visor of their car, so that as they approach their gate from about 100 ft. away, they can automatically open it, drive through, and close it again. "Everybody who comes here goes mad over our gate opener. It's been running for two years without a problem," Davidson says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Peter Davidson, Tudor House B&B and Health Spa, Box 8, Site 10, R.R.#1, Cochrane, Alta., Canada T4C 1A1 (ph 403 932-1189, email: tudorhousebandb@sprint.ca; website: www.bbcanada.com/7602.html).