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Hi,
I did a complete makeover of my motion sensor about which i posted earlier. I wanted to make it better cause i wanted to avoid having another set of empty batteries . This motion sensor is interrupt driven. You can read more about it here; the story about how i got to this new version 2 sensor can be read here.

I wonder how long this one will last.. anything below 6 months is not ok right?

Well, I'm hoping for more than 6 months actually!
The current sketch includes some performance counters which are sent to my system, so i know how much time the JeeNode is active, the XBee is on etc.
This weekend I'm going to do some calculations with those numbers to see if i can come up with some sort of battery life estimation.
I'll post the results here when i have them.

Will 60 weeks be OK?
I'll create a post on my weblog how i calculated this later this weekend and update this topic as well

OK, here you can read some more about how long the batteries should survive.
Theoretically that is, cause still the best test is a real life test

http://blog.hekkers.net/2010/08/02/batt ... stimation/

Really nice work Robert! I will be looking into motion sensors based on JeeNodes as well.
Why did you go for the battery based solution? Because you can put the box out of sight, it might not be too hard to find some existing adapter and use some of it's energy for your motion sensor
What sensors are you using? And which one gives you the best experience so far?

I use this sensor: http://www2.conrad.nl/goto.php?artikel=504928

The problem is, not always there's an adapter or wall socket nearby; so battery powered i will need anyway.
Every sensor will be custom built, so if there is a power source nearby, I'll use it...

BTW
http://shop.conrad.nl/componenten/senso ... 72526.html
3-5V, 80 uA, range 12 m also worth looking at.
Not so nice are the size and the price.

If you want low power, I would check out the ELV pir:

http://www.elv.de/output/controller.asp ... ch=&marke=
Artikel-Nr.: 68-577-23

5-24 V DC
0,04mA

15,95

That's also the one which JCW is using and recomending.

When i bought these PIR sensors, i didn't even know what a JeeNode was yet
But I know that one, but since it needs to be powered with 5V minimal, it's harder to use; you would need 4 x AA batteries, meaning less space for the other components or a larger enclosure. Another disadvantage is the small PCB the PIR is soldered to. Maybe i'll try it some time.

Digit wrote:When i bought these PIR sensors, i didn't even know what a JeeNode was yet
But I know that one, but since it needs to be powered with 5V minimal, it's harder to use; you would need 4 x AA batteries, meaning less space for the other components or a larger enclosure. Another disadvantage is the small PCB the PIR is soldered to. Maybe i'll try it some time.

Actually, you can run the ELV PIR on anything as low as 3.6V according to the PDF documentation
JCW is running the ELV PIR's on 3 AA batteries (http://News.jeelabs.org/2009/12/19/batt ... efinement/)

as Jean-Claud states in one of his posts (http://talk.jeelabs.net/topic/276#post-1421):
The PIR board is from ELV. There's a PDF (in German) which includes a schematic. It says that the regulator delivers 3.6V to the entire circuit, so I'd think that an LDO regulator would be able to handle it down to perhaps 3.7 or 3.8V (which would be great for LiPo use).

Yep, digging a bit further in the datasheet - the HT7136 seems to have only 0.06V voltage drop. It should work way down to 3.7V.

Ahh thanks, i didn't go that "deep" cause i had 2 of the panasonic PIRs still unused.

Maybe you can answer this also: the ELV is advertised as a kit, does it mean i will have to solder the SMD components too? Or is it only soldering the PIR to the PCB?
I'm still struggling a bit about which one to buy, the Panasonic AMN41122 or the ELV PIR 13.
The Panasonic has nicer dimensions and everything integrated, the ELV is cheap and easy to get...

Actually, you can buy 2 different versions of the PIR:


Bewegungsmeldermodul PIR 13, Komplettbausatz for 12,25 euro
Bewegungsmeldermodul PIR 13 for 15,95

If you look at the Komplettbausatz, it states a build time of 0,1 hour.
also it states : "Verwendung von SMD-Bauteilen. OK - Teile sind bereits komplett bestuckt"
which according to google translate means the SMD parts are already soldered

I haven't ordered either one just yet, my german is not that good
Need to make some time, and browse the entire elv website and make one big order for myself.