Ideas wanted: How to make the mailbox sound an alarm/bell?

Yes, I need help. I'm sick of people ignoring that I prohibited throwing advertising papers and other junk into my mailbox.
Paying attention to a sticker that forbids doing so is mandatory. Publishers can be (and have been successfully!) sued for ignoring → Dictionary suggests "file for injunctive relief". In terms of copyright law we often have mentioning of "cease and desist" on GBAtemp. Cease and desist also fits quite well.

Long story short: Some a..holes unpleasant persons choose to ignore this… and one of them is the local newspaper that lost so many subscribers that they are in super-desperation mode: They are printing a weekly advertising pseudo-newspaper and fire it in all directions. They are the worst offenders, often leaving two "news"papers at a single family home – with two times the corresponding additional advertising flyers three times as heavy (I used a kitchen scales!)

Rarely do I have luck in noticing deliverers to tell them off. How can I make my mailbox sound an alarm inside (like a wireless doorbell)? That would vastly improve my chances… at least when I'm at home.

Searching for readily available products, I only got smart rubbish with Zigbee, Alexa, Google, and whatnot online garbage sending a message via internet to a smartphone. It should just make "Ding!", and not involve the internet.
🤦‍♀️

I would be very happy, if somebody gave me some easy(!) idea(s) how to modify the sender part of a wireless doorbell so that opening the mailbox triggers it.
Or any other idea(s) NOT involving high skill, huge expenses or some smart cloud bullsh..

Comments

Youkai
The idea with the Physical trigger that Creamu wrote is very good else you could also try maybe some raspberry pi with motion sensors that either activates an electrical bell or pushes a notice to your smartphone or something like that.
 
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JaapDaniels
Creamu said:
How about a physical trigger system when the mailbox gets opened. You could trigger a second doorbell with that.
Click to expand...
How about connecting something like this to the door of your mailbox?
Should be small and easy enough to mount somewhere.
The trigger could be like in those wish cards with music when you open it.
Youkai said:
The idea with the Physical trigger that Creamu wrote is very good else you could also try maybe some raspberry pi with motion sensors that either activates an electrical bell or pushes a notice to your smartphone or something like that.
Click to expand...
With a device like ESP32, Raspberry pi (even pico should do) or arduino you should be even able to use something like a scale as a second trigger.. if opened (disconnected wire) time of say 10 seconds, if weight over say 15 gram (newspaper) alarm canceled, if else activate buzzer. Everything should work on battery.
Since it will not need much memmory, not much processor power/cores, no graphics or network it should not drain the battery fast.
You could use small solar collector for charging the battery.
And if you really want to, some of these micro computers have wireless options to send a message to your pc/phone.
 
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aoikurayami
1. Mount a very obvious camera ontop your mailbox, with the note "smile for the camera"
2. Add a nice sign that reads
"Do you hate money ? Do you love getting sued ? I dare you, I double dare you postperson, try throwing an ad into my postbox one more gdmn time"
3. Hope that they read and understand

ELSE:

Add the "dude from pulp fiction" as image to the sign.


If it still doesn't work:
Can those newspapers be called ?
Call em, and and ask em about "how good their lawyers are, and if they have ever been sued to he11 and back



Option C:
Add a second mailbox that connecty to a paper shredder.
Label it: "Advertismnents go here"


(Icm not sure how your alarm idea is gonna help. Won't that thing go off everytime ?)
 
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KleinesSinchen
@Creamu
That is exactly my question: How should the physical trigger look like? How to actually do/build it? What to add instead of the push button on the sender of a wireless doorbell?

@Youkai What to buy? It needs to be battery powered and have some sender for the bell. And I don't have a smartphone (technically I have since the dumbphone, but it is offline). Please no internet solutions.

@JaapDaniels The musical cards are a good idea as a trigger.

@aoikurayami
aoikurayami said:
(Icm not sure how your alarm idea is gonna help. Won't that thing go off everytime ?)
Click to expand...
Don't take "alarm" literally. Not a siren or something like this. Just a second doorbell (another sound). It will be helpful for legitimate mail as well. Somebody delivers something → "Ding Dong."

As for very direct messages: Those people don't read them. Like: Not at all. Calling the newspaper sounds like this:
"Unwanted newspaper in my mailbox… again."
"Your address, please."
*Says address*
"I'll notify the deliverer. Can't do more. Sorry for the inconvenience."

Reaction on mails (online and offline):













(Yes, nothing)

I'm too unstable to actually sue them. Although the legal position is clear… "In court and on the high seas you are in God's hands" If the judge feels like advertising is not a big deal, just throw it away, I would lose (in lower instances, probably not at higher courts). That is expensive, exhausting and lengthy. That is the point: They know that hardly anybody will go through all this.
=================


Thank you all for the comments!
 
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KleinesSinchen
Creamu said:
Link doesn't work. You will need a doorbell complex, a microswitch and TTL logic (to make the switch to a pulse).
Click to expand...
D*mn. It makes sense to cut off the tracking garbage that Amazon, eBay,… add to URLs; but this time I cut too much. Should be fixed now.
 
C
KleinesSinchen said:
D*mn. It makes sense to cut off the tracking garbage that Amazon, eBay,… add to URLs; but this time I cut too much. Should be fixed now.
Click to expand...
Burg-Waechter-61160-JOURNAL-5867-SI-Briefkasten-Stahlblech-Silber-Schluesselschloss.jpg

Place the switch that if the lid is open the microswitch is no longer pressed. Add a TTL logic in the chain to make the switch to a pulse so you don't get constant ringing (choose a door bell that plays a longer sound on pulse).
 
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N10A
since most buttons are just conductive thing contacting other conductive thing, I would probably mount some kind of springy metal to the inside of the lid that drags across another metal contact when the box is opened. Find a cheap off the shelf wireless doorbell, open up the transmitter, remove the button, and wire it to the contacts you mounted to your mailbox. No logic or anything else required.

edit: this listing on ebay illustrates what kind of doorbell I'm thinking of: https://www.ebay.com/itm/403781674249
also I like this extension for removing url tracking fluff: https://docs.clearurls.xyz/1.23.0
 
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JuanMena
Pretty late here, haven't read everything...

But what if you run a small circuit from your house to your mailbox and into your house again with an open circuit.
And everytime someone opnes your mailbox, the circuit closes and makes a sound at your house.
 
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aoikurayami
JuanBaNaNa said:
Pretty late here, haven't read everything...

But what if you run a small circuit from your house to your mailbox and into your house again with an open circuit.
And everytime someone opnes your mailbox, the circuit closes and makes a sound at your house.
Click to expand...
That...
Wait, circuit..


But that is complex (Ben Heck so what else.. That oddball)

Look at that.. ha.


Actually.
I think this might be the best and easiest bet (granted *if* it works inside a mailbox)
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2047675.m570.l1313&_nkw=500FT+Wireless+Motion+Sensor+System+Driveway+Alarm+Alert+Security&_sacat=0

It seems to be battery powered even
The motion detector power by 1 9V batteries (not included)
The Receiver power by 3 1.5V batteries (not included)
Click to expand...
 
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