HOUSE INTERCOM RECOMMENDATIONS

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

We had a potentially serious medical incident in the house the other day and it would have been nice to hear my wife from the kitchen. I am looking at some wireless intercoms. I would like them to be FM Line current or old school low band. But FRS might be OK . They need to be four stations, all on one calling channel. Simplex is fine. They must have some sort of selective squelch. Simple is better.

 

[MUTNAV]

This probably isn't exactly what you are looking for, but I'm using video baby monitors (about 5 of them spread accross two systems) around the house, it picks up audio (unless you mute it), and you can talk back through the camera.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09GM8JZM9?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1

Hope this can help.
Joel

 

[ChrisABQ]

Same medical issues with my father, he has dementia. I live across the courtyard from my parents and bought a 4 pack of Baofeng F22's so we could have comm's on both floors of our condos.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Considering getting 4 or 5 of these. Entirely compatible with FRS and GMRS freqs and tones. Have to explain to wife that it is simple (with all remotes on same freq and tone).

 

[jeepsandradios]

IVe been looking for something similar as well. Back years ago we had the Audiovox FRS/GMRS base radiso that worked well. I'm down to the last one working so now need to upgrade. This box you linked looks like it may be worth trying.

 

[buddrousa]

That looks like a nice replacement for the old Radioshack Intercoms.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

IVe been looking for something similar as well. Back years ago we had the Audiovox FRS/GMRS base radiso that worked well. I'm down to the last one working so now need to upgrade. This box you linked looks like it may be worth trying.

Functionally it is a lot like the AudioVox. 22 channels and 100 DCS and CTCSS codes. If you use it as intended , assigning each station a different channel, it is apparently a clunky operation. But setting all units to same channel it is just a matter of pressing CALL or TALK. The GROUP function is another nag (which can be disabled on later units) Pressing GROUP activates a hard coded common channel and DCS code. The remotes all apparently scan between whatever channel and code they are set for and this hard coded GROUP channel. The problem there is that they have sold a lot of these and you start hearing neighbors and vice versa.

My wife thinks it is too complex, so I have a bit of a job to sell her on it not being complex at all, if programmed properly AND being able to use an FRS (or GMRS) radio to talk with them. I still have an open mind to other solutions. The old FM 200 KHz line current Realistic stuff was simple. But there are no new products like that. There are a ton of Chinese products with zero documentation to figure out if they work, let alone legal.

 

[Danny37]

If its in a public area in your house, you can use a baby monitor or those cheap blink/wyze cameras. Unfortunately the cheap cameras require you to keep the app open on your phone to listen in on a particular camera feed which will drain the battery.

There's also people using the alexa show device to monitor their sick ones. But reviewing it on reddit, its not recommended.

My honest opinion, a baby monitor with a screen and app control would be the best bet. Something like this https://a.co/d/fo5BO4f

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Still looking for solutions.

 

[rajames53]

As some who has over 30 years in the medical Life safety equipment industry I would NOT use intercoms for medical emergencies. I would strongly suggest a medical pendant. A person having a medical emergency may not be able to use an Intercom to summon help. Research the different companies out there and their services and features. If you do not want a paid service I believe there are suppliers that sell equipment for home use that does not require a monitoring service. Not knowing what the medical issue was I would recommend a monitored pendant.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

None of us are circling the grave at this time. But I understand your concern.

 

[buddrousa]

Life Alert Disturbing FIRE/EMS every 60 seconds.
In my 40 year career Fire/EMS 999 calls a year were non-life threating and 1 a year was a true emergency call.
800 a year I did not push the button or I just wanted to see how long it took you to get here.
The other 199 was to pick up someone in the floor with 3 plus family members in the house because its what we got paid for.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

There is always someone here in the house so no central monitoring is required. The problem is the layout of the house and the insulation being very good. You cannot reliably hear from one room to another. The house had a wired NuTone system from the 1980's and I removed and plastered over all of that crap when we moved in. (I wish I had access to the wires for the front door station which remains). We actually have cordless phones with intercom, but I am not about to train wife and son how to use that feature. And we don't have enough of them where needed,

 

[buddrousa]

I installed Nutones several years ago and they had all the options you wanted to buy.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

I installed Nutones several years ago and they had all the options you wanted to buy.

Yeah, but a 1986 main panel with FM/AM radio in the center of the kitchen counter space was pretty ugly after decades of grime. I am sure they are nicer now. I think they once had a model with a 45 RPM record player that folded out so you could play Reveille 5AM in the morning to wake up the troops!

 

[buddrousa]

I did a complete swap out back in the summer went from 4 wire devices to 3 wire devices Bluetooth in and Bluetooth out. The kit came with Faceplates and adapters to fit the old in wall mounting boxes. Looked nice when I was done.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

As I recall these all had some sort of grey or white ribbon cable running all over the attic. I have since insulated so deeply that I cannot access the attic. I did mark the locations of all the remote J boxes/ mud rings on the wall under the door molding in each room. They were mounted just inside the door in every case. I made drywall plugs for each and plastered over. I can't imagine going back to wired. Though if I can ever snag the wire for the front door remote, I may put that to use, even to simply power, a wireless unit.

 

[MUTNAV]

Another idea to consider is something I rigged up for my mom a few years ago.

A wireless battery operated doorbell from Home depot worked great. It was small to the point that I had to put it on a piece of wood so it wouldn't get lost in her walkers basket. It's loud, I could hear it almost anywhere in the house, and if someone really wanted to, they could put the button on a pendent.

Another option if a pendant route is wanted (which apparently isn't wanted at this point), is the classic X10 system which can now use small pendents to set off an alarm, or remote dial family or friends (with no subscription fees or anything).

 

[Danny37]

Amazon.com

They make these as well, its a watch and a call button that can be pressed to send you a notification through a reciever (433mhz) and a phone app. No subscription required.

 

[D31245]

Life Alert Disturbing FIRE/EMS every 60 seconds.
In my 40 year career Fire/EMS 999 calls a year were non-life threating and 1 a year was a true emergency call.
800 a year I did not push the button or I just wanted to see how long it took you to get here.
The other 199 was to pick up someone in the floor with 3 plus family members in the house because its what we got paid for.

I had to look up what "lift assist" meant last year when listening to my local FD/Rescue dispatch. Didn't know what it meant at the time. I was guessing it had something to do with elevators!