A tripwire is one of the easiest, most basic ways to protect your home. It can act as a first alert, or as a more complicated alarm. Even better, a tripwire alarm is a simple project that takes minimal time, yet can be extremely beneficial to you and and your family. The basic tools you need to make a tripwire alarm are: - A wireless, battery-powered doorbell system - Extension wires - Soldering iron - Wooden clothespin - 2 screws - 4 nuts - String (Fishing line is recommended because it is clear and strong) - Small piece of flat plastic

Step 1 - Open your doorbell transmitter to expose  and remove the circuit board. Strip the wire insulation and solder one wire to each side of the buttons. Once completed, put the circuit board back in transmitter casing.

Step 2- Drill a hole in the end of each clothespin piece. Insert the screw with the head on the inside. On the outside, add both nuts one each end with a gap in between each nut. The finished product should look like this.

Step 3 - Attach the wire to both ends of the outside screws, wrapping the wire around the screws in between the nuts.  Tighten the outside nut to keep the wire in place.

Step 4- Glue the circuit board to one end of the clothespin.

Step 4- Tie one end of fishing line to a flat piece of plastic, placing the plastic between the two screw heads. Set up the tripwire base by securing one end of the clothespin to a tree, bush or other apparatus. (Drill a small hole in the back end of one piece of the clothespin and tie it to the apparatus.)

Step 5 - Stretch the fishing line attached to the plastic across a path to secure it on the other side. Place the doorbell receiver inside where it can be heard throughout the house.

The process is simple. An intruder will walk into the string, dislodging the plastic from the clothespin, causing a connection between the two screw heads. This will trigger the alarm to ring the doorbell.

Tips

1- String. We recommend fishing wire, but any string you have will do. Just make sure it's concealed. 2- Height- The line should be about 6 inches to a foot off the ground. 3- Distance - Check the range of your wireless doorbell. Most have a range of about 500 feet from the receiver. Make sure you keep within that range for best results. 4- Variety- If you choose to set up various trip wires, make sure the alert for each wire has a different sound so you knew which wire has been tripped.

Thanks to instructables.com for the images.

Besides tripwires, what easy, DIY methods do you use to secure your property?