no, not a bird
June 15, 2010 1:41 PM Subscribe
Mysterybeepfilter: since 2 weeks ago, something beeps in regular intervals behind the house...
Residential area in the UK. Something I can't locate up on the next level streets and/or backyards emits a medium-loud high-pitched (a-flat'''') electronic-sounding triple-beep - like bip-bip-bip - exactly every 55 seconds, day and night.
This isn't about getting upset or anything (although I'm sleeping with the windows closed now). I'm wondering what it actually is that I'm hearing.
Bonus questions why would anything be designed to make that noise, and what makes people actually use these beepers. To avoid chatfilter tendencies, perhaps no wild guesses.
Residential area in the UK. Something I can't locate up on the next level streets and/or backyards emits a medium-loud high-pitched (a-flat'''') electronic-sounding triple-beep - like bip-bip-bip - exactly every 55 seconds, day and night.
This isn't about getting upset or anything (although I'm sleeping with the windows closed now). I'm wondering what it actually is that I'm hearing.
Bonus questions why would anything be designed to make that noise, and what makes people actually use these beepers. To avoid chatfilter tendencies, perhaps no wild guesses.
We had a neighbor's alarm go off when he was not home. It would start beeping and keep beeping for hours. My husband called his family, since he thought it was some type of emergency alarm. Perhaps it is someone's alarm clock? The kind that go off and do not turn themselves off?
posted by fifilaru at 1:55 PM on June 15, 2010
posted by fifilaru at 1:55 PM on June 15, 2010
my house beeped for about two and a half years after i moved in--it was the security system. A battery somewhere in the system was dead and needed to be replaced. We ended up disarming the system. The beep was about once every five minutes. Could you be hearing someone else's security system?
However, I think that kbar1 is probably correct--there's a smoke detector or carbon monoxide detector in need of a battery somewhere behind your house.
posted by fyrebelley at 1:59 PM on June 15, 2010
However, I think that kbar1 is probably correct--there's a smoke detector or carbon monoxide detector in need of a battery somewhere behind your house.
posted by fyrebelley at 1:59 PM on June 15, 2010
Best answer: This exactly describes what happens nightly in the workroom in our landlord's office in the basement of our building.
If he leaves the window open you can hear it beep thrice every almost-minute in regular intervals.
When asked about it, thinking that it was some sort of dead battery situation, he told us it was just a cheap security system to scare people off.
It's annoying as hell, especially since he doesn't actually live on-site. But he's let us pay our rent late more than once, so I'm not complaining.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 2:11 PM on June 15, 2010
If he leaves the window open you can hear it beep thrice every almost-minute in regular intervals.
When asked about it, thinking that it was some sort of dead battery situation, he told us it was just a cheap security system to scare people off.
It's annoying as hell, especially since he doesn't actually live on-site. But he's let us pay our rent late more than once, so I'm not complaining.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 2:11 PM on June 15, 2010
Response by poster: Excellent, thanks! I had considered all the wayward-alarm-clock and low battery options, (my mind even toyed with the possibility of some medical apparatus, like a machine that supplies a piece of chocolate to the patient every 55 seconds) but this seems to fit like a glove. Will see what I can do about it. No, if. Grr.
posted by Namlit at 3:27 PM on June 15, 2010
posted by Namlit at 3:27 PM on June 15, 2010
Our older neighbor had a smoke detector with low batteries in his RV. He was hard of hearing (at least that high pitched noise.) He couldn't hear it when we talked at the fence, but I could. His wife finally took him inside the RV to show him. The neighbor on the other side had a smoke detector with low batteries but didn't have the money to buy new, and didn't overall seem to care about the noise. She didn't spend a lot of time at home (at least sleeping in the bedroom,) so it went on for about a month until the battery finally gave out.
wife of 445supermag
posted by 445supermag at 9:46 PM on June 15, 2010
wife of 445supermag
posted by 445supermag at 9:46 PM on June 15, 2010
Response by poster: Well, someone apparently got annoyed and did something about it, because it's solidly gone for a while now. Thanks all and especially MCMikeNamara for not letting this cause me sleepless nights even after the fact.
posted by Namlit at 11:50 AM on October 24, 2010
posted by Namlit at 11:50 AM on October 24, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kbar1 at 1:48 PM on June 15, 2010 [4 favorites]