I know this is an old thread but it was very helpful.
I bought the Mail Chime to get an alert from my maibox that is in a direct line of sight 120 feet from my house. It worked great as long as I walked out and opened it but didn’t when the mailman delivers. The issue is my mailbox is on the opposite side of the road and when the mailman arrives his large vehicle blocks the signal. It doesn’t help that my mailbox is heavy aluminum.
I ended up moving the sending unit from inside the mailbox to outside mounted below on the pole. I opened the sending unit and replaced the ball\motion activated switch with a magnetic window\door sensor (https://www.amazon.com/30-10071-Spdt-n-c-Magnetic-Switch/dp/B00BMANPA4/ref=sr_1_12). The magnetic switch mounts on the inside of the mailbox door and a wire runs down to the sending unit on the pole. The switch makes contact and triggers the sending unit when the door is open.
Moving the sending unit outside the mailbox gives a stronger signal so the mail mans vehicle doesn’t affect the operation. Works every time.
I also modified the Mail Chime to interface with my HomeSeer Z-Wave system using the info in this blog.
I added the relay (https://www.amazon.com/Tolako-Arduino-Indicator-Channel-Official/dp/B00VRUAHLE/ref=sr_1_1_sspa) connected to the buzzer contacts inside the Mail Chime and a Z-Wave module (https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Z-Wave-Multi-Input-Output-Contact/dp/B00B6RZ7MM/ref=sr_1_2). The Mail Chime now sends me an email and text each time mail arrives.
Thanks all for your input.
