Driveway Alarm?

[Matt Meiser]

Anyone have any recommendations? We installed a camera system a year ago and I put in a remote monitor which works well except I have to be looking at the monitor to see if someone pulls in. I read good and bad reviews on just about every one I find. I'm pretty sure I want the type that has a probe that gets buried in the drive. I'm also virtually certain I want one that the probe goes back to a transmitter (I have a pine tree near where the sensor will go that I can hide the transmitter under) and then wireless to a unit in the house. I also want output contacts because from there I want to run a pair of wire to my shop to ring a bell or something since I can't see my driveway from my shop. The current front-runner in my mind is that Dakota DCPA-2500.

[Brian Libby]

I have been thinking about the same issue. It will be interesting to see the responses.

[Jim Koepke]

Because of all the variables it is difficult to give one best answer.

Our driveway is about an 1/8 mile long. One thought was to install something with a motion detector or an infrared beam. It could be time to go greet the UPS driver or grab the gun and get some fresh deer or elk meat. So that would require a monitor to see which.

Now we have geese that make one heck of a noise when anything comes up the drive on foot, hoof or wheels.

jtk

[Matt Meiser]

I've got the monitor. UPS is actually fairly easy to detect. UPS guy gives the dog treats, therefore the dog loses his mind when the UPS guy pulls in. Cars though, are often hard to hear even in the house when the windows are closed.

We sit about 150' back from the road. I'd put the sensor about 75' from the house so that someone turning around didn't set it off. Shop is behind the house, about another 100'. If the range on the Dakota Alert system can be believed, that might work wirelessly even to my shop, for now, but we have plans on residing the shop in a year or two with steel which will likely make radio reception in/out of the shop worthless--probably going to have to buy a cell phone repeater when we do that for safety too.

[Myk Rian]

HF has one that works well. No contacts, but for $18 bucks each, get 2 and have one transmitter set off both receivers. I have one, and it really does work well.
http://www.harborfreight.com/wireless-driveway-alert-system-93068.html

[David G Baker]

I have been using a wireless device called the Reporter for the past 7 years and it is very good. It isn't cheap but you get what you pay for. I have two transmitters fastened to two different trees along my 300 foot driveway that set off a receivers buzzer in my kitchen. Check them out on the Net. One is placed near the entrance to my drive and the other is located near my house. I have the receiver on a timer so it doesn't wake us up in the middle of the night when a herd of deer walk past the transmitters.

[Matt Meiser]

HF has one that works well. No contacts, but for $18 bucks each, get 2 and have one transmitter set off both receivers. I have one, and it really does work well.
http://www.harborfreight.com/wireless-driveway-alert-system-93068.html

I'm concerned about false alarms with that style--we've got a lot of animals in the neighborhood including our dog who has access to where I'd want to put the sensor. Lots of small animals (rabbits, cats) and medium to large dogs plus I wouldn't be surprised to catch a deer or two. What's your experience been there? Maybe I'm over thinking it?

[David G Baker]

Matt,
My transmitters are located on tree trunks and the unit can be tilted up so it misses smaller animals. I have had squirrels set it off as well as birds but they were actually on the unit. Once in a while during windy days a branch will get in the path and trigger the unit. Other than that mine have worked fine. I just checked on line for availability and price. I paid around $75 for two transmitters and one receiver seven years ago. Some sites are asking $200 for the same thing so if you go this route shop around. There are also the type that are buried in the ground that detect the metal mass of a vehicle driving over the sensor. This type triggers only when a vehicle passes over it so animals etc. will not trigger it.

[Sam Murdoch]

David is this the unit you are talking about ? http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow_viewer/0,3253,l=212684&a=212682&po=10,00.asp?p=n

This is a subject that interests me too. Thanks for the thread Matt.


Update 1 minute later - if you follow the link above it will take you to a site that shows that unit is discontinued. I'm guessing this is the upgrade http://www.smarthome.com/7202/Chamberlain-CWA2000-Wireless-Motion-Alert-System/p.aspx currently on sale.

[David G Baker]

Sam, I also found the site that said the unit was discontinued but went further and found it still for sale. I didn't price the Chamberlain (sp) but it does look like an updated version of the Reporter. The model that I own may very well be discontinued but someone may have a inventory they need to liquidate. I checked the customer rating on the unit I have on Amazon and it had some very unhappy owners. My house has vinyl siding and one of the possible answers to the unhappy owners is they may have metal siding or foil backed insulation. I have had problems in the past with remote devices in a home I had in California that had foil backed insulation. I have a metal sided pole barn but I haven't tried the unit in there. Having worked with wireless microphones when I worked in television news I found it safer if hard wired devises were available it was safer to use them. Wireless devices have improved a lot in the years since I retired so that may no longer apply.

[Sam Murdoch]

Here I am this afternoon watching Waterlox dry so I've been inspired to look into this. David - I'm reading many reviews that report that the upgrade to the Reporter is not. Chamberlain no longer supports the old unit and the new ones according to those who have had both is a lesser product.There may be some old Reporter stock available but you will be on your own with any problems.

Checked into some Dakota models and reviews. They seem OK for the price range - at least 3 times more than the Chamberlain but the biggest complaint came from cold climate users who report that the units drawer to much power from the AA batteries and soon and often you are without a motion sensor. One guy hooked his up to a 12v battery and was very happy :).

Here is my favorite so far http://www.drivewayalert.com/?gclid=CLDkvKzyi7UCFQyk4AodsHkAtA Made in the USA - Lots of variety of sensors, transmitters and accessories - are typically run on 9v batteries can be hooked up to a 12v system - and right now they are on sale with the option of an extra sensor with the Deluxe models + free shipping.

Not a buried under the driveway system that Matt is asking about but more like what Dave and Myk wrote about though for about $ 150.00 for a 2 sensor deluxe version.

[Kevin Bourque]

One of my customers has a driveway alarm that somehow senses that a vehicle is in the driveway without sounding false alarms for deer or people walking past the sensor. Theres a sensor that sits on a post at the front of the driveway, and the inside alarms plug into the electrical sockets and can be placed anywhere in the house. I'm racking my brain tying to think of the manufacturer!!!

[Matt Meiser]

Here is my favorite so far http://www.drivewayalert.com/?gclid=CLDkvKzyi7UCFQyk4AodsHkAtA Made in the USA - Lots of variety of sensors, transmitters and accessories - are typically run on 9v batteries can be hooked up to a 12v system - and right now they are on sale with the option of an extra sensor with the Deluxe models + free shipping.

Not a buried under the driveway system that Matt is asking about but more like what Dave and Myk wrote about though for about $ 150.00 for a 2 sensor deluxe version.

Yeah, but big negative--endorsed by the Handyman Club of America. :D