Driveway alarms

[jmc]

Speaking of saying no to solicitors, you wouldn't happen to be one would you? (noticed most of your message is verbatim from the website.)

 

[heehaw]

i have tried units that "look" like those in your link: but had a different name..and the "reporter" works a lot better than the ones i tried.. and its cheaper
heehaw

 

[Moon]

Lowes Driveway Alarm / Monitor update.

The Ohio River flooded last weekend. The Lowes alarm ended up under water for 24 hours. We forgot about it, else it would have been simple to prevent. But, even after being under water it still works fine. I'm impressed.

Moon of Ohio

 

[beenthere]

How is your 'Reporter' doing? I installed one a couple weeks ago, and only occasionally will it miss a vehicle coming up (or going down) the drive.

I have the contact (switch) in the 'reporter' receiver hooked to my doorbell wires. I am in the process of trying to rig up a light control that will use these contacts to initiate a timer, that will then turn on a house light for a few minutes. The 'reporter' switch will directly handle switching on a light, but for only a second or two when the vehicle is sensed in the drive.
I'd like a few minutes of 'light on' time, so when I'm gone, a visitor will see lights on in the house (just hope they don't become convinced that we are home and beat the door down thinking we will eventually come to the door, just because they saw lights). I have a few ideas on how to do this, but nothing fabricated yet.
I did find out that the neighbor farmer will trip the alarm twice when going by, once with the tractor, and again when the 'hot' load of manure on the spreader gets detected. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
So two rings is the farmer, the rest are vehicles. No deer have tripped it yet that I am aware of anyway. The grandkids think it is fun to see it light up. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[heehaw]

i have 2 "reporters" spaced about 75 ft apart: they both miss vehicles sometimes, especially white ones....and mostly when the car gets started at the house and leaves before it gets warmed up...the first one triggers a "beep beep" then the second one just a "beep"; so i know if someone is coming down the drive: they both went off this morning about 1am: i was up so i went outside with a flashlight and didn't see anything, but opposums have set it off before, plus dogs, skunks, etc...but they have to be in just the right position. this is the first time they have both ever gone off and it not be a vehicle???
heehaw

 

[Mosey]

I decided to try a GE Driveway Monitor from Lowes. The price was $67.50 + tax. They didn't have any in stock though, so I had to special order it. Should be in next week. I'll report back on how well it works.

 

[heehaw]

i've had one for a while now: recently had to move it closer to the house, because it started missing vehicles: changed batteries and it didn't make any difference, moved it about 60 ft closer and it works fine now
heehaw

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Keep us posted on how well it works and how far it is from your house...Kyle

 

[heehaw]

i stepped it off after sending the last message: the sensor is 240 ft from the receiver: it worked great for a long while, never missed a single vehicle: then the low battery indicator on the receiver came on, i reset it a couple times, then it missed a couple vehicles, so i put new batteries in: it still missed a couple vehicles, so i moved it 120 ft towards the house, and it hasn't missed a vehicle since. it is now 120 ft from the receiver. i wish i could put it further, but i prefer it to be more reliable than have the distance. when i built my house, i put foil covered styrofoam on the entire outside, this does limit distance of cordless phones and driveway alarms quite a bit, even though the receiver is sitting in the window facing the transmitter.
heehaw

 

[SnowRidge]

<font color="blue"> (even though the receiver is sitting in the window facing the transmitter.) </font>

Low E glass window, by any chance? They have a thin metallic oxide coating, which may attenuate radio signals.