Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is the fourth remote driveway alarm we have tried. The others ranged from a $70 GE unit to a $250 unit that supposedly worked "up to four miles." They would either not have the range needed (about 100 yards) or would stop working after a few days. Replacements were tried for all, and all had the same failures or problems.
This one, however, has now been working flawlessly here for two weeks. It has been through a major rainstorm and several extremely foggy mornings. Temperatures here have been as high as 94 degrees.
Other pro's:
Worked out of the box with both receivers. The default settings were fine and setting switches was not necessary.
We like the ability to choose the alarm sound. We chose the short musical selection for the house. The workshop/garage has the sharp whistle tone, as there is often other loud noise going on.
Con's:
Like most infra-red receivers, it does occasionally pick up dogs, deer, and even a crow that flies close enough. It does not trigger on trees or leaves, even in high wind (and where we have it mounted, there is a small forest across the driveway.) I suppose that would be possible, however, if the tree/leaves were in the sunshine, and thus hotter than the surroundings. BTW, although called a "motion sensor," the manufacturer says an object must be a minimum of six degrees warmer than the surroundings to be detected.
Suggestions:
We found that vehicle pickup is more reliable if the sensor is pointed somewhat down the driveway rather than directly across it.
Setting it higher off the ground reduces the triggers on dogs, but also makes it possible to miss some vehicles that do not produce a heat signature that high off the ground. We set ours at about four feet. It still picks up medium and larger dogs, but has not missed a single vehicle. It does not pick up cats, skunks, etc.
If you get false alarms, especially at similar times of day each day, try changing the transmitter and receiver subcode. One of your neighbors may be using the same unit.
Update, 2009:
Well, it's still working fine almost two years later. It does occasionally miss a vehicle, and we have noticed that almost all of the ones it misses are painted white. Maybe that has something to do with the temperature difference requirements. Maybe mounting it a little lower would help.
It has stopped working once. That was one of those so-foggy-everything-is-soaked mornings. I brought the transmitter indoors and removed the battery. Then I set the opened case in front of a small fan for a couple of hours. After the drying it again worked fine, and has since. Still highly recommended.
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Wireless Motion Alert Kit-600' Max Range
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