 At last - one that really works |
| Review Date: June 23, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Dan Z, Northeast Tennessee, home of the free |
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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Intrusion Sensor
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| Review Date: March 12, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Michael Gracewood, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| This is a great system for covering areas of poor or no visability. To date, it has worked flawlessly. |
Very Pleased With Product Support.
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| Review Date: March 23, 2009 |
| Reviewer: J. Dalton, Western Oregon |
I bought one of these systems in December of 2008, but did not get around to installing it until late January of 2009. I could not get it to work with the transmitter more than 100 feet from the receiver. I called Dakota Alert, and they said to send it back. They returned it in a reasonable time, having replaced the transmitter circuit board, but it would only transmit about 120 feet. They again said to send it back, and about 10 days later returned it with another new transmitter circuit board. This time it works great!
I have it set up about 430 feet away, and it rings every time. I have noticed no false alarms. It will pick up a person walking, but I have not noticed it being set off by the deer that frequent our area. I don't know how I got by without it. I recommend it highly.
While I am dissapointed that the product was defective, Dakota Alert kept working at it until the fixed the problem. I wish other manufacturers would stand benind their product like Dakota Alert did. |
It works!
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| Review Date: April 15, 2007 |
| Reviewer: givpilot, Groton, MA USA |
| I've tried several products such as this in an effort to provide an aural alert when someone enters my rather long and meandering driveway -- and this is the first one that delivers as advertised. I can't give it any better recommendation than that! |
Great Alert
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| Review Date: August 29, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Dorene L. Sutton, |
| This product does exactly what I wanted it to do. It let's me know when anyone walks around the blind side of our house. Extremely easy to install. |
Best buy for " Wireless Motion Alert Kit-600' Max Range ", Lowest Price Wireless Motion Alert Kit-600' Max Range + Free shipping. Get Wireless Motion Alert Kit-600' Max Range Now! |
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