Who has them? Who loves them?
I would love to have one with either a mobile receiver or where I can hook up two receivers. (One for the house/office and one for the barn.)
The budget is tight, but I’m willing to invest in something that will withstand the winters.
My biggest concern is the office is in the (walkout) basement of a house and the barn is a metal bole barn, so I worry about the transmitter communicating through that.
I’ve got one and love it. It’s battery operated and the receiver is in the house. I believe that I could have gotten 2 recievers, like one for house and one for barn, but when I was in the barn, the dog served as an alarm if a vehicle drove up or a person showed up.
Mine uses a C battery and is at least 10 yrs old and probably closer to 15 yrs.
It wasn’t very expensive at the time, probably a bit under $100 and worth every penny.
Just do a google on Driveway Monitors and a zillion will come up.
Thanks MSJ. How long does the battery last? Does it do ok in the winter?
Luckily the “Similar Threads” at the bottom pulled up better search than the actual search function.
Additional questions:
For the ones that “see” metal (which we will probably need vs. the motion detector), do they “see” all metal or only moving metal? If there’s a tractor or building within range, will it ignore it until/unless it moves?
Our wireless Dakota Alert ones are good a mile away, on direct line of sight.
They of course also work, the cheaper ones, at a few hundred feet.
There are some you can put up to 4 sensors to one base station/mobile station.
We have two right now on the same base.
The 9V (little square ones) batteries in our monitors last a good year, easily.
The base station has a plug, don’t know how long the ones in the walk around monitor may last, that one is new to us.
One we have even works with a magnet as a security door monitor and as a door bell.
For close distances, even the cheapest ones work fine.
[QUOTE=Wonders12;8425176]
Additional questions:
For the ones that “see” metal (which we will probably need vs. the motion detector), do they “see” all metal or only moving metal? If there’s a tractor or building within range, will it ignore it until/unless it moves?[/QUOTE]
I’ve been looking into the Mighty Mule, but since we have metal fencing along our driveway (t-posts on one side, sucker rod on the other) I was also concerned about it getting set off. I found this from their customer service:
Locate the sensor away from general moving traffic to prevent unwanted activation. Remember that the sensor detects magnetic disturbances caused by a vehicle’s mass and velocity. If your chain link fence is not automated with a gate opener or moving due to wind, the fence should not set off the driveway alarm.
[QUOTE=Wonders12;8425176]
Thanks MSJ. How long does the battery last? Does it do ok in the winter?
Additional questions:
For the ones that “see” metal (which we will probably need vs. the motion detector), do they “see” all metal or only moving metal? If there’s a tractor or building within range, will it ignore it until/unless it moves?[/QUOTE]
The battery lasts maybe a yr. It seems to always need to be replaced in the winter.
As for the ones that respond to metal, I think mine only responds if the vehicle or metal object is moving past it. If I leave my car parked near it, it doesn’t alarm constantly, just when the vehicle moved by it.
One thing I’ve noticed with mine is that it alarms a bit after the vehicle has moved past it but I think that’s just due to the fact it’s pretty old. It used buzz the minute a vehicle past it.
They are nice to have until its a windy day in the fall with leaves flying about or the days when a flock of a billion black birds land in your yard. Those days you will want to bash the thing into a zillion pieces. Thankfully, ours can be turned on and off.
[QUOTE=riverrunak;8425294]
They are nice to have until its a windy day in the fall with leaves flying about or the days when a flock of a billion black birds land in your yard. Those days you will want to bash the thing into a zillion pieces. Thankfully, ours can be turned on and off.[/QUOTE]
That is a motion detector, drive way monitors detect mass of metals.
Not sure if this is a problem with newer models but every once in a while really strong gusty winds will set mine off. I don’t mind it during the day as I can look out and see that it isn’t a vehicle that caused it but just wind BUT when it happens at 3 AM, I do get annoyed. :mad:
I have a Dakota, with both a base station in the house and a portable that I can carry with me in the metal barn/kennels, on the tractor/UTV/etc. I’m really happy with it, as I have a long driveway plus there are times I may be out and about on the property and need to know if someone pulls through the front gate. Only thing I don’t like is that during a good thunderstorm, lightning will often set it off…but I now know to just turn off the base during a lightning storm.
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