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 Speargun_
I Run Towards Gunfire
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Joined: Mar 2007  FL, USA
 
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Posted: 5/3/2012 7:34:21 PM
THE IMAGE ABOVE IS A PAID ADVERTISEMENT MUST BE MURS compatible so it has better range & I can get the alarm on my HT when I'm away from the monitor in the house. Other than that, dependability and not going off every time the wind blows like the HF brand does would be nice. I haven't found much on the topic, but it looks like the Dakota brand has the most advertisement. |
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Posted: 5/3/2012 7:39:29 PM
I have one from this company. I don't have the MURS model, but they're GTG.
http://www.dakotaalert.com/ |
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NAK
The Federalist Papers
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Posted: 5/3/2012 11:02:10 PM
I have DakotaAlert MURS transmitters on my feeders. I am getting about three months to a set of batteries, but between pigs, deer, and raccoons, the thing is going off many times per night. I suspect it would last much longer on an actual driveway. My river feeder is about a 1/3 mile from the cabin and the signal is load & clear.
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Posted: 5/4/2012 4:42:53 AM
Originally Posted By NAK:
I have DakotaAlert MURS transmitters on my feeders. I am getting about three months to a set of batteries, but between pigs, deer, and raccoons, the thing is going off many times per night. I suspect it would last much longer on an actual driveway. My river feeder is about a 1/3 mile from the cabin and the signal is load & clear. I get about 8 months on my driveway. |
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Speargun_
I Run Towards Gunfire
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Posted: 5/4/2012 9:25:49 AM
[Last Edit: 5/4/2012 9:32:09 AM by Speargun_]
The pics I've looked at shows that the Dakota has an external antenna. If it does, can it be removed so an external antenna can be hooked up instead.?
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NAK
The Federalist Papers
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Posted: 5/6/2012 2:18:10 AM
The antenna on mine connects with what I think is called a BCN connector, so you could easily connect an external antenna. How much range are you needing?
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Posted: 5/6/2012 7:03:02 AM
hey guys.
besides the murs ones. And not to hi jack spear's topic. But ive been milling over the basic IR kinda drive way alarm i guess they are. I want something to give a basic alarm if someone passes a gate or the driveway. but like spear said not something that will go off if a bird flys past it. |
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Muad
Drinking the Kool-aid
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Posted: 5/6/2012 9:29:46 AM
[Last Edit: 5/6/2012 9:29:54 AM by Muad]
My driveway alarm is a 115lb GSD/Great Dane mix. Nothing moves outside without him knowing.
Just saying.
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Speargun_
I Run Towards Gunfire
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Posted: 5/6/2012 2:05:30 PM
Originally Posted By NAK:
The antenna on mine connects with what I think is called a BCN connector, so you could easily connect an external antenna. How much range are you needing? It's a BNC connector & they are pretty common antenna connectors. Thanks, that's the info I was looking for. At most, I'm looking at about a 1/2 mile range. I'm sure those units are pretty low power, but if I can put an external antenna 10 - 15 feet in the air, that should be no problem at all even on a few milliwatts. It looks like the DakotaAlert is the way to go. |
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NAK
The Federalist Papers
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Posted: 5/6/2012 10:19:36 PM
MURS is limited to 2 watt...so its high power compared to many other similar unlicensed bands. I'm not sure what the driveway alerts put out, but I'm getting good receptions at about 1/3 mile through heavy woods...but I'm way the F out in the middle of nowhere, so the noise floor is low. You may find you don't need the external antenna.
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Posted: 5/6/2012 10:43:31 PM
Neighbor uses 3 German Shepard's. The smallest is at least 100 pounds. Don't have to worry about batteries, solar flares, or the power going out. Thieves, salesmen, trespassers, Idiots asking to hunt, etc. Heck I know the guy and his dogs and I won't get out of the car unless he's around.
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Speargun_
I Run Towards Gunfire
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Posted: 5/9/2012 12:11:53 PM
Originally Posted By protus:
hey guys. besides the murs ones. And not to hi jack spear's topic. But ive been milling over the basic IR kinda drive way alarm i guess they are. I want something to give a basic alarm if someone passes a gate or the driveway. but like spear said not something that will go off if a bird flys past it. From what I've read, it looks like DakotaAlert and Chamberlain are the top two. They both have non-MURS PIR sensors as well as magnetic pickups &/or rubber hose that only a car will set off. (Like the old gas station hose that rang a bell.) I would prefer an IR beam, like you use to find in the front door of businesses years ago, so only something actually breaking the beam will set it off, but I didn't find one with a MURS transmitter. ...Maybe I need to break out the "electronic projects" book & a soldering iron and build one. |
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wildearp
Get off my lawn!
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Posted: 5/9/2012 12:43:11 PM
Originally Posted By Speargun_: I want to add a Driveway Alert System and am looking for suggestions. MUST BE MURS compatible so it has better range & I can get the alarm on my HT when I'm away from the monitor in the house. Other than that, dependability and not going off every time the wind blows like the HF brand does would be nice. I haven't found much on the topic, but it looks like the Dakota brand has the most advertisement. Over use of obscure acronyms. Your post has it.  |
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dhrusecky1
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Posted: 5/9/2012 6:03:38 PM
I think you can adjust the sensitivity on them.
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Posted: 5/9/2012 10:27:54 PM
[Last Edit: 5/10/2012 6:06:48 PM by wbigcount]
Originally Posted By wildearp:
Originally Posted By Speargun_:
I want to add a Driveway Alert System and am looking for suggestions. MUST BE MURS compatible so it has better range & I can get the alarm on my HT when I'm away from the monitor in the house. Other than that, dependability and not going off every time the wind blows like the HF brand does would be nice. I haven't found much on the topic, but it looks like the Dakota brand has the most advertisement. Over use of obscure acronyms. Your post has it. If you are into radios at all none of them are obscure |
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GlockTiger
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Posted: 5/10/2012 8:13:32 AM
Originally Posted By wildearp:
Originally Posted By Speargun_:
I want to add a Driveway Alert System and am looking for suggestions. MUST BE MURS compatible so it has better range & I can get the alarm on my HT when I'm away from the monitor in the house. Other than that, dependability and not going off every time the wind blows like the HF brand does would be nice. I haven't found much on the topic, but it looks like the Dakota brand has the most advertisement. Over use of obscure acronyms. Your post has it. MURS = Multi-Use Radio Service HT = Handi Talkie, i.e. walkie talkie, i.e. WT, i.e. handheld radio HF = Harbor Freight, i.e. retailer of cheap Chinese tools, i.e. my favorite place to blow a few bucks and use coupons  |
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TheGrayMan
Confusion, misdirection, obfuscation
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Posted: 5/10/2012 8:29:07 AM
[Last Edit: 5/10/2012 9:38:22 AM by TheGrayMan]
Do you have LOS to the driveway entry point?
ETA: also, do you have power down at your entry gate? |
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Speargun_
I Run Towards Gunfire
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Posted: 5/10/2012 11:10:43 AM
Originally Posted By TheGrayMan:
Do you have LOS to the driveway entry point? ETA: also, do you have power down at your entry gate? LOS (Line Of Sight) = Yes Power = No. But it does get full sunlight so a solar panel & battery is an option. |
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TheGrayMan
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Posted: 5/10/2012 11:31:20 AM
[Last Edit: 5/10/2012 11:32:14 AM by TheGrayMan]
Originally Posted By Speargun_:
Originally Posted By TheGrayMan:
Do you have LOS to the driveway entry point? ETA: also, do you have power down at your entry gate? LOS (Line Of Sight) = Yes Power = No. But it does get full sunlight so a solar panel & battery is an option. And you're down in Florida, right? So solar might work (closer to the equator = Solar mo' betta) How much are you looking to spend? |
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Speargun_
I Run Towards Gunfire
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Posted: 7/2/2012 9:08:07 AM
UPDATE:
I went with the Dakota Alert. Seems to be very well made and ,so far, works great. Since I didn't want it quite so obvious, I built a "bird house" out of some scrap lumber I had laying around, mounted it on a fence post near the end of my driveway, and put the sensor in it. Since there was a shiny chrome plated antenna sticking out of the top, I used a piece of 1/2" PVC pipe with a cap to cover the antenna. It's all painted flat O.D. green and blends in pretty good with the post. The only problem that I have noticed so far is that during heavy rain, the signal is noticably weaker. The unit is designed for outdoor use and is "waterproof" so I'm not really sure what's going on. It may be that the unit is very low power & the rainfall is attenuating the signal or there could be some water gathering around the antenna base causing the issue. The only other issue I can find is that when bambi decides to walk down my drive and a mans voice starts saying "Alert zone one! Alert zone one! Alert zone one! " at 3am in my bedroom, the adrenaline dump will make it difficult to go back to sleep for an hour or two.  
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TheGrayMan
Confusion, misdirection, obfuscation
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Posted: 7/2/2012 9:34:57 AM
Now you just need a remote camera down there so you can see what's up.
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Posted: 7/2/2012 6:59:23 PM
[Last Edit: 7/2/2012 7:00:24 PM by EXPY37]
Originally Posted By Speargun_:
The pics I've looked at shows that the Dakota has an external antenna. If it does, can it be removed so an external antenna can be hooked up instead.? Yes. The MURS one, don't know abt the other Dakota system. |
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Posted: 7/2/2012 7:03:00 PM
[Last Edit: 7/2/2012 7:04:15 PM by EXPY37]
Originally Posted By Speargun_:
UPDATE: I went with the Dakota Alert. Seems to be very well made and ,so far, works great. Since I didn't want it quite so obvious, I built a "bird house" out of some scrap lumber I had laying around, mounted it on a fence post near the end of my driveway, and put the sensor in it. Since there was a shiny chrome plated antenna sticking out of the top, I used a piece of 1/2" PVC pipe with a cap to cover the antenna. It's all painted flat O.D. green and blends in pretty good with the post. The only problem that I have noticed so far is that during heavy rain, the signal is noticably weaker. The unit is designed for outdoor use and is "waterproof" so I'm not really sure what's going on. It may be that the unit is very low power & the rainfall is attenuating the signal or there could be some water gathering around the antenna base causing the issue. The only other issue I can find is that when bambi decides to walk down my drive and a mans voice starts saying "Alert zone one! Alert zone one! Alert zone one! " at 3am in my bedroom, the adrenaline dump will make it difficult to go back to sleep for an hour or two.
If you have the MURS one, the signal is a watt or two. That's a lot nearby. Maybe add an antenna to your receiver. Their MURS receiver is pretty good too. As far as the antenna in the bird feeder, you can get a BNC conx and use a piece of wire cut to abt 17 inches and let it dangle. Re Bambi, that's why you should have gotten the buriable sensor to detect masses of moving metal. 
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Posted: 7/2/2012 7:06:47 PM
That Dakota uses 6 or 8 AA's IIRC. You could wire into it the same number of D cells in external R-S holders and not have to fiddle with batteries so often.
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TheGrayMan
Confusion, misdirection, obfuscation
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Posted: 7/2/2012 7:16:31 PM
Originally Posted By EXPY37:
That Dakota uses 6 or 8 AA's IIRC. You could wire into it the same number of D cells in external R-S holders and not have to fiddle with batteries so often. Cameras and access points can run off 12VDC too. I'd bury a deep cycle battery, put up a solar panel, and power the whole mess. |
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Posted: 7/2/2012 7:39:15 PM
Originally Posted By TheGrayMan:
Originally Posted By EXPY37:
That Dakota uses 6 or 8 AA's IIRC. You could wire into it the same number of D cells in external R-S holders and not have to fiddle with batteries so often. Cameras and access points can run off 12VDC too. I'd bury a deep cycle battery, put up a solar panel, and power the whole mess. If a constant significant drain like a cam, that's what I'd do too... |
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