Posted: 4/23/2011 6:09:46 PM EDT
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What would you guys recommend for a driveway alert monitor? Mine is about 800' from front porch to the road and direct line-of-sight. I ask because I almost put a bullet in my step-sister about an hour ago because she 'snuck up the driveway' and was next door at my dads house with no warning. I don't care for being surprised especially at night. I have heard of the Dakota alert, but am still trolling the net for one with good reviews. What are ya'll using and pricepoint? |
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What would you guys recommend for a driveway alert monitor? Mine is about 800' from front porch to the road and direct line-of-sight. I ask because I almost put a bullet in my step-sister about an hour ago because she 'snuck up the driveway' and was next door at my dads house with no warning. I don't care for being surprised especially at night. I have heard of the Dakota alert, but am still trolling the net for one with good reviews. What are ya'll using and pricepoint? I chose Dakota....I like MURS and have a few of the radios (1 Dakota and some older RS models) and the system works well for me YMMV. I also have it programmed into my Scanner if I'm away from the house and radios. Built a little roof over unit and sealed antenna with silicone and Heat Shrink....been up over a year w/o problems. Bought it from the dude that promotes on the Survivalblog. |
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I have a Lorex camera system . I set the driveway cam to alert on motion and play a sound
on the monitor unit . The software also allows me to record up to 30 seconds of video per trigger in a separate file folder , so I can review events that happen when I'm not home without having to scan through the main video files looking for triggered events . |
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Voice Alert System 6, it works great.
http://www.voicealert.com/ 
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I have rev 1 of Chamberlain Wireless Motion Alert with 3 sensors. (Now their on Rev 2) I'm always at the door before someone stops their car....
I love the thing except you can't tell which zone has been triggered. There is only one buzzer sound for all 3 sensors. I'm concidering getting the unit listed above with programable voice for each zone. "Driveway" - "Ditch" - "Workshop", etc. would be damn cool. I painted mine camo and mounted them where you can't see them until tripped. They have a feature that is a double edged sword. The sensor has a green LED that lights up when tripped. One time some high school kids were partying at the end of my road and headed down the driveway. When they saw the light go on, they packed up and split. On the other hand, if mister bad guy sees the light, you have tipped your hand. It would be a simple matter to disable the light by removing or painting it. |
| I bought a cheap one a couple years ago and gave up on it. You might check this one out that this guy is using. Youtube video of Dakota Alert pretty pricey |
| I use Dakota's and Voice Alerts. The Voice Alerts are good at close range. Real world 150 yards and in with a clear line of sight other than a single wall. Much further than that and it's iffy. The Dakota's are much better and much more $$$, they also eat batteries. I change mine out weekly in the Dakota's. Usually I will find at least one dead in cold weather and or high traffic areas using the plain Duracell's. I think it's eight AA's per unit so I kill a small case of batteries every week. The Voice Alerts are much better in the battery department and you can record whatever message you want for each sensor versus the Dakota Zone 1, Zone 2, Zone 3 etc. and having to memorize which zone is where. If I could I would go strictly with the Voice Alert it's a lot more user friendly. If you go with either of them let me know and I will share some more details on setup and maintenance. |
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I have a Lorex camera system . I set the driveway cam to alert on motion and play a sound on the monitor unit . Yep - A camera/DVR system will do so much more than a driveway monitor, for not much extra money. Being able to review what happened during the day (particularly after something bad happens) is invaluable. Most systems allow you mask out areas where you don't want motion to trigger the alarm, and many complete systems include cameras with IR night vision. Prices for complete 4-camera systems start at around $200. |
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I am still reading and searching and adding bookmarks and what not. Overall I plan to have a simple chime or some sound that lets me know there is motion of a certain size on the driveway, cats I don't care about. Big dogs I might care about but I will see how many deer trip the sensor. Motorcycle on up I care about. Having a chime tell me to check a camera is the plan. I know dang well it would be nice to go with a higher end camera setup from the getgo but this is the sort of thing where I will probably buy a wired 4 camera setup and play with it and add to it or use it for backup as I go with something more serious from what I learned on the basic setup. I already have 4 wireless cameras around here but I need to do better at having something for a monitor/recorder. Right now I don't have anything. And yes I know wireless stuff can be scanned for and used against me so I kind of plan to set it up as a backup system that I know how to avoid if I wish to avoid it. I have neighbors who use my driveway so to some extent I could see setting up a chime for them as well so they can benefit from my knowledge and stuff and perhaps call the police if someone wants to break into my place. They are a family with a kid, I do not expect em to come over with guns out and confront robbers. I would rather they hole up and protect themselves and call the cops. Anyway, I am reading this and researching and reading the huge cctv thread and reading it again and again and trying to figure things out but overall I learn best from messing with something and then using it for backup while I buy exactly what will work best for me the 2nd time around. As far as dakota stuff, I would be using rechargables or go with some larger battery putting out the right voltage and charge it up now and then. My quad battery just died and while I can jump it and run it I need a new battery but someway and somehow I would go from chewing up packs of alkalines every couple weeks to having something I could buy once and use for a couple years. Might not save any cash, but I dang sure would not be using up a zillion alkalines. |
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Yep - A camera/DVR system will do so much more than a driveway monitor, for not much extra money. Agreed if you only want record of what has happened, but it you want the fastest vehicle only detection on your driveway while you're at home I haven't found anything better then this kit. Dakota-Alert I'm looking for anything better. |
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LOL, DO NOT GO TO THIS AT WORK UNLESS YOU TURN YOUR SPEAKERS DOWN!!!
THANKS a LOT fundummy... 
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Voice Alert System 6, it works great. http://www.voicealert.com/ http://www.voicealert.com/graphics/VAsys6both.jpg |
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but it you want the fastest vehicle only detection on your driveway while you're at home I haven't found anything better then this kit. Most DVRs have a motion detector alarm output that triggers immediately - You can't get any faster than that! Do they have a "vehicle only detection on your driveway"? I'm looking for one that doesn't go off with deer or my dog. |
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skibane, what kit do you recommend for basic DVR with 4-8 cameras? Thanks. Quoted:
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but it you want the fastest vehicle only detection on your driveway while you're at home I haven't found anything better then this kit. Most DVRs have a motion detector alarm output that triggers immediately - You can't get any faster than that! |
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skibane, what kit do you recommend for basic DVR with 4-8 cameras? Thanks. At less than $200, the Samsung SHR-1041K is hard to beat. Mine has been in daily use for several months now, and works flawlessly - With all 4 cameras recording almost continuously at the highest image quality, it stores a little over a week of video. Probably the biggest disadvantage is that it's limited to 4 cameras. |
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LOL, DO NOT GO TO THIS AT WORK UNLESS YOU TURN YOUR SPEAKERS DOWN!!! THANKS a LOT fundummy...
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Voice Alert System 6, it works great. http://www.voicealert.com/ http://www.voicealert.com/graphics/VAsys6both.jpg oops... sorry... 
eta: This system is super sensitive if adjusted to maximum - the detection range is as advertised ( if mounted approx 7 feet above ground ). Overall it's pretty versatile, I've got 7 sensors watching " my stuff " 24/7. |
My driveway is ~800' LOS with one metal wall to go through. I would love to get one only if would work that far.|
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Do they have a "vehicle only detection on your driveway"? I'm looking for one that doesn't go off with deer or my dog. Look for one that uses an in-ground magnetic probe. They tend to be more expensive, but only a large chunk of steel will set them off. I got a fairly cheap one from Amazon, called "Mighty Mule FM231 Wireless Driveway Alarm" (pulled it from my shipping confirmation.) It works, it's cheap, range is pretty short, definitely no way it'll do its rated range (400') in anything but the most favorable circumstances, plan on maybe 100-150' with the receiver inside, someplace near the transmitter, not the other side of the house. |
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Ive been looking because i recently moved and also have an 850' driveway. These models use infrared sensor and transmitter. With the deluxe models you currently get an extra sensor free. Theyve got quite a few transmitters, sensors and accessories, including repeaters, mailbox sensors, pressure tube sensors, high water, and also repeater transmitters if you need to extend the range. Can be run on 9V battery or 12V. Sounds promising. Ive not yet searched for reviews.
C Driveway Alert® LR––-1000ft range $99.00 Deluxe Driveway Alert® LR––-1000ft range $149.00 Deluxe Driveway Alert® EXT LR––-Claims 2500 ft range $199.00 ETA Made my miltronics |
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I also hav a dakota that struggles at little more than 250 feet. I know they will sell you a much more expensive one but miltronic produces a nice unit for a couple hundred bucks. F-G, I'll have a Dakota with the MURS radio here soon and can test. If your's uses the MURS radio and not the 433 mhz 'short range' radio <transmitter] I'm sure something is wrong. Any way you can check or we can help? The MURS version with the buryable vehicle detector is less than $200 on ebay I think. I got ripped off because I didn't study the sellers auctions well enough and later saw the post on the first page with a link to the xmitter and recvr at a far better $.
Can't win them all... |