I currently have a Militronics wireless driveway alarm that is a JOKE.
This consists of an otudoor sender and indoor receiver and attached alarms.
The amazing thing is this goes off when nothing is around and and almost never "see's" cars or trucks in the drivway but can spot a leaf, dog or one of my cats with no problem.
I am considering one of the hardwired magnetic sensors, but have no made the jump yet.
The best driveway alarm I've ever seen was a big dog. They bark and run along side of the car if they're outside and bark to go out to see who's there if they're inside. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
As far as the electric/electronic systems, have you ever considered the old bell hose method that service stations (remember Service Stations? [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] ) used to have to alert them of customers on the drive? It was a real simple system that didn't do anything but work. [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]
The bell, hose and transformer units are still available, but are designed primarily for concrete or asphalt. They do work on gravel but reliability is hit or miss.
They can't be buried underground and although they are rated for 300' they really don't well beyond 50'.
The dog option is a legitmate solution but it is not workable for me. My pig would make short work of the dog.
I have a wireless infrared motion detector & a wireless magnetic probe made by Reliable Chimes and they are worth their weight in gold. Careful placement and tuning is imperative, camoflauge well for maximum effectiveness. I get a few false alarms on deer that I've learned to recognize and ignore. Catch a low-life in a Q-Beam at 2am a time or two and you'll be proud of the investment in detectors.
I just had another thought that might be a bit more practical than the dog. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
A friend of mine set up a motion detector/light combination covering the area he wanted announced. Instead of having a light bulb in the socket, he wired that to a radio indoors. When the field was broken, the radio came on and announced the visitor/intruder. I would imagine you could set it so as to not go ff for every leaf, dog or cat with some practice.
I tried to come up with a practical or elegant solution using motion detector lights before, but was never happy with the results.
Reliable Chimes is a distrubutor for the DWA series of alarms one of which is the hardware wired version of the wireless unit described above. The hardwired unit at $200 seems high but cheap compared to $450 for the wireless unit.
I'd like to find something inexpensive and reliable that really works.
Given my experience to date I don't think I see another wireless anything in my future for a while. Wireless just can't seem to deliver on its promise of reliable functionality.
I too bought a system from reliable chimes... Works great! My house is 800 feet from the road, and I like to know when someone is at my front gate. A Q-Beam at 2AM gets their attention fast! I have had numerous occassions where people would just drive up to my gate and look around. Some may have been curious, but I think some people are "casing the joint". The chime allows me 800 feet to respond to anyone coming in! I even get warning when relatives just drop in without calling. It gives time to collect myself before answering the door.
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