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Driveway alarm

Blk88GT

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 16, 2009
Messages
1,064
Location
Manitoba
I'm looking for a simple device that can tell me when a vehicle has come down my driveway.

What options are out there?
 
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Blk88GT

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 16, 2009
Messages
1,064
Location
Manitoba
Had a dog, didn't work out. I was looking at that Mighty Mule product closely, but was hoping to hear what the GJ members are using before I pull the trigger on one.
 

ichabod

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 18, 2013
Messages
440
Location
minnesota
miltonn_zpsa4f8ddec.jpg
 
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Blk88GT

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 16, 2009
Messages
1,064
Location
Manitoba
Wireless would be preferred, but I'm not scared of a few hundred feet of trenching if I have to.
 

Bear

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 12, 2007
Messages
557
Location
Salem, Oregon
Tried the HF was lots of false alarms or no alarm. Now have Mighty Mule which works great for autos but not so much for pedestrians or bikes.
 

gungatim

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 8, 2013
Messages
8,101
Location
west mich

66HertzClone

ALLIANCE MEMBER
Joined
Dec 6, 2006
Messages
4,034
Location
Long Valley, NJ
I have had this one at home for several years, it works great. I did purchase this remote receiver so if I was in the garage or in the backyard I would hear the alarm. My driveway had been paved already when I made the purchase, I buried the sensor alongside the driveway and it has worked perfectly.

The box is mounted to a tree facing the house, probably near 100' from the house.
 
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Cyberbear

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 23, 2013
Messages
1,524
Location
California
Harbor Freight used to sell a wireless cheapie unit that was good for about 300 feet direct line of sight for about $17.00. Check the Net for other options.
 

piker28

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 19, 2016
Messages
93
Not sure how tech you want to go but I have been looking to the Z wave stuff and it could possibly do what you want. Depending on where you wish to put it.
 

mbatarga

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 14, 2005
Messages
883
Location
GA
I went the motion sensor route - too many false signals with deer walking by, wind and/or tree branches moving.

I then bought the Mighty Mule. It senses a large metal mass moving by. Installed one at my moms and another at our house. Works fantastic! I've replaced the batteries in the sensor unit once in 3 years. Both installations - the sensor is about 150 feet away from the receiver with no issues. It's sensitive enough to detect a metal wheelbarrow being rolled down the driveway.
 

BoWingo

Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
Messages
24
Location
Central Texas
I have had this one at home for several years, it works great. I did purchase this remote receiver so if I was in the garage or in the backyard I would hear the alarm. My driveway had been paved already when I made the purchase, I buried the sensor alongside the driveway and it has worked perfectly.

The box is mounted to a tree facing the house, probably near 100' from the house.

I can vouch for this setup. Works quite well and since it works on magnetic disturbance rather the infrared for motion detection, it's good at only sensing large metal objects (vehicles) instead of triggering on animal activity (deer, cows, etc.) all the time. The pager unit is great. I actually use that more than the receiver included in the kit.

In my opinion, false alarms are just as bad as, or worse than, failures to alarm. False alarms train you to ignore the notification when you hear it.
 

Bigbandguy

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 18, 2014
Messages
1,168
Location
North Carolina
Harbor Freight cheapie works pretty well unless lots of strong winds.. will sometimes false then. One thing I did was mask of the eyeball part and paint the thing the color of the house and then mount it about 8 feet up on the house corner. I deliberately painted the little red light that comes on when it detects something. No use letting it point itself out for vandals. It actually works pretty well. Engineer above had a good idea... several of them fairly close together would rule out falses and give you a prowler direction of travel by the order they detect movement.
 

JonnyMac

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 15, 2012
Messages
845
Location
Victoria, Australia
I would go to the local commercial roller door installers and see if they have any old induction loops which are buried under the concrete for auto entry systems.
 

dylanmitchell

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 11, 2013
Messages
166
Location
Southern California
Very helpful forum, I've been looking for a proximity sensor for my garage and one of these sensors should work.
Has anyone installed a entry alert/ proximity alert on their garage. I leave my garage door open while doing projects and don't always close it when I pop in for a drink or am taking tools to the front of the house. Just want something that will sound a chime or alarm and scare folks away.
The free air pack included with most amazon shipments are running out. I've lined my garage with these (joking) and you can hear folks stepping on them!
 

Kevin54

MEMBER EMERITUS
Joined
Jan 12, 2005
Messages
29,341
Location
Urbana, Ohio
Not sure of the brand name, but my BIL uses a wireless monitor for his two driveways. They have to mount just about like garage door eyes, but they work very well. I think he only changes his batteries once a year.
 

LS6 Tommy

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
26,162
Location
Northern NJ

My choice, too. There's just something about that sound...
I got one new in the box from one of the gas stations I worked at. It was in the stock room when we emptied it out to tear the place down. I use it in my garage as a parking stop indicator.


Tommy
 

Empty Pockets

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 21, 2015
Messages
4,942
Location
Rural New York
The picture to the left is my driveway alarm. He's now 2 years old, and almost 100 pounds. We also have a 70 pound female. Both are very protective of their home and their people and great with the grand kids.

An additional benefit is that they give back in love and devotion far more then we give them. I would never fail to have a big dog or two sharing my home.
 

Youngfd

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 9, 2014
Messages
189
Location
Maltby, WA
Buy a good one!!! We have had one for years. You get used to it and do not want false alarms. We should have no one on our driveway at night, so when it alarms I always say--should I get the gun? J
 

pstnbly

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 20, 2010
Messages
766
Location
So. Vermont
I have a Chamberlin wireless infrared. The detector is over 400' from my house and it works well. some false alarms, but not bad.
 

freddyford

Active member
Joined
May 15, 2016
Messages
29
The magnetic Mighty Mule has a very short range, but is good otherwise. The Chamberlain wireless units have tremendous range but will suffer from false alarms from animals. They are also made very cheap now, where my 8 year old units were much more solid and had an intercom feature. The HF units work well but will false alarm in direct sunlight sometimes.
 

jhelrey

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 15, 2010
Messages
7,246
Location
MN
My buddy is an electrical engineer and has some prototype device that is under a paver in his driveway. Alerts on all vehicles. A few of the vehicles have a sensor inside so the kids can tell if it's Mom, Dad, or a random. Pretty cool system.
 

Tony Sivori

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 10, 2012
Messages
46
Location
Louisville KY
I have two of the Harbor Freight ones and they are not good for me. They false alarm on squirrels, cats, low flying birds, and fallen leaves blowing across the driveway.

I am hopeful that they will work well as a burglar alarm inside my soon to be built garage, where there should be nothing moving to make a false alarm.
 
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