On 1/23/2013 10:32 AM, Pavel314 wrote:
I was thinking of putting an induction system in the driveway so that a bell would ring when someone pulls in. We have a long drive, partly hidden, and it would be good to know if someone is coming. I'd put it far enough up the drive so that it wouldn't be set off by people who are just turning around from the street.

I like the idea of a hard-wired system so that I don't have to worry about battery replacement. Has anyone had any experience with these? Any recommendations of brands to seek out or avoid?

Paul

I've been reading all the replies to the thread and thinking about my
situation. I presently have a gravel driveway that goes between many
trees, hooks 90 degrees and finally goes to either the back door area or
the garage. I have an x10 motion detector at the bend in the driveway.
It is installed on a lamp post. It is an AC powered and unfortunately
it is no longer available, although I do have a spare. And, yes, it
does trigger on deer, bear, dogs, possums and even squirrels, sometimes.
I have it active 24/7 but I use an x10 smart controller to figure out
when to sound the alert, light the floods, etc. I very much like the
way it works. Yesterday, the UPS truck pulled in at 11AM and it alerted
me. About 2 weeks ago, my neighbor walked over at night and the floods
(plus the Christmas lights, which were still there) turned on and it
alerted me inside the house. We will be paving the drive this spring,
so I was thinking of an induction system, however, it won't work for
people walking. Maybe a cross IR beam would be much better. At least
it would probably miss the smaller animals and it probably wouldn't
false trigger when a cool puff of air comes down from the top of the
mountain behind. Anyone know of a nice cross beam system?