On 1/25/2013 8:59 AM, Art Todesco wrote:
On 1/24/2013 6:25 PM, RBM wrote:
On 1/24/2013 9:14 AM, Art Todesco wrote:
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?
I use a set of New Line IRE 200 units at my house. I chose this make
and model because it seemed the most flexible to me in it's power
voltage, and that it uses a form C relay. Mine is set up to activate two
piezo buzzers and several sets of outdoor lights. The piezos always
chime, but the lights only come on if it's dark, and then they time out
in five minutes. I did this install about 16 years ago and it hasn't
missed a beat, so I can certainly recommend this company. Here is a
link:
http://www.selma.rs/cardin/html/inst.../zvl294.01.pdf
After post my comment/etc. to the original post, I found this unit:
http://www.smarthome.com/7460/Weathe...etector/p.aspx

Available at several suppliers, but this was the cheapest.
It looks fine. The new line give you the option of powering with AC or
DC, and it gives you a normally open and normally closed contact making
it a little more versatile.