I bought this item for my double-width driveway, so I could be alerted when clients arrive.

As the driveway was already poured, I installed it about 10″ from the edge, under the concrete, 25′ from the road.

The device recommends to install the probe parallel with the driveway. Being a double width driveway, I wanted to get this as close to the center of the drive as possible, so I installed it about 20 degrees off of parallel.

There is a sensitivity dial on the unit, and I thought I had it set properly. However, I am getting both false announcements and missed announcements.

Currently, I am blaming the missed announcements on vehicles entering on the far side of the driveway. I would love to increase the sensitivity, but this thing already goes off in the middle of the night, when no cars are around (in the driveway or on the road).

Except for the gas station rubber hose, I cannot find a reliable driveway monitor. It is good, but still not 100%, especially when customers/clients are waiting and you don’t know about it. Rating: 3 / 5

I really like this system. After reading reviews I knew this would be better than a motion sensor. I’m at the end of a very long driveway. I strapped the transmitter to a tree. It worked well. I added a 12 volt amber rotating strobe like tow trucks use. I connected it to the 12 volt output of the receiver. I removed the jumper so the strobe would run for 10 minutes. Now if I had the stereo up or I was at the other end of the house and the alarm was tripped, I will never miss an alert. I like the strobe also because it should always be on when I come home because I’ve set off the alarm. So I know the battery is good and I know the system is working. I paid about $18 for the magnetic orange strobe at Wally-World. I can say I feel like I’m the one with the advantage now in my secluded and private place in the country. I love it! Rating: 5 / 5

We tested this product in several different spots, and it worked great in each one. We finally installed it as directed, and it has worked perfectly every time. Our home based business brings in lots of traffic, and we’ve been very pleased with the performance of this alert system. Rating: 5 / 5

I have a long driveway ~1/2 mile and it’s thru the woods so you can’t see the cars that come up from the house. I’ve owned ~5 different brands of driveway monitors. Most of them might work okay for a few weeks, but then they seem to die out. The other issue I have is deer so IR will not work for me (especialy at night). I need something that detects the metal or weight of a car.

This dakota does the trick, just put the probe near the driveway (I cover mine just under the dirt) – and it senses cars/trucks/ATV’s anything thats got a chunk of metel in it. Then is sends an alert signal to the receiver in my house. I have my alert set to make a ‘door bell’ type chime when a car comes up. They say the range is up to 600′, I’m not sure – but I have mine about 250′ apart thru deep woods and my walls and it’s works all the time.

As a bonus it only uses one 9-volt battery, and I’ve had the unit about a year now and have not needed to change it once. (I’ve owned other magnetic type sensors and they eat batterys).

I also have the IR detector from Dakota alert. It work’s great I’m setting it up to monitor my deer trail.

The downside is that the sounds the alert makes in the house are corny. You only get four choices of tones, and for the most part they all suck. However, the receiver does has the ability to send 12v when it gets an alert. I was thinking of hooking up my own thing that makes a cool sound when it gets 12v, or even a light. Rating: 5 / 5

The best drive way alarm I have owned. I have used IR, and many other

sensors. This Probe sensor is great, and the Company who makes them is Fantastic. I had a unit that developed a problem after two years and the Company still stood behind it. One of the best investments I have made. Rating: 4 / 5