Mighty Mule FM231 Wireless Driveway Alarm Review

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(More customer reviews)I ordered the Mighty Mule Wireless Driveway Alarm model 231 because I have had fairly bad results with IR motion detector based alarms. The MM Alarm arrived on time and in very good condition. Right away after opening the box, I noticed there was a problem. The PVC pipe for mounting the transmitter has been cut on an angle to allow easier driving into the ground like a stake. Unfortunately, the wire to the detector also has to be run up that PVC to the transmitter, so you will surely damage the wire while driving the stake if your ground is not extremely soft. My solution was to drill a hole in the stake about about 10 inches up so that the stake can be driven and then the wire fed into the hole and up the tube to the transmitter. This worked and I was able to install the sensor and transmitter with no other issues. Next, I found that the advertised 400' range is very suspect. I placed the transmitter a little over 325 feet from my house and the receiver would not pick up the signal from inside the house. I had to take it outside where it worked well. I moved the transmitter to about 150' from my house and it works excellent. I would say that this alarm is not satisfactory at 400' and MM should advertise it for 250' or less to be completely truthful. If you want a longer distance model, you'll need to buy a different product. It would also help if the volume could be doubled. It seems that none of these alarms include satisfactory volume for those of us who are slightly hearing impaired.

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* Driveway alarm * Provides constant 24/7 monitoring for your home, property or workplace * Electromagnetic sensor detects vehicles entering and exiting driveway and alerts you with an indoor chime * Delivers up to 400' range from indoor receiver to driveway sensor and transmitter * Does not detect people or animals eliminating false alarms * Sensitivity adjustment from 3' to 12' radius reduces false signals from neighborhood traffic * Transmitter requires 2 AA alkaline batteries not included * Kit includes stake, wand sensor, transmitter and receiver with transformer * Carded

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Wireless Motion Alert Kit-600' Max Range Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the fourth remote driveway alarm we have tried. The others ranged from a $70 GE unit to a $250 unit that supposedly worked "up to four miles." They would either not have the range needed (about 100 yards) or would stop working after a few days. Replacements were tried for all, and all had the same failures or problems.
This one, however, has now been working flawlessly here for two weeks. It has been through a major rainstorm and several extremely foggy mornings. Temperatures here have been as high as 94 degrees.
Other pro's:
Worked out of the box with both receivers. The default settings were fine and setting switches was not necessary.
We like the ability to choose the alarm sound. We chose the short musical selection for the house. The workshop/garage has the sharp whistle tone, as there is often other loud noise going on.
Con's:
Like most infra-red receivers, it does occasionally pick up dogs, deer, and even a crow that flies close enough. It does not trigger on trees or leaves, even in high wind (and where we have it mounted, there is a small forest across the driveway.) I suppose that would be possible, however, if the tree/leaves were in the sunshine, and thus hotter than the surroundings. BTW, although called a "motion sensor," the manufacturer says an object must be a minimum of six degrees warmer than the surroundings to be detected.
Suggestions:
We found that vehicle pickup is more reliable if the sensor is pointed somewhat down the driveway rather than directly across it.
Setting it higher off the ground reduces the triggers on dogs, but also makes it possible to miss some vehicles that do not produce a heat signature that high off the ground. We set ours at about four feet. It still picks up medium and larger dogs, but has not missed a single vehicle. It does not pick up cats, skunks, etc.
If you get false alarms, especially at similar times of day each day, try changing the transmitter and receiver subcode. One of your neighbors may be using the same unit.
Update, 2009:
Well, it's still working fine almost two years later. It does occasionally miss a vehicle, and we have noticed that almost all of the ones it misses are painted white. Maybe that has something to do with the temperature difference requirements. Maybe mounting it a little lower would help.
It has stopped working once. That was one of those so-foggy-everything-is-soaked mornings. I brought the transmitter indoors and removed the battery. Then I set the opened case in front of a small fan for a couple of hours. After the drying it again worked fine, and has since. Still highly recommended.


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Don't be caught unaware. Protect your home or business from unexpected visitors. The WMA Wireless Motion Alert system sends an immediate alert when a person or car enters your property. The transmitter operates on one 9V battery, is weatherproof, and easily mounts to a tree or post near the driveway. The transmitter uses a infrared beam to detect people or vehicles to a distance up to 80', then sends a radio signal back to the receiver, which can be placed in your home up to 600 feet away. Dakota Alert WMA-3000 / Includes one Transmitter and one WR-3000 Receiver / Transmitter uses a passive infrared (PIR) beam to detect people or vehicles up to a distance of 80', then sends radio signal back to the Receiver up to 60' away (actual range will vary depending on local terrain). / Operating temp range: -30 degrees F to 120 degress F.

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Voice Alert System 6 Annunciator System Review

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(More customer reviews)We had our house broken into in the middle of the night, while we were home. That very scary experience led to me scour the earth for the best home security measures I could find. Although we had a home alarm, home alarms only go off after someone is already in your house, which helps by limiting the time the robbers have in your house before the police arrive (or the gun comes out) but it is obviously is too late to stave off an unwanted entry. So, I became interested in perimeter defense - some sort of system that alerts you when someone enters your property, before they get to your doors or windows. Once they're in you have very limited time to react and don't know how many there are, where they're at, whether they're armed, etc. I ran into two issues with this strategy: cost and ease of installation. If cost is no object, then the very best perimeter defense system is a camera system with in-image motion detection (check out Ioimage, which can distinguish between animals and humans, but costs around $1500+ per camera, assuming you already have a surveillance system with good cameras). Other options include beam systems that go off if something breaks a beam or IR based systems like Voice Alert 6. Beam systems tend to require wiring, which makes installation expensive, so...
I went with Voice Alert 6 because it is 1) wireless, which makes installation easy; 2) it will tell you exactly which sensor went off, which tells you where the threat is; and 3) the sensors work indoors or out. First off, the detectors reliably go off when tripped and the wireless unit is responsive even through the walls of your house (we have brick and no problems at 200+ feet between the sensors and the base unit, although I believe the range between the sensor and base can be up to 1000 feet). The system allows you to record a separate message for each sensor (or a single message for multiple sensors) so you can tell, for example, if the sensor at your front door went off. It also has outputs on the back of the unit if you want to trigger other devices when a sensor goes off (like lights or a siren, etc.). The sensors are easy to work with because they have a bright red LED that you can see light up when they are tripped, which makes for easy sensor set-up (you can turn the light off after you're done w/ set up) so you can get a feel for the range of detection. You can also use the device for things other than home protection, like monitoring children for pool safety.
Initially I didn't think the system was going to meet my needs because it was going off and waking us up whenever a neighborhood cat would come through the bushes. I tried mounting the sensors higher, as suggested, and had no success. But, included with the system are "masks" that limit the area of detection so that it won't, for example, detect anything under 3' tall. I put in the masks and experimented with sensor placement and now we have no trouble with falses, even if my dog (a new German Shepard puppy - helps w/ home security immensely!) is running in the yard. Incidentally, this method of installation is called "creating a pet alley" and there are articles on the web with tips on how to do it. So, bottom line is that the system works as advertised and is easy and effective for perimeter defense. A couple of other tips for home defense: make it very hard to get in your house, put a "Strikemaster" on the doors so someone can't kick them in and put Lumar on the windows so they can't be broken (the thieves broke our dining room window in, but 75% of the time they just kick in the front door). We got both of these products and they are very effective.


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Voice Alert System-6 is a new annunciator system featuring wireless PIR sensors transmitters and a remote receiver/speaker base unit. Users record their own alert messages and are then notified with their own voice message when activity in a monitored is detected. Key applications include: Wireless Driveway Alarm Residential and Small Business Security Child Monitoring and Pool Safety Home Automation System-6 allows a maximum of six user recorded messages. Each message is specific to one zone. For instance, zone one could be for a driveway alarm -Car coming up the driveway while zone two could be for a sensor monitoring the back yard- Alert! Child by the pool! Perhaps a third sensor guards a side entrance against intruders. However, when this PIR detects movement, the base unit plays Intruder on patio and triggers a floodlight using one of four relays included on the base unit. System-6 can monitor all three zones simultaneously and still have three additional zones available when needed. Users can alter their messages and place the wireless sensors wherever they wish. Voice Alert System-6 sets up in minutes and can be completely customized to fit their individual needs. The wireless PIRs feature: all weather protection, adjustable mounting and sensitivity, and can send a signal 300 feet through walls and up to 1000 feet in open space. "Originally I had doubts about a 'wireless' product, but not anymore! My wife and I love the Voice Alert. It's so easy to setup and record our own messages. Sometimes we change them for fun, like last Halloween. Now we are notified when someone is coming up our walkway, enters our garage, or comes around the backyard. This is a great product!" -- Kent G., Portland, Oregon Voice Alert System-6 includes the base unit and a wireless sensor.You may add transmitters (VA-6000T) to cover as many areas as you want.

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P3 International P4460 Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor Review

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(More customer reviews)I was amazed at some of the things I found around the house that draw power just sitting there doing nothing. This thing is easy to figure out and program in your cost per Kwh.
A couple of things I found by using this device:
-- the entertainment center costs me $11 a year to have just sit there in standby mode. This is a 32" LCD TV, surroundsound system, DVD player, Wii, and subwoofer all plugged into a Monster HTS 1000 MKIII PowerCenter with Clean Power Stage 2 (8 AC outlet, 2 coax, phone & network). If I watch a DVD or play the Wii, it costs me 40 cents a day, or about 3.33 cents an hour.
-- My gaming computer (Dual Core, 500 watt power supply and 19" LCD) cost me $99 a year to run 24 hours a day, 6 days a week. That includes the occasional laser printing and occasional 2.1 speaker usage. So I turn it off more often.
-- Cell phone charger: .86 cents a year, but when charging it costs me $1.73 a year.
-- New coffee pot costs me between 5-7 cents to brew a pot of coffee and let it sit for a couple hours.
-- Toaster at 350-degrees costs me about 11 cents an hour.
-- Dell laptop charger costs me about $1.70 a year to keep it plugged in. It's about a penny and hour to charge the laptop's battery.
-- NOAA handheld weather radio costs 86 cents a year to run 24/7
In the end, it seems like it is only really worth the trouble to unplug the entertainment center when not in use and turn off the computer more often. Sure, everything draws power, but we factored in the hassle of it versus the cost.
We have been unplugging stuff around the house when we are not using it, and began to wonder how much we are saving. This thing has helped out in deciding what's worth going through the hassle of unplugging each time, and the results are almost instantaneous. I highly recommend using this device to settle the score in the fight against wasted energy usage or even in helping decide which devices/appliances around your house aren't worth owning due to ridiculous power draws.
I'm still testing more items around the house, so check back later for updates.

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Now you can cut your energy costs and find out what appliances are actually worth keeping plugged in. Simply connect these appliances to the Kill A Watt EZ, and it will assess how efficient they really are. Large LCD display will count consumption by the Kilowatt-hour, same as your local utility. Calculate your cumulative electrical expenses and forecast bythe day, week, month, even an entire year. Also check the quality of your power by monitoring Voltage, Line Frequency, and Power Factor. Now you'll know if it is time for a new refrigerator or if that old air conditioner is still saving you money. With the amazing Kill A Watt EZ you'll know "Watts" killing you.

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