|
|
|
Average Customer Review
Share your thoughts with other customers
|
|
|
The most helpful favorable review
The most helpful critical review
106 of 109 people found the following review helpful:
A Good Cat Doorbell and Cableguy Catcher
I admit it -- sometimes I just forgot to check to see if the cat wanted back in. The Driveway Patrol fixed all that. Setup about a foot or less off the ground in a relatively sheltered location by the front door, it does a great job of watching the front of the driveay and the front door. I originally set the sensor up to look down the entire length of the drive but it...
Published on March 27, 2006 by Technology Guy
|
› See more 5 star, 4 star reviews |
 |
101 of 102 people found the following review helpful:
Better bang for the buck--But it has alot of bugs to work out
I bought this thing besides all the negative feedback. For 20$ its much less than the 120$ driveway alarms. the volume is a non issue; If its too loud, put a piece of tape on it. the false alarms can be 99% eliminated and fix the real issue--moisture!! Put the sensor in a 10$ cedar bird house; This keeps it from getting wet and keeps false alarms low. And it hides...
Published on September 3, 2005 by Nunya
|
› See more 3 star, 2 star, 1 star reviews |
|
|
101 of 102 people found the following review helpful:
Better bang for the buck--But it has alot of bugs to work out, September 3, 2005
This review is from: Driveway Patrol Sensor and Receiver Kit (Lawn & Patio)
I bought this thing besides all the negative feedback. For 20$ its much less than the 120$ driveway alarms. the volume is a non issue; If its too loud, put a piece of tape on it. the false alarms can be 99% eliminated and fix the real issue--moisture!! Put the sensor in a 10$ cedar bird house; This keeps it from getting wet and keeps false alarms low. And it hides it from people that would take and disable it. Small animals and windy days can increase the false alarms. okay for 20$, plus 10$ for the bird house (from Lowe's) and 2 cents in tape make a great buy. The range is not 400ft more like 300ft and only one door.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
 
|
|
|
|
|
|
106 of 109 people found the following review helpful:
A Good Cat Doorbell and Cableguy Catcher, March 27, 2006
This review is from: Driveway Patrol Sensor and Receiver Kit (Lawn & Patio)
I admit it -- sometimes I just forgot to check to see if the cat wanted back in. The Driveway Patrol fixed all that. Setup about a foot or less off the ground in a relatively sheltered location by the front door, it does a great job of watching the front of the driveay and the front door. I originally set the sensor up to look down the entire length of the drive but it proved much too sensitive for this to be useful so I aimed the sensor low ACROSS the driveway near the front door and this has worked out fine. It now tells me when the cat is ready to come in as well as when a pizza or package delivery has arrived.
The Driveway Patrol actually saved me quite a bit of trouble one day when I had been waiting the entire afternoon for the cable guy -- he eventually showed up late, didn't even bother to knock or ring the bell and only stayed just long enough to leave a note telling me I wasn't home. Due to the Drveway Patrol, I managed to wave him down at the end of the drive. This alone made the gadget worth the price.
As I've said, the Driveway Patrol does exactly what I need it to do. The only false alarms I get are from visiting neighbor cats, racoons and the odd bird. The only things I would change about the gadget would be to add a volume control that had more settings than 'loud' and 'very loud' and the fact that the chimes will ring continuously while being triggered and then for another 10-15 seconds beyond that.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
62 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
Great wireless alarm -- except when the temp is over 90 degrees!, January 3, 2006
This review is from: Driveway Patrol Sensor and Receiver Kit (Lawn & Patio)
UPDATE OF MY REVIEW DUE TO JULY 2006 HEAT WAVE: I have two of these low-cost alarms set up, and both become quite intermittent when the temperature reaches 90 degrees and above (in the shade): Sometimes they go off when a person/car goes past, and sometimes they do not. As soon as the temperature decreases though, they become much more reliable. I WOULD NOT RECOMENDED THESE DEVICES FOR SECTIONS OF THE COUNTRY WITH HOT WEATHER, SUCH AS ARIZONA, TEXAS, NEW MEXICO, ETC. Original review: I am very impressed with this alarm: It is accurately able to detect people coming up the stairs of my apartment, and sets off the indoor alarm -- and it has not sent out any false alarms (Most problems with this alarm (that I have read in the reviews below) appear to be caused by the sensor being in direct sun light. This seems to cause these units numerous difficulties, and should have been addressed in the Patrol Sensor's enclosed instructions -- but isn't. However, by simply shielding the outdoor sensor from all *direct* contact with the light of the sun by using tape or opaque plastic, or repositioning the outdoor sensor, appears to eliminate false alarms or no alarms). This alarm unit appears to be quite well made, and the price is, of course, incredibly low. Great buy!!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
Thrilled with Driveway Patrol, September 29, 2005
This review is from: Driveway Patrol Sensor and Receiver Kit (Lawn & Patio)
I purchased mine about 2 months ago, I was very happy with price and had read the reviews so I was prepared on how to deal with false alarms , weather ect. This product is very affordable. We placed our just under the peek of our carport, on a flat piece of metal. This protects it from the weather and is out of reach.
I like the idea of placing it in a bird house to. Would protect monitor against weather and would be be able to cover of areas without being noticed. We live in the woods at the end of our road, our neighbors drive forks off from ours on the hill just above us, I was always hearing cars but couldnt tell which way they went, since trees in our yard block the veiw I couldnt see either. We also have sneaky neighbors that I thought prowl around at night.While I would have preferred that we could have placed it further up the driveway near the fork, we felt it was safer to place it nearer our home. So I am ordering another to put on the other side of our home. Its well made too. Volume has high low setting. You can set the receiver on any flat surface or mount it. If these were offered in stores they wouldnt be able to keep them in stock, thats how good I think they are.
They also detect motion at night that really suprised me. And can be used anywhere you want to detect movement.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
OK Unit with tips, July 4, 2007
This review is from: Driveway Patrol Sensor and Receiver Kit (Lawn & Patio)
I have had 2 of these units for years and both work OK. I use them to monitor for people at the side door of my law office. Having had 2 of them for years I offer these tips. First, the outside motion sensor takes a 9 volt battery and you should use only lithium batteries in the outside unit as lithium batteries are not as temperature sensitive as regular batteries, which perform poorly when cold. Lithium batteries are more expensive up front but they last 5 to 7 times or more longer than a regular battery. With the inside receiver unit you can use whatever battery type you prefer or an AC/DC adapter. The inside unit needs 3 "C" size batteries. Second, some reviewers have complained that the unit goes off for no reason. We found that flying insects were setting off the unit by flying near it. My solution has been to spray flying insect killer around the unit every 2 weeks or so in the summer. That works for us. Others might want to adjust or reduce the sensitivity of the motion detector by placing black electrical or other suitable tape over the sensor window. But rest assured that if an insect flies into or on the sensor, it will set it off. That is probably true for any motion detector, no matter what the price. To be sure, there are better quality units on the market, but not at this price. Once we switched to a lithium 9 volt battery in the sensor unit and wiped out our flying insect problem about a year ago, the units have worked perfectly.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
"Work-arounds" needed, May 27, 2005
This review is from: Driveway Patrol Sensor and Receiver Kit (Lawn & Patio)
I bought this unit after reading all the reviews, so my eyes were wide open to the reported problems I might be facing with this unit.
I inititially installed the unit on a phone pole, facing west, where it got hit by the afternoon sun.
I experiened constant false alarms from about 12NOON until about 2PM.
I moved the unit to a tree facing east. Got false alarms in the morning instead.
I covered part of the lens and this helped somewhat. (Still got some false alarms)
I finally cut out a 4"X6" piece of tin and installed it over the unit to shade it from the direct sunlight.
This seemed to fix the problem.
I'm guardedly optimistic that the unit will work well for us after these "Work-arounds".
The television commercials showing this unit working well the way they had the units installed were, in my opinion, misleading.
It's a shame that this product didn't work as advertised "right out of the box"! It's a great idea!
Since the price was so low, I initially bought this unit to see if we would even like having this kind of device in our home. It was a great way for us to get our "Feet Wet" without spending a lot of money on one of the higher priced units (that I'm sure would work better).
We've had it working well for us for about two weeks now and have decided we really like having this kind of device.
How long this unit continues to work well will determine if we would replace it with one like it or spend more money next time.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
Driveway Patrol, August 8, 2004
This review is from: Driveway Patrol Sensor and Receiver Kit (Lawn & Patio)
Not a bad little unit. Been using is for a while now and do not have too many complaints. The price is great. My only beefs are:
1) I don't want a white monitor sitting where everyone can see it and, perhaps, destroy it. Thieves will destroy it on night one, and come back undetected on night two to rob you. I painted mine a dark grey so it can be placed out of sight in a convenient shrub. That actually worked out very well; its now almost invisible, and yet, can still detect passing people and cars.
2) Birds set it off during the day, as do our dogs. We have large dogs that love to use the driveway as a highway and since they stand quite tall, they set off the alarm as they run by.
However, I think the device is well worth the effort and cost. I sleep better knowing I have some way of hearing what is going on outside since our dogs don't always bark. I heard that you cannot use two Driveway Patrols at once, since they work on the same frequency. It would be nice if you could change the frequency so a person could have two units running at the same time. We have two driveways and would like to have two alarms.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
Works great!, February 28, 2006
This review is from: Driveway Patrol Sensor and Receiver Kit (Lawn & Patio)
If you take the time to "tune" the placement of the sensor, this works great! I don't know if the people who complain about these got defective units or have a lot of animals or something setting them off, but I have several of these set up to form a perimeter around the house and they work great. We do have cats around here, a whole bunch of them, but the trick of putting the sensors in a birdhouse worked great, and I haven't had any false alarms since doing so. The sensors have been out in the hot Florida sun, cold nights (well, for Florida, down to about 26), torrential rain, and still work great. It didn't take too much time to set them up and test them, either. These are definitely a lower-cost way to set up a security system so that you'll know if anyone enters your yard.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
Detects heat, not motion., October 22, 2003
This review is from: Driveway Patrol Sensor and Receiver Kit (Lawn & Patio)
This is an infrared detector, not a motion detector. I bought the Driveway Patrol (model 0790) in April, 2003. I really wanted it to monitor my driveway activity because I've been a victim of a newspaper thief. I also wanted it to sound off if some one walked by my mailbox.I live on a feeder street in the middle of Phoenix, AZ. I first placed the sensor at the front of my house and pointed it at the mailbox diagonally across my driveway. It would detect larger passing vehicles in the far lane, about 90 feet away, the receiver beeping several times before quieting. However, it would beep for several minutes when a city bus or large truck went by. I couldn't quite figure that out, just yet. Realizing that was the wrong place, I mounted the sensor about 3.5 feet up on the mailbox post at the front of the driveway pointed at the house. Though this wasn't the idea solution for newspaper thieves, it worked OK (not alarming for EVERYTHING that passed myhouse), until a few days later. I rode home on my motorcycle for lunch and parked it in the driveway. The receiver would not stop beeping. I couldn't quite figure that one out, either. The other troubling thing about this installation was that the Patrol would not sound off when some one accessed the mailbox. The post is not set in concrete and there is some "wobble" when one opens and closes the hatch. In fact, I could grab the top of the pole and shake it and there would be no alarm. As summer set in, things began to become clearer. When the temperature got into the 90's in the heat of the day, it would constantly false. There were more false alarms in the afternoon than in the morning or evening. As our desert summer intensified and daytime temps reached 100 to 110, the Patrol would do nothing but sound off with no let off whatsoever. That's when it all started to make sense: this thing detects heat, not motion! This why it wouldn't shut up when my hot motorcycle was parked in the driveway. That's why it beeped longer for a bus than a pickup truck: I would assume that the heat trail left by a bus must be way larger than a smaller vehicle and would take a while more to dissipate. Finally, on a whim, I decided to place the sensor inside the mailbox. I thought this might be handy, alerting me when the carrier was delivering mail, or if some passerby was snooping in my mailbox. Well, opening the mailbox apparently doesn't present the sensor with enough of a heat signature to set it off. Later in the day, when the sun strikes the mailbox, the Patrol sounds off continuously. Apparently, the Driveway Patrol is not for me. Obviously, judging by the reviews here, it does a good job in some environments. On the upside, the batteries never let up during these months of testing. The 9v battery in the sensor was never removed or changed and still reads toward the top of the "good" scale on my Radio Shack tester. In conclusion, what this country needs is a good, $20 wireless MOTION detector.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
Cloud Detector, March 17, 2005
This review is from: Driveway Patrol Sensor and Receiver Kit (Lawn & Patio)
Doesn't earn the 1 star online form made me rate it to submit.
Bought the package for what seemed a reasonalbe price. House sits away from driveway too far and some thieves made off with my floor jack, so I thought it would help. The alert goes off constantly from about 10:00 thru 14:00 during the day. Tried raising it higher ng. tried putting on a sturdier post, was on fence(thought maybe wind?), same ng. Had car sitting directly in front about 60 feet away, thought the sun was reflecting into lens, rolled down windows, and it helped a little. Turned unit at a 45 degree angle to drive ng... watched for awhile on my security monitor, turns out every time a cloud went over, at the leading edge when the sun was shaded the alert sounded, it would stop until the sun came back out, then sound again. Masking the lens made the problem worse. There are no adjustments to make, and no feedback circuits or filtering for multiple events, it is just a cheap consumer ripoff. I'll probably wire a security light sensor up and use it instead, they generally don't have these problems. Don't buy, cost too much at 1/10 the price.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
|
|
| |
|
|
|
