I figured I would make my first post a contribution to the community.
I wanted to trigger scenes when cars pulled into my driveway, and thanks to the recommendations and instructions i found in this forum I was able to accomplish that. I made a video that goes over everything you need and all the steps to accomplish it.
I have 2 entrances to my driveway, so i had to spend an extra $100 to get another window/door sensor and another Dakota Alert motion transmitter. Here are the parts I used.
It’s been almost a week using this setup and I wanted to post a follow up with things I’ve learned.
When motion is detected (the red LED flashes on the sensor) it always takes 2.5 seconds for my front lights to be turned on by the driveway motion scene I created.
If people drive by the sensor pretty quickly then they can evade detection. I solved this by repositioning the sensor. I originally had it facing across the driveway which means the sensor would see the side of the car. Now the sensor is positioned at an angle so the front/back radiator/exhaust of the car is the first thing to cross into the sensor beam. It’s worked 100% flawless since I made that change.
Have not had a single false alert ever.
Just tested it in 22F cold and it worked.
Sensors are about 200ft from my house and the receiver is in my basement and it works. I put it together in my basement and just haven’t made any space for it upstairs, but if it ain’t broke then ill just leave it.
I learned a valuable lesson that I want to share. If you plan on using these transmitters where the temperature drops to freezing and below, you MUST use a lithium 9v battery. Alkaline and NiMh batteries cannot generate enough current to transmit the motion alert to your receiver when they are extremely cold. Lithium batteries can!
I was a little disappointed when these transmitters stopped working at night when it got really cold. The LED on the front of the transmitter would blink to indicate motion was detected, however the receiver never got the signal. The manual says that this works in freezing temperatures so i felt like I got screwed over. After reading some reviews of this product on Amazon, I found out that using a Lithium battery would solve the problem. I went out and purchased a $10 Energizer Lithium battery and now everything works! Even at -10F!
If you have anything battery operated outside where temperatures can drop to freezing and they stop working when it gets cold outside, use a Lithium battery. Apparently different types of batteries perform differently depending on the temperature, but Lithium apparently works great when cold.
Thank you for your post and video. I am looking to do something very similar to what you did. I had run across your video on youtube and am glad i found your post here. I have a few questions regarding your setup. I have a motorized gate at the end of my drive and will be hooking it up to my veralite to open and close my gate. I am putting the motion detector on the inside of the gate so after i drive by it will close the gate behind me as well as open my garage, turn on the lights, set thermostat, etc. I also will make it open when i am approaching from the inside.
How sensitive is the motion detector in your setup? can it be triggered by walking by it or waving your hand? i was looking at the same dakota receiver with the magnetic sensor rather than the motion sensor due to the fact that i have dogs in the yard, and wildlife. I don’t want the gate opening and closing throughout the day or have someone be able to jump the fence and activate the gate. The magnetic sensor is about $80 more than the motion detector.
Its sensitive, you can activate it by walking by or waving your hand in front of it.
I have mine on a tree about 4 feet off the ground, and i don’t have any issues with animals triggering it or false alarms.
With this setup i made, anyone could hop the fence, trigger the motion detector, and open the gate. I might research the magnetic sensor. Also, if you live where the temperatures reach freezing, use LITHIUM batteries. Over the winter i learned that LITHIUM batteries were the only ones that could give off enough juice in freezing temperatures to operate the sensors.
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