OT: Motion Detection

Rob Spence

Rob Spence

Senior
Jan 11, 2011
897
4
18
Boston Metro North West
www.lynxaudioservices.com
I have a really long driveway on the "blind" end of the house from where I often hang out.

There are times when I would like to know if someone has come up the drive. For example, the F&^(Ex guy has on many occasions left a sticky note on the door saying no one was home when I was waiting at home for an overnight delivery but I was in the shop or office and didn't know he was there. Or, when you are waiting for company it would help to head toward the door to welcome them.

So, I hooked up a standard motion sensor that is used for turning on flood lights to a relay to a doorbell. It detects cars or people on the drive just fine (after I taped over the photocell) but I am getting lots of false alarms in the morning due to sun and shadows with the wind moving the branches. Sigh...

I thought of using a photo detector with a reflector on the other side of the drive but I worry about the reflector getting buried in snow if we have it like last year :-)

With a gravel drive, any mats or things on the ground are not going to work well I think?

Any ideas?
 
Re: OT: Motion Detection

Rob Spence said:
I have a really long driveway on the "blind" end of the house from where I often hang out.

There are times when I would like to know if someone has come up the drive. For example, the F&^(Ex guy has on many occasions left a sticky note on the door saying no one was home when I was waiting at home for an overnight delivery but I was in the shop or office and didn't know he was there. Or, when you are waiting for company it would help to head toward the door to welcome them.

So, I hooked up a standard motion sensor that is used for turning on flood lights to a relay to a doorbell. It detects cars or people on the drive just fine (after I taped over the photocell) but I am getting lots of false alarms in the morning due to sun and shadows with the wind moving the branches. Sigh...

I thought of using a photo detector with a reflector on the other side of the drive but I worry about the reflector getting buried in snow if we have it like last year :-)

With a gravel drive, any mats or things on the ground are not going to work well I think?

Any ideas?
Click to expand...


Hello Rob,

Just google driveway detectors. There's a few models out there that are battery operated and transmit a signal to a receiver. Some transmit up to 300 ft.

It's a small motion detector that can be mounted on a stake, pole, tree trunk, etc... and, can be positioned to help solve those pesky false alarms. They cost as low as $35. The only real downfall is that you need to replace the batteries on a regular basis. Of course, you could solve that problem with a DIY fix of running some Low Voltage lighting cable in a shovel trench from the detector to the house and adding a small surplus store DC power supply.

I have a very comprehensive perimeter detection system that runs around my property. I'll know if someone has crossed the fence line, then, the Cameras will pick-up anything which can be viewed on any screen in my home.

Hammer
 
Re: OT: Motion Detection

What brand motion detector?
Have you tried adjusting the sensitivity on the detector?

I have sold motion detectors for over 20+ years, the best budget sensor out there for residential home use is anything manufactured by RAB ( www.rabweb.com ).
You can only purchase these through a electrical distributor (Electrical Wholesalers has locations up in MA. that may be close to you....it's the company I work for.)

Take a look at the GT500 or STL110 model, the GT500 is cheaper, the STL110 has been a solid performer for 20+ years.

There are better ones available, put they come with a higher price (Watt Stopper).

It would seem a sensitivity adjustment would do the trick.
 
Re: OT: Motion Detection

I have been using the magnetic vehicle sensor from Dakota Alert for about 4 years with excellent results. Zero false positives and it reliably detects anything from a bicycle on up. The batteries last over a year but the life depends on the amount of traffic, as the transmitter only operates when an event occurs.

Here's the one I use:

http://www.dakotaalert.com/catb2b1/index.php?cPath=36_41

--Frank
 
Re: OT: Motion Detection

There are 2 basic types of motion sensors - Passive IR (PIR) and ultrasonic. PIR sensors work by detecting warm bodies (so no use against zombies or vehicles), and are susceptible to things like sunlight and animals. They tend to be only effective over a short range. Ultrasonic sensors are similar to SONAR in operation, and work by pinging the environment. They can be effective against vehicles, but I'm not sure how effective they are outdoors.

In your application, a beam-break detector may work well (they are common at some retail outlets - Electron Hut comes to mind), although there is the reflector issue and the potential for things like snow and elaves triggering false positives.

Any reason you don't want to go the camera route?
 
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