Any suggestions for a good driveway sensor?

[kerrylebel]

Hey all. I just moved into a new house with a long private driveway. I’m looking to get notified of someone pulls in at the top of the driveway. Any suggestions on a setup to accomplish this? Driveway is a good 100ft long.

[moonpunk]

I have a Smartthings Contact Sensor on a set of automatic gates which is just over 80ft away from my front door. I smothered the sensor (the main half containing the battery) with clear silicone to protect it from the elements, and in my covered porchway (just outside the front door) I have a Zigbee (Smartthings again) Outlet plugged in to an outside socket which acts as a repeater.

All works well and I've never had a distance issue

[jbbtex]

I have had a Miers Products DA-500 magnetometer driveway sensor that I monitor with a contact sensor for more than 10 years. It's been very reliable. You will get false triggers during lightning storms.

I have the wired sensor, but they make a wireless version. And there are other manufactures that make similar products.

[rcjordan]

I'm using the Mighty Mule magnetometer mentioned here.

Driveway sensors not using motion detectors?

I've looked through the forum and checked the approved devices, but I did not seeing much on driveway detectors. Because of wildlife in the yard, motion is out. I've ordered a Mighty Mule magnetic sensor to play with. They get decent-to-good reviews and are about 1/3rd the price of Dakota. My driveway arrangement looks good for placing one of these magnetic sensors. There's a hack out there soldering the receiver to a contact sensor, so if the MM actually turns out to be any good, it could be…

[kerrylebel]

This is all great feedback guys. I didn't even know where to start with this project. I will research your recommendations and figure it out. I don't have a gate in my driveway, and I can't use motion sensors due too all the wildlife (deer) so a magnetic sensor will probably be my best path.

[david4]

@jbbtex, I see that you're using a contact sensor on the relay contacts for the Mier DA-500 driveway sensor. If you will, do you know the duration of the actuation for the DA-500's relay? Is there any built-in hold time on the contacts or is it just momentary (and variable) based on, let's say, the size of the vehicle passing over the sensor?

Thanks!