Dakota AlertMURS HT KIT - Motion Sensor Kit - Alert Transmitter Box & Handheld M538-HT Wireless VHF Transceiver Kit - License Free Multi Use Radio Service MURS Radio Handheld

Works great. We call it the gate guard.We have a small business with a gate about 200ft away from our big metal building.The alert box is very simple and sort of crude but hey it works.It's basically a tupperware container with a battery compartment that is not very well secured basically just sits between the 2 circuit boards, one circuit board is the motion detector and the other is the transmitter with small knobs to change the channel.It was difficult to change the channel from the default using the small knobs.The handheld radio part comes with rechargeable batteries and AC adapter that powers the radio and charges the battery without removing them.I bought it to tell when a vehicle drives through our front gate. So far it has worked great. It has rained on the alert box and it still works so it's water proofing must be working.The radio's batteries were dead when it arrived but after charging them they were fine. The radio's batteries last a few days with regular traffic driving through the gate setting it off.The gate guard box can say 4 different zones. You can change the zone by turning one of the small knobs inside of the box. I wish it had the ability to do a larger number of zones as we have 6 gates on our property so if I bought 6 of these the zones would overlap.I think I read somewhere in the instructions that the transmitter's batteries would last a year. So far we've had it for about a month and it's still going so we'll see.

I got this because we have a 1/4 mile long driveway, and I need to know if someone is at the gate. It advertises a 2 mile range - that must across water, because it BARELY makes it the 1/4 mile, and I have to place the receiver in a location that receives, but not where we want/need it.Also, MURS the radio waveform that they use, is free for public use - and there is a LOT of noise on the channels. I have tried all of the channels, there are 5 - and everyone of them has noise, either a repetitive clicking or sounds like some one is repeatedly pushing a PTT button. That, and I live in the middle of BFE, so there are not a lot of folks around - I literally have no neighbors, and the freqs are still being used by someone, or there is just noise on these channels. It really is annoying, and we have to keep the volume WAY down on the receiver to tolerate the noise...I am going to try to remote the antenna on the receiver, we have a steel roof, and understandably that cuts down on reception, physics and all that...but we have a cheaper Guardian unit, that ALMOST makes it 1/4 mile w/o the need for a remote antenna, and w/o the constant background noise. I am going to try and extend the antenna on that - but projects keep me too busy to mess with it.I am only keeping this because it is the only one that makes it the 1/4 mile for right now. I am going to be putting internet via WiFi cams and a bridge to the gate, and this will decrease our need for this, but in the interim, it works, albeit kinda sketchy at best.

These always perform!

I bought this to install at the end of a long driveway. I had some experience with the MURS radio band before I bought them, and for rural areas it provides good range. When I got my unit, along with the requisite "bird house" enclosure, I was pretty excited to get it up and running. I noticed pretty quickly that it eats batteries in the summer. After a few months, the unit stopped working even with brand new batteries. I called Dakota Alert's customer service line and the owner was extremely patient walking me through the diagnosis process. We figured out a wire had come loose from frequent battery changes, and when I tightened it up the unit was up and running again.A few months later, the unit stopped working again. I once again called Customer Service, walked through the diagnosis process, and this time the IR sensor had shorted out. They offered to fix the part for me free of charge, including covering the cost of shipping both ways. Wow! I'm pretty familiar with basic electronics and the replacement of the sensor involved two screws and plugging in a couple wires. I elected to do it myself, and they shipped me the part free of charge. Less than five minutes later, the unit was back up and running, and a year after that repair I have had literally no issue with the unit. It just works, day in and day out. My home office is in a basement on the opposite side of the house from the driveway, and the signal has no problem making it to the handheld radio on my desk. You can also charge the radio while it's on, which is a huge plus. Most radios I have messed with in the past don't include this function, and charging them while on will damage the radio. Not so for the MURS radio.On a side note, if you want to use rechargeable batteries and are electronics savvy, add another battery tray for a single AA battery. There is room within the case to do so easily. Now you can run rechargeable AA's and save the cost of new batteries. If you elect to go with standard nonchargeable AAs, make sure you buy name brand. I've noticed that in cooler weather the batteries tend to last a lot longer. Dakota Alert is a great company who stands behind their products. Do yourself a favor and support them. You won't regret it.