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Review on 🌞 eMACROS Solar Receiver for Improved Driveway Alarm Coverage up to 1/2 Mile by Christian Byrd

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Reliable long range without false alarms!

Media could not be loaded. The device comes in minimal packaging in a molded clear plastic shell, individually boxed in the shipping carton so you don't have to worry about any damage. There's a sensor (with solar panel, battery, switches and IR sensor) in a coffee colored one piece die cast and a black base/receiver unit, now with an external antenna and all red LEDs to show you where sensor activity is low on battery etc. The long cable also has a USB/micro port for charging the sensor battery or powering the base unit (which also runs on 4AA batteries, handy for checking transmit/receive range and location or in the event of a power outage). Also a detailed user manual and quick start guide in perfect English ;) Oh and they even pack a screwdriver so you don't need anything else to install. After charging the sensor with the included plug (20 minutes, comes almost fully charged), I set it up near the gate in my 400-foot driveway. I have 2 large dogs (45# and 60#) and neither of them will start individually. Both together, and my body and the passing traffic will react so sensitively to false alarms. There are 2 switches (for band and channel) on the bottom of the sensor, as well as a plug if you need to increase battery power. They are located behind a perfectly formed silicone valve on the bottom. We'll see after one of our torrential multi-day downpours, but it seems to me that the bottom of the device is completely waterproof, which shouldn't get wet anyway. I also found this to be a convenient place to change settings. The sensor is in front of my property, which is clear enough for a receiver in a house 400 feet away to pick up a triggered sensor with no errors. For a serious test, I took the receiver to the other end of the site, almost 900 feet from the sensor, on a hilltop with my house in the middle and a jungle of trees and undergrowth so dense that it was 6 to 10 feet high If you couldn't just go for it. Using a cellphone to coordinate with a friend to trigger a gate sensor disabled the receiver EVERY TIME the sensor was triggered! I have no doubt that these devices will go a full quarter mile or more through less dense natural obstacles (I'm not sure about buildings, but my whole house interferes with this test!). So I'm really glad you're not paying 2-3x for expensive driveway alarms - this one has fantastic range!

Pros
  • Handy thing
Cons
  • So far so good