Review on Dakota Alert MURS Alert Probe Sensor (MAPS): Wireless Metal Detection System with 50-FT Direct Burial Cable - Outdoor Monitoring at its Best! by Anthony Gupta

I would like to give this product five stars. When it works it's great - it detected every vehicle crossing my street, very good range, no false alarms from animals (nearby lightning strikes sometimes set off an alarm, but I don't know if it's a transmitter or a sensor is). Recipient). However, I had to send the transmitter back to Dakota Alert several times during the first few months of use (and luckily the customer service department is a pleasure to work with). Short version: Over time, one or more of the batteries supplied with the transmitter will reverse polarity and the device will no longer function. I ended up replacing all the batteries with Duracell batteries and the unit worked flawlessly after that. But the device has two other disadvantages: 1. Lithium batteries (it uses four CR123) are expensive and battery life is short. The literature says that batteries should last an average of six months. I never received more than four months, and cold weather shortens life even more.2. The battery compartment is very poorly designed. The batteries would not snap into the holder and one day when the unit stopped working I found that one of the batteries had fallen out of the holder. On another occasion while changing the battery, the plastic tab holding the spring clip at the end of one of the batteries broke off and the clip fell out. I was able to make a coil spring out of a piece of stainless steel wire and hold it in place, but now I have to be very careful when changing the battery.