Review on Mighty Mule Wireless Driveway FM231 by Maurice Stavros

I'm an old recluse living in a very rural part of Colorado, and I hate surprises. My driveway is almost a half mile long and part of it is hidden behind trees. I tried this magnetic alarm in my driveway because there are so many deer and moose here that the infrared detectors kept going off. I've been using one of these for over two years and am very happy with it. Sometimes it stops working, but usually a new set of batteries will do. Some reviews said they stopped working. Mine did it once when new batteries didn't solve the problem. I thought a bit and concluded that the detector and transmitter are powered by just 3 volts from two AA batteries and it doesn't take much resistance in the form of corrosion to stop this electron trickle. So I thoroughly cleaned the batteries and bay contacts and checked for other signs of corrosion. I also flipped all the DIP switches back and forth a few times in case their internal pins would be slightly corroded from being obscured from the outside as they are. If you attempt this, be sure to reset the switches to match the receiver's settings. All of this and using good quality batteries seems to keep my sensor going. I placed my sensor under a rock by the driveway and ran the wire up the tree where I wired the transmitter. The literature says it will signal a base station up to 400 feet away. My transmitter is 800 feet from the base and works reliably. This is line of sight, the transmitter is high up and most likely there is no other interference. I've only recently bought another Mighty Mule for a driveway warning backup and backup if the old one finally dies. I placed this transmitter 1100ft (1100ft) down the driveway (and up a tree) and it seems to be working fine. The snow doesn't seem to bother him and the critters don't scare him off. I only remember one false alarm around two in the morning. As I sat back, I remembered hearing on the news that there was a beautiful aurora light show just north of here. Maybe it has something to do with it, maybe not. The base unit has a power indicator and a "Visitor" indicator that shows when the vehicle has been detected. It's no use driving past the detector at the entrance and exit. Of course when I get home it's always on because I hit it with my own car. The counter would have been more convenient to see if another car had pulled up while I was away. Small complaint but room for improvement. Otherwise it's a great product so far.