which outdoor motion sensor

[mrqnapper]

Looking for a payable solution to track visitors on our driveway towards the house and have some kind of (alarm)alert, event starting from within Homeseer. First I planned to use the x10 ms13 motion sensor. After some testing with these it appears that the ms13 might not be the one I need for this purpose.
Since I only want it to notice motion if a person walks up our driveway this will not work. It senses all kinds of motion (from leaves, birds, maybe the dog walking in the garden, etc.?). So no birdhouse with a build in ms13 pir for us than

Which other nice prised PIR will be better for this outside use? Will the X10 MS90 do a better job? I need a range of 5 x 5 mtr covered. If more, it will also sense motion when the neighbours are walking in their garden or having visitors.

W.

[Niels]

Webcam with adjustable motion detection windows?

[mrqnapper]

Could be a possibility, but I have already one camera directing towards an other point can not change that and one more is no option. Need to have a (motion) sensor in place.

[olof]

The false alarm issues with Outside PIR's is unfortunately very common. Almost anything non-human can trigger them (leaves, wind, sunlight changes, birds, spiders, .....).

If you visit the various Forums on Alarm systems you will find plenty of horror stories on them.

It's probably why many reputable alarm systems don't offer outdoor PIR's, simply to much after-sales service calls/complaints.

The only exception I can think of is the TOWER PIR from Visonic. It seems to be a capable outdoor PIR (but expensive!). It has won awards. More importantly, another forum member Sooty has had 3 or 4 of them up and running for > 1 year. He says he doesn't recall having any false alarms. Another nice thing is that it made by Visonic, so it connects with Homeseer through RFXCOM

Good luck
Olof

[Herbus]

Is it possible to use an IR-beam in your situation? IR-beams can be placed so that dogs and cats walk underneath the beams.
It's a reliable solution that is also be used in a professional security environment.

[mrqnapper]

@Jos, yes that could be a possibility. But where can I buy one/ something, which is affordable, wireless and will work with Homeseer?

Wiechert

[Herbus]

Conrad has affordable solutions for this. I don't think it will be wireless. You need power for the IR-beams (eg. 12V DC). The alarm can be send by a (Visonic) wireless contact.

[Sooty]

I actually use 2 Optex IR beams in our driveway to detect the directon of travel. Despite careful positioning and some sun shades they are not 100% reliable and will sometimes false trigger particularly in strong sunlight.

I also have 3 Visonic Tower PIR's http://www.visonic.com/Products/Wireles ... rs-outdoor
These have proved very reliable and integrate directly into Homeseer (Via RFXCOM). I get very few false alarms. We have 2 (medium size) dogs and they do not trigger them.

Paul..

[mrqnapper]

Paul Thanks for sharing your experience. The Visonic tower strikes an 12mtr x 12mtr area. Is it possible to narrow that down to a smaller area covered? Like 5 x 5 ?

W.

[Sooty]

There is not a way to narrow the detection area within the device. The instructions show that reducing the mounting height will reduce range.

Paul..

[mrqnapper]

Ok, thanks. Will give it a try in time (when I have some budget left:)