What's your favourite cheapish long range outdoor PIR motion detector?

[Kawboy12R]

Anybody have a favourite long range motion detector suitable for outdoor use? IR and microwave would be nice to help eliminate false positives. Basically looking for something that'll do line crossing detection to at least 80-90 feet. Tons of options available for 30-40 feet and under but I'm not having lots of luck finding inexpensive ones with long and skinny detection patterns.

 

[tangent]

Anybody have a favourite long range motion detector suitable for outdoor use? IR and microwave would be nice to help eliminate false positives. Basically looking for something that'll do line crossing detection to at least 80-90 feet. Tons of options available for 30-40 feet and under but I'm not having lots of luck finding inexpensive ones with long and skinny detection patterns.

Motion detectors aren't quite precise for "line crossing" see http://www.glolab.com/pirparts/infrared.html
Most are better at detecting motion parallel to the sensor, motion directly perpendicular is sensed at larger intervals. If you've ever done a walk test on a motion activated flood light you'd understand what I'm saying. They trigger on zone crossings but it's hard to make an exact line...

If you want line crossing, a photo electric sensor may work better.

Generally outdoor motion sensor are more expensive. For a long skinny range, you're better off with a specialized curtain detector that has a different style of lens.
Like the Optex HX-80N http://www.optexamerica.com/security-products/hx-80n which you can get for $150. cheapish is relative...

I'm not sure I've ever seen a microwave motion with a range > 50', too many false positive I assume.

 

[Kawboy12R]

Thanks for the input. I had thought of photoelectric sensors but I don't own the other end of the line and as far as I know they all need a sender and a receiver. I basically wanted something to put in my driveway to shine out the driveway across the road and pick up passers-by even on the opposite sidewalk. We've been getting more car prowlers lately and I even had one weird pair come to my door the other night. We have had lots of wind day and night lately making motion detection extremely unreliable. There is a tree directly under the streetlight which throws large shadows. I definitely record everything that happens but it's a pain going through and seeing if somebody was wandering around trying door handles when my car was locked and I have no way of knowing the next day. I send footage of prowlers to the police even if I don't get robbed to help out my neighbors.

I was aware of the Optex but was considering buying a bunch and putting some in other locations so if I can find them more cheaply and have them quite reliable that would be great. I wasn't having any luck on Ali with anything other than short-range ones. I might get an Optex anyway and put offbrand stuff in other locations if I can find something else.

 

[tangent]

I'd probably be more focused on shorter range and use a dual tech model like the DSC LC-151. If your cams support line crossing / intrusion experiment with that rather than basic motion. There are also wireless drive way alert systems. I can't say I've seen quality motion detectors on ali. I like Bosch, DSC, Optex, and Sentrol.

You can also hook an output from a car alarm to a wireless alarm sensor and add a microwave motion sensor to your car.

Optex also makes some ridiculously expensive ones that have different outputs depending on where the motion is detected for controlling a PTZ camera.

 

[nayr]

you can get photoelectric sensors that just use a reflector on the other end, such as this: https://www.amazon.com/Seco-Larm-E-931-S35RRQ-Enforcer-Outdoor-Photoelectric/dp/B001LFPB0M

perhaps you can put two in the middle facing opposing directions to get a ~70ft beam.. tip, photoelectric need a sturdy fixed mounting point, fences and trees will wobble in the wind and that can trigger em.. also snow pack on sensor lenses so a bit of cover is nice outside.

microwaves wont work that far, and any PIR sensors in that range are quite expensive.. so much that its cheaper to consider multiple sensors closer to the target areas, which will give you better results when paired with a PTZ.. instead of keeping a 75ft wide FOV it can zoom in because a sensor with a 35ft range was triggered.

 

[Kawboy12R]

@tangent I hear you on the importance of short range (ie my stuff) but I've seen the thieves zigzag driveways and skip my place. Plus, generally I just like seeing who is staggering around at 2am. Sometimes they're quite comical. The last holiday weekend there was a bunch of late night foot traffic, including one drunk guy I noticed staggering down the road on my upper driveway cam. By the time he made it to my lower driveway cam he had his belt undone and was on my neighbour's lawn and apparently needed to drain the main vein. For some reason he didn't stop but kept going unzipped and belt undone. I never did find out if he relieved himself while walking or chose another neighbour's lawn to water. I'm more seriously considering a driveway alert system now that someone on here mentioned running the base station on an outlet timer. That's a cheap simple way to have it only fire off between, say, 11pm and 5am. Otherwise it'd go off every time my paper was delivered at 5:30-6:00am. Deer would still set it off but I don't see them as much in the summer/fall/early winter as I do late winter and spring. It wouldn't take too many 3am deer alerts between thieves testing my usually locked door handles before it'd get unplugged.
@nayr good idea on the reflector PE sensor models and putting one or maybe both halfway, but halfway is still out in the snow zone and the other end would have to be well across the street on my neighbour's lawn. My neighbours know I have cams but I don't think they'd appreciate knowing I was counting everything that went by with sensors. Seems to me that we got about 20' of snow two winters ago so winter planning is important as well. Something idiotproof and maintenance/shovelling free mounted on my house is good rather than a few things out in winter's no man's land. They're a good price at $43 each, particularly if they don't false for weather like snow. I do like how they're $43.34 each or 2 for $94.95 for two. It's a bulk sale for those who're bad at math. They would be good for a couple of places at work for driveway monitoring. As far as PTZ integration goes, I've just got a cheap Huisun at the moment which I don't think integrates well with external alarms. Fun to look around on but not a serious automated PTZ weapon.

 

[tangent]

setup a few sensors pir, pe, micro, etc tie them into BI or your NVR and flag all the real motion events. I'd only rig up an alert for closer events. You could do something a bit less startling to you like turning on a series of lights after close motion is detected. Tying your car alarm to devices inside can be fun too. Personally I'd do something more powerful than a basic timer. A simple option would be to use something like a Smart Things 2.0 'hub' with zwave devices.

One of my friend's parents growing up drove an unmarked car for a branch of federal law enforcement. They could set off full lights and sirens with their key-chain remote. That resulted in a few entertaining stories for sure.

 

[CamFan]

Risco Watchout Extreme - has a long range lens (narrow view) that will do 75ft.

Dual PIR and dual microwave, like the DSC LC-171 (39ft).

They are rock solid for detecting people.

 

[Kawboy12R]

Looks interesting. Thx.