Dakota Alert Wireless Driveway Alarm DCMA-4K Plus 1-Mile Motion Sensor Kit

Works well, sometime false alarms from weeping willow branches 9 volt battery is ideal for long life and easy change out Solar units didn't work under trees in NE Alarm tone not too obnoxious and is changeable So far best we've had. AA battery units didn't last and battery terminal board cracked. Trashed them and the solars. Primary reason to buy was 9 volt transmitters So far, would buy again

Dakota motion detectors work reliably well. I created a perimeter around my property and have always been alerted when something crosses the "beam", it has never failed to trigger the base station. I now have them mounted on every outbuilding door as well. Each unit can trigger a different sound or several can trigger the same sound. My perimeter units all trigger a bell, while my outbuilding alarms trigger a buzzer sound. Easy to setup, completely weather proof, reliable, and not expensive. Well worth the money.

My driveway is about 100 yards from my house. I was using another driveway alert system that kept loosing connection. This system is super reliable and easy to setup.

EDIT: 25 July 2026: Raised the review to three stars from two. After the over performing alarm incident (read about it in the Cons) I left the receiver unplugged for a few days and gave it one more chance before its one way trip to outer space as recycled parts in a Starlink satellite. And it's working flawlessly again; I cannot explain why the continuous alarm sounding occurred, I have a theory but it's not important (intermodulation distortion triggering the receiver) and is probably incorrect. ORIGINAL REVIEW FOLLOWS: Over the last 25 years I have tried all sorts of different gate alarms with mixed results, the previous one was a different model of Dakota Alert that used FRS/GMRS radio channels. It's 600' from our house to the gate and the alert was always very noisy and it ate batteries (six at a time). So in the trash that one went. And this one is going in the trash as well which is a shame as it seemed very promising (two weeks past the return date.) Pros: extremely compact, simple setup, dry contact outputs if you need to operate a siren or whatever, and only one 9V battery for the transmitter. Once you have the sensor/transmitter aimed *properly*, very, very few false alarms. Cons: properly aiming the transmitter/sensor is *critical* for preventing false alarms (i.e., not a person or vehicle), after several trial orientations mine was mounted about 7' off the ground and pointed down to our gate area. It rarely if ever presented a false alarm. And of course the major con - it decided to continuously alarm, one after another and another, etc. Power cycle made no difference. Of course we are about two weeks past the return date as previously mentioned. So would I buy another one? Probably not. Maybe your luck would be better than mine and it would last longer than six weeks. I had very high hopes for this one, sigh.

Works great, easy to sync with sensor unit.

I purchased and installed this item and an additional sensor about a month ago. The attached picture shows that the unit is installed within 50' of the receiver, which is located in a window with a clear line of sight to the unit at a slight angle to catch nearly any object height passing through. The sensitivity is set to 'Medium', and it is approximately 6' from the driveway. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not pick up a vehicle. Some vehicles it will NEVER pick up. The second unit is located about 100 yards from the receiver, and performs slightly better, but exhibits the same random function. I have tried putting fresh batteries in the sensors, but same result. Kind of an expensive item from what I thought was a reputable Manuf. to function in this way. For this application, you do not need something that only functions properly some of the time. There is not much in the way of troubleshooting advice in the instructions, so maybe there is something I am missing, but I have installed motion sensors professionally for decades, so I am pretty sure I am good on the install. I was going to add an under the drive probe and remote, but doubt I will as that is too much coin to spend for a random result. I have had the hard-wired Cartell version of this in the past, but lightning always takes these out eventually if you run the shielded cable any distance. I was hoping this would solve that problem. Further update: Part of the problem here is that the units are NOT weatherproof as stated. One of mine began going off constantly a short while after I bumped up the sensitivity to 'High'. Took it off the mount & noticed water droplets on it. When opened, it had a considerable amount of water inside. Mounted vertically on a tree trunk. See the 2nd Pic to ID the issue. While there is a gasket, the ridiculous screws that attach the 2 halves together do not seal the middle. You can see the gap with tightened screws in the photo. In addition, they are on the wrong side of the unit, so that every time you change the battery or make adjustments, the loose tiny screws fall out of the back of the case & have to be kept track of - outside in the leaves. Good luck not dropping at least one every time. This is all just dumb stuff that is usually attributable to cheap Chinese outsourcing. Inexcusable for something that is not a cheap alternative. Hard to believe that other users have not had these same issues.

Excellent, well made, does exactly what I wanted for.

This works great! We Love it. Would definitely buy again.

Awesome product, you won't regret purchasing, range is fantastic.

Awesome unit spot on

Installed the Dakota Alert 4000 Wireless Driveway Probe Alarm System July 2019 because we live on a 40 acre parcel with a long out of sight driveway entrance to front and backyard. Wanted a warning of vehicles entering yard without nuisance warnings of wildlife constantly going in and out. Transmitter probe is set about 20' up the driveway from the main road on one side at a depth of about 10". Driveway is about 14' wide. Now we get ample warning for house and backyard traffic. Placed a receiver outside at my tool shed under the eaves in the backyard (500'+ over hills, house and trees from transmitter) and one in the house. The tool shed receiver is still going strong but house one failed so ordered this as a replacement (Expensive but felt naked without it). Our transmitter is approximately 300' from the house (over a hill, through trees and into house). Used a vehicle with an AC outlet to set up the new receiver. Set up works great if you have a second person in the vehicle. Needing AC to set up the receiver is the only drawback of this system for us. First set up for house and tool shed was with my tractor and an inverter. We felt unsecure when the house receiver failed and surprised the house one (indoors) failed before the tool shed (outdoors) one did. The transmitter has replaceable batteries. It has seen -44C (-47.2F)2021 to +40C (104F)2021 temps since 2019 and still works and have not needed to change the batteries, yet...knock on wood. Transmitter is in the woods (shaded from direct sunlight). I’m with you, shaking my head, not possible but date on the batteries don’t lie. There is a sensitivity setting on the transmitter. Lightning will set it off if set too high. It took a short time for me to get it tuned to our needs. Would I buy this system again or suggest to others? Absolutely! UPDATE, November 02 2025: Initial system purchased July 2019. Transmitter still on original batteries. Purchased new batteries but have not needed to install. The temp extremes these batteries have gone through…not fathomable. One receiver failed and replaced in 2022 (expensive) Are there better systems out there? Maybe? Compare Apples to Apples when doing research. Would I go with this system again? Absolutely! I still feel bad for not having this installed for my wife/family when I was working out of country.

Great device

It doesnt come with an Australian Plug so couldn't use it