Dakota Alert DCPA-4K Plus 1-Mile Wireless Driveway Alarm Vehicle Probe Kit

Easy to install and set up. Great range and no “false” alarms going off. Great radius, for our location if anyone tries to swing wide off the driveway it still picks up the vehicle and side-by-sides. Very easily hidden, so it won’t disappear…. Worth every penny for the safety and security!!

I had a Dakota alarm at the top of my driveway. It is a motion sensor, so it did pick up the Racoon, Turkeys, Deer, and an occasional Bear. I installed this alarm 100 yards down the driveway. It will only pick up moving vehicles as it is a magnetic sensor. It was very easy to set up with the receiver unit I already owned. Noteworthy was the email support and advice I had from Dakota. Using the Dakota web page, I emailed several questions and had response within minutes. So far, I am delighted with the unit.

My driveway is basically a wildlife transit corridor - the trail cam has picked up deer, bob cat, turkeys, coyotes, and some things I couldn't identify. Which means those inexpensive IR units go off at all hours of the day and night. So I bought this magnetic type to see if it would reliably alert without false alarms. It does. It triggers on everything from small cars to trucks without fail. Pros: No false alarms, exceptional transmitter range, ability to trigger external devices. Cons: Alert sound is tinny, and the selection of sounds isn't very good. Since the unit has the ability to trigger external devices, I can wire it up to trigger the house doorbell unit, and get a much better alert sound. Also, a warning. The first time you set the unit up, it comes up at FULL volume and there is no way to turn the volume down until you have programmed it. This isn't very nice, since you are holding the unit in your hand near your ears! Wrap it in a towel to muffle the sound during initial setup. Now to add the mailbox alert module!

This is without a doubt, the best vehicle announcer I’ve ever used, including the ones of hardwired.

Works well, love the app notification feature. It has only failed to detect a vehicle a couple of times, or I would have given 5 stars.

Have not install it yet, but set up was easy, shipping was fast

First one lasted 9years. Near by lightning took it. This one is even better. Works great 700ft through heavy trees. Batteries last for years.

I had some concerns as to whether or not this driveway alarm would work for my application. THE ALARM: 300 foot driveway, steep uphill grade, a lot of trees. I buried the sensor 8” to 10” underground next to the blacktop driveway, trenched the wire into the ground about 4” deep from the sensor to the base of a nearby tree and attached the sender unit approximately 15’ high on the tree. Just installed it today 250’ from the house and it works perfectly. The claim is that the sensor will communicate with the receiver from as much as a mile but my installation only required a 250 foot separation so can’t speak to the working range. Will just have to see how it functions through a northern Michigan winter. CUSTOMER SERVICE: I had some difficulty setting up the receiver / app. I previously set up various systems (security cams, Apple HomeKit to various devices, home alarm system, etc) with no problems but just could not get the Dakota driveway alarm configured. Called Dakota and talked directly to a real person! No automated answering robot going through “push or say 1 for XXX” etc but a real friendly and helpful person who patiently helped me through troubleshooting and quickly got everything working. That is what all customer service should be.

It only lasted 2 years. It stared ringing when ever it wanted to with out a vehicle around. Ordered new one installed it and back to normal.