Re: Are PIR's always this sensitive?

["Robert L. Bass" <robertlbass@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I installed an inexpensive, battery powered X10 PIR...
> The problem was that it was super-sensitive and
> would trip as cars drove by on the street 100 ft away,
> and often for no reason at all.
>
> Question - Is it typical for a single PIR unit to
> spontaneously trip like that?   Is that why they have
> dual PIR units?

This isn't typical of all outdoor PIRs.  Unfortunately, it is typical of X10
products in general and especially so with X10 motion detectors.  There have
been countless thousands of posts about problems with X10 devices in other
newsgroups over the years.

> What would be a reliable outoor model that could
> pre-anounce visitors without false tripping?  It does
> not have to be tied into the main alarm system.

There's a product I carry called Voice Alert (VA6000) that works well for
this type of application.  It's a wireless kit consisting of one receiver /
annunciator and up to six wireless, outdoor motion detector / transmitters.
The annunciator can play a different recorded message or sound for each
detector.  It also has four relay outputs which can trigger a loud sounder,
flashing light, etc.

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

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