The Model FM 131 Mighty Mule Driveway Alarm is relatively simple to install, although it does involve some digging to bury the sensor and cable. The fact the sending unit is battery operated makes the "driveway" side of the install simple, no outside power required. I had the unit up and running in about 10 minutes. The range is very good on the transmitter, it even penetrated a metal shop building about 200 feet away, not by much, but it did work well enough to be heard when the receiver was carefully positioned near the door. The "house" side of the install is a small radio receiver/alarm bell that needs to have it's transformer plugged into an outlet, much like a cordless phone. The alarm tone is very different from telephones or cell phone ring tones, so it is pretty distinguishable. It is reasonably loud, but probably needs to be louder for some persons or in very noisy environments. The unit is not perfect, but it is very effective for the price and a whole lot better that what I had before, ie nothing. I would recommend it to my friends.

I have had this product for over a year and it works intermittently. I live in a rather wet area (Erie, Pa) and it never works during a rain or after a rainy period. It appears the product has now stopped working totally. It hasn't worked in weeks even during a dry period. My driveway is 600 ft and i have it at about 300 ft..with decent line of sight. When it worked it was very effective but I suppose the weather finally did it in after a year or so. It is not reliable but I can't find anything else that is satisfactory. I will buy the new model and try it out but will return it if I experience the same problems.