ASPECTEK Yard Sentinel Ultrasonic Animal Repeller, 5500 Sq. Ft. Coverage with 24Hrs Motion Sensor, Night Scanner, Deterrent for Deer, Raccoon, Bear, Rabbit, Skunk and Fox, Includes 10m Extension Cord

We had been unable to use the patio surrounding our home because of bird droppings which we only discovered shortly after moving in. The prior owners must have washed down the decking every time they were going to show the house. Yuckola. We still take our shoes off after coming in the house just in case. We were feeling a bit desperate; the gorgeous trees add a lot of privacy which we are loathe to give up. This machine seems to have worked on the doves as well as the large black birds (crows?) we had been getting. We have this mounted to the eaves of our house which puts the machine at about level with the lower third of the canopy of our very large fig trees. Per the owner reply to our question that positioning should work as the machine covers a 70 degree arc up and down (presumably a 140 degree arc total). We turned the dial to the right just short of where birds/skunks transitions into cats/dogs and it does seem to be working. It's been 72 hours thus far and no more bird droppings. We had been really frustrated and skeptical after we tried the reflective strips and other visual cues to scare birds away because they only seemed to work for a week or two. We've had this up for 72 hours so far and as of this morning, we are giving it 5 stars for being incredibly effective. Will update in a few weeks with additional results. ================= UPDATE 1: First week of use: This machine continues to be effective and humane; and it has made us much happier with this home we recently purchased last fall. We still see birds flit by and maybe even come down to grab twigs for nest building but there are NO MORE huge piles of messy droppings littering the deck every morning. We still get hummingbirds for the flowers, but again, no nesting. All we see now is leaves and twigs which are easy to sweep off and much much much cleaner. This machine is perfect for what we need. We've kept it on the same continuous and ultrasonic only setting just short of where birds/skunks transitions into cats/dogs and the audible noise volume is turned down to zero. We thought we would have to work our way down the spectrum every 3 or 4 days until we found the right setting for the local birds here, but it looks like we got incredibly lucky and hit the correct frequency on the first try. Will update periodically after several weeks and then several months of use with progress updates. If all goes well, we will be recommending this to friends who are getting bird strikes on their windows. Bottom line: Continues to be a 5-star solution. Confidently recommended for overnight bird roosting and nesting problems. ================= UPDATE 2: First month of use: Well, we've had some ups and downs. We decided to try changing the frequency to see if we could get an even broader effect so that pigeons would not even land anymore to get twigs as we were getting the occasional dropping on the deck just from that and it turned into a disaster. After just 24 hours of the changed frequency we started having problems again. Then we changed the frequency back, but it turns out that we had left it unplugged during the change back to the original and forgot to plug it back in. Our deck was a mess. The whole thing had to be hosed down again. And we washed off all our furniture, etc. That was horrible. After we plugged it back in, the droppings seemed to reduce by a lot - about 80% over night; and then completely stopped after about 48 hours. We cleaned everything yet one more time and fingers crossed we've been good ever since. And curiously enough, even the occasional landings seemed to have disappeared. Maybe its because when we made sure the frequency was set for the third time, we must have tweaked it just enough to be perfect. So that was overall a huge win. Now however, we have some new smaller bird that seems to be flitting around and nesting at the margins of our deck - or at least that's what we think from the teeny tiny pile of bird droppings. Still gross but a better problem as the sheer square footage involved is smaller and in an out of the way corner of the decking we can clean more easily. So after some discussion, we've decided to leave the first unit alone as it's working great. We had our first rainstorm and the box is mounted on the eaves where it still gets direct rain and run off from the roof as well and it's still working great. To figure out this other smaller problem, we're going to purchase a second unit and set it at a different frequency to see if that works. Hopefully the new ultrasonic frequency won't cancel out the old one. Will keep this posting updated. Bottom line: Continues to be a 5-star solution. Confidently recommended for overnight bird roosting and nesting problems for doves and large blackbirds and some other large bird of some kind. Purchasing a second unit to experiment with another frequency for smaller birds. ================= UPDATE 3: Full 90 days of use: Make sure all angles are covered! After some accidental re-alignment we figured out that the problem we had been having with smaller birds was due to occlusion and not the frequency; so all of the birds species - large and small - are driven away by the same frequency (continuous and ultrasonic only setting just short of where birds/skunks transitions into cats/dogs and the audible noise volume is turned down to zero). These units work on line of sight so obstructions near the unit can block the coverage area farther out and birds find these safe zones and roost there. We used the second unit then to generate a cross hatch coverage perpendicular to the first unit at the same frequency. The area we are trying to keep clear is about 50 ft deep x 80 ft wide, surrounded by trees about 30 - 40 feet tall. Both units are mounted about 10 feet off of the ground pointing straight out. One unit is mounted at the center of the 80ft wide section. The other is mounted at about 10 feet in from the corner along the 50ft deep section. For us the results were immediate. The resulting invisible cross-hatch of ultrasonic sound is incredibly effective; overnight the deck was completely clear for the first time ever. We are extremely happy to have a droppings-free deck to enjoy year round. This product has made our yard usable.

I thought I had already posted a review and I was just going to update it. Seems I didn't. So here is the scoop. In my case I guess it is impossible to prove it doesn't work. We just moved to this area and have a very nice 3 seater covered porch swing. Where we used to live there were squirrels, but they never cared about the swing cushion. Two days after setting it up in our new home a squirrel, or more, decided to chew a hole in the back of the cushion and pull out the fiber stuffing. My guess is to make a nest for the upcoming winter. Anyway, I put the cushion in the garage, ordered the Yard Sentinel and when it arrived I immediately set it up and positioned it facing the swing from about 15 ft. away. No squirrels came around. The audible tone would go off several times a day and was so disturbing that I turned it off. Still no squirrels. Then I thought I should put the cushion back on the swing to tempt the critters. Still no squirrels. Maybe they finished with their nest building. Maybe the device works. Whatever, there are no more squirrels and we are happy. Will let you know if anything changes. 9/22/14 Last week I noticed that the squirrel was back and seemingly immune to the Sentinel. I changed the position of the machine, the setting level, the motion control to continuous and placed it back outside. The next day I watched the squirrel climb up on the swing cushion and rip it open. I ran out and chased him away. I tried to modify the setting on the Sentinel, again, but this morning the squirrel just walked across the front of the machine and was unaffected by it. I decided to return the unit to Amazon but was informed that my "window" of opportunity had expired last week. I am now stuck with a device that does not perform as advertised. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!! This machine does not work, at least not for squirrels. I am very unhappy with Amazon.

20 Feb 2016 update: Returned 1st defective one under Amazon's 30 day return policy and bought a 2nd one. Upgraded rating from 1 to 3 stars because the 2nd one is still working after 10 months of intermittent use (intermittent because I power it with an 18 V rechargeable NiCd battery that only lasts about 2 days, and don't always connect a fresh battery when it runs out). My teenagers confirm that the ultrasound still works. I can't say for sure how well it repels animals, but I haven't had a problem with neighbourhood dogs pooping near the end of my driveway -- I think they walk on the opposite side of the street, which should be far enough to keep the unit from turning on. Original March 2015 review: The manufacturer has some serious quality control problems, specifically "infant mortality" (premature failure of product). When I got this I tried it inside the house: the audible alarm was very loud on maximum, and my teenage son could easily hear and was greatly annoyed by the ultrasound. I installed it outside in motion detector mode (as opposed to continuous mode) to keep neighbourhood dogs off my yard and rigged up a battery to power it. I left the audible volume on low so initially I could hear it. The motion detector worked well judging by the red light that came on when activated by motion 30-40' away. The battery I used needed replacing every couple days. After 6 days of use my wife saw a dog in the yard undeterred by the Yard Sentinel. The battery had been in a couple days so first I thought it had lost power. I replaced the battery and the red light of the motion detector again lit up indicating detection. As days went on I became suspicious because I couldn't ever hear the audible alarm I had left on low. Finally I took it inside and tested it with my son, and there was no ultrasound, nor was there any more than an extremely faint audible alarm when I turned the volume up to maximum. The parts that might actually chase away animals had failed in about a week, but the red light still lit. I returned it to Amazon for a refund since it was less than 30 days old. If you have one of these and you think it's working because you see the red light, it might actually be broken and you should return it before the manufacturer warranty expires. You need to find someone who can hear the high frequency sounds (ultrasound) and ask them to check it. A second best test would be to remove the back cover and turn the audible volume up and see if you can hear that, but it might be possible that audible works when ultrasound doesn't.

Seems to work well to stop disease carrying pigeons from nesting in our neighbor's Ficus Nitida trees. This is right by our kitchen window. Very pleased so far. Seems to be staying away. :-)

Perhaps like most of your folks, you are indecisive whether to purchase the yard Sentinel because of the mixed reviews. I took a chance and purchased this item and I believe the reason it has mixed reviews is because of how diverse it can be set up to repel different types of animals. I will share my personal experience of how I've used it to frighten off raccoons. I live in Brooklyn, New York and most recently we've had an invasion of raccoons. Now, these animals are very intelligent and had a habit of using our extension of our home as a latrine. We set up the detector outside our window facing the area where they frequently visited and the first night we set it up, all we heard is the pitter patter of quick paws on the roof avoiding the detector . We have solved our dilemma. POSITIVE NOTES: First: As I've captioned there are different settings for animals so please ensure you read the manual thoroughly to target your problem. Second: There's also a frequency distance range in which you can target the bothersome area; Third: An audio setting depending again on the type of animal you want to keep away; the audio sound does not necessarily need to be loud to repel the animal--depending on the animal it's the ultrasonic sound that does the trick. Fourth: There's a choice to have it battery operated or electric--I've only used the electrical set up; Fifth: There's an operating selection feature where this can be specifically set up 24 hours, or by day or night time. DRAWBACKS: I must share that the sensitivity range is quite high...I believe too sensitive . When it's too windy, the detector will detect the trees blowing and will trigger the sound--we simply unplug it at night during those extreme times. My second concern is the casing backing is rubber and doesn't feel to be entirely water proof. It has not been damaged in the rain but I would not take a chance and perhaps put it in a protective outdoor place. Third, the detector needs basically an open area to be effective, if you have it over a ledge where it's partially blocked by a wall or roof...it won't detect through that area. I know, that's just common sense, but I simply wanted to post. So there you have it folks, it has helped us incredibly with our raccoon problem only. I hope this review was helpful.

I don't understand how can this device have so many positive reviews when it is clearly a scam. I can only think they are also fake reviews. I always give products 5 or 4 stars minimum (you can check my ratings), when I have nothing good to say about a product, I prefer not to say anything. But this product is just a plain scam, so I had to say something to avoid other buyers get scamed. I bought 2 units for my small backyard. I carefully read the instructions, so I did everything as per the manufacturers instructions. It suposedly has one (undetectable by humans) ultrasonic sound plus one audible sound. You can set the volume for the audible sound only, the volume for the ultrasonic sound is fixed. It has a motion sensor that is supposed to detect the pest you want to repel and it starts the audible sound, while the ultrasonic sound is supposed to be always on. I wanted to scare pigeons that drink water from my pool. I placed the device at 3 feet from my small pool, and set the volume for the audible sound to 3/4 of the maximum (it says it reaches more than 90 meters at it loudest setting, and it certainly is very loud). Note the volume setting is just for the optional audible sound (that is suposed to increase eficacy of the product), the ultrasonic sound is supposed to be always on, and at a fixed volume. I had it just one day (so no point in saying that pigeons got used to the sound and so they are no longer scared by it), and pigeons just walk happily a couple feet from the device without any discomfort at all. A couple pigeons even fell asleep at about 15 feet away from the device while it was making the loud audible sound. The motion detector also fails in detecting any pigeon, but it starts a loud and very uncomfortable sound for humans everytime a person walks by. The sound gets heard all over my 500 sq mt house and it even annoys the neighbours, but pigeons are not disturbed at all by it.

We had a horrible problem with skunks in our yard and our dog got sprayed twice which is a pain to clean up. I bought my 1st yard sentinel and it worked amazing. No skunks whatsoever. One time the dog kicked it over and it actually filled with rain water before I noticed. I drained it out, dried it, and it worked perfect. It’s about 12 years later and my first one is finally starting to die. We noticed a horrible skunk smell inside and outside the house. I checked on my yard sentinel and it is finally starting to work intermittently. I just bought this new one. Skunk smell is now gone again!

I live in a suburb and got this unit because of problems with local wildlife tearing up my newly laid Sod. I have found that the problem animals in my area are Crows, Squirrels, and occasionally Raccoons who do the most damage. I have had this unit for almost a week and thought it was working but then I saw Crows and Squirrels out directly in front of the unit and paying no attention to it. So it appears to not be working on 2 of the 3 pests that I have. The unit has 24 hr., night only, and motion settings. I have the unit set on Motion sense and for Ultra sonic sound that supposedly only animals can hear and drives them away. The unit also has an audible alarm that basically sounds like a burglar alarm with a volume control and can be heard 2 blocks away in a quiet neighborhood. I can't use that feature in my suburban neighborhood situation so I had it turned all the way down or off. The motion sensor seems to work well seeing motion and a red light turns on in the sensor when it sees motion and you can hear the unit ultrasonic "click" on when it sees motion. I'm retuning my unit and would only recommend it if you can use the audible alarm for areas like far out in a farm field, construction site, or something where no one is around to be disturbed by it. The unit runs on an AC adapter which is included or 4 C size batteries - not included. I am returning this item since it is not working for me in my suburban situation and I'm trying a Havaheart live animal trap for the Raccoons since they are the most destructive. I gave it 2 stars because it seems to do everything it says EXCEPT the part that I needed the most, the Ultrasonic sound to keep pests away quietly, did not work for me.

Useless

We live in a small community that is plagued by deer. Deer have learned that people will not tolerate the presence of predators (cougars/wolves) in our town, but will accept the risk of road collisions, destroyed gardens and attacks (yes, deer will attack and stomp anything they perceive as a threat, even someone pushing a baby stroller once). A cull is the answer to the lack of predators, but that is politically unacceptable. The misguided believe that the deer were here first and thus they are "natural"; from the perspective of a wildlife biologist I can tell you there is nothing natural about deer with no predation. Thus we have a very large deer population that is uncontrolled. We have planted "deer resistant" plants (they ate them) and even sprayed flowers with a garlic oil mixture (they ate those the next day). Our control was limited to me with a sling shot and this would usually result in a rotation; the one I hit today would not come back for a while, but some other deer would show up to take its place. We would be lucky to go more than two days without deer. I installed the device using the extension cord; ultra-sonic always on and sonic off set to the highest deer setting. PROS: It has been about two weeks since installing the Yard Sentinel and we have not had ONE deer since. CONS: Could be a bit more ruggedly constructed but I'm so pleased that it has worked so well (so far) I'm willing to give it five stars anyway. I will repost should the deer suddenly return and accept that their sudden absence was a coincidence.

I ordered this item to scare away Pewee's that are crapping all over my car even though it is in a shed. This item did not arrive it was supposedly lost in transport i recommend that the seller change their courier. I thought the price was ok, as for quality, if it worked i have no idea. I was very satisfied with the action the seller took in refunding my money to me. i would recommend this seller to others.

Extremely annoying sounds which traverse between an emergency vehicle to a fog horn or some sort to finally standard car alarms . Animals become curious and actually start walking towards it rather than being repelled in any way . Cats and dogs both found the device amusing . Does not work , can be avoided .

Useless