security light issues

[in2media]

my neighbor came home the other day to find someone in his shed.(least to say he wasnt impressed)
any way we both got a 500 watt security light and i installed them to the manufacturers instructions.
but the light doesnt come on untill your roughly 10 feet from the house. we would prefer it to light up as someone comes through the gate which is roughly 40 feet from the house.
question 1, if we put the light higer (at minute its 9 feet of the ground) would that help?
question 2, can we get anothe sensor to put near the gates and wire it to the lights?
any help appreciated guys
we are suffering at the hands of the low life

[Jim]

question 1, if we put the light higher (at minute its 9 feet of the ground) would that help?

The only way to tell would be to experiment and see. Mostly it depends on the sensitivity of the sensor. Does it have a sensitivity adjustment? I had one that I could set so sensitive that when the wind blew the bushes it would come on and you couldn't get within 30 feet of my carport without setting it off.

question 2, can we get another sensor to put near the gates and wire it to the lights?

This would depend on the particular light unit. There are remote sensors available that give an output similar to a SPST switch so can turn on a light directly. You would probably have to hard wire the thing back to your light.

Can you mount the light closer to the gate? And is the sensor built into the light or separately targetable so that the sensor can point directly at the gate?
Another option would be to set up infrared lights, motion detection and cameras. My current IR lamps would light up a spot easily enough at that distance and the person wouldn't know they were being illuminated and videoed. You would be surprised how cheaply you could set up a CCTV with nightvision.

[securityman]

I have a Sensor where I have at my gate and then as you walk towards it my runway lights up and then it as scared a few folk and even my Family said they were kinda worried what happen and I said yea also I have a PIR sensor onto my CCTV and it buzzes and the CCTV screen flicks to that camera