I have never had any way of sensing tire pressures other than the use of tire guages at the beginning of the day and the use of the infrared temperature meters used at rest areas.

I know from many years of screwing with checking tire pressures that most of my problems relate to the Schrader valves not seating properly after checking pressures and since switching to the "fill through cap" tire valve caps that problem has literally gone away. (http://automotive-hardware.com/1-pie...-cap-p-20.html)

Every time I would get the urge to do something about a tire pressure sensing system I couldn't get past the issue of using a sensor that become the valve cap. I considered the inner band type, but I two two different vehicles and so no matter what sensors I had I had another issue to deal with.

So I bought a system that uses a different approach to sensing tire problems. (http://www.tattle-trail.com/) I just completed my first trip with the system and here is my opinion for what it is worth.

There is no set up or programming. I cannot think of anything easier. I stuck the transmitter on the windshield of the toad and plugged it into the lighter socket. I plugged the receiver into the socket in the bus, and turned it on. When I got rolling I adjusted the sensistivity and from then on it was working.

It does not check or report tire pressures or temperatures and the only way to really know if it works is to have a report on its performance when something bad does happen, but from my 1100 miles of experience I have confidence if a tire has a blowout or a leak leading to a flat the device will sound an alert. I traveled over a wide variety of road surfaces and if it is adjusted correctly it sets off a chirp and lights a warning light if there is anything that causes an unusual vibration or a shock. We were on I-59 north of Birmingham and that road sucks. It is a constant thumpity-thump. I had to adjust is for that road, but all other roads an increased sensitivity would only produce an occasional chirp at expansion joints or bridge approaches.

When the road had a string of rough spots the device would chirp quietly, but as the rough section continued its chirping and warning light became very insistent. I believe I will know if it is a rough road caused chirping or a true warning to alert of a vibration caused by a failing tire or a blowout.

For me this is a better alternative to the tire pressure sensing systems. Is it better? No. If I lived in a perfect world I would rather know every tire pressure, but I am not willing to deal with the issues I would face having two tow vehicles, or giving up my double seal valve caps. I posted this in case anyone is not aware of this device and wants something completely portable that can be used to monitor any number of different tow vehicles, or even be used to monitor a boat or motorcycle trailer.