The STARE instrument was the first to detect the transits of an extrasolar planet in 1999. To date it has performed one of the longest running searches for transits, being in nearly continous operations since July 2001 at Teide Observatory, Tenerife. We describe the instrumental setup and the scheme that is used for data acquisition, handling and analysis. To this end, we first review the conditions under which we obtained data suggestive of transits, and we then follow a chain of verification and follow-up measures, progressing from fairly simple ones of low cost and effort towards more involved ones, which may be needed to positively verify the existence of a true planetary transit.