[ramjet]

This thread can be a place where you can advise others not to purchase particular brands of alarms.

I have recently purchased a Crimefighter alarm, it is advertised as the best ladie dar, with all the features.

After a meticulous install to my soft top sierra, 60% of those features were more of a hindrance then anything.

- When the doors are open the hazards come on, not cool for when you are working on the car.
- The autostart module sends power to the ignition on accessories, very weird and frustration when you just want to listen to music up the beach as all the dash lights come on.
- Auto-arm feature arms the unit after 30 seconds, programing this feature out doesn't work.

Documentation is shocking, any sort of support for this product is out of the question from the manufacturer.

My last car had a viper, it worked well and had 3 point immobilization.


If you have had other experiences with other brands please tell all.

[atari4x4]

I've posted this before in other threads but, Dynamco's range of alarms are pretty damn good, built to the Australian standard & are reasonably priced. My old house mate was a certified alarm installer & would have installed 100's of them over the years & never had a problem with them.

http://www.dynamco.com.au/

[89_tintop]

I use to fit vision alarms (mazda fit them for a while). really good quality.

have fitted some cheaper ones and yeh, you can see/feel the quality in them, or lack of.

I think the best way to tell the quality of them is in the fob/button presser.

[royce]

I fitted alarms for years, 95% of people calling alarms shit is unable to install them correctly or getting the shits 30 seconds after something happened and not reading the book to understand why

having said that Mongoose were a top notch brand and did everything you asked of it

[89_tintop]

royce wrote:

I fitted alarms for years, 95% of people calling alarms shit is unable to install them correctly or getting the shits 30 seconds after something happened and not reading the book to understand why
having said that Mongoose were a top notch brand and did everything you asked of it

i have to agree with that......

you have to follow the steps.. and sometimes there are so many steps you get mixed up.

[ramjet]

89_tintop wrote:

royce wrote:

I fitted alarms for years, 95% of people calling alarms shit is unable to install them correctly or getting the shits 30 seconds after something happened and not reading the book to understand why
having said that Mongoose were a top notch brand and did everything you asked of it

i have to agree with that......

you have to follow the steps.. and sometimes there are so many steps you get mixed up.

Yes I agree as well, but I also have fitting experience and thought I'd try something new. This crimefighter alarm was definitely not the cheapest, it has a two way OLED remote. Just too many features for it to be practical.

Mongoose is a good brand and I like their systems.

[Microwire]

Just do what my granfather did, use one of the buttons on your dash that you don't use ie. AC. then make it so you can turn on the car without this button being pressed, crims will never think of it. I know they will be able to bypass it eventually but the theory is, is that it'll take them a little time to figure it out because it's unconventional then they'll either give up or get busted or take a while and steal your car

Suzuki Owner Certified for value for money haha

[ramjet]

Microwire wrote:

Just do what my granfather did, use one of the buttons on your dash that you don't use ie. AC. then make it so you can turn on the car without this button being pressed, crims will never think of it. I know they will be able to bypass it eventually but the theory is, is that it'll take them a little time to figure it out because it's unconventional then they'll either give up or get busted or take a while and steal your car

Suzuki Owner Certified for value for money haha

Haha love it!

[Hotshot993]

how the hell would you be able to do that ^^ thats awesome

[skyman]

FWIW,

Viper is also consider a good "premium brand" in the states too. Viper has had good name since I was a kid and starting to get into system building some 20yrs ago(now I feel old lol), they still hold that name now.

In the electronics business, any company that can stay afloat with the same brand name for 20yrs says something about quality.

In the states we don't even consider an alarm for a sierra, because it is so open and easy to get in and out of. Is it pretty common to put them Sierra's? If so, how do you get them to work well, a proximity or motion detector? It does not seem like it is practical here.

IMHO
A good alarm is a convenience, and a theft deterrent. A bad/cheap alarm is a real pain in the ass, very annoying, and can actually attract bad attention.

[BlueSuzy]

Hotshot993 wrote:

how the hell would you be able to do that ^^ thats awesome

Its only a switch you NoOb. Not hard with alittle RESEARCH. DID YOU READ THE MAIN START OF THE THREAD? YOUR DRIBBLE HAS NO BENEFIT FOR THIS THREAD!

Buy mine.


Pulling a fuse or a kill switch is best for a sierra softop. Keep valuable items out of your car. Goes for any car.

[Hotshot993]

omfg whatever.

[ramjet]

skyman wrote:

In the states we don't even consider an alarm for a sierra, because it is so open and easy to get in and out of. Is it pretty common to put them Sierra's? If so, how do you get them to work well, a proximity or motion detector? It does not seem like it is practical here.

Not sure if you are asking a question there skyman, but I have a soft top sierra and I have allot of expensive equipment which I take with me around the place so it is imperative that they are secure and if anything shall happen(god forbid) I am notified of it. That's why I bought the crime fighter because it has a 433Mhz two way remote. In terms of motion sensors inside the boundaries of the canvas, there are several optional add ons you can attach to any alarm with auxiliary triggers. Such as a tilt sensor which has an internal gyroscope or mercury switch to detect if someone is trying to toe your car, push it over a cliff or back into you . Or you can get a field disturbance sensor, some work of the principal of radar as a proximity sensor using the microwave bandwidth which is in the Ghz. It disperses in a radial pattern and you can adjust the radius of the field pattern depending on the car cabin. I am investigating my options, including building a secure compartment for all my gear and to mount the motion detector in. Here is a good link

http://www.ehow.com/how_2192517_proximity-motion-sensor-car-alarms.html

However these addons have nothing to do with the alarm brands as none of them offer these sensors as apart of their system directly. If you know of any other options let us know

F.Y.I I find the best kind of door pin switches to use are three poll magnetic reed switches, that way they don't break or rust away, and I think they are worth the few extra $$. The three poll option gives you the ability to make them Normally Open, where as the double poll switches are normally closed, the reverse of what you need for when a door is closed.

Anyone had any experience with Black widow alarms?

[skyman]

I had never thought of installing a 3 pole switch, thats a good idea.

Another good manufacture that comes to mind is "autopage". Here, they were the first to produce a paging alarm, and they were of high quality. i don't know if you can get them over there.

Autopage alarms (click me)

My biggest suggestion is a paging remote with the most range, and least possible interferences. Range is not something that instantly comes to mind when you go to buy an alarm, but it should be.

The earlier ones would not notify you were inside a building made of concrete, or behind any earthen structure. keep in mind that anything in the 2.4 Ghz range is effected by moisture. Trees, concrete, rain, or even humans absorb the signal, so you will get the wort range when it is raining.

Another thing to consider is feedback, will the alarms tell you what sensor was tripped vie the fob. It's nice to know what caused your alarm to trip.

For secure storage I'd think a waterproof ammo box under the bonnet would be best. It makes them have work to find your stuff, then unlock it. IMHO a lot harder than just prying a metal box off the sierra sheetmetal. I store my netbook,camera, and other stuff under the bonnet when I leave my zook.



I was asking, because I have't been studying up on alarms lately and I don;t know what sensors are out there.

I know installing one won't keep people for getting into an open top rig, but all I need is to be notified so I can catch them if it happens at my house. If it happens anywhere else the sound will scare them off. There are just too many people around for a thief to sit in a car when the alarm is going off. They will just move on to the next easiest rig that is quiet.

[tmb99]

Doesn't matter how great an alarm is if the thief has your keys. In one of my cars it had a touchpad immobiliser when I brought it. It saved my car when our house was burgled, they took the keys but couldn't start it as they didn't know the code. They did however get a brand new peugeot 208 - found 4mths later with a 15yr old driving it

[royce]

haha I remember them old steal stopper keypad things with only 4 or 5 buttons, after a while once the buttons wore down a bit it was pretty easy to pick the code

[tmb99]

Microwire wrote:

Just use one of the buttons on your dash that you don't use ie. AC. then make it so you can turn on the car without this button being pressed, crims will never think of it.

An auto elecy friend wired his ignition with a screw you had to touch to complete the circuit (no idea how) had it on the side of centre console so you'd never even know he was doing it while starting the car...

royce wrote:

haha I remember them old steal stopper keypad things with only 4 or 5 buttons, after a while once the buttons wore down a bit it was pretty easy to pick the code

haha never thought of that! I'll have to look at mine see if you can see which buttons it is

[jonno_racing]

when i wired my computer in i added a few 30amp fuses. i remove a random one when i park the car.

[Hotshot993]

Smart idea.

[ramjet]

jonno_racing wrote:

when i wired my computer in i added a few 30amp fuses. i remove a random one when i park the car.

Once you have a few relays in place for immobilisation points how you trigger them is trival.

I am sure one could find a keypad switch which closes once the right combination is entered. Then allowing you to crank with the key.

Some kind of sequence of operations could also be used. A momentary push button switch could be used with some logic AND gates to say upon key on run position, foot on brake, hand on head and button depressed send power to ignition. These are all great ideas for theft of our beloved zooks.

But I guess the hardest challenge is theft of contents, I mean I haven't had any problems as of yet with my soft top. And sure you are silly to leave valuables in your car, but lets face it sometimes it is impossible to take everything with you or fit things under your bonnet. Because when your on the road, your car is your suit case.

There are many paging style systems you can get now with remotes that use 433Mhz, 900Mhz and 2.4Ghz wireless protocols acting as a transceiver, sending and receiving data to and from the vehicle. Perhaps the most effective ones are connected to the 3G network, where you place a prepaid sim in your car unit and you can send and receive data about GPS location and alarm status from your phone. Of course the downside to this is that it is an ongoing cost for the service.

p.s. Jono_racing I like your HDR

[fritter]

I just remove the rotor button when I'm parked in a remote spot for extended periods. Cheap and easy way to foil car thieves.

[Hotshot993]

what or where is the rotor button?

[tanshi]

sits under the distributor cap.

no matter how much you do if some one wants to steal it they will.

thankfully zuks done get nicked as often as other cars as they are slow and less fun for joy riders

[Hotshot993]

yeah thats true, people just want like rice burners or flash looking cars, unless someone steels you suki forlike parts or something.

[skyman]

Quote:

Perhaps the most effective ones are connected to the 3G network, where you place a prepaid sim in your car unit and you can send and receive data about GPS location and alarm status from your phone. Of course the downside to this is that it is an ongoing cost for the service.

This would be the best option, or at least the one that I would want in an alarm.

Here you can buy just minutes, or just texts for a pre-paid phone. I doubt the alarm would take very many minutes to work. The cheapest amount of minutes you can get is like $10. You can also buy a card that keeps your phone active for a year (not matter how many minutes you add) for around $30 or so. So this may cost a guy here about $50-$70 a year for alarm service. Small price to pay to know where your car is at all the time.

It would be nice to be able to locate your car if it was stolen. I wonder if it works if other parts of the alarm have been disabled, like the siren or lights.

[Ben_Sierra]

Lost cost immobiliser option: remove the lead from the coil to the dizzy when you park the car.

[skyman]

Yeah immobilizing is pretty easy for me; from what was mentioned above to unplugging the starter solenoid lead (easy to get at, can't loose it like a rotor.)

The most important thing in an alarm for me would be
#1 Page me, no matter where I am 24/7
#2 Tell me how it was triggered so i know what to expect when I get there.
#3 Make LOTS of noise and lights (louder than average alarm that is ignored)

[skyman]

I did have an alarm I was disappointed in. I had to go dig out the remote, to find out the name. Clifford is what is on the FOB it's too quick and easy to unplug and completely disable. I owned this Clifford a few years ago.

My wife had work done at the dealer, and they shuttled the Rodeo home after they were done, for a few days in a row. I was always at work so they thought she lived alone. The night they were finished and dropped off the car, one of the shuttle boys and three friends came back for the stereo. They waited until they saw the light go off in the living room, then broke the window, jumped in and unplugged the alarm. The only noise the alarm made was the warning chirp.

Of course they knew right where to find the alarm after they had it for a few days at work, but it was hard to get to and almost impossible to get both hands on at once. IMHO it should be harder to remove the harness connector than to grab the connector, push a button and pull it out.

Like I said ,they had it disconnected before it could even go into alarm mode. Maybe a total of 10 seconds? I was pissed lol, almost got them too but they had the getaway car running with a driver.