Car Security & Alarms
Here’s a bit of info and a little of my knowledge on getting protection for YOU, YOUR CAR and YOUR AUDIO.
Ok… So you’ve got all these big ideas, car, sounds and of course, the plans to make your car look mad. You’re all excited… car, $20k, sounds, $10k and of course the bad’az bodykit too.
Then a thought suddenly comes to mind. Hold up, what happens if all my hard earned cash goes down the drain, all because some nice person decides they like my ideas just as much as me. Then one night they take it off my hands… for free!
Normal thought is, nah no problem, won’t happen to me. But I can assure you one day it will. Unfortunately I myself have gone to jump in my car to go to work one morning but instead found my boot open and no sounds there. Believe me its one of the worst feelings you could ever have. (Dont you have that every morning? ed 
)
So I got you thinking now? Well maybe I should protect my hard earned investment, so what’s the best way to go about it? Well you have a couple of options really
- A big dog
- Wire your car up to the power lines
- Car Alarm
It could be difficult explaining to the police why there’s a nice crispy body lying next to your car, and dog crap is never fun. So your best option is C a car alarm.
Where to start?
A quick search on the net will bring up thousands of sites offering super deals on alarms. But which is best?
Many people’s 1st alarms will probably be one of them cheap’o but value for you money types for under $100. But there not much good now days, crooks are getting smarter. You really have to think, what do I want to protect? My whole car or just a few aspects of it.
Alarm components
One of the first things you will notice when car alarm shopping is the many different features that are available. How do you decide which features are essential? Well first you need to decide what is the biggest target in your vehicle.
If its car audio you want to protect, just an imobiliser isn’t going to cut it. You will more likely want sensors and switches that activate the alarm as soon as something happens to the car. Glass break sensors, shock sensors, microwave sensors etc will all help to give you extra protection when someone decides to try break in. Obviously the more of these items in the alarm the more protected you will be and the more expensive the alarm will cost you.
Your basic alarm, with single imobiliser, shock sensor, led and siren will start from the $69-$99 mark. The prices rapidly increase however with some of the extra features.
For example an Alarm with Dual imobilisers, Shock Sensor, Glass-smash sensor, Microwave sensors. Flashing Led, learning remote etc, you should be looking for around the $400-600 mark depending on brand. An alarm of this caliber will give you pretty good security for your car and anything inside it.
Here is a few of the features commonly available with car alarms;
- Imobilisers
Many alarms now come with Imobilisers, some come with as many as 6! This basically means when the alarm is set the imobilisers disable whatever they are connected too. Basic alarms will come with 1 or 2 imobilisers, which will disable the ignition, or the starter motor etc. Other more advanced alarms will cut power to the fuel pump, or the cars computer. This basically makes the car entirely undrivable. Immobilisers are good, but they are not much protection for a sub / amp that’s in the boot. - Sensors / Switches
A boot sensor should always be included when car audio is installed, as this is usually where the subs/amps are installed. Bonnet switches are also important to any car, as this is normally where the alarm siren is located. If the siren can tampered with and disabled before the alarm is even set off, the alarm will be rendered useless. Of course switches for the opening of doors are also a must have.Most alarms operate off the same switches that light up the dash to warn the driver when the doors are open. Separate purpose installed switches can be used for boot and bonnet if no factory ones exist.
- Backup battery
Battery backup sirens are essential to any good alarm system. With this feature the alarms siren has its own built in battery. If it is then disconnected from the cars battery (i.e the power wire has been cut) the siren will continue to sound until the back up battery runs out. - Impact/Tilt Sensors
Impact and tilt sensors are sometimes incorporated into the same device or available separately.Impact sensors detect vibrations caused by any sudden force on the vehicle. Used to detect the force required to smash glass or minor car park incidents. They easily false alarm however from sound waves such as loud exhaust or car audio systems.
Tilt sensors are great for if you have a set of mag wheels. When the car is raised by a certain angle, it triggers the alarm, and thus hopefully causing the thief to flee! Many of the smarter alarms, memorise the exact angle when the car is armed, and any movement within a few degrees will trigger the alarm.
- Glass break sensors
These are probably one of the more important features on a alarm now a days, this operates off the frequency of glass breaking. It is intended to replace the shock sensors ability to detect smashing windows without the likely hood of annoying false alarms. If any glass in the car is smashed, it will trigger the alarm to go off. Very useful in Smash and Grabs, which are becoming more common now. - Ultrasonic
The ultrasonic principle works similar to police radar. A transmitter produces ultra high frequency sound waves, which bounce off all surfaces inside the car. A receiver then picks up the reflected sound waves and sends a signal to the alarm when a change in the shape of the echo is detected.Ultrasonic sensors require a solid perimeter with no air movement. i.e. convertibles will not reflect sound waves and soft-top roof will move when battered by wind.
These sensors work well to protect the inside of the car. If any object enters the car while the alarm is set, it will be triggered
- Microwave
The microwave sensor establishes a self-contained perimeter, which when broken will transmit a trigger signal to the alarm system. Movement of air or heat does not affect microwave fields. Therefore allowing ventilation through the vehicle will not cause false alarms.Many microwave sensors come with 2 levels. A pre-intrusion level surrounds the outside of the car and will trigger a warning stage on the alarm if compromised. The alarm may either beep several times or may play a voice message. The next level protects the interior of the car and will fully trigger the alarm if penetrated.
Heat can affect the active range of the sensor. And while the sensor can easily be adjusted for range the interior field usually must be set relatively small to prevent false alarming. Another drawback is that the field is circular in shape. Unless you car is circularly shaped then the boot and bonnet may fall outside of the sensors coverage. It is possible however to have 2 sensors, one forward and one near the back to achieve full coverage.
Microwave sensors can be used on convertibles unlike an ultrasonic sensor.
- Pager
Some alarms include a pager that will be called if the car alarm is set off. These devices offer great peace of mind, can be added to most car alarms and are reasonably priced. They do however normally have ranges limited to only a few kilometers. - GPS monitoring
This is probably the ultimate in protection for your car should it get stolen. These basically can pin point your car any where on the planet within a few meters! If your car is moved while the alarm is set you will be immediately notified. This can be fairly expensive and often incurs a continuous monitoring charge. But hopefully it shouldn’t have to get this far.
Additionally there are a few extra steps you can take to protect your car.
- Have an electrician install a kill switch in a hidden location. The car then cannot be started until the switch is flicked.
- Have a series of kill switches installed. Where only the correct combination of on and off can start the car
- Multiple extra screamer sirens installed inside the vehicle. These produce a noise that is painfully loud for anybody inside the vehicle.
- Remove lock mechanisms so that car can only be unlocked by remote.
- Shave door handles. Remove door handles so that doors can only be opened by remote
Precautions
These are all useful and will all help protect your car, but remember most importantly use common sense:
Don’t leave valuables in your car. These include cell phones, wallets, sunglasses or anything that may make a thief might think, hey that’s nice I want that.
Avoid playing your sounds around your area where they can be heard, like in your driveway for example. This I believe is how my audio went missing, a bunch of people walked past when I was tuning my system. They were staring at my car and the next night it was gone.
Don’t advertise your system. Stickers all over your car says “hey I’m full of car audio gear steal me”
Conduct a stealth install. Hide you audio out of site and remember to always take the removable face of your head deck.
Brand?
Here are some good brands to get you started.
- Dynatron
- AVS
- Mongoose
As a rough rule, I would say expect to spend around $500-$1000 on a decent alarm if you want your gear to stay in your car.
Some of the top alarms even offer to pay money towards your insurance excess if your car is stolen while their alarm is protecting it.
New Law
A new law has just been passed that says that only certified and registered installers car install car alarms.
“Does this mean me and my mate can’t do it on our cars” no it doesn’t But you probably wont get insurance discount.
This new law, is beneficial too all us as it raises the standard in installations and helps to get rid of all the cowboy installers. Dont forget an alarm will only be as good as its install. If its easy for a theif to disable it then its really just a waste of cash
Happy shopping!
