Audio Security

[expo5.0]

an alarm is no more effective than stickers that say you have an alarm and a little led light on your dash.

 

[mhn3773]

i love the alarms that are sensitive to touch..i set those off all the time with my stereo =) lol

 

[gatorpatric0]

Proximity sensor alarms are a HUGE pain in the ass. The reason i love mine so much is not only it a proximity sensor, but an electrical sensor too. This means it is set off by increases in electrical current IE a dome light turning on, and we all know how easy it is to turn a dome light on. I actually desensitize my alarm at school (just the proximity, not the electrical) so all the A-holes out there cant set it off just for the fun of it by bumping into it. They dont usually try opening the doors. I strongly recommend those Alarms that I just posted. NOT the Wal-mart ones. They special-make a cheaper model just for Wal-Mart.

 

[gatorpatric0]

an alarm is no more effective than stickers that say you have an alarm and a little led light on your dash.

I dont understand. Everyone has their opinions but could you explain yours?

 

[huskyfan23]

Not that I know of.. I have one and the sensitivity is set so nothing outside of the vehicle sets it off, but any movement inside does.

 

[gatorpatric0]

Not that I know of.. I have one and the sensitivity is set so nothing outside of the vehicle sets it off, but any movement inside does.

Thats a good way to go. Before I figured out how to de-sensitize mine, all my friends, well, aquaintances, would set it off. I had one aquaintance that left school half-way through the day, which was the same time as my lunch period, and he would set it off everyday. So Id have to go over and turn it off so it wouldnt piss off the people having class. High-Schoolers are such A-Holes.

 

[kontai69]

Like gatorpatric0 has done, I secured my sub box by bolting it through the floor from inside the box. I used large steel washers to prevent the bolt heads from pulling through. The sub amp is secured to the floor with a door chain and padlock through one of the amp's feet. The door chain plate is mounted to the floor with torx screws and then filled with RTV sealant to prevent them from being removed. The headunit is tethered with a steel cable so that it could not be pulled completely out from the dash. This cable also indirectly functions to secure the radio bezel and dash vent assembly, behind which is where my 120db piezo siren is hidden. However, as others have eluded to, securing the equipment in this manner has the drawback of the thief tearing up the interior trying to remove it, so it's definately a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario. But I would assume most thieves would likely give up their evil doing given that a 120db piezo siren is blasting a few feet from their ears. I even removed the dome light bulbs to hinder a thief rummaging inside at night.

Even after performing the aforementioned preventative measures, I fully realize that the most important thing to do is to deter a thief from even wanting to try. That is the primary effect of a well-installed alarm system along with common sense. This includes not advertising your system! If you pull into your neighborhood or place of destination bumping your system, you are telling potential thieves that you have a killer system. Make sure the stereo system install is as stock looking as possible. Also, never leave ANYTHING in plain sight inside the truck: "Out of sight, out of mind." This means storing away the CDs, radar detector, sunglasses, loose change, etc. And of course, never leave the faceplate on. At least take it off and hide it somewhere inside the truck if you can't take it with you. Some people will strongly object to this, but I put the alarm stickers on the side windows to make sure a would be thief knows that I have an alarm.

Here are some good links offering advice on alarm installation and car security in general...
http://forum.sounddomain.com/forum/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=9;t=001941

http://www.directed.com/security/securitysense/article3.asp

The following link is part PR, but contains good general auto security info...
http://www.prweb.com/prfiles/2004/01/08/97673/RAVELCO_PRWEB_Press_Release_2004.doc

 

[Stic-o]

No alarm.. I just hide the faceplate. Whenever I install a stereo I always make it so it's easy to take out. If some wants...take it!, but with out destroying the whole dash to get it out. I had an old Sony HU that was one of the best units I ever owned (pre-xplod) I but in my wife Escort when we were dating. Only problem was it did not have a removable face plate. It was gone with in 2 weeks! But the rest of the car was not destroyed. They just took the HU and personal stuff in the car. Didn't even cut the wires. Just unpluged it.

The best thing is don't leave anything of value in sight. They may not be after your stereo at first, but because you left your sell phone sitting there in the open they broke in for it. Then: Whats that no one paying noticeing I'm in here with a alarm blaring! let's take the HU too!

Think about it guys...There nothing but a bunch of Opportunists

 

[expo5.0]

i'll explain again-

the job of the alarm is to deter someone from breaking into the vehicle. No theif is going to be that deterred by the alarm going off that he won't take whats in it after he deliberately sets it off.

the only way to stop the theif is to put the vehicle in a location such that YOU may be able to see it/hear the alarm. if you have the balls/are stupid enough to confront the theif.

i know that there are theifs out there who are not smart enough to use all the little tricks, but anyone with a clue (read the person who is gonna follow you home and steal your stereo) knows a million ways to deal with the alarm.

you say your alarm is really loud inside the truck- how are you gonna stop them from shutting it off? I can virtually guarantee that i could neutralize any of your alarm systems in less than 45 seconds from the initial sound, and many of them would never make a peep. The only way it can get tricky for them is if you really go crazy. IE- auiliary batteries, brain in the rear of the truck (never under the dash), and a siren under the rear of the truck. Maybe even put a siren in the obvious underhood position too just to let them waste time there. Anyways, still all they have to do if you've taken those precautions is set it off and stand back for a while and observe. Most alarms are set up to shut off after a time period. and even if they don't if its been going off for half an hour and nothings happened they know its safe to go in and steal the crap.



How are you gonna stop them from just unloading your car while its going off? you ever set it off in a parking lot? NO ONE CARES!

besides all of this- if the fools do get in your car and set your alarm off chances are they are going to break/steal whatever they can reach. I know that i have true full coverage "hot rod" insurance on my stereo and the rest of my interior so that if they take everything i get a good bit of $. However, i only envision the mess that would occur if they were to steal a few parts of it and damage others as hell. The insurance company has no choice but to shell out the money for teh insured products and custom work if its gone, but if its scratched?

its like the way best buy stores are designed to burn to the ground in the event of a fire. They have a sprinkler system that is designed to suppress only very small fires and then if they are unable to then the whole place is designed to go up in flames. they want it gone for insurance purposes.


so really the perception of an alarm (stickers and an led) and parking the vehicle in a well lit "safe" place is the best bet. everything else probably just makes it harder to deal with insurance, and doesn't actually slow a theif with any kind of a clue down at all.

 

[aldive]

its like the way best buy stores are designed to burn to the ground in the event of a fire. They have a sprinkler system that is designed to suppress only very small fires and then if they are unable to then the whole place is designed to go up in flames. they want it gone for insurance purposes..

Please explain that one. How do you think that they bypass local fire regulations?

 

[BBQ_HotDogs]

When doing a big audio system and installing an extra battery or 2, there are many more options available to you than the standard alarm install package with a kill switch. Since you do have other power supplies, some in plain site and others hidden, you can do alternatives. But if a thief wants that stereo, not much you can do to stop it except make them play on your turf. My stereo nor my truck will be stolen at home, I can promise you that. But I can't stop a thief who wants it so bad that they would follow me around till I park it in a parking lot to do some shopping and then they could simply jack the vehicle with a wrecker and make way with it. Then take it to an undisclosed location and start cutting wires until all of the alarms stop and then strip it down to bare metal. But that is about there only option. Now adays, with so many alarms on the market and everyone having one, the sound of it makes your first instinct say, adjust the motion sensers on it. Come on buddy, get with the program, LOL. I hear alarms all the time and pay them no mind. But they won't drive away in my vehicle. Nor will they spend much time in it at my house.

 

[expo5.0]

I understand all the options for alarms etc. etc. in fact i've done quite a few creative things with my own- but have no illusions of it really protecting me.

no one is gonna steal my stuff at my house either- lol.

as for the best buys- i was told by the general manager of the best buy in west st. paul minnesota that the design was such to burn to the ground once the fire got fairly large. I don't know what that means about the design, nor what sort of laws there might be against such a design etc. Perhaps its not even true, but when i heard it it was from a source that should have been reliable.

 

[heyok]

Some jerk tried to break into my truck about a month ago. It was parked across the street from where I work. My truck has a Compustar alarm that will page me if someone messes with it. This alarm has some sort of two stage shock sensor. It does the usual thing if someone manages to open the door or hood or bumps into it really hard. It also squacks for a couple of seconds and rings the pager/remote with a kind of minor alarm if it was only a light tap on the vehicle. This seems to happen once every couple of weeks and usually when a bike with a loud pipe or a big diesel goes by. Still I walk over to the window and look or go out to my truck and make sure all is well.
Well this time when it paged me I wandered over to the shop window and saw that there was a lot of traffic going by and thought that caused the alarm. There is this high school age kid walking down the sidewalk with his head swiveling around... a glance at my truck, a glance up at me in the shop window, but he just keeps walking. I figure he just heard the alarm and wondered what was up. I assumed that a loud truck caused the alarm and went back to work. After work I walk over to my truck and see that the small window on my rear passenger door is shattered and I can see where someone had used a screwdriver or something to pry between the molding and the glass. Man, I was pissed off :fire: !
I just have the stock stereo that came with the EB, but I keep a lot of expensive tools in the back, but always have them covered up with the cargo cover. I had always felt that it was so hard to see anything in there with the dark window tint that a thief would take a pass on my truck. I have to wonder that if I hadn't gone to the window and made eye contact with the guy (that I now assume was the thief) that he might have kept trying to get in even though the alarm was making noise. His little prank cost me CAN$300 for the deductable and about 1/2 day of work to get things fixed.
If I ever see that guy again

All the above is just to say that I am happy that I bought a paging alarm and I really recommend the brand. The range on the remote is incredible. I can push a button and it will verify that the doors are locked, or I can remote start it so it will put on the heat/AC as needed (which I really don't do as ga$ is so expensive).
Thanks for reading my long winded rant!
Al

 

[aldive]

as for the best buys- i was told by the general manager of the best buy in west st. paul minnesota that the design was such to burn to the ground once the fire got fairly large. I don't know what that means about the design, nor what sort of laws there might be against such a design etc. Perhaps its not even true, but when i heard it it was from a source that should have been reliable.

I seriously dout any truth to that, Fire codes have to be meet in any local.

 

[expo5.0]

i never said anything about fire codes though, just that its designed to burn to the ground once the fire reaches a certain point.

i don't know how strict the fire code might be etc. or anythign about it, but i'm sure they could meet the codes and still do what they could to encourage it to burn as i'm saying in one way or another.