Security Accessories/Addons by [ MorningZ  ]

Let's talk security accessories!! What fun is a plain ol' alarm. Everyone's got 'em, but there are a lot of ways to make your alarm more personalized to what you are trying to accomplish. Keep in mind that while we drive a very high target vehicle, there are lots of things to "better" protect your car. But with that said, also keep in mind that some people simply don't care about security and just want features So let's break down the different kinds of "alarm personalities" that exist out there: ? The Gadget Freak: The kind of person who wants an alarm that'll do anything and everything via their remote control. The more tricks they can do, the better. ? The Convenience Type: A lesser degree of a gadget freak, they are more interested in things like remote doorlock control, trunk pop, domelight supervision, etc ? The Paranoid Type: Nothing is safe in their car and they won't sleep at night unless there's 10 layers of security protecting each and every item in their car. You know the type A lot of these accesories may fall under multiple categories, but I'll relate them to the category I think they match up with best. Most pieces I'll be looking at are manufactured by Directed Electronics, sorry for the bias, but they are the largest alarm company and also make some great accessories, plus I have been dealing with their stuff for 8 years now so I know it well. I'll include with each description a general cost (may or not include approximate installtion), what cateogry they belong to, what "type" they are (alarm addon, stand alone addon, etc), and difficulty of installation on a scale of 1-10  Fuel Cutoff Setup Parts: $5-$10 Category: Paranoid Type: Stand Alone Difficulty: 5 One of the best and cheapest ways to protect your car itself it to do a fuel pump cutoff setup. Simply cuttng the power flow going to the fuel pump stops the cars dead in its tracks since it doesn't have no go juice to move. Parts consist of some wire (about 16-18 gauge I suggest), a simple on/off switch, and on something this vital for the car to operate, I highly suggest soldering the connections. Looking at the diagram to the left, you see that we simply cut the OEM wire going to the pump, wire our switch inline and then we can control whether the pump is allowed to operate or not. Hiding this switch in a well concealed location will delay the thief in getting your car operational to be able to steal. Looking for more information? check out this huge and informative thread on doing this. Personally I don't recommend the locations initially brought forth in that thread (first place a thief goes: towards the steering column/fusbox), but rather really conceal the switch somewhere good. Window Control Module Parts: $70, Install: $60 Category: Gadget Type: Alarm Addon Difficulty: 9 (Price is given for a DEI 530T) This is for sure one of the "cooler" addons to have. Get out of your car with windows (and/or sunroof) open, press "arm" on your remote and watch the windows close themselves. The 530T in particular also crosses over on the Convenience category as well since it turns two windows into "on press auto up and down", simply tap either window switch up down and the window will do full travel. On most cars, this is a very self-installable piece, but on our Integra's, the huge hurdle is running wires from inside the car to the door, which bumps up the installation level quite a bit Microwave/Field-Disturbance Sensor Parts: $45, Install: $20 Category: Paranoid Type: Alarm Addon Difficulty: 3 (Price is given for a DEI 508D Dual Zone) Add an invisible "bubble" of protection to your car. If anything with mass, such as an arm, but not say, a leaf, breaks this "bubble", the alarm will take action. The above mentioned piece has two zones, one big one that'll just "warn" a potential intruder with a few sqawks of the siren, and a smaller one that will set the alarm into full alarm mode. Easy installation that involves mounting it as central to the car as possible and wiring it with 12v, ground, and trigger wire(s) to alarm. Few small notes about this piece: (1) the bubble will go through anything but metal (2) this will protect the contents of your car even with the windows open or whatever since it works on microwaves (3) metalized window tint has the potential to really interfere this piece since metal reflects micorwaves Closed Loop Sensor Parts: $15, Install: $20 Category: Paranoid Type: Alarm Addon Difficulty: 3 (Price is given for a DEI 502T) This security switch works 180 degree opposite of a normal switch. Most switches are "open" in that they don't make any kind of contact until an action is taken. Example: a hood pin is seperated when the hood is closed, but if the hood was popped, the switch makes contact and a signal is sent to the alarm. A "closed" loop sensor is connected until an action is taken, when the action is taken, the loop is broken and then a signal is sent to the alarm. Useful for protecting foglights and bikeracks to name a few things. Installation is just same as previous piece: power, ground, trigger to alarm Glass Break Sensor Parts: $17, Install: $20 Category: Paranoid Type: Alarm Addon Difficulty: 2 (Price is given for a DEI 506T) The sensor listens for the sound of metal on glass to detect a thief using something such as a dent puller to break a windshield. Typically a properly installed and adjusted shock/impact sensor is enough to detect something like that, but a careful thief can do it with now impact to the vehicle whatsoever. Honestly, this sensor is not used very much out there. Battery Backup Supply Parts: $32, Install: $20 Category: Paranoid Type: Alarm Addon Difficulty: 6 (Price is given for a DEI 520T) One method of maximizing your alarm's proetection is the addition of a battery backup. It's a pack-of-cigarette-sized piece that can provide your system up to 4 hours of juice after power gets cut off. The DEI piece also includes a "trip trigger" that when the battery loses it's power feed, it will take over power supply-age AND will trigger the alarm. Leaving the thief who just unhooked your car battery stiffled because the alarm is still going off. Installation is about 5 wires that include interrupting the power to the alarm, a ground, a trigger, and a constant supply of power Digital Tilt Sensor Parts: $50-70, Install: $20 Category: Paranoid Type: Alarm Addon Difficulty: 3 (Price is given for a DEI 507T) This sensor has one primary purpose: to detect a change in elevation of your ride! When you first arm the alarm, the sensor "centers itself" to your car's current position. What does this combat? Well, for starters, some punks trying to jack your rims (a car can be raised up carefully enough not to trip the impact sensor) or even at least send the alarm into full wail if a tow truck attempts to take your car much much much more to come in this article........... Posted 1/31/2003 10:26:00 PM