From: rnakamu@wiliki.eng.hawaii.edu (Ryan Nakamura)
Newsgroups: rec.audio.car
Subject: Car Alarm Suggestions (Summary)
Date: 28 Oct 92 20:05:25 GMT
Organization: University of Hawaii, College of Engineering


My apologies to those who have been waiting...
Here are some of the replies I got to my original
article:


~From: vincent@garnet.berkeley.edu (Vincent Lee)
To: rnakamu@wiliki.eng.hawaii.edu (Ryan Nakamura)
Cc: vincent@garnet.berkeley.edu
~Subject: Re: Car Alarm Suggestions
~References: <1992Oct16.093917.24381@news.Hawaii.Edu>
Organization: sstaff
Status: RO

In article <1992Oct16.093917.24381@news.Hawaii.Edu>, you wrote:
> 
Well if you were here a month ago we had a huge discussion about this
stuff. Put simply, go for the derringer. It's a great alarm. I like it.
Ask me specifc questions though because I don't want to delve into anything
that you may or may not know.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Date: Wed, 21 Oct 92 13:18:06 -0400
~From: Richard Holowczak <holowczk@umdnj.edu>
To: rnakamu@wiliki.eng.hawaii.edu
~Subject: Car Alarms
Status: RO

Ryan:
I just went through the same thing you are about 2 months ago. I finally
decided on the Viper system.  Not entirely due to the features but because
of the installation and service I recieve(d).  I can take my car back at
any time for free adjustments; no appointment necessary.  My dash developed
a rattle about 2 weeks ago. I don't know if it was from the install or not
but they literally dropped what they were doing and fixed it. I was impressed.

Anyway, I summarized my story and also wrote up a long list of questions to
ask a dealer before you get an install done. If you'd like, I can mail them
to you.

BTW, one Viper feature which was the clincher is the silent/noisy arm and
disarm function. My neighbors don't have to put up with all that racket
when I'm arming/disarming the system. The Derringer/2 can only do this
at installation time.  It's either noisy or not.

Let me know if you have any other specific questions about the Viper and/or
the Derringer.


Rich H.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

~Date: Fri, 16 Oct 92 14:47:04 HST
~From: Ted Koseki  <koseki@uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu>
Message-Id: <9210170047.AB27888@uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu>
To: rnakamu@wiliki.eng.hawaii.edu
~Subject: Re: Car Alarm Suggestions
~Newsgroups: rec.audio.car
Organization: University of Hawaii
Cc: 
Status: RO

In article <1992Oct16.093917.24381@news.Hawaii.Edu> you write:
>
>     Seeing that my little Autopage RF/06 is getting a little
>old (3 years), and the investment it's supposed to protect
>has gotten ridiculously large, I think it's time for a new
>alarm.  I've been looking at several high(er) end alarms
>and was wondering if anyone could give me suggestions/
>recommendations/comments on the following alarms:
>
>     Clifford IntelliGuard 600/400
>     Alpine 8070
>     Derringer2
>     Viper (I've never liked this alarm, but I'd be interested
>            in hearing about it)

(hehehe)  Funny, I've got an Autopage RF/07 and will SOON be running
an Alpine combination of the 8040 and 8200 two-channel paging unit.
The 8070 is a real nice unit.  I've got a few friends who have this unit
in their cars.  So far none of them have falsed.  The one time that one
of them did false was because his battery was dying.  Alpine builds
in a sort of low-battery indicator.  The siren will sound when your
car battery dips down below a certain voltage.  The Cliffords have a good
rep, and I know of one install; he didn't have any falses also.  Stay 
away from the D2 because it has a low number of transmitter combinations.
The max amount is 4092, and is set by 12 DIP switches.  Of the 4 known
car thefts to my knowledge, all 4 were running the original Derringers
or the D2.  Most likely they were scanned to disarm the alarm system.
The Viper I would stay away from also.  I know of numerous installs
and they either did not protect the vehicle on a break-in or falsed
a lot.  Direct Electronics (parent company for Viper alarms) has done
a marvelous job advertising for the alarm, and apparently it has
increased sales.  The only pluses for the Viper systems is that the
shops (at least Progressive in Kaneohe) give you a lifetime guarantee, 
and they give you a generous insurance payoff ($1000 or $2000, I think).
Out of the list you have indicated, I would recommend the Alpine unit
because out of my experiences and installs I have come across with, they
have the best "track" record.  Also, you won't have to worry about
your alarm being scanned, as with the D2s, because the Alpine has
around 5,000 trillion combinations, almost impossible to break.  On
top of that, they do have an anti-scanning circuit.  If you get it 
professionally done, you'll probably pay about $500-$600 depending on
the shop.  Adding options will, of course, increase the price.  Try
to get the 8070L with the 8401 four-button transmitter that is used 
as standard equipment for the 8080.  Nice transmitter with a nice
LCD display and other neat stuff like a parking meter coundown timer...
 

>I really wanted an Alpine 8040, but I have titanium tint on my
>car (oh no, tint!) and I've been told the outer field can't
>penetrate metallic tints...

I just installed an 8040 in a '92 Saturn.  The alarm is not fine
tuned yet, but it should be by this weekend.  So far, the field
does go through the metallic tints, because the Saturn does have
35% titanium tint on it.  We'll see if the unit does work
correctly or if it falses.  Auto Audio has warned me that their
installs have been coming back because of a lot of falsing.  They
mentioned something about excessive heat causing the unit to 
false.  The only problem so far is that the siren died a day after the
install.  I'm going to troubleshoot on what happened this Saturday
and can give you a follow-up afterwards...

----------------------------------------------------------------------

That's about it!  Special thanks to Ted Koseki who pointed out
a few shops in my area.

-Ryan
rnakamu@wiliki.eng.hawaii.edu
Newsgroups: rec.autos