I'm very new to car security but just recently bought a del Sol and want to lock it up tighter than a drum. My other cars are an old Accord which no one even looks at and a Buick Grand National that sits "disabled" in a locked garage.

I've read quite a few threads on here and have decided to attempt a "stealth" install of an alarm system. Backup battery, extra sirens, etc. What I'd really like is to find a system with great and reliable range. Say, for instance, if I go to the movies. If an alarm says it has a 1 mile range how greatly does a building effect that? Can I park my car at the mall and walk around and have faith that the signal won't diminish so that it can't find me?

And what about GPS systems? I've already decided that I'll be getting one, but there are so many. I just need something simple and to the point. If my alarm goes off and the car is moved I want a system to call/text my phone giving me an internet link that I can access right away. From there I'd like the option to shut down the car. If there's a system that's compatible with Windows Mobile that would be amazingly awesome. If not, I can easily use Internet Explorer regardless. The point is that I don't want it to alert me that the car is moving and then go, "****! I need to find a computer!".

Oh, and then there's kill switches. There seems to be some debate about using the main relay and even relocating it. Whether or not it's the best method it sure does look like a pain in the *** to do. From what I've gathered the main kills are starter/ignition, fuel pump, and the main relay. Decisions, decisions....

One last thing, has anyone here ever played with logic gates? Wikipedia says this about them:

"A logic gate performs a logical operation on one or more logic inputs and produces a single logic output. The logic normally performed is Boolean logic and is most commonly found in digital circuits. Logic gates are primarily implemented electronically using diodes or transistors, but can also be constructed using electromagnetic relays, fluidics, optics, molecules, or even mechanical elements.
In electronic logic, a logic level is represented by a voltage or current, (which depends on the type of electronic logic in use). Each logic gate requires power so that it can source and sink currents to achieve the correct output voltage. In logic circuit diagrams the power is not shown, but in a full electronic schematic, power connections are required."

Now, from what I've been told through a few people is that they can be used for car security. One can make (engineer?) a logic gate so that a certain kill switch can only be activated if a certain set of electrical signals is used. For an example I was told that one can create a gate for the fuel pump so that while the key is turned to the ON position and the brake pedal is held, one pushes various HVAC controls (buttons, fan speeds, etc) in a pre-determined order and the fuel pump will then receive power. Now, if this is actually able to be done, it sounds pretty bad *** and sure beats the usual, "Well, I think I'll hide this kill switch over here," way of doing things. Does anyone have any experience with such setups?

I apologize for the amount of questions, but like I said, this whole car security thing is very new to me but I very much want to get it right the first time.

 

Range is always drastically overrated. There is no such thing as 1 mile range. Thick concrete parking structures pretty much block the signal. Movie theatres are pretty bad also, but I've gotten signal from inside. A good alarm will have signal from the far end of a supermarket parking lot to deep inside the store. That's about the best you can hope for. The latest DEI alarms are pretty good but still suffer the same old remote annoyances as previous models.

Main relay kill is not at all difficult. It's got to be the easiest ****ing thing you can do. Unbolt the 10 mm, use a metal tapper and mount it up high behind the knee bolster. Cut the black wire and put a hidden switch inline. It's about as easy as picking your nose.

 

Maybe it's just because I remember the main relay in my Accord being such a pain to to get to.

Thanks for the range tip.