I've been searching for alarms, and see that the DEI stuff gets good reviews.

What I'm most concerned about over most anything else, is having an alarm that can page me when I am deep inside a mall, and the car is out in the parking lot. i work in a mall, and want to be able to know if my car is being messed with out in the parking lot.

I'm talking in an area where a lot of co-worker's (and mine :-/) cell phones won't get reception. We can get AM and FM reception on portable radios, although reception is not great, and the number of stations able to be picked up is limited.

I've Googled extensively, but can't really find anything like a scientific range comparison. Only personal esperiences "I can start my car from in my building when teh car is in a parking garage" But, is this from a window and teh parking garage is open, or through solid cement walls, etc?

Thank you for your input, or ideas/links on where to find actaul range testing results.

Mike

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by my91z &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've Googled extensively, but can't really find anything like a scientific range comparison. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Should have searched on here.... https://honda-tech.com/zerothread/2029060

 

Thanks, but that is just more of the stuff I have found on Google.

There are no hard numbers, no "we tested 5 alarms on the same ,or similar, cars in the same location and found the ranges to be alarm A: 250 feet, alarm B: 400 feet, alram C: 750 feet...etc, etc. Alarm C had the best range when walls were in the way, etc, etc"

Much like a radar detector shootout.

I'm hoping someone in a situation similar to mine may chime in and say the alarm they have works deep inside the building they work in, away from windows, etc.

Or that there is some sort of shootout like I mentioned that I couldn't find and someone can point me to it.

I'd like to avoid the monthly fees with a tracking system, if possible. My car isn't worth that much, and I'm more concerned with the wheels or stereo being stolen, then the whole car being taken.

Thanks for the reply,

Mike

 

You're not going to find hard numbers.

It's impossible to give hard numbers because of infinite variables in building construction, RF interference, battery life, etc. out in the real world to make a test or "shootout" relevant to the average consumer.

The only hard number you'll get is the "up to" number on the company's range claim.

And just because someone says that their alarm works in their building, doesnt' mean that it'll work in yours.

 

Well, I guess I can hope that someone will reply who has paid attention to whether their remote is in contact with their car alarm while they are in a mall, and will reply one way or another.

Or that ppl can chime in on whether AM or FM generally gives longer range, etc.

Thanks,

Mike

 

The only way anyone else's range is going to be relevant for you is if you both live in the same wide open field...

If someone happens to live near you, you might expect the same results if you have the same alarm installed the exact same way (antenna mounting, cable routing, groung point) in the exact same vehicle. Oh, and you'll need to park right next to him, and follow each other around the mall.

See what I'm getting at? I'm not trying to give you a hard time... Just trying to show you that what you're looking for simply doesn't exist.

If you're looking for the longest range, check out Compustar or the new SST alarms/starters from DEI.

But please note the key phrase of up to in their range claim.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by my91z &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Or that ppl can chime in on whether AM or FM generally gives longer range, etc.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Your question is irrelavant.

The limiting factor is not whether the manufacturer used amplitude modulation or frequency modulation.

The limiting factor is they are using a public RF range. Which means many devices broadcast on this spectrum. They can only cause minimum interference with other devices on the same spectrum. In order to do this they limit the transmit power so not to over power other devices. Its basically like yelling in a crowd the person who yells the loudest will "likely" be heard. They are only allowed to "yell" so loud by law. The larger the crowd of people you are in the less likely you will be heard. This is why range is hard to quantify. There is no way for anyone to know how big of a crowd you will be in. Spread Spectrum "yells" over mutiple frequencies with short bursts. This allows them to "yell" a little louder because the interference caused over a given time will be less. If they are lucky they will "yell" accross a less crowded spectrum.

Most of the paging systems I have seem are limitied to 1w of transmit power. If your in a mall your pager wont work. These are toys, novelties, dont buy an alarm expecting this feature to work 100%. At best you might get it to work 50% of the time.