This forum is dedicated to helping people with questions about installing radio equipment in vehicles. This can include antenna installs, electrical wiring questions/problems, and mounting systems. Pictures of installs are welcome.
Note: Discussions regarding lighting, sirens, and other equipment now has its own forum in the 'off-topic' section below.
Hey Alex, that company is just a few blocks from me, if you want me to I can go and check them out for you. If they want to rape you on shipping I'd be more than happy to ship it for you (at discounted UPS rate)
I have an older CrimeGuard remote start and alarm setup in my Explorer (No two-way remote, though).
I originally bought it through the good folks at Crutchfield. While I'm sure that you can find it cheaper, their model specific wiring guides are unbeatable. I also sprang for their plug-and-play wiring harness. They make a custom harness that (with a couple of additional flying lead connections) just plugs in between the two halves of the vehicle's connectors on the steering column and the starter module.
A real blood pressure reducer, and well worth the extra $ IMHO.
Hmm... Come to think of it... I wonder if I could boost the power legally on my remote starter.... That would be amusing...
At any rate -
They have very high off the shelf prices. I found a seller on ebay who sells them new in box for about 120. I'd rather go that route than pay what looks to be around $250 or so retail... They have good documentation on their site as well. I'm planning on getting one of those wiring harnesses... man... if they are going to make it easy for me, why the hell not.. I'm not big into playing with stuff like that - I like it when I get into my truck and know it'll start.
I will need to also get a PATS setup. I don't like the idea of leaving the key in there, even if it's uncut. So, i'll go with the built in transponder one they have. Thankfully ebay blanks are cheap.
KG6EAQ - If your willing to wander over there and look into them for me that would be great - maybe they give some good prices for walkin customers. I would like to specficly know if they make the harness for a 2000 ford explorer... That's their biggest selling point for me. I sent 'em an email, who knows when the'll write back.
Plug & Play Harness. WHY DIDN'T THEY THINK OF THAT BEFORE!!! I put a remote starter in my Chief's car (Chevy Lumina). Holy CRAP. I will NEVER do that again. It isn't like it is complex. It is just getting to the wires, seperating them from the other 400 in the harness, and splicing. All under that cramped dash with sharp edges. If I could have just plugged it into the harness, I would have bought it myself for him.
433Mhz? Hmmm, I could hook it up to my Icom and have a 35 watt remote starter with cross band to 50 watts VHF:)
"I'll eat you like a plate of bacon and eggs in the morning. " - Some loser on rr.com
eBay at it's finest:
Me: "What exactly is a 900Mhz UHF CB?"
Them: "A very nice CB at 900Mhz speed!"
Real men DON'T use remote starters......SMART ONES do!!
Why not just get one that's satellite operated? You can start your car from anywhere on the planet and it even reports back to you once it starts, informs you if someone attempts theft and will even unlock the doors. This is helpful if you are away on vacation 1300 miles away and want to have a warm car when your plane lands!
jim wrote:Real men DON'T use remote starters......SMART ONES do!!
Smart ones don't spend the money and have someone do it for them for nothing......
Bob wrote:Or they let their partners do it for them and lock the doors behind them without first asking if you have a spare key...
Well these things happen......I do have a spare key it was in such a safe place I didn't know where it was until I dumped the contents of my wallet on the desk.....
And besides.....Charlie didn't mean it. It's the end of a midnight shift....he gets a little clumsy.....
JAYMZ
"Mom and dad say I should make my life an example of the principles I believe in. But every time I do, they tell me to stop it."
Calvin
I have been dreaming about a pager activated remote starter so that my truck has at least a little warmup time before a run to the fire hall! Fun weekend project
Alex,
I sell and install auto-starts and keyless entries all the time. Not a real fan of those units you were looking at. Much better units available from other manufacturers. Contact me privately if interested in something from Audiovox, Directed Electronics, Code Alarm, Omega or others..
Haydn
As for the last post about pager activated remote start, that is available as well........
Now a pager activated remote starter I would be interested in. Then again going to a fire call.....granted depending on the call.....I could be VERY warm real soon.
JAYMZ
"Mom and dad say I should make my life an example of the principles I believe in. But every time I do, they tell me to stop it."
Calvin
I use audiovox/Prestige and have 100% luck with them.
Here's something to think about.....
Some manufacturers off an 'add-on' remote starter that works with an existing alarm that has extra remote channels. This add-on remote starts the car merely when the unit sees a ground signal provided by the alarm unit.
What if we were to install one of these add-on units to a car with, say, a Maxtrac and connect the enable lead to pin 4. We could set up a channel with MDC signalling on receive and when the Maxtrac receives the proper MDC or QCII code, it grounds pin 4 and the car starts. This could be nice to start the car on your way back to the shop or station or wherever and as long as you can hit the repeater, it would work. The add-on units cost about $60.00.
KG6EAQ wrote:mmmmm MDC started vehicle.... mmmmmmmm
It's definitely doable. In fact, I had my car doors lock and unlock via a DTMF sequence. I picked an obscure DTMF secuence and put in in the call list of a MaxTrac I had set up. I then connected the lock/unlock wiring harness to the radio. I programmed one output to go high on the MaxTrac upon reciept of the DTMF call. When the output went high, so did the lock circuit, and toggled the locks. It was great, because even if I DID lock myself out of the car at a scene, and I DIDN'T get out of the car with my portable, I could jump into virtually any ambulance on the scene, dump the DTMF tones, and unlock my doors.
To extend that to a QCII decode or MDC decode scheme would actually be rather simple. I actually started working on the QCII remote start, but I removed the remote started from my car before it came to fruition.
If anybody could help out with this it would be appreciated. I would like to build a circuit that would monitor the audio output from my mobile and when it recieves both 765.0 Hz and 1180.0 Hz would give me a relay closure. If anybody has any ideas it would be appreciated.
JAYMZ5329 wrote:Now a pager activated remote starter I would be interested in. Then again going to a fire call.....granted depending on the call.....I could be VERY warm real soon.
Easy to do: Get a pager charger with dry contacts - I know they are made for Minitor 2 and minitor 3's. Wire the dry contacts across the remote start button of a spare remote. WHALA!!! Pager goes off while in charger, it starts the car! DONE!
Jay Goldmark, EMT
Ex-Captain, Woodmere Vol. Fire Dept.
Fire District Communications Supv.
KC2ZHI Amateur Radio Operator
Licensed Master Electrician
Owner, Top Class Electric, LLC.
Woodmere, Long Island, NY
Well couldn't you take a one of the base chargers and wire the power for the LED to a relay? Use that relay to kick over the remote start? Only problem is keeping that powered.....I wonder how much battery drain that would cause.
Only downside that I cna think of right now is if I forget to turn the pager off while at work or at the grocery store. Get a call and then...oops...running car.
JAYMZ
"Mom and dad say I should make my life an example of the principles I believe in. But every time I do, they tell me to stop it."
Calvin
On Friday I ordered 2 Ramsey TD-1 kits ($10 each). The manual shows how to wire these together for a 2 tone relay closure. It will just monitor the audio from me mobile and close a relay when it hears the tones. I will let you guys know how it works.
N2ZPY wrote:On Friday I ordered 2 Ramsey TD-1 kits ($10 each). The manual shows how to wire these together for a 2 tone relay closure. It will just monitor the audio from me mobile and close a relay when it hears the tones. I will let you guys know how it works.
73
Let me know how those work. Ramsey quite literally right around the corner from where I grew up. I stop in there once in awhile and talk with John and Jack. I just might have to pick a couple up for a project I'm working on at home.
I have installed about 10 remote starters/keyless entry combo units now. By far the best I have done is the Viper combo Alarm/remote start. I have installed several Crimstopper RS900ER's that I bought on ebay a few years ago ($70) and they work great. I have had no complaints.
My next project is to install one in the 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee I just bought.
It will probably be just like our low band fire communications. You won't be able to start your vehicle from your own front door but if you were standing at a front door 1500 miles away on the other side of the continent, it would fire right up.
"I'll eat you like a plate of bacon and eggs in the morning. " - Some loser on rr.com
eBay at it's finest:
Me: "What exactly is a 900Mhz UHF CB?"
Them: "A very nice CB at 900Mhz speed!"
Our lowband works great. The problem with most old lowband systems is that all of the mobiles have 40 year old antennas and the portables never have their antennas tuned properly. With our 145 watt repeater, I can talk 3 counties away from my HT1250!
As for the remote.....
Set up pin 4 for external alarm at 2 seconds. Set up one channel for QCII or MDC receive with "AND" engaged.
My remote has a "negative inhibit" lead, which when grounded, the car starts. This lead goes to pin 4 via a 1A fuse. When the tones are received, it starts.
I'm going to set up a "remote start personality" with MDC, next.
As I'm returning to the shop in my service vehicle, I cen start the Jeep 5 miles away with my Radius
On the CDM1550s, in addition to the Pin 4 alarm out, there are also two programable MDC1200 Auxiliary Control ports that can be set up under the radio configuration tab and assigned to any programable output pin. If memory serves, they are global (mode/personality independent)
Each Auxiliary control can be momentary (with programable duration), toggle on/off, or have seperate MDC codes for on and off. The auxiliary control functions can also be mapped out to a front panel button.
We're actually thinking about turning the bay doors at our HQ over to these so that we don't to deal with remotes, and when some knucklehead shows up for a call without their key, dispatch can grant them access. I worry a little about security, but I doubt that it's much more vulnerable than a regular garage door opener (as long as the addresses are closely held).
So very sorry to drag up an old thread, but it just interested me so much. How did you solve the problem of having a radio on constantly, and has anyone else done something like this?
Why not go with the the Ford remote start, put on on my 2003 Excursion with Pats, and one on my Daughters 2003 F250, both diesel. Made by Code Alarm. Three models available, remote start only, remote start with keyless entry, and remote with keyless and security alarm. As I recall they start at about $180, Pats kit was about $30.
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That would be amusing... 
