At 06:05 PM 2/8/99 -0800, Bill wrote:
>...
>And so it has come to pass that I am looking for a car alarm to install
>in my 90 Westy Syncro.
>
>But I still hate false alarms and I am hoping to have a system that does
> not false alarm (as in ZERO false alarms).
>...
>So I would love to receive your suggestions as to:
>Best brand/model of car alarms....
>Best place to buy a car alarm....
>Placement of the components....
>How/where to run wires to door contacts, etc.
>And any other hot tips that might keep me out of trouble...

Well, I recently put way too much stereo/nav junk in my other car, and
decided that an alarm made sense given the other investment. I looked
around a lot and decided several things:

1- the car alarm industry manages to charge ridiculous prices for little
more than relays

2- That if you have to buy one, the stuff from DEI (Directed Electronics,
Inc.) is pretty good

DEI makes the Viper, Python, Hornet, Wasp (notice a trend here?) and other
alarms.

I was really wary of the Viper having seen the ads where it yells at normal
people just happening to walk by. If a car did that to me, I'd probably
want to lob cinder blocks through the windshield from 10 feet away just to
prove a point. Fortunately, the pedestrian harassment module is only an
option.

For a couple of hundred bucks, my local car audio place (who sold me my nav
system) put in the DEI SLHF 550 with remote start and door locking.

The DEI stuff can be configured either active (locks/arms itself) or
passive (hit the button). They have long-range keychain remotes with
digital rolling codes, and seem pretty configurable for your local laws.

I really liked the fact that the service/programming manuals were available
on their web site http://www.directed.com.

I've NEVER had a false alarm, but if I whack the windshield with the flat
of my hand, I get the "warning" bip-bip-bip-bip, the next whack sets it off.

The DEI systems are pretty smart in that they will automatically bypass a
frequently alerting sensor that shows no signs of resetting.

Just my $0.02. Just don't buy the voice module. The pedestrians will thank
you.

--Bob, KE4GDC
89 Westy Syncro