Miata Mailing List: April 1993, Message #68
sponsored by



     


   From: (none)
Subject: Re: Alarm installation
   Date: (none)

On Thu, 8 Apr 1993, Harold David Shine wrote:
> I just received a car alarm kit from Crutchfield (CS8801) and will start
> installing it this weekend.  I'd like to hear ya'lls comments on
> installation ideas.  I have such questions like: (1) best place for CPU,
> (2) best place for horn, (3) where to tap into the low voltage ignition
> wire for the kill circuit.

Well, I suppose I shouldn't tell you this (I'll tell you, but then I'll
have to kill you :-), but I put my CPU inside the center console/armrest -
between the ashtray and the li'l storage bin.  I took it out of the case,
put the PC board in a plastic bag, ran the wires out and sealed the bag. 
It should be well protected there from both weather and people trying to
disable it. 

This location has an added advantage: you can run wires forward and
rearward from there with equal ease.

Lastly, I put the siren horn under the dash, pointed pretty much at the
driver's seat.  This gives the thief an earfull, and cuts down on the dB of
the arm/disarm chirp when the top is up and it's 4AM.  Believe me, this
sucker is a serious incentive to GET BACK OUT OF THE CAR...

My biggest problem was finding a good place for the status LED - I ended
up sticking it in the three-way seam intersection where the left side of
the gauge hood meets the dash. 

Oh yeah - it's easy to get access to the door switch leads - you can
grab them right at the interior lights...

I've been thinking about getting a microwave field gadget, but haven't
decided whether my battery will support it for the multiple weeks the poor
car is sometimes stuck in the garage (I live 2 blocks from work, the bars
and the stores).  They're also kinda expensive...

-Andy

Andy Poling                              Internet: andy@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu
UNIX Systems Programmer                  Bitnet: ANDY@JHUNIX
Homewood Academic Computing              Voice: (410)516-8096    
Johns Hopkins University                 UUCP: uunet!mimsy!aplcen!jhunix!andy