Sau Car Alarm/monitoring?

[Thelen]

So having read yet another pair of stolen threads, I'm really starting to think something needs to be done. I don't know what situations these cars were in exactly, but surely something more can be done collectively.

I'm thinking some sort of vigil group that can donate time to monitor GPS or some system to track cars when they are stolen, and be able to get police onto it ASAP.

I really haven't thought much about this, but surely we could establish some sort of working group or committee or something?

I have some fairly knowledgeable 'hacker' type friends who said they can help me with whatever wacky ideas I come up with

[Al Despo]

sounds interesting, i agree its getting quite ridiculous that all we hear about is sau users' pride and joy being trashed like its becoming a popular hobby to do so. Using gps tracking as a community tool does raise a privacy issue in any case but im a big advocate for what your thinking of!

[Udi]

That really sounds like a good idea and I'm down with that srsly nice rides getting stolen or vandalized these people have no idea how much the owners put in to get that car to where it is and they just have no respect something needs to be done

[waxracing]

I have a gps tracking alarm to go in my car so I hopefully if I do ivar the bad luck of getting my car stolen I can go around and pay them a visit

[Thelen]

Well the idea will be a small self-contained cheap system. If we can get something for even $200 then really no one has an excuse.

Even those with POS $2000 cars could afford it

The 2nd part is the community aspect. Because GPS tracking in itself isn't always going to help, ie when they put it in a shipping container or Faraday cage etc.

Anyway lemme talk to them some more see what we can nut out. Will probably need SAU assistance in finding the best location to mount and so on

[waxracing]

Im interesterested

[Carbon 34]

GPS FAILS if you put ever one in the same spot on ever install, then the thief knows exactly where to look to disable it.????

they use variations of it in USA and have for a long time, but since I moved here the car theft is crazy bad here even compared to LA california !!! the problem is the punishment doesn't fit the crime,

in usa its a felony and follows you forever, not washed or hidden after you turn 18. and 3 strikes your out laws, or make my day laws . these all stop crime but australia has gun laws. so forget that one

I think I should write a book of how too car audio, security , mutimedia...lol

most theft is from lack of common sense, and alarms not set. cars not insured ?

I'd be happy to get bulk pricing for SAU if the interest exists, but the installation would be by select dealers only, no fly by night or DIY.

[Thelen]

Yes I realise having them in the same places is a problem but we'd not do that. Either which way, the system needs to be designed to rely on speed. ie, within a few minutes of them jacking or towing the car we can get on it and get a bunch of guys calling the police and giving information.

I realise there is already alarm systems that do this, but they cost a lot and rely on minimum wage rent-a-cops.

Anyway, thanks for the offer Troy we certainly could take you up on that. if we did this, we'd just have install days or something, to keep costs down for everyone, and maintain good standards. i'd expect you or whoever does it would be able to get 4-5 guys and do like 30-50 cars in a couple days.

oh, and we ought to come up with some sticker "protected by SAU" or something so that we can develop a rep.

[GD2ILA]

Hello everyone, just showing you one of my countermeasures to protect my car. i have a old hidden mobile phone in my car the phone has gps inbuilt. installed into the phone is software called Phonelocator Periodic which i got from ovi store (it's free) this software updates the gps location of your mobile phone, it updates it's location on the companies website which you register online, you can log in to see the where abouts of the phones location via gps co-ordinates. you can set the intervals at which the phone updates it's location via text message to the website, but i found this expensive so i turn it off, now i only get a gps update when i want it, you can do this by texting the phone to updates it's location. i've had this for six months now and have been updating the gps location for fun every now and then, trust me the gps co-ordinates are very accurate give and take 5 meters. the sim i'm using is a vodafone 365 days pre-paid which is 1 $30 re-charge that lasts 365 days, and i only get charge 1 text message when ever i want to ping the phone to find it's gps location.

total cost:

mobile phone $160.00 (from ebay) remember phone must have inbuilt gps

sim card $30.00

hook up phone to car battery friend did it for free, no way any thief can find it's location hidden really well (if car battery have been disconnected battery on phone lasts 4days on standby: have tested before hideing in the car)

grand total: $190.00 for gps locator

too me it's well worth the money, what does everyone think???

[Thelen]

Sounds good. Bit expensive though is there a cheaper phone maybe?

[R31Nismoid]

An alarm is only ever as good as the installer. My immobiliser cost me $3

It's a hidden relay that requires completion of the circuit. Secret button and you are done.

To steal my car you have to tow it, or rewire the ignition. If they are going to that length then nothing will stop them anyway.

I also have a separate alarm system, screamer/keyless entry etc. More convenience than anything else (for insurance).

Whilst this idea is good in theory, it really wont achieve much at all. GPS is too easily countered by organised syndicates.

[karma_syke]

Hello everyone, just showing you one of my countermeasures to protect my car. i have a old hidden mobile phone in my car the phone has gps inbuilt. installed into the phone is software called Phonelocator Periodic which i got from ovi store (it's free) this software updates the gps location of your mobile phone, it updates it's location on the companies website which you register online, you can log in to see the where abouts of the phones location via gps co-ordinates. you can set the intervals at which the phone updates it's location via text message to the website, but i found this expensive so i turn it off, now i only get a gps update when i want it, you can do this by texting the phone to updates it's location. i've had this for six months now and have been updating the gps location for fun every now and then, trust me the gps co-ordinates are very accurate give and take 5 meters. the sim i'm using is a vodafone 365 days pre-paid which is 1 $30 re-charge that lasts 365 days, and i only get charge 1 text message when ever i want to ping the phone to find it's gps location.

total cost:

mobile phone $160.00 (from ebay) remember phone must have inbuilt gps

sim card $30.00

hook up phone to car battery friend did it for free, no way any thief can find it's location hidden really well (if car battery have been disconnected battery on phone lasts 4days on standby: have tested before hideing in the car)

grand total: $190.00 for gps locator

too me it's well worth the money, what does everyone think???

i've thought about this for a long time, you can find a GPS devices really cheap now, hook it up to the battery, if it gets d/c you've got an internal battery that lasts, buy a prepaid sim and voila gps tracking that uses the mobile phone network.

the comercial 'lowjack' style tracking systems are very expensive they cost atleast $400 and you have to have a subscription to constant track. However they do have a 'panic' style system where they can liaise with the police directly. Atleast in the USA they do.

[karma_syke]

An alarm is only ever as good as the installer. My immobiliser cost me $3

It's a hidden relay that requires completion of the circuit. Secret button and you are done.

To steal my car you have to tow it, or rewire the ignition. If they are going to that length then nothing will stop them anyway.

I also have a separate alarm system, screamer/keyless entry etc. More convenience than anything else (for insurance).

Whilst this idea is good in theory, it really wont achieve much at all. GPS is too easily countered by organised syndicates.

well if the mafia comes and takes your car then just be glad thats all they took,

With a mobile phone GPS tracking system it wouldn't be too hard for some tech guys to create some software that put it into an alarm mode - where once activated if the car moved further than 1 meter ( or whatever minimum tolerance there is on a GPS device) the phone would send out an alarm, (text to you) (call to you) (call police?) or whatever.

Another advantage is this system uses the mobile phone network to communicate, it doesn't use a 'transponder to satellite' which can be easily blocked by a shipping container.

Point is even if they tried to tow your car, the moment they try the alarm goes off and you know about it and appropriate action can be taken.

Along with a hidden kill switch/immobilizers & alarm it seems reliable and very cheap (compared to conventional GPS tracking systems)

[R31Nismoid]

A GPS & Mobile jammer costs less than a couple hundred bucks. Costs less than actually installing a GPS/Mobile monitoring setup does. Friend of mine had a mobile one that blocked the main bands.

Problem is it worked for a good 15 meters so effectively disabling any signal before you are even next to the car...

There are two types of crime in this instance. Convenience/Opportunity & Organised.

Convenience/Opportunity is stopped/impeaded by alarms/immobilisers/tracking etc.

Organised realistically can't be stopped by anything other than something in their plan going wrong - not because of your alarm/gps/immobiliser.

So as i said, good in theory - poor in practice against an organised syndicate. These people want your car, they quite simply will get it. You don't engage in organised crime and go in uprepared. If you have a tow truck, you have a jammer.

[waxracing]

damn well thats not going to help me then is it,

I thought I was being safe

[Thelen]

Ash, so the cases on here are they clearly the later or do some fall in between? If so, maybe we need a yearly SAU alarm/security day or something, where everyone can get their systems checked out.

I still think something can be done against the organised mob type stuff, but I guess I was mostly thinking about the average one, not the rare Vspec with 30k splashed into it cos probably only security guard with a gun would stop that from being stolen

mmmm. we need those trunk monkeys or whatever was on those TV ads lol.

[R31Nismoid]

They are both.

Some people have had their cars towed etc (Organised).

Some just outright stolen (Opportunity).

The opportunistic ones generally don't have alarms fitted, and if they do - clearly the install wasn't too crash hot. If recovered, usually they are destroyed or burnt out/thrashed etc.

Organised ones have never shown up again best of my knowledge reading various threads, like i said earlier - they would have to do something wrong.

Organised people watch a particular car for weeks at a time, its well planned and well executed.

The only real protection is insurance, and ensuring all your mods are listed with a good agreed value.

You really shouldn't need to spend more than $400-500 (supplied & installed) on an alarm/immobiliser valid for Aust Insurance.

maybe we need a yearly SAU alarm/security day or something, where everyone can get their systems checked out.

So then everyone knows how each others alarms are installed? lol...

Only a very select few know how my secondary immobilisers are wired in etc. Maybe 5-6 people at the most.

The less people that know things like that the better. Even what brand of alarm is something you shouldn't be telling people.

[Al Despo]

Listen any public consultation on how our cars should be secured is just asking for someone to crack it and then we are all at risk, as R31Nismoid said, the less people that know about how your car is hooked up, the better. Even us talking about what alarm system we are going to buy and discussing the ins and outs of each system here is a risk, but honestly if they really really really wanted the car it would take something unique to stop people who know what they are doing. Im not sure whats the go lately with cars being stolen such as being random events or calculated pre-planned theft but either way we have to remember this a public forum and anything we say can be used against us unfortunately.

[Thelen]

So then everyone knows how each others alarms are installed? lol...

I more meant have the alarm/security experts doing the checking, not other members. And have it in a day to keep costs down.

[GD2ILA]

i agree with almost everything that's been said so far, but honestly only thing that's 100% is full comp insurance. anything else we do to make our cars safer is to make us feel better. R31nismoid is correct about opportunist and the pros even insurance companys think the same way that's why we must have a aust approved alarm and immobiliser to counter the opportunist and the pros well we can't do much but hope for the best and plan for the worst.