Fixed a thing today...

"BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion" (pbs) 04/24/2014 at 20:01 • Filed to: None

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The remote unit of my car's alarm system. Yup, that little lamp should be attached to the board. A bit of loctite glue and a set of pliers to the contacts took care of it. Makeshift all the things!

These infrared remotes have always been a bitch to use because they have a range of about 2 meters and must be aimed at a very specific angle (as described in the manual) for the signal to be detected, but mine's working like a million bucks now. And I only locked myself in the car 7 times. Eat that, high end anti theft systems!

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 04/24/2014 at 20:07

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Ive always felt that IR keys are so useless and easy to fake that you may as well use a physical key.

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard 04/24/2014 at 20:23

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I guess, but for an 18 years old Fiat, a working factory alarm is not something you see everyday :p

Plus, the whole antitheft thingamabob is pretty nice. If the alarm goes off, it's difficult to stay close to the car, and it's pretty much dead until you deactivate it with the remote... Oh yeah, and good luck finding that very specific angle at the very specific distance needed for it to work hahahha...

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 04/24/2014 at 23:43

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they build transmitters with stronger IR signals that cycle through all the possible codes, stand at one end of a car park and wait for the lights to blink to say which car is unlocked.
They do it with the radio ones too I suppose, though the codes get more complex so it takes longer, most professional thieves just get blackmarket keys from the manufacturer.

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard 04/24/2014 at 23:57

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Car thieves in Brazil don't have all that tech though. They bust your door with a crowbar and kind of hope the car will start. If it doesn't, chances are they'll set it on fire either ways, so...

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 04/25/2014 at 00:16

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That's pretty much what teenage thieves get up to here, but there is a small scene where more expensive cars go missing. They either load them up on a flatbed or break into your house for the keys. Every year around Summernats which is the biggest car show in the country, a bunch of cars will go missing on flatbeds, no one thinks twice when you see them since there's so many cars getting around on trailers anyway.

There was some attempted car thieves in my street last week actually. lucky my MR2 was parked in the garage. They didn't get any to start though, a few people had smashed windows and ripped apart steering columns.

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard 04/25/2014 at 00:20

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Well, one would have to be crazy to just leave their cars on the street at night in Brazil, so I always park in garages or private parking lots. Plus, I actually pity the fool who steals an 18 years old Fiat and expects it to simply... run.