More goes into selecting an alarm system than just snatching a box from a shelf. You need to know your habits, your vehicle’s vulnerable points, little idiosyncrasies the vehicle might have that could thwart the installation of a system, and what convenience features you will want to accompany the security functions to choose the system that properly fits your needs.

Isaac Goren knows this well. He is owner of Sounds Good Stereo, Woodland Hills, California, and he wanted to secure his own vehicle – 1996 GMC Yukon SL.

Of course, Goren would want to show off the system to customers at his store to help sell products. He wants the alarm to be a lesson in how a system should be installed and what should be included in it. But, since the vehicle was his own, his foremost concern was to have a system that protected his vehicle. In short, it was security first!

Problems and Demands

First, Goren wanted a system that would "really secure the vehicle; something that was reliable and that has the latest technology to combat code grabbing," he said. He also wanted some flexibility for some convenience features that have more of a security connotation. For example, he wanted window roll up on all windows of the vehicle when the alarm system armed. He also wanted to keep everything hidden. He wanted to be able to tuck away the alarm brain and never have to dig it out to re-program functions or re-code transmitters. However, he also wanted to have a strong deterrent – some kind of sign to prospective thieves that his Yukon is protected by a security system. Moreover, he wanted zero false alarms. "My neighbors know that I own a mobile electronics shop which sells and installs vehicle security products," he said. "It would be embarrassing if my system falsed all night."

And that’s not all he demanded. He wanted a flexible system. "I go skiing a lot and I park my car at the airport," he said. "I wanted to be able to change the sensitivity of the sensor at will at the airport so it wouldn’t false and also have the ability to change it again when I park the car at home where it could be more sensitive."

In addition, his wife drives the car. So he wanted to able to quickly and easily re-program functions that would fit the special needs between his wife when she drove the Yukon and his own needs when He drove the car.

And there's more. Goren is well aware how a vehicle's idiosyncrasies can result in trouble in installing an alarm system properly. He studied the Yukon and found some things that had to be dealt with so that his system would work right. He noticed, for example, that there was a dome light delay. That is the dome light would remain on for a short time after the doors were closed. This can affect the arming process of an alarm. Moreover, the factory gives the driver the option of being able to turn off the dome light so it doesn't work at all. This can cause problems if the alarm is installed to sense the dome light going on as a way to monitor if anyone has entered the vehicle. It also affects the arming process of the alarm.

Goren chose the Raptor alarm system from Vehicle Security Electronics Chatsworth, California. He liked the fact that it has digital technology able to combat code grabbing. Moreover, it includes an anti-carjack feature. The function triggers four and a half minutes after a thief starts driving the car. When it triggers, it sounds the siren and flashes the parking lights. It does not stop the engine for safety reasons. When the thief stops the vehicle and turns off the ignition, he cannot re-start the car. The anti-carjack function is always on, even if the alarm itself is off.

The driver must disarm it each time he gets into the car. He does so by striking an override switch among other things. The driver has four minutes to disarm the anti-carjack function and an LED flashes to confirm that the function is off. If he forgets, the siren chirps and the driver has 15 seconds to hit the switch and complete the other things. The Raptor allows Goren to program and reprogram 14 features quickly and easily. He can, for example, re-program the sensitivity of the system's dual stage electronic shock sensor by simply striking the override switch to put the system into a program mode. Then he strikes the vehicle and the sensor registers the intensity of the strike, Any attack on the vehicle that is above that threshold will trigger the alarm, Any attack that is half that sensitivity will cause a warning chirp from the siren for a second and a half. "I can easily change the sensitivity of the shock sensor while not turning it off," he said. It allows him to set the shock sensor at a lower sensitivity when the car is parked at the airport and at a higher sensitivity when the vehicle is parked at his home.

Other programmable functions include:

• Sensor early warning
• Passive Arming
• Confirmation Chirps on Arm/Disarm
• Alarm Sounding Duration
• Enabling or disabling the sensor
• At Will Transmitter Cancel Valet
• Auto Lock enable or disable
• Automatic Rearm After Disarm
• Enable or Disable Anti Carjack Function
• One or Two Car Operation
• System Disarms With Auxiliary Function
• Door Lock Upon Passive Arming

The override switch also serves as the program and valet switch. It is hidden in the vehicle but also needs to be in easy accessibility to the user. In this installation Goren has tied the auxiliary function to the back window of the Yukon. By striking and holding down button 2 he can disarm the alarm and pop-open the window. He does not have to disarm the alarm first before popping the window.

Another feature Goren likes is that the Raptor divides his vehicle into eight zones. "All zones are monitored," he said. "If there is a bad switch, bad sensor, malfunctioning starter bypass, or whatever, the system will shut out the malfunctioning zone while all the other zones remain on."

The eight zones are:
• The Shock Sensor
• An Optional Sensor
• Hood/Trunk
• Doors
• Brake Switch
• Mode Switch
• Ignition Switch
• Anti-Carjack

  Security Add-Ons

Goren has added more items to the Raptor system. Although some may be considered convenience features, they have been included because of their security capability. For example, he has added AWACS modules from Vehicle Security Electronics which rolls up all four windows of the Yukon when the alarm is armed. These modules have an electronic clutch which senses the current draw. This allows the module to sense pressure as the window rolls up. If pressure is sensed, the module stops rolling up the window. This saves the possibility of injuring hands that may be in the way of the window as it tracks up. Moreover, it allows the system to sense if the windows are closed. In this case, the module will not send a signal to the power windows to roll up. This is important because many other window roll-up modules rely on a timer to determine when to turn off. So even if the windows are closed, the module would be sending its signal and the motor is working for no reason. The clutch system of the AWACS helps to ensure a longer life for its motor.

Goren has placed an LED in the conventional place - on the dash. But he has also placed LEDs in unconventional locations - on the door handles. With this a prospective thief can see from a distance that the vehicle is protected by an alarm. In addition, it shows Goren when he has forgotten to arm the alarm.

He also added an Ungo shock/motion sensor for additional protection and a backup battery siren from Micro Electronics, Panorama City, CA. If main power to the security system is disconnected, the back-up battery siren sounds. If the thief cuts the wire to the system's siren, the siren stops getting signal and power from the alarm and triggers its own power supply to Sound-Off. If the thief cuts ground to the entire car, the back-up battery siren sees no power. It trips its own power supply and sounds.

Goren has also added a Teletrac tracking device. It is tied into the Raptor alarm so that when the alarm is tripped, the Teletrac module is also tripped. Also if the main battery is disconnected, Teletrac comes on. Moreover, the Teletrac is tied into the door locks. So Goren can call Teletrac to lock or unlock the doors.. In addition, he can call Teletrac on his cellular phone whenever he needs directions to a destination.

Finally, Goren has placed a pinswitch on the hood. He noted that the factory switch is a mercury tilt switch which turns on a light when the hood is opened. He didn't want to use that because it can false when the vehicle is parked on a hill. Moreover, the hood can be opened 1-1/2-feet before the mercury tilt switch would trip the alarm, A pinswitch, however, will trip when the hood is opened just 1/4-3/4-inch. He tied into the factory switches to monitor the doors.

Finally, to avoid problems caused by the dome light delay or the ability to turn the dome light off altogether, Goren tied the alarm into the car's electronics system so that the alarm ignores the dome light entirely.

For further protection, all inputs and outputs of the alarm have been fused. The fuses are housed in a fuse block that is mounted under the hood.

Goren concluded that anyone looking for a good security system should think security first. Convenience features can be considered, but the features to be considered first are the ones that increase security such as window roll up, LED placement, etc. The cost of creating a security system can be expensive. It is best to exhaust all the security needs before you go into strictly convenience elements. This will assure that you have a fully secure system by the time you have spent all the money in your budget.