Autowatch Experience
 

on sunday im getting my brant ripped out and Autowatch installed....
i didnt want to have to . but i heard from to many people the brant is a shit alarm and easy to by pass if this is true...

Im getting the top autowatch with built in turbo timer
Window closure. and The keypad...

has anyone had much experience with these and know how good they are.
iv seen them in action and they seem ok..
the window closure is just my lazyness and it looks cool. lol

the keypad is it worth getting yes it will stop the people from just grabbing ur keys and going which i like but are they good the for the good theifs as well
the keypad is like another $150 so just wondering...

Tim
Thanks in advance for the advice..

tim

I had an autowatch in my Ute, it was ok, falsed alot but thats cos the ute was so tinny and set the ultrasonics off all the time.

My mate has the same autowatch as i did in his Type R and it is fine.

On the brant subject.. I have NEVER heard of them being easy to bypass, I would be willing to say the Brant is safer than an aftermarket alarm but I will probably stand corrected on this :p

Give Darren at Technik a call - I had the same queries a few weeks back and he will be able to answer any of your questions about the Autowatch series.

Got Technik to install my autowatch this week and hooked it up with an apexi timer. Works a treat.

Reckon the pad is no use. If a guy breaks into your house and grabs your keys and you're at home, there's a chance he (or they) will be forcefully "asking" for your code. not worth it - its only a car at the end of the day and its not worth your life

well thats what i thought but couple members on this forum were able to by pass the brant by just fiddling with a few things and got it no problems.. though they woudlnt say what it was.. but thats what made me decide to change it

[QUOTE=pmh]Got Technik to install my autowatch this week and hooked it up with an apexi timer. Works a treat.

Reckon the pad is no use. If a guy breaks into your house and grabs your keys and you're at home, there's a chance he (or they) will be forcefully "asking" for your code. not worth it - its only a car at the end of the day and its not worth your life[/QUOTE]

yeah thats it.. it doesnt really matter does it ??
but saying that if they take keys from anywhere or find them if u drop them i spose could be good.

mates at partys.. or have keypad hidden and they dont know there is a keypad..

Assuming they find the key in an area where its obvious where your car is
If its at a shopping centre with lots of cars, chances are it will take him/her/them a while to try every car trying to work out which car it is.

Lots of "what ifs", etc. If you feel its right, just do it.
I was happy without a pad, i look after the keys well enough and wouldn't go out partying and drive anyway (ref: cousins!)

Then they get pissed because the car wont start and smash it up a bit, or just take shit like your stereo

yeah i know well better than taking car.. and yeah i dont let keys out of my site either.
but i dont know .. just stops people quickly jumping in and taking off if they have keys i guess.

but other than that do people find the brant shit and worth pulling out.. most people know the brant inside out now hey

plus turbo timer being built into alarm means people cant break in whlie engine is still running and click more time on ur external timer and keep driving ?
?

Turbo timer is always linked to your handbrake. When you pull the hand brake take keys out, you activate immobiliser. Anytime you release the handbrake, key or no key in, immobiliser kicks in. If the installer doesn't do this, you can kiss your insurance claim good bye.

I don't know much about brant etc but wouldn't it be a lot easier and cheaper to hook up a hidden micro switch running through one of your engine management wires at the computer so the car can't be started no matter what, the old auto sparky who did my conversion rekoned it was the best & cheapest form of security along with your standard alarm cos no matter how good they are at bypassing your brant etc. it aint gonna start.

Only ever used autowatch. Used microwave sensors instead of ultrasonic sensors. Helps with the false alarms. Changed the external siren to a different one so i could tell the difference. also made it a bit quiter so if i did have a false alarm i would just have a glance if nearby. Also got 2 house screamers hooked up in boot and in cabin. These things stopped ne body sitting in my car. Most ppl could only stand up to 20 seconds in the cabin. Only extra sensor i got was a tilt sensor. Shock sensor will still read a glass break. As for the keypad it is more jsut to stop some1 who has found your key. Or if it was stolen. Anti Hijack is a good feature. Has override switch which is different from the brant. U cna just press the button and its all good. Overall the autowatch is a good alarm. Has alot of nifty features. Just make sure you service your alarm every 6 months or it will end up useless. No1 ever services there alarm that i know of.

I got autowatch + apexi turbo timer
it got installed ok, only drama i have is some mornings the engine doesnt seem to 'immobilise' properly and makes a sorta scretching/rattling noise. Turning the car of and restarting - it works fine.
kinda weird... my car is my98 wrx if your wondering

[quote=Narchi]Used microwave sensors instead of ultrasonic sensors. Helps with the false alarms[/quote]

In my experience, microwave sensors INCREASE the chances of false alarms in comparison to ultrasonic sensors. Microwaves are designed to detect movement even outside the confines of your car (eg a convertable with the roof down) whereas ultrasonics are restricted to within the interior of your car.

Darren

I thought with the roof down the ultrasonics would still pick up. As they rely on sound from movement. Whereas the microwave pick up movement instead of sound. I also changed the sensitivity to pick up just outside the window. I know this is ur area of work so if i am wrong i will change my choice of sensors lol. Just thats wat i was told would be better In my sonata. but im yet to install a new alarm into my wrx so if u could clear that up that would be great.

Q - is it possable for the brant and a turbo timer to work in sync?
and what price are we looking at the autowatch ,not installed?

[QUOTE=Narchi]I also changed the sensitivity to pick up just outside the window. [/QUOTE]sometimes i walk by a car (normal hardtop), say 1m away, and the car will beep at me - warning me.
is this something ultrasonics and autowatch can do?

Ultrasonic sensors dont pick up sound. They work by using sound waves to detect movement. With windows up, ultrasonics wont false if setup correctly. With windows down wind will be picked up by the US sensors as movement.

Microwave sensors are not affect by wind but from what I gather, it's 'zone' can extend beyond the car's boundaries and can cause a false by someone just walking past the car.

Basic rule of thumb, for a sedan/wagon/fully enclosed car ultrasonics are the go. With a soft top/convertible etc then microwave.

[QUOTE=Narchi]I thought with the roof down the ultrasonics would still pick up. As they rely on sound from movement. Whereas the microwave pick up movement instead of sound. I also changed the sensitivity to pick up just outside the window. I know this is ur area of work so if i am wrong i will change my choice of sensors lol. Just thats wat i was told would be better In my sonata. but im yet to install a new alarm into my wrx so if u could clear that up that would be great.[/QUOTE]

My house got broken into with car keys stolen but car remains. Reason being that they needed the keypad code which is 1 thing.

The 2nd thing is that if somehow a person has a replica key that fits nicely, they still wouldn't be able to start your engine because the key itself contains a code which will be authenticated before you may start the engine.

So you have 3 failsafe which is the keypad code, code on the key and the key itself. Of coz a determined and professional body would be able to jack any car if they wanted to but its the level of deterance you provide to deter them from stealing your car.

I had an Autowatch Blue on the blue beast. Didn't stop thieves stealing my clear front indicators lenses twice :eek:

I guess those ultrasonic detectors are not really sensitive enough to pick up such movement - and you probably wouldn't want them too sensitive anyway cause otherwise it would be falsing a lot...

[QUOTE=AC Schnitzer]My house got broken into with car keys stolen but car remains. Reason being that they needed the keypad code which is 1 thing.

The 2nd thing is that if somehow a person has a replica key that fits nicely, they still wouldn't be able to start your engine because the key itself contains a code which will be authenticated before you may start the engine.

So you have 3 failsafe which is the keypad code, code on the key and the key itself. Of coz a determined and professional body would be able to jack any car if they wanted to but its the level of deterance you provide to deter them from stealing your car.[/QUOTE]

And anyone that professional wont be stealing WRXs thats for sure, he/she will be stealing exotics not japanese 2 litres

[quote=rexxx]sometimes i walk by a car (normal hardtop), say 1m away, and the car will beep at me - warning me.
is this something ultrasonics and autowatch can do?[/quote]

Yes there is a dual sensor that uses both ultrasonics and microwave. I had it on my last car and to be honest I didn't like it. I would tune it for approximately 0.5 metres from the car but when the tempreture and environment around the car changed, the sensitivity would change too. Very frustrating when you are parked next to a sidewalk and everyone walking by would make the car beep. :mad:

[quote=bluwrx]Ultrasonic sensors dont pick up sound. They work by using sound waves to detect movement. With windows up, ultrasonics wont false if setup correctly. With windows down wind will be picked up by the US sensors as movement.

Microwave sensors are not affect by wind but from what I gather, it's 'zone' can extend beyond the car's boundaries and can cause a false by someone just walking past the car.

Basic rule of thumb, for a sedan/wagon/fully enclosed car ultrasonics are the go. With a soft top/convertible etc then microwave.[/quote]

Spot on Jon...

Darren

[QUOTE=WRPI0]And anyone that professional wont be stealing WRXs thats for sure, he/she will be stealing exotics not japanese 2 litres[/QUOTE]

Not true at all... ask yourself, which car parts are easier to sell?

Darren

Bascially im half there.. one half is sayingf the brant is shit and i should really up grade it the other half is trying to justifi the $600 in doing it... and its happeing sunday so couple days to decide..

and finaly decition about keypad do i really need it.

Yeh go on why not (not my money) ;D, it probably is worth it, can u not use the brant keypad but just upgrade the rest of the system?

na i can get the autowatch keypad with it

Was told u cant add on to brant but they werent sure. Also pmed u nvrenuf

no u cant really add to it..
iv decided to go for the full autowatch
getting done sunday.

Alarm with Turbo timer built in to alarm and integrated to the buttons on key
Window closure on the alarm button
and Keypad ..

so shoudl be good and a bit safer..

hey guys are the autowatch alarms the ones that are monitored by sat???

It has an out put for Tracking it says but what u do with it then im not sure.. it would be a out put to a third party tracker im assuming.. u can add ezitrak on top as well