Can a cell phone set off a car alarm?

I have, many times. There is a reason they emulate the choke butterfly when you put your foot all of the way to the floor (cut off fuel). Too bad the starters don't know enough to use this trick. :-(

SMOP. You wouldn't be a hardware designer, would you? ;-)

Yep. ...and by that point the battery is flat and the engine is

*seriously* flooded.

Well, there ya' go. Try it at -20F and below and report back (why bother if it's such a warm day?). It did work about half the time (the half I was still home in the morning). I finally convinced her that she had to actually *watch* the car until it started and be prepared to run out and shut it down if it didn't start the

*first* time (kinda limited the utility). I fixed the problem by selling the car. She doesn't even want one on this car.

An in dead-dead battery/flooded engine. That's a *BAD* idea. If it's that cold use a tank heater.

Count two here. When it worked it was great. When it didn't it was a PITA. It's a lot less work running out to start a car than it is to dry out a flooded one and still make it to work. BTW, there was no taking the plugs out of that car at -20F either. One had to wait for "warm" (say 10F-20F) weather.

All are used too. The damned things still screw up.

--
  Keith

My remote starter actually has better control of starting than me. In the morning, the remote activates the electronics first and hesitates. When I do it, it often fails on the first try, sputters, and I often get a starter squeel when things start fouling up. The only trouble I've had, well I just replaced the fuel pump, $475, and last winter I had to replace the starter. Had bad brushes. Would fail when real cold and got worse as time went on.

93 Dakota.

greg

Yep, that's why I won't have it installed in my car. Just the Saturn door opener is enough for me.

Best---- Ron

no

the

I doubt that you're that stupid. How many times have you attempted to start a car at -20F? -30F? Starting a car at 20F is easy.

You're not used to starting cars in the cold. One *ALWAYS* turns the key to the "ignition" position for a second or two before turning it to the "start" position. That was drilled into me long before I moved to Vermont. One just doesn't treat cars that way.

Grinding the ring-gear, eh? That's pretty stupid.

You just said you don't have winter. Things change drastically with decreasing temperature (batteries lose half their charge for every 10C, but need twice as much to crank the engine).

Fortunately it doesn't get hot here so batteries actually last longer than they do in the heat (like AZ).

--
  KEith

or as soon as the engine is turning faster than the starter can spin it, a reluctor pickup on the ring gear could detect that after in a few degrees of crank rotation.

Bye. Jasen

Rather than a mb phone - which is still possible because they can put out heaps of interference when they power up are even during normal operation. AFAIK, Mobile phones are one of the few devices that are allowed to walk over other bands for a 'very short period'.

The other option is some local FM transmitter for paging is putting out spurious harmonics, have been involved with paging systems for a few years and seen similar interference problems.

What I'd suggest is confirm the frequency your alarm is operating on and speak to regional FCC or equivalent body investigating and make complaint. Over here in Western Australia it doesnt cost anything and they might well send a truck to your area some time to checkout any local interference. Over here the Australia Communications Authority (ACA) has powers to enter premises and seize interfering equipment without a warrant or even notification etc, Though the ACA has these powers by virtue of securities act I believe they rarely use them to their full extent - which is a good thing I guess unless the interference is reall serious, ie Aircraft, Medical etc

--
Regards
Mike
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["Followup-To:" header set to sci.electronics.design.] On Tue, 23 May 2006 15:11:35 GMT, Rich Grise wrote in Msg.

Ener since I've heard of such a thing I've wondered: Who the F*** needs one, and what for?

robert

It has not passed much below 0 degrees for at least 10 years now. The only time recall it being about -15 was in the 60's.

One of the really neat things about the starter is safety. Safe, as in walking toward your car, you can start it if strange people are approaching. They might not do anything with the lock beep, but knowing someone may be nearby, is a good deterant. I also use my starter to hear where its parked. I also have the headlights connected to it before it starts, and as long as its running for the 7 minuites.

greg

wrote

was

Yes, you've said that. Above zero it doesn't take a rocket-surgeon to start a car. Even a stupid PIC could do it. At -20F things change. OTOH, (as I've said) why bother with a remote starter if it never gets cold?

A .357 impresses more.

--
  Keith

It could be the cellphone, but if so, it is going in through one of the sensors, not emulating the emergency button. The button transmissions are complicated modulations of the carrier. Even if the cellphone was (spuriously) radiating on a frequency detectable by the car's receiver, it would not be generating the correct [sequenced] code to set off the panic button.

It is simple to verify if it is the phone or not. For a one month period, do not use or go near to the car with the mobile phone. If there is no false alarm, then put the phone back in to the car to see if the problem occurs again. If the problem occurs, repeat the test again. After the third frequency of testing, you should be able to determine if the phone is the cause.

Without an extensive costly analysis of the condition, the above would be the best and most economical way to determine if the phone is the cause.

At almost all mining sites and many constructions sites, there are signs put up warning people to turn off all 2 way radio communications devices, and mobile phones. There is a good reason for this! Mobile phones are also forbidden to use within the area of major hospitals, and on location of some industrial manufactures. There are also signs at many gas (petrol) stations, to turn off all mobile phones while filling the vehicle.

--

JANA _____

Could the cell phone be setting off the alarm? It's nothing obvious, like the phone being on "vibrate" mode, and receiving a call. Could the phone be sending a radio signal that is at a frequency that sets off the alarm (like the frequency of the emergency button on the key pad)?

We had it at the Toyota dealer, but they didn't find anything (this was before I made the cellphone connection).

Thanks for any help!

DanK