Looking for advice on remote indication.

[ukracer]

Having had items stolen from two cars last night i am now paranoid. Although I am confident both cars were locked and bearing in mind the Navara has had a handbag stolen from it before i need to get peace of mind for the future.

Not sure how i will go about it yet but if its possible i think its an awesome idea. (Even if i say so myself)

Essentially i need remote indication that my car is locked. If it works i would add a semi silent alarm to indicate a remote has been used to unlock it. BUT to start with its just a visual indication that i locked the car without keep clicking the remote to check...

I am thinking of how to achieve this. 1 idea is to fit a board in the house with an indicator. I am not sure if i could piggy back the frequency so if the remote was used to lock it would show green. When the remote unlocked it . It would show red.
Or

I could attach a box to the car that transmitted the locked state to a receiver inside. Perhaps using a Pi.

Has any one seen this done? Or done it? I am sure @Robotstar5 would have done something but i am guessing cost would be prohibitive...

 

[rtbcomp]

I think the easiest and cheapest way to go about it would be with a remote doorbell.

Mount the sender in the car with microswitches on the door lock mechanism such that when the door is unlocked with the ignition off the sender emits a signal.

Or maybe a wireless baby alarm so you could hear or even see if anyone has gained entry to the vehicle.

 

[Morrisman]

Some movement sensor spotlights to turn night into day if anybody gets near the car? With extension to light up a bulb inside the house? Or simply fit an alarm in each car, one that is not controlled by the normal key fob?

 

[pedrobedro]

Our old Berlingo has a flashing red LED on the dash when the immobiliser lock is on. My wife checks up and tells me when I have forgotten to lock it by looking out of the front room window.

 

[500e]

https://www.abacuscaralarms.co.uk/accessories-spares-2/gsm-pagers/lca2000-pager.html
Have on of these it works OK did not get it from above

 

[ukracer]

https://www.abacuscaralarms.co.uk/accessories-spares-2/gsm-pagers/lca2000-pager.html
Have on of these it works OK did not get it from above

That looks almost perfect but i cant find one now..lol

I am.guessing they must make something similar though....

 

[bricol]

I walk outside and look at the lock button on the door . .. foolproof

 

[ukracer]

I walk outside and look at the lock button on the door . .. foolproof

It might sound simple to some but memory loss ,stress and hectic life makes that unfeasible.

 

[Gareth J]

What do you think you can get away with to transmit the signal? WiFi? radio frequency keyfob? if it's too far away to reliably transmit, you may have to work with GSM network.

So I think that would be your first thing to check

 

[pedrobedro]

How far away is your car ? If I press the lock button from 30 feet away it flashes the indicators for 30 seconds as a location aid and if the car is unlocked it only flashes about 5 times to show it has locked.

 

[500e]

Have you tried phoning that link @ukracer

 

[stuvy]

Is the car new to you recently?

The previous owner could have a spare key and open it when it suits him

Secondly I agree with shox, I never leave anything in my car of any value

Lastly what about a normal car alarm Thad separate to the manufacturers one
Or fit one of these
https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/1125824744...OjHjTby5U4pDTDhsK29CWbEhsXDtD334aApvQEALw_wcB

 

[ukracer]

Is the car new to you recently?

The previous owner could have a spare key and open it when it suits him

Secondly I agree with shox, I never leave anything in my car of any value

Lastly what about a normal car alarm Thad separate to the manufacturers one
Or fit one of these
https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/1125824744...OjHjTby5U4pDTDhsK29CWbEhsXDtD334aApvQEALw_wcB

Yes the car is new to me but i know who did it and how. As we live near a park they have been scanning for remotes but we cant even see them when they might only be 3 feet away from car. (Behind a wall)
The valuables left inside were more of a mistake to be fair but my post was not trying to make my car fort knox but to work out how to alert me when my locked car has been unlocked.

The cars do have a normal alarm but it would not have assisted. They unlocked the cars.

My request for info was to be able to see at a glance if a car has been unlocked AND an option for that action to trigger an alert if i armed it.

As i said to Shox we have most of the stuff back now. Certainly the polisher and polishes. Not got cards but did not want them as all had been frozen and cancelled and my wife did not want her hand bag and purse she was going to burn it if she got it back. They had dumped that out of the window as they had also stolen a car to carry out their raids. We got that back for the lady who lost it. Big Kudos to my son as she runs the cafe we go to and people are amazed she even saw the car again. Let alone got it back in one piece.
Until the start of this year whilst I could if I needed to I could not see the point of doing the laws job but sadly you need to so you can protect your property in the future.

Anyway thread seems to have been brought back on topic so still after any modern devices that will do what this will do..https://www.abacuscaralarms.co.uk/accessories-spares-2/gsm-pagers/lca2000-pager.html

The cars have trackers on them but I need something that alerts my base ball bat now I have learnt about premptive defence.

 

[ukracer]

Is the car new to you recently?

The previous owner could have a spare key and open it when it suits him

Secondly I agree with shox, I never leave anything in my car of any value

Lastly what about a normal car alarm Thad separate to the manufacturers one
Or fit one of these
https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/1125824744...OjHjTby5U4pDTDhsK29CWbEhsXDtD334aApvQEALw_wcB

The led might well be useful to be able to see it from my wifes chair. But if I explain a bit more. Due to her insecurity prior to this she likes to see whats going on. Being able to see the cars are locked we can have 4 outsdie at any one time. They all have trackers but they all reply on being broken into physically to trigger the alarms or moved to activate tracker.

I am after two things. piece of mind for my wife plus notification when a car is unlocked using a key OR scanning device etc. I would like this to be connected to a switchable alarm system. Trembler or infra red alarms wont do this and they go of due to wind, cats or heat at times. It also wakes neighbours who might be asleep. Some of ours work nights.

Hope this clarifies my needs and I am guess a Pi system or similar will be needed to provide the flexibility I would like. It might not be feasible but worth looking into..

 

[Gareth J]

I get what you're trying to do.

I'd put a microswitch somewhere in the door system that closes only when the car is open. You don't want whatever you put there drawing power when left unattended and locked for ages.

This switch can then fire a signal that says "I'm open" constantly, or periodically.

A receiver can then receive this signal and you can interpret/amplify/whatever it how you like.

As you've not answered my question re. range, the specifics would vary but it could potentially be done with basic radio frequency gadgets that cost very little.

 

[ukracer]

I get what you're trying to do.

I'd put a microswitch somewhere in the door system that closes only when the car is open. You don't want whatever you put there drawing power when left unattended and locked for ages.

This switch can then fire a signal that says "I'm open" constantly, or periodically.

A receiver can then receive this signal and you can interpret/amplify/whatever it how you like.

As you've not answered my question re. range, the specifics would vary but it could potentially be done with basic radio frequency gadgets that cost very little.

Sorry mate range at home is a few meters but for future use it might be nice to go longer. But thats me always loos to make things harder then they need me. lol

 

[ukracer]

What do you think you can get away with to transmit the signal? WiFi? radio frequency keyfob? if it's too far away to reliably transmit, you may have to work with GSM network.

So I think that would be your first thing to check

Wifi should be fine to prove concept...

 

[Gareth J]

Sorry mate range at home is a few meters but for future use it might be nice to go longer. But thats me always loos to make things harder then they need me. lol

Then why not get a radio control relay gismo, there are many permutations on eBay for a few ££. One set to fire off a signal using a microswitch as above, with the receiver set to "momentary make" its relay and the relay plugged into whatever you fancy. Certainly be an inexpensive experiment.

Wifi should be fine to prove concept...

Then you might be able to get creative and modify one of the smartplugs to run on 12v so you can essentially check and control things from a phone/app.... but that sounds power hungry. And complicated. And another potential security risk.

 

[ukracer]

Then why not get a radio control relay gismo, there are many permutations on eBay for a few ££. One set to fire off a signal using a microswitch as above, with the receiver set to "momentary make" its relay and the relay plugged into whatever you fancy. Certainly be an inexpensive experiment.


Then you might be able to get creative and modify one of the smartplugs to run on 12v so you can essentially check and control things from a phone/app.... but that sounds power hungry. And complicated. And another potential security risk.

whats a radio control relay gismo,...lol
dont suppose you have an ebay item number I could check out?

 

[Gareth J]

Just type "12v remote control relay" into eBay. The choice is huge.

If you go down that route, you'll obviously have to doctor the key fob end to live in the car and be operated by the locking system. You may be able to either leave the body of the fob accessible for battery changes, or wire in a small stepdown transformer so it is powered from the car system.

Edit, actually there's no reason to choose 12v. As this end would be at the house side, a 240v AC version might be more apt.