Car alarm question...

[Matt Ion]

Since I can't seem to find a rec.alarm.car or anything similar, I'll ask
here...

I have an old Clifford XL1000 alarm in my car. Range on the remotes
sucks green giblets.

Since the antenna on the brain is receive-only so I don't have any sort
of transmit-impedence-matching to worry about, can I successfully extend
this thing with, say, a piece of wire up into the top of the dash, or
maybe up the a-pillar into the header, or in some similar way improve
the range?


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[joe.ker]

That length of wire is tuned to the frequency of the transmitter and
Clifford says not to extend it. With that being said, I have added 2 foot of
wire to some Clifford alarms and the range did get better. it will not hurt
anything to try.

"Matt Ion" > wrote in message
news:d4MXe.525832$s54.42634@pd7tw2no...
> Since I can't seem to find a rec.alarm.car or anything similar, I'll ask
> here...
>
> I have an old Clifford XL1000 alarm in my car. Range on the remotes sucks
> green giblets.
>
> Since the antenna on the brain is receive-only so I don't have any sort of
> transmit-impedence-matching to worry about, can I successfully extend this
> thing with, say, a piece of wire up into the top of the dash, or maybe up
> the a-pillar into the header, or in some similar way improve the range?
>
>
> ---
> avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean.
> Virus Database (VPS): 0538-2, 09/19/2005
> Tested on: 9/19/2005 9:18:06 PM
> avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2005 ALWIL Software.
> http://www.avast.com
>
>
>

[Bruce Chang]

"joe.ker" > wrote in message
news:RQQXe.1833$Az1.980@trnddc07...
> That length of wire is tuned to the frequency of the transmitter and
> Clifford says not to extend it. With that being said, I have added 2 foot
> of wire to some Clifford alarms and the range did get better. it will not
> hurt anything to try.
>
> "Matt Ion" > wrote in message
> news:d4MXe.525832$s54.42634@pd7tw2no...
>> Since I can't seem to find a rec.alarm.car or anything similar, I'll ask
>> here...
>>
>> I have an old Clifford XL1000 alarm in my car. Range on the remotes
>> sucks green giblets.
>>
>> Since the antenna on the brain is receive-only so I don't have any sort
>> of transmit-impedence-matching to worry about, can I successfully extend
>> this thing with, say, a piece of wire up into the top of the dash, or
>> maybe up the a-pillar into the header, or in some similar way improve the
>> range?
>>
>>
>> ---
>> avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean.
>> Virus Database (VPS): 0538-2, 09/19/2005
>> Tested on: 9/19/2005 9:18:06 PM
>> avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2005 ALWIL Software.
>> http://www.avast.com
>>
>>
>>
>
>

If I understand antenna design correctly, the antenna should be a quarter
wavelength in length. If you were to extend the antenna, you would need to
extend it in increments of a quarter wavelength. If you don't, then the
antenna is less effective but not ineffective. If the wavelength is equal
to 20 inches, then you would need to make an antenna of 5, 10, 15, 20, etc.
inches in length.

-Bruce

[Matt Ion]

Bruce Chang wrote:

> "joe.ker" > wrote in message
> news:RQQXe.1833$Az1.980@trnddc07...
>
>>That length of wire is tuned to the frequency of the transmitter and
>>Clifford says not to extend it. With that being said, I have added 2 foot
>>of wire to some Clifford alarms and the range did get better. it will not
>>hurt anything to try.
>>
>>"Matt Ion" > wrote in message
>>news:d4MXe.525832$s54.42634@pd7tw2no...
>>
>>>Since I can't seem to find a rec.alarm.car or anything similar, I'll ask
>>>here...
>>>
>>>I have an old Clifford XL1000 alarm in my car. Range on the remotes
>>>sucks green giblets.
>>>
>>>Since the antenna on the brain is receive-only so I don't have any sort
>>>of transmit-impedence-matching to worry about, can I successfully extend
>>>this thing with, say, a piece of wire up into the top of the dash, or
>>>maybe up the a-pillar into the header, or in some similar way improve the
>>>range?
>>>
>>>
>>>---
>>>avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean.
>>>Virus Database (VPS): 0538-2, 09/19/2005
>>>Tested on: 9/19/2005 9:18:06 PM
>>>avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2005 ALWIL Software.
>>>http://www.avast.com
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
> If I understand antenna design correctly, the antenna should be a quarter
> wavelength in length. If you were to extend the antenna, you would need to
> extend it in increments of a quarter wavelength. If you don't, then the
> antenna is less effective but not ineffective. If the wavelength is equal
> to 20 inches, then you would need to make an antenna of 5, 10, 15, 20, etc.
> inches in length.

D-oh <smacking myself in the forehead> I knew that. Dummy me.

Guess ideally then I need to measure the existing antenna and lengthen
it by the appropriate factor of 2/4/8/16/etc.


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[Bruce Chang]

"Matt Ion" > wrote in message
news:Oy1Ye.530559$s54.332331@pd7tw2no...
> Bruce Chang wrote:
>
>> "joe.ker" > wrote in message
>> news:RQQXe.1833$Az1.980@trnddc07...
>>
>>>That length of wire is tuned to the frequency of the transmitter and
>>>Clifford says not to extend it. With that being said, I have added 2 foot
>>>of wire to some Clifford alarms and the range did get better. it will not
>>>hurt anything to try.
>>>
>>>"Matt Ion" > wrote in message
>>>news:d4MXe.525832$s54.42634@pd7tw2no...
>>>
>>>>Since I can't seem to find a rec.alarm.car or anything similar, I'll ask
>>>>here...
>>>>
>>>>I have an old Clifford XL1000 alarm in my car. Range on the remotes
>>>>sucks green giblets.
>>>>
>>>>Since the antenna on the brain is receive-only so I don't have any sort
>>>>of transmit-impedence-matching to worry about, can I successfully extend
>>>>this thing with, say, a piece of wire up into the top of the dash, or
>>>>maybe up the a-pillar into the header, or in some similar way improve
>>>>the range?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>---
>>>>avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean.
>>>>Virus Database (VPS): 0538-2, 09/19/2005
>>>>Tested on: 9/19/2005 9:18:06 PM
>>>>avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2005 ALWIL Software.
>>>>http://www.avast.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> If I understand antenna design correctly, the antenna should be a quarter
>> wavelength in length. If you were to extend the antenna, you would need
>> to extend it in increments of a quarter wavelength. If you don't, then
>> the antenna is less effective but not ineffective. If the wavelength is
>> equal to 20 inches, then you would need to make an antenna of 5, 10, 15,
>> 20, etc. inches in length.
>
> D-oh <smacking myself in the forehead> I knew that. Dummy me.
>
> Guess ideally then I need to measure the existing antenna and lengthen it
> by the appropriate factor of 2/4/8/16/etc.
>
>

The appropriate factor is any integer, it doesn't have to be a multiple of
2.

-Bruce

[[email protected]]

Bruce Chang wrote:
> "Matt Ion" > wrote in message
> news:Oy1Ye.530559$s54.332331@pd7tw2no...
> > Bruce Chang wrote:
> >
> >> "joe.ker" > wrote in message
> >> news:RQQXe.1833$Az1.980@trnddc07...
> >>
> >>>That length of wire is tuned to the frequency of the transmitter and
> >>>Clifford says not to extend it. With that being said, I have added 2 foot
> >>>of wire to some Clifford alarms and the range did get better. it will not
> >>>hurt anything to try.
> >>>
> >>>"Matt Ion" > wrote in message
> >>>news:d4MXe.525832$s54.42634@pd7tw2no...
> >>>
> >>>>Since I can't seem to find a rec.alarm.car or anything similar, I'll ask
> >>>>here...
> >>>>
> >>>>I have an old Clifford XL1000 alarm in my car. Range on the remotes
> >>>>sucks green giblets.
> >>>>
> >>>>Since the antenna on the brain is receive-only so I don't have any sort
> >>>>of transmit-impedence-matching to worry about, can I successfully extend
> >>>>this thing with, say, a piece of wire up into the top of the dash, or
> >>>>maybe up the a-pillar into the header, or in some similar way improve
> >>>>the range?
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>---
> >>>>avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean.
> >>>>Virus Database (VPS): 0538-2, 09/19/2005
> >>>>Tested on: 9/19/2005 9:18:06 PM
> >>>>avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2005 ALWIL Software.
> >>>>http://www.avast.com
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >> If I understand antenna design correctly, the antenna should be a quarter
> >> wavelength in length. If you were to extend the antenna, you would need
> >> to extend it in increments of a quarter wavelength. If you don't, then
> >> the antenna is less effective but not ineffective. If the wavelength is
> >> equal to 20 inches, then you would need to make an antenna of 5, 10, 15,
> >> 20, etc. inches in length.
> >
> > D-oh <smacking myself in the forehead> I knew that. Dummy me.
> >
> > Guess ideally then I need to measure the existing antenna and lengthen it
> > by the appropriate factor of 2/4/8/16/etc.
> >
> >
>
> The appropriate factor is any integer, it doesn't have to be a multiple of
> 2.
>
> -Bruce

Well, I went ahead, pulled out a random length of wire, spliced it in,
and ran it up the A-pillar and along the door trim. Range is GREATLY
improved, and coverage especially at the back of the car is worlds
better. Thinking I may need to extend it all the way around the edge
of the roof headliner and see how that works :)