Ruuning two sirens from the same alarm

[Meir Frank]

Do you think it would be a problem running two sirens from the same
car alarm?

There are a couple other possible reasons that the 15 amp fuse blew,
for the whole system. But since I wondered about this when I first
hooked it up, I wanted to get your opinions.

The first siren is one that changes its sound every 5 seconds. The
second is a PsychoSyren. The sirens ran when I tested them a couple
times for a total of 1 or 2 minutes. But the fuse seemed to blow when
they were running.

I was going to measure the current draw of the second siren, but it's
so loud. :) Isn't 15 amps enough for two? There is a fuse on
the parking light lead, but not on the siren lead. There was one
siren in the car when I bought a better alarm. I like the new siren
better and then I thought, Why not run both?

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.

[joe.ker]

Your best bet would be to run the siren wire to a relay and then run both
sirens off the relay

"Meir Frank" > wrote in message
...
> Do you think it would be a problem running two sirens from the same
> car alarm?
>
> There are a couple other possible reasons that the 15 amp fuse blew,
> for the whole system. But since I wondered about this when I first
> hooked it up, I wanted to get your opinions.
>
> The first siren is one that changes its sound every 5 seconds. The
> second is a PsychoSyren. The sirens ran when I tested them a couple
> times for a total of 1 or 2 minutes. But the fuse seemed to blow when
> they were running.
>
> I was going to measure the current draw of the second siren, but it's
> so loud. :) Isn't 15 amps enough for two? There is a fuse on
> the parking light lead, but not on the siren lead. There was one
> siren in the car when I bought a better alarm. I like the new siren
> better and then I thought, Why not run both?
>
> Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
> me know if you have posted also.

[Spike]

Sheeeshhhh! For your sake I hope you don't live in my neighborhood.
One is bad enough, but two and you wouldn't have to worry about a
thief.... by the time the neighbors got through, you wouldn't have a
car to alarm. Some people around here throw bricks at loud stereos in
the middle of the day. If your sirens went off when people were
sleeping.....

On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 17:55:04 -0400, Meir Frank
> wrote:

>Do you think it would be a problem running two sirens from the same
>car alarm?
>
>There are a couple other possible reasons that the 15 amp fuse blew,
>for the whole system. But since I wondered about this when I first
>hooked it up, I wanted to get your opinions.
>
>The first siren is one that changes its sound every 5 seconds. The
>second is a PsychoSyren. The sirens ran when I tested them a couple
>times for a total of 1 or 2 minutes. But the fuse seemed to blow when
>they were running.
>
>I was going to measure the current draw of the second siren, but it's
>so loud. :) Isn't 15 amps enough for two? There is a fuse on
>the parking light lead, but not on the siren lead. There was one
>siren in the car when I bought a better alarm. I like the new siren
>better and then I thought, Why not run both?
>
>Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
>me know if you have posted also.

Spike
1965 Ford Mustang fastback 2+2 A Code 289 C4 Trac-Lok
Vintage Burgundy w/Black Standard Interior; Vintage 40
16" rims w/BF Goodrich Comp T/A gForce Radial
225/50ZR16 KDWS skins; surround sound audio-video.

Gad what fools these morons be....
Children are obscene but should not be heard
Give me a peperoni pizza... or give me a calzone!

[[email protected]]

On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 16:31:20 -0700, Spike > wrote:

>Sheeeshhhh! For your sake I hope you don't live in my neighborhood.
>One is bad enough, but two and you wouldn't have to worry about a
>thief.... by the time the neighbors got through, you wouldn't have a
>car to alarm. Some people around here throw bricks at loud stereos in
>the middle of the day. If your sirens went off when people were
>sleeping.....

I recognize your concern, but

A. I didn't plan to have two sirens, but if I cut the wire to the
first one, the way it is mounted, it will be very hard to reconnect
it. I also probably won't be able to get back the space it takes up.

B. AFAIK, there has only been one car stolen here, or broken into, in
the two decades I've lived here. That one was stolen in t he morning,
when the owner left it running during breakfast, so that it would warm
up. (He got it back about 5 days later, when the police stopped the
car for being stolen. The driver told the police that my neighbor the
owner had lent it to him, even though they didn't know each other.
:-) )

C. The loud sirens are meant for places where the car actually will be
broken into, and most of these are places I put it during the day.

D. The two of them put together are not as loud as the siren that came
with the car I bought in 1974. I have that siren still, and I would
use it, by itself,, but there is no room under the hood for it.
People wanted a quiet world in the 60's and 70's also, but they also
wanted their cars protected. (That alarm came without a timer, but I
put one in, before the law required them, to be a good neighbor.)

E. By running two sirens together, it will make the sound unique, so
that I can know that it's mine, so that if I'm in bed I'll get up.
It will also make it more likely that, if I'm in bed, it will wake me
up, so that I can turn it off and verify that the thief is gone. (The
old siren didn't make a unique sound in the 70's, but it would be
unique now. Totally electro-mechanical.)

F. It's in my neighbors' interest also that no theif successfully
steal or break into my car. If he has success with me, he'll likely
be back to attack their cars.

G. If someone is trying to steal my car, the louder the siren the
better. And if it turns out to be at night, I really don't care whom
I wake up. Other crimes have been committed against me, and I'm
tired of it.





>On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 17:55:04 -0400,
> wrote:
>
>>Do you think it would be a problem running two sirens from the same
>>car alarm?
>>

>Spike

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.

[[email protected]]

On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 22:00:15 GMT, "joe.ker" >
wrote:

>Your best bet would be to run the siren wire to a relay and then run both
>sirens off the relay


Thanks, Joe. It's a good idea and knowing me ,it would have taken
months or years before I thought of it, even though I pretty much
already know about it. Still, it may be my best bet, but I don't
have time to do it right now, partly because the lead through the fire
wall is so hard to get to and for other reasons. So I was looking for
a guess as to whether the 15 amp fuse would handle them both. I guess
what I will do is buy a box of 15 amp fuses, and make sure I have wire
cutters in the car. There is a place near here that's not near any
houses or stores or offices that I go to test the thing. I'll just
test it longer.

I also made the mistake of connecting two other alarm-related things
to the alarm fuse. I should have used a separate fuse. One was the
radar sensor. Its wires go under the door threshhold and they may
have gotten shorted. The other is the trunk release, which only
powers a relay and shouldn't take very much.

OK I wasn't using the trunk lock when the fuse blew, and I think my
radar sensor was switched off, with the switch I put under the dash**.

But I moved both of these things to a new fuse. Even though they are
alarm-related, I shouldn't let a short in one of these circuits blow
the fuse for the whole alarm, which is much more important.

.......I also put in the relay you suggested***

I realize I thought the sirens didn't draw much current because the
wire that goes to them is so small. If the siren were 10 amps,
wouldn't the wire have to be thicker??

***I was afraid a relay would interfere with the chirping, but it
seems the relay works fast enough and there is enough time between the
chirps that I can still hear each one separately

**( I measured and the radar sensor uses 8 milliamps. (12 when
something triggers it, but in that case, it's worth the current draw.)
How long would it take to run down a battery that it is near the end
of its warranty, with 8 milliamps?)

>"Meir Frank" > wrote in message
...
>> Do you think it would be a problem running two sirens from the same
>> car alarm?
>>
>> There are a couple other possible reasons that the 15 amp fuse blew,
>> for the whole system. But since I wondered about this when I first
>> hooked it up, I wanted to get your opinions.
>>
>> The first siren is one that changes its sound every 5 seconds. The
>> second is a PsychoSyren. The sirens ran when I tested them a couple
>> times for a total of 1 or 2 minutes. But the fuse seemed to blow when
>> they were running.
>>
>> I was going to measure the current draw of the second siren, but it's
>> so loud. :) Isn't 15 amps enough for two? There is a fuse on
>> the parking light lead, but not on the siren lead. There was one
>> siren in the car when I bought a better alarm. I like the new siren
>> better and then I thought, Why not run both?
>>
>> Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
>> me know if you have posted also.
>


Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.

[joe.ker]

That fuse should handle it, but you run the risk of burning a trace on the
PC board in the alarm.
You can put the relay under the hood or under the dash, whichever is easier
to get to. you wouldn't have to run extra wires though the firewall

> wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 22:00:15 GMT, "joe.ker" >
> wrote:
>
>>Your best bet would be to run the siren wire to a relay and then run both
>>sirens off the relay
>
>
> Thanks, Joe. It's a good idea and knowing me ,it would have taken
> months or years before I thought of it, even though I pretty much
> already know about it. Still, it may be my best bet, but I don't
> have time to do it right now, partly because the lead through the fire
> wall is so hard to get to and for other reasons. So I was looking for
> a guess as to whether the 15 amp fuse would handle them both. I guess
> what I will do is buy a box of 15 amp fuses, and make sure I have wire
> cutters in the car. There is a place near here that's not near any
> houses or stores or offices that I go to test the thing. I'll just
> test it longer.
>
> I also made the mistake of connecting two other alarm-related things
> to the alarm fuse. I should have used a separate fuse. One was the
> radar sensor. Its wires go under the door threshhold and they may
> have gotten shorted. The other is the trunk release, which only
> powers a relay and shouldn't take very much.
>
> OK I wasn't using the trunk lock when the fuse blew, and I think my
> radar sensor was switched off, with the switch I put under the dash**.
>
> But I moved both of these things to a new fuse. Even though they are
> alarm-related, I shouldn't let a short in one of these circuits blow
> the fuse for the whole alarm, which is much more important.
>
> ......I also put in the relay you suggested***
>
> I realize I thought the sirens didn't draw much current because the
> wire that goes to them is so small. If the siren were 10 amps,
> wouldn't the wire have to be thicker??
>
> ***I was afraid a relay would interfere with the chirping, but it
> seems the relay works fast enough and there is enough time between the
> chirps that I can still hear each one separately
>
> **( I measured and the radar sensor uses 8 milliamps. (12 when
> something triggers it, but in that case, it's worth the current draw.)
> How long would it take to run down a battery that it is near the end
> of its warranty, with 8 milliamps?)
>
>>"Meir Frank" > wrote in message
...
>>> Do you think it would be a problem running two sirens from the same
>>> car alarm?
>>>
>>> There are a couple other possible reasons that the 15 amp fuse blew,
>>> for the whole system. But since I wondered about this when I first
>>> hooked it up, I wanted to get your opinions.
>>>
>>> The first siren is one that changes its sound every 5 seconds. The
>>> second is a PsychoSyren. The sirens ran when I tested them a couple
>>> times for a total of 1 or 2 minutes. But the fuse seemed to blow when
>>> they were running.
>>>
>>> I was going to measure the current draw of the second siren, but it's
>>> so loud. :) Isn't 15 amps enough for two? There is a fuse on
>>> the parking light lead, but not on the siren lead. There was one
>>> siren in the car when I bought a better alarm. I like the new siren
>>> better and then I thought, Why not run both?
>>>
>>> Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
>>> me know if you have posted also.
>>
>
>
> Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
> me know if you have posted also.

[Spike]

On Sun, 25 Sep 2005 08:16:15 -0400, wrote:

>On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 16:31:20 -0700, Spike > wrote:
>
>>Sheeeshhhh! For your sake I hope you don't live in my neighborhood.
>>One is bad enough, but two and you wouldn't have to worry about a
>>thief.... by the time the neighbors got through, you wouldn't have a
>>car to alarm. Some people around here throw bricks at loud stereos in
>>the middle of the day. If your sirens went off when people were
>>sleeping.....
>
>I recognize your concern, but

My concern is being a good neighbor (of course, in my neighborhood,
they are worth it). With rare exception, we all kinda keep an eye
open. My car may be taken, but either I get it back, or I get
reimbursed by insurance. My neighbors are there "forever". And when
you have responded to as many neighbor disputes as I have over things
like loud stereos, lawn sprinklers crossing the property line, etc,
you tend to think in ways to avoid confrontations with your neighbors.
>
>A. I didn't plan to have two sirens, but if I cut the wire to the
>first one, the way it is mounted, it will be very hard to reconnect
>it. I also probably won't be able to get back the space it takes up.
>
>B. AFAIK, there has only been one car stolen here, or broken into, in
>the two decades I've lived here. That one was stolen in t he morning,
>when the owner left it running during breakfast, so that it would warm
>up. (He got it back about 5 days later, when the police stopped the
>car for being stolen. The driver told the police that my neighbor the
>owner had lent it to him, even though they didn't know each other.
>:-) )

A very common statement by the thief. I found early on that the smart
ones read the registration for the information to provide if
stopped... yet not so smart they realize that if the owner reported
the car stolen, in most cases, then it's unlikely loaned to the person
now in it. LOL If only one car has been stolen in your neighborhood,
it doesn't sound like you need extra protection; especially
considering the circumstances of that theft.
>
>C. The loud sirens are meant for places where the car actually will be
>broken into, and most of these are places I put it during the day.
>
>D. The two of them put together are not as loud as the siren that came
>with the car I bought in 1974. I have that siren still, and I would
>use it, by itself,, but there is no room under the hood for it.
>People wanted a quiet world in the 60's and 70's also, but they also
>wanted their cars protected. (That alarm came without a timer, but I
>put one in, before the law required them, to be a good neighbor.)

Believe it or not, people want a quiet world today. More and more laws
are being passed because people are tired of dealing with the
excessive noise of car stereos, alarms, etc. When you sit at a
stoplight and can't hear your own stereo, let alone an emergency
vehicle, because of the idiot sitting next to you... wellll..... Here
it's illegal if the sound projects beyond 50 feet from your vehicle,
and the way it's written, alarms fall into the same category. They
also added a time of day provision.
>
>E. By running two sirens together, it will make the sound unique, so
>that I can know that it's mine, so that if I'm in bed I'll get up.
>It will also make it more likely that, if I'm in bed, it will wake me
>up, so that I can turn it off and verify that the thief is gone. (The
>old siren didn't make a unique sound in the 70's, but it would be
>unique now. Totally electro-mechanical.)
>
>F. It's in my neighbors' interest also that no theif successfully
>steal or break into my car. If he has success with me, he'll likely
>be back to attack their cars.

That depends on your neighbor : 0 ) In many neighborhoods, they people
are not close (often they don't even know each other by name or
sight). In such neighborhoods, they don't give a ____ about your
"problems" as long as you don't cause them any grief.

Many of my neighbors are retired, although the demographics are
beginning to change, and many older people are very testy about noise.
That might sound strange when older people often have to turn up the
TV to hear it, but it has to do with the ranges of hearing which are
lost. And certain sounds really grate.
I lost ranges due to gunfire, sirens, and aircraft noise (jet engines
are killers).
>
>G. If someone is trying to steal my car, the louder the siren the
>better. And if it turns out to be at night, I really don't care whom
>I wake up. Other crimes have been committed against me, and I'm
>tired of it.

I do understand what you mean, but, that comment would normally
indicate a lack of respect for anyone else's rights.
>
>
>
>
>
>>On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 17:55:04 -0400,
> wrote:
>>
>>>Do you think it would be a problem running two sirens from the same
>>>car alarm?
>>>
>
>>Spike
>
>Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
>me know if you have posted also.

Spike
1965 Ford Mustang fastback 2+2 A Code 289 C4 Trac-Lok
Vintage Burgundy w/Black Standard Interior; Vintage 40
16" rims w/BF Goodrich Comp T/A gForce Radial
225/50ZR16 KDWS skins; surround sound audio-video.

Gad what fools these morons be....
Children are obscene but should not be heard
Give me a peperoni pizza... or give me a calzone!