How to choose an alarm — expert advice

In the age of modern technology, I consider the alarm system to be almost a standard car accessory, which should be present in almost any car. However, approaching the choice of alarm, you may encounter such questions: what alarms are the most reliable for cars, as well as the characteristics of car alarms. In terms of quality, alarms from such manufacturers are leading on the market: scher khan magicar 5,7,10 car alarms, starline alarms with auto start, magic systems stalker 600 lan 3. Therefore, before buying a sheriff alarm for a car or buying a starline alarm remote control, you first need to know all the subtleties.

Types of alarms

Before moving on to recommendations on how to choose an alarm for a car, we recommend that you understand the types of car alarms, what car alarms are, what each of the alarms represents, what to expect from each variety and what disadvantages they have.

Alarms are usually divided into three types:

1. One-way car alarm
2. Car alarm with feedback
3. Satellite car alarm (alarm system with GSM module)

One way car alarm

The most outdated and unprofitable at the moment is one-way signaling. After all, it is deprived of a notification channel, through which the owner learns about encroachments on his car in the shortest possible time. She will be able to notify the owner of the theft while the driver is within a radius of 200 meters, and this is not very convenient and reliable. In one-way car alarms, a light and sound method is used to alert the owner of the car about the risk of theft of his car. The choice of this type must be considered in two cases:

1. Protection is not so important to you, the main thing is to be able to open the car remotely;
2. If you have a limited budget.

Feedback signaling

The next most reliable protective and recommended for choice is — there will be a two-way alarm that has feedback. It has a liquid crystal display, which is located on the key fob. It includes both a light and a sound way to warn the owner of the car about the theft of his car. But its main advantage is the transfer of information to the screen, which is located on the key fob. Thus, the owner online sees everything that happens to his vehicle. The range of two-way car alarms is approximately 4 km. The set of this type of protection also includes various sensors that show a change in the inclination of the car, or its volume and protect your cars.

Car alarms with feedback differ in the way the signal is coded, dialog or dynamic encoding. The difference between interactive and dynamic encoding is only in the way the signal is encoded. The first type has a standard algorithm where the hijacker can write the code. And the second type is a constantly changing code. As a result, car theft and alarm hacking is reduced to a minimum.

It is possible to additionally install a GSM module into the car alarm with feedback. It has no range restrictions. The information goes to the mobile phones of the owners. In other words, you will know everything and everywhere about the car, and most importantly, at any convenient moment. Interference in this may be the level of the communication signal, depending on the operator. For more information on how to choose a car alarm with feedback, what you should pay attention to, we recommend reading our article written by our experts.

satellite signaling

The coolest and most modern car alarm system that exists today is considered to be satellite. The main advantage is the unlimited range. It works wherever satellite communications reach. Based on this, the owner of the car with great accuracy and at any time can find out the location of his vehicle, how and where it moves, that is, have full control over it. Read more in our review of what satellite signaling is.

In many underground and covered parking lots, GSM repeaters are installed for stable communication with the operator, in this case, choosing a car alarm with a GSM module will be preferable, since satellite in most of these cases will not be able to communicate with the satellite through the roof of the parking lot.

What it is

The essence of such a car security system is that all signals from the key fob to the main unit of the system are transmitted from the control unit to the key fob pager, which is located at the owner of the car. The main feedback function is the transmission of control signals, by which the owner of the machine can determine its position at the moment.

Plus, through feedback, you can remotely control some of the alarm functions. This may be a motor blocking or an alarm with auto start.

What features should be in a reliable alarm

Your alarm system should have the recommended set of functions and operations that can reliably protect your car from theft, namely:

1. Feedback;
2. block the engine;
3. the recommended range should be about 2 km;
4. car shock sensors;
5. car alarms should be of a modular type (monoblock systems are installed in one place and, therefore, are easily neutralized);
6. a phased unlocking system and opening doors (first the driver’s door opens — then all the others);
7. the alarm system must respond to the opening of the trunk, front and rear doors, hood;
8. the presence of auto-start of the engine (the ability to maintain the recommended temperature at a distance before your appearance).

Three helpful tips for choosing the right one

Buy a car alarm and not experience further disappointment. Make sure you choose the right anti-theft protection and get real pleasure from its services. The path to the right choice is long and thorny.

At the first thought of how to choose an alarm to protect the car from theft, the motorist will be inundated with such a volume of conflicting information that it will be easier to make an unsuccessful choice than to make the right decision.

Council the first. Choose by budget

When choosing, for starters, you will need to answer yourself a completely banal question — why do you need an alarm? What characteristics of protective equipment are of interest, first of all, namely, what do you expect from protection and from whom are you going to protect the car:

• assign all car protection concerns to the car alarm; to protect against stoned teenagers and local alcoholics gutting dumpsters; in this case, the costs can range from 3 to 4.5 thousand rubles;

Do not forget about the cost of installing an alarm. When making your choice, it is necessary to take into account that installation in ordinary services is of lower quality, but several times cheaper than in specialized centers.

Tip two. Choice of security functions

Having decided on the budget and the desired technical capabilities of the car alarm, it is necessary to specify their physical indicators. First of all, it is necessary to consider the most significant, for protection, characteristics:

• radio signal coding; dynamic coding with one-way communication; suitable for minimal protection against theft against yard hooligans and petty car crooks;
• the most economical option for car alarms;

It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that for the installation of car alarms on some car models, you will have to purchase additional installation nodes (CAN or LIN modules).

Tip three. Which comfort features to choose

When choosing an alarm, you should remember one rule — there is no 100% protection against theft. No matter how elite it is, the danger of theft still exists. This gives a certain discomfort to any motorist. But the comfort functions are only satisfaction:

• intelligent engine start; remote;

Tips from the forum for choosing alarms

One of the most important criteria when choosing an alarm system is the range of the reverse alarm system, reliability and resistance to hacking. Demanding something sky-high from car alarms does not make sense. These are not the guards of your car, but a system that warns of theft and theft. Its main goal is to inform its owner.

It is worth paying attention to the interface. It should be comfortable and predispose to work. Indeed, some systems have very complex work algorithms, where it will be difficult for a simple driver to figure it out.

CCTV

Surveillance cameras of the security sphere help to detect, get an image of a criminal, control the backyard territory (cottage, country house, private house). Video surveillance systems consist of:

• chambers (external, internal);
• image broadcasting equipment;
• monitor, TV (smartphone, PC).

Camera types

I distinguish 2 main types:

1. Analog.
2. Digital.

Analog

Image quality — HD, UltraHD (6-8 MP).

Features of analog cameras:

• simple installation;
• profitability;
• signal transmission 300-500 m;
• the ability to combine elements from different manufacturers.

Digital

HD-SDI — easy installation, video transmission at 200-300 m. Requires high-quality cable material, has a high cost.

IPs are the most common. Information transmission without special equipment 90-100 m.

When choosing, pay attention to:

• IR filter, backlight;
• the presence of 2 sensors (night — monochrome, day — color);
• image clarity (2, 3, 12 MP);
• observation area;
• environmental conditions (outdoor cameras — temperature, humidity).

Which manufacturer (brand) is better to choose

As for the choice of car alarms from various manufacturers, the choice is quite difficult. The market now offers a large selection of different companies from budget models to premium class. To make the right choice of a particular company, a brief description of popular companies will help:

• The first one I would like to note is the StarLine brand signaling (Starline). This brand is one of the most popular and proven in the market. The main advantage can be considered a democratic price and the presence of dialog coding. Every year the company releases new developments, based on technical progress and the development of communications. But they are already an order of magnitude higher than the basic models.
• The presence of feedback and a large number of additional functions (such as autostart, tracking systems, engine blocking and others) is distinguished by the Padora brand alarm (Pandora). Its cost is from 3000 and can reach up to 40,000 rubles. Functions allow you to manually adjust the degree of protection of your car from thieves. It has a dynamic and interactive code, depending on the model and price category. The manufacturer is constantly developing new security and tracking systems. By purchasing an alarm system from this Pandora company, you get a modern, well-functioning alarm system that can adequately protect your car.
• The signaling of the middle class is considered to be a brand called Sheriff (Sheriff). The cost is about 4000 rubles. She has many levels of protection, auto-start of the engine. But again, dynamic code, and there is still a certain risk. But manufacturers do not stand still, but improve car alarms.
• With excellent innovations, the Scher-Khan signaling brand (Sherkhan) entered the market. The difference between this car alarm and others can be safely considered a built-in crypto-resistant signal encoding algorithm. Such novelty affected the price. You can buy it in Russia starting from 9,000 rubles. This is undoubtedly the premium class among the latest generation.
• Multifunctional and rich in options, there is a car alarm from Tomahawk (Tomahawk). In the presence of a numerous mode of protection. It controls your doors and trunk, as well as the hood. A small price puts it in line with the most popular alarms (4000 rubles). But the transmission of data on the line is envy of the visibility of the radio signal on the line.

Where is the best place to install an alarm?

When you have already bought an alarm, this will not protect you from burglars and thieves. The anti-theft device must still be installed correctly. A premium alarm system bought for big money loses all its functionality and performance if it is installed incorrectly or violated in its process. It will not work properly or even become an unnecessary and broken thing. You need to contact a professional installer. After all, self-esteem often led that motorists got a lot of money, breaking their on-board electronics during installation on their own. Where it is better to install a car alarm, we recommend that you read in our article, where our experts give arguments and disadvantages of certain installation methods.

The best models of car alarms

Lastly, I would like to recommend a few alarms that are flawless winners in various ratings. The list of the best car alarms is as follows:

1. Alarm Starline X96;
2. Pandora DXL 5000 prov2;
3. Starline A93 eco.

A complete list of the best alarm models in 2021 can be found in our ranking. And then we offer a little more to get acquainted with these best models.

Choosing an alarm for a car is a very difficult and responsible step. There are many types of systems on the market that differ in the way they encode and transmit signals. Each one is unique and special. There are both budget and expensive options. It is best to put a reliable car alarm on your car, which will surely protect it from break-ins and theft. However, this choice is not for everyone. But do not forget that not a single anti-theft system guarantees 100% protection against thieves and it is not recommended to leave a car unattended for a long time.

Digital CAN and LIN modules

Car alarms with a CAN module are connected to a digital bus with minimal interference in the regular on-board network car.

Such a security device can be installed as discreetly as possible in the cabin, which means increasing the chances that the car will not be stolen.

If there is a CAN bus, there is no need to install any intermediate blocks, and the alarm system gets the ability to control additional devices, collect and transmit information from sensors and controllers in real time. Using this module, it is possible to implement a remote engine start.

Simultaneous connection to two CAN buses gives almost unlimited customization options and programming of alarm functions for a specific owner.

By LIN interface a group of various devices is controlled, such as locks and power windows. With the help of this bus, information is collected from rain sensors, temperature sensors, etc.

The serial/parallel K-BUS/W-BUS is responsible for controlling the preheaters.