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Vehicle Hacking... Remote Start Technology

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  • #1

    Vehicle Hacking... Remote Start Technology

    Too bad skroo doesn't seem to be around the forums as much these days, this would be right up his alley. Ah well, i suspect there are others here who can make some intelligent comments.

    (I have to say, i've never felt as confident about a purchase as the ones i've made after kicking about some comments with folk here on the board. Erehwon's advice about knives saved me from a potentially costly and aggravating choice... my Emerson CQB-7 mini came in the mail today and after hacking it for left-handed operation i can say without equivocation that i've never felt a better knife.)

    Where i'm living now only has a single car garage, sadly. Lately i've been keeping my Jeep stored inside. This started as a trend in the summer and fall since i the top and doors tend to come off at the break of spring and don't touch the jeep again until Halloween. Garage parking beats waking up at 3:00 am to the sound of unexpected rainfall and my own cursing. However, rearranging the garage that way has left my Yukon more or less permanently relegated to being outside. I'm thinking of investing in a remote start system for the winter, preferably one that will kick the truck on automatically every few hours in extreme cold.

    There are plenty of results when searching about Remote Ignition Kits on the web... but nearly all of those are just vendors trying to sell you something. Aside from one or two "how stuff works"-style articles, there's not a lot of good information about these systems overall... no decent review sites, etc.

    Anyone here care to share any experiences they've had with remote start devices? Can anyone here critique them at all? Any specific vendors who make reliable products? Any who make crap? I'm surprised at how inexpensive some of the kits are that i'm seeing (most are under $100) and I wonder if these are cheap models or just genuinely good value.
    Last edited by Deviant Ollam; November 9, 2007, 18:58.
    "I'll admit I had an OiNK account and frequented it quite often… What made OiNK a great place was that it was like the world's greatest record store… iTunes kind of feels like Sam Goody to me. I don't feel cool when I go there. I'm tired of seeing John Mayer's face pop up. I feel like I'm being hustled when I visit there, and I don't think their product is that great. DRM, low bit rate, etc... OiNK it existed because it filled a void of what people want."
    - Trent Reznor
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Vehicle Hacking... Remote Start Technology

    I had a Bulldog kit about 7 or 8 years ago that I put in myself (In my '88 Bronco.) I'd recommend them as a brand. It worked well, and went in fairly quickly. Their manual was good, the website was chock full of wiring harness infomation, and between that and a good manual (Haynes, etc.) for the Jeep, installation should be fairly easy for you.

    I loved it, and since that have had one other. The current SUV doesn't have it, but I may miss it this winter when it's -20F.

    http://www.bulldogsecurity.com/
    Thorn
    "If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning." - Catherine Aird

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    • #3
      Re: Vehicle Hacking... Remote Start Technology

      Originally posted by Thorn View Post
      It worked well, and went in fairly quickly. ... for the Jeep, installation should be fairly easy for you.
      excellent, i'll check it out. this is actually for the '99 Yukon and not the '76 jeep, so the wiring and mechanics aren't as exposed and easy to reach but i still feel pretty good about it... they make a T-harness for my model. i'm reading their web site and at first glance my opinion is that they need a better webmaster. the FAQ page has loads of duplicate questions and answers, the nav links don't appear all properly for me, and their products page doesn't really show any meaningful description of features. heh, what is the "pit stop" functionality? looks like a great package, though... and google turns up some results of vendors offering them for just over $50.
      Last edited by Deviant Ollam; November 10, 2007, 18:22.
      "I'll admit I had an OiNK account and frequented it quite often… What made OiNK a great place was that it was like the world's greatest record store… iTunes kind of feels like Sam Goody to me. I don't feel cool when I go there. I'm tired of seeing John Mayer's face pop up. I feel like I'm being hustled when I visit there, and I don't think their product is that great. DRM, low bit rate, etc... OiNK it existed because it filled a void of what people want."
      - Trent Reznor

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Vehicle Hacking... Remote Start Technology

        Originally posted by Thorn View Post
        I loved it, and since that have had one other. The current SUV doesn't have it, but I may miss it this winter when it's -20F.

        http://www.bulldogsecurity.com/
        Funny this came up, I was talking about a remote start system yesterday. By the time my car starts getting warmed up I have made it to my morning destination. These look like pretty impressive kits.. I think I will give one a go myself..

        Now if they just made a kit that would get all the snow off the car and shovel the driveway..
        Happiness is a belt-fed weapon.

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Vehicle Hacking... Remote Start Technology

          Originally posted by che View Post
          Now if they just made a kit that would get all the snow off the car and shovel the driveway
          well... if you leave your vehicle's vent system switched on to max heat defrost you'd be part way there if it kicks on every few hours automatically. also, if you'd just drive a proper vehicle in the fist place you wouldn't need to shovel the driveway at all.

          heh, personally, i do not ever see a time when i do not own a four wheel drive vehicle. maybe i would consider something sporty and fun, but only if i still had a truck or jeep or two that i'd use in the winter.
          "I'll admit I had an OiNK account and frequented it quite often… What made OiNK a great place was that it was like the world's greatest record store… iTunes kind of feels like Sam Goody to me. I don't feel cool when I go there. I'm tired of seeing John Mayer's face pop up. I feel like I'm being hustled when I visit there, and I don't think their product is that great. DRM, low bit rate, etc... OiNK it existed because it filled a void of what people want."
          - Trent Reznor

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Vehicle Hacking... Remote Start Technology

            Originally posted by Deviant Ollam View Post
            also, if you'd just drive a proper vehicle in the fist place you wouldn't need to shovel the driveway at all.

            heh, personally, i do not ever see a time when i do not own a four wheel drive vehicle. maybe i would consider something sporty and fun, but only if i still had a truck or jeep or two that i'd use in the winter.
            HA! You have not seen my driveway.. when it snows I can barely WALK up it (about a 30 degree incline, smooth concrete).. not to mention it is very narrow, so any sliding results in hitting the house or the wall. Gotta love New England housing in the city! I was going to get a 4x4 Xtera, but the damn thing would be too wide to fit through. :(
            Happiness is a belt-fed weapon.

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Vehicle Hacking... Remote Start Technology

              Che, sounds like you are a candidate to winch up the driveway to your home. Funstuff.

              Peace man

              x
              If a chicken and a half, can lay an egg and a half, in a day and a half... how long would it take a monkey, with a wooden leg, to kick the seeds out of a dill pickle?

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              • #8
                Re: Vehicle Hacking... Remote Start Technology

                Originally posted by Deviant Ollam View Post
                excellent, i'll check it out. this is actually for the '99 Yukon and not the '76 jeep, so the wiring and mechanics aren't as exposed and easy to reach but i still feel pretty good about it... they make a T-harness for my model. i'm reading their web site and at first glance my opinion is that they need a better webmaster. the FAQ page has loads of duplicate questions and answers, the nav links don't appear all properly for me, and their products page doesn't really show any meaningful description of features. heh, what is the "pit stop" functionality? looks like a great package, though... and google turns up some results of vendors offering them for just over $50.
                Yeah, the web site has always sucked, but I live in a glass house in that regard. It does have a huge number of vehicle wiring connections, which was my may concern back when I was dealing with the Bronco.

                Originally posted by che View Post
                Funny this came up, I was talking about a remote start system yesterday. By the time my car starts getting warmed up I have made it to my morning destination. These look like pretty impressive kits.. I think I will give one a go myself..

                Now if they just made a kit that would get all the snow off the car and shovel the driveway..
                For what it's worth, I was traveling in NY/NJ yesterday, and stopped at a Target store (we don't have them here.) They had several choices of DIY remote starter/remote entry kits in the $50-$100 range. It may be worth looking into if there's a store near either of you guys.

                And Che, setting the defroster on "max" will clear the vehicle of the majority of snow, although it won't shovel the driveway. Sorry.

                On the other hand, if you combined a Roomba with an electric snow blower, and you added a WiFi link so it could report back to the house network... <me starts scribbling a part list> Dammit, another project!
                Thorn
                "If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning." - Catherine Aird

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: Vehicle Hacking... Remote Start Technology

                  Originally posted by Thorn View Post
                  if you combined a Roomba with an electric snow blower
                  why does that make me think of an evil horror creature of the type you'd find on a late-night movie on a B-grade cable network? i'm imagining a snow-blower type contraption that become sentient and runs amok, terrorizing a small new england town.

                  you awaken in the night -- perhaps after having conducted a concerned meeting with the sheriff and some neighbors in your living room just hours before -- to strange sounds outside of your bedroom door. with a shotgun clenched in your hands and sweat beading on your brow, you turn the old brass knob. as the hairs on the back of your neck prick up, you peer into the inky blackness, unable to discern what is out there. a flash of lightning casts just enough illumination for you to clearly tell that something is out of place. you realize what has happened but it's already too late... as you grope for a light switch, a soft but menacing red glow tells you that it has already detected your presence. the hallway comes into focus just as the mechanized beast begins turning to face you...



                  (EDIT: hmmm... it occurs to me that i really should have concluded my photoshopping with some blood stains left behind by its previous victims. i'll get on that after finishing up more of the morning routine here.)

                  (EDIT: done and done. hehe, lovely. should i get started on a screenplay? if i make it big i'll give you a cut for the original concept)
                  Last edited by Deviant Ollam; November 13, 2007, 08:06.
                  "I'll admit I had an OiNK account and frequented it quite often… What made OiNK a great place was that it was like the world's greatest record store… iTunes kind of feels like Sam Goody to me. I don't feel cool when I go there. I'm tired of seeing John Mayer's face pop up. I feel like I'm being hustled when I visit there, and I don't think their product is that great. DRM, low bit rate, etc... OiNK it existed because it filled a void of what people want."
                  - Trent Reznor

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: Vehicle Hacking... Remote Start Technology

                    Originally posted by Deviant Ollam View Post
                    why does that make me think of an evil horror creature of the type you'd find on a late-night movie on a B-grade cable network? i'm imagining a snow-blower type contraption that become sentient and runs amok, terrorizing a small new england town.
                    Why have it be sentient? No. Have a fleet of these things, and have translation software convert enemies to mobileObjects, and appropriate walls into well, walls, with texture samples from live video for texture maps onto walls, then make these "bots" controllable by people playing First Person Shooters, where their only weapon is a "chainsaw." As these play-testers play the game, death results in activation of new units.

                    Mapping software from the real world along with GPS could be used to provide overhead view with obfuscated name for real cities. Automated searches like google maps "ammunition near real city name,state" or "gasoline near present street address" could provide overhead display for where to go to get refueled or armed in some special way.

                    As they get better, they move up in levels taking out people in Law Enforcement, and eventually military if they are "good" enough, as such a thing might happen as society attempts to deal with these things. Shielding from EMP would be required and some technology for uninterruptable, high-speed, low latency communication would be needed. (We are talking about a fictional movie here.)

                    Now the people doing the killing don't even know they are killing people in real life, and they can use their existing skills from other games to be very successful with this, and humans are likely the best killers on this planet. We're so good, we kill for sport, and make games so we can kill fictional beings for fun.

                    Hey. Can I be one of the game testers? I think I could rampage through Walmart, cutting prices, and products.

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