OK, ladies and gentlemen, put on your Thinking Caps...

a viper.. not the car alarm, but a real life viper...

OR...the system portrayed in the opening scenes of Robocop II.

Go to K-Mart or Wal-Mart and get a cheapo alarm.

Believe it or not, this was EXACTLY what I was watching back in 1991 on HBO when my Hachiroku got stolen the first time...

I agree. Car alarms are basically ineffective, because they false constantly and so they get ignored. Even if _your_ alarm is perfect, if it goes off in the supermarket parking lot nobody will even bother to look at the car, because they are all so used to false alarms all the time.

BUT, a thirty-foot anaconda will definitely be a theft-stopping wonder, if not deterring any theft attempts in the first place. Everybody should have them. You could sell them with the slogan "Get your Honda An Anaconda." If you use that slogan, though, I want royalties.

--scott

Too bad it wasn't an option.

Why not buy those battery operated blinking LEDs that pretend to be a viper on standby. Putting a switch under the fender may have some drawbacks during winter season. I am thinking you do not like those metal bars you put on the steering wheel and brake pedals.

**Trunk monkey and a Louisville Slugger.

kaboomie

A 555 circuit is sophisticated???

You can buy time delay relays on the surplus market, but driving a regular relay directly from a capacitor takes a huge capacitor because the load resistance is so low, and time delay is proportional to R x C. I'd use a 555 or quad comparator (339?) for everything, and you should be able to make it activate automatically when you shut off the key. In Nogales, USA, vehicle fleet owners favor hidden kill switches to stop thieves from Nogales, Mexico.

Have you checked

Lots of electronics links there.

How about a Doberman? A friend of mine finds no need to even lock his van when his Doberman is in it. It won't even let me into the van without him there even though it knows that I'm ok. Nobody gets into the van unless they have either a bullet or a tranquilizer dart.

Eric

Smoke with the windows up so the inside stinks to high heaven. Oops, you do that now don't you!

I have a friend that has a pitbull/Akita mix, but he won't give her up...

Yup. I did this after I posted this post:

You know, I worked in Andover MA 27 years ago, in a building shared with Raytheon. A lot of cars there, and there was a rash of burglaries in the parking lot.

A guy I worked with who was really smart came up with a circuit very, very similar to this one. I installed it in my '80 Corolla, took an end connector from one of the units I was working on, put a key switch in it, and a plastic cap and mounted it in the fender well. It worked quite well.

That's why I had asked about a 555 CKT.

Ah, yes. The trunk monkey!!!

Too high maintenance, though. Can they be litter box trained?

snipped-for-privacy@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote in news:fa5l19$3tm$ snipped-for-privacy@panix2.panix.com:

You couldn't handle a "30 ft" anaconda. Plus it would pee in your car,and STINK it up.

I had an alarm in my 94 Integra,and Jun 29,at 3:40AM,it went off,I immediately looked out my window,and they were already rolling my car away.I jumped into my shorts,grabbed my gun bag and ran out,and the car was already out the gate and well down the road,alarm blaring.(a gated community!) All this in less than a minute.

It had a starter disable,that's why they pushstarted it. I had a fuel cutoff relay I was going to install with a hidden magnetic switch,but didn't have a chance to do it. The car was 'recovered' 3 days later,two counties way,stripped and burned,a total loss.

Hondas are really easy to steal,up until they began using immobilizer keys and coding the ECU to the keys.

you need to immobilize the car so they can't drive it off;meaning a fuel cutoff or removal of a critical part like the ECU,and the alarm is just to tell you they have gotten INTO the car and may be removing your stereo,air bags,seats,or other parts. Then you need a GUN to safely 'detain' them until police arrive,which can be a long wait.In some states it's legal to shoot the thieves,especially if they move towards you.

Eric wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@spam.now:

can't leave them in there on a hot day.

Best Buy;about $200 gets you an alarm,installed.

A friend and fellow writer I once knew had a reticulated python that was bigger than she was. One time I dropped by her house to drop off a document we were working on and the python met me at the door. At least its head did. Its tail was in the dining room. I have no idea how long it was, but I often wondered how my fellow writer handled the snake.

Elliot Richmond Itinerant astronomy teacher Freelance science writer

Our family had Dobermans for years and they are easily bribed by food (as is just about any dawg). In fact, the last one (I swear) would point to the loot...

JT

Elliot Richmond wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Here in Florida,dumb people get pythons,and when they get too big,they release them outdoors,peoples pets begin disappearing,and they grow even bigger,and then animal control or the police end up having to capture them;they get bit,nearly strangled,and it takes at least 3 people to wrangle one of them. Even their owners get bit or hurt when handling them. Reptiles do NOT make good pets.