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.

Dammit, Witfal, ya beat me to it...

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

It's an '89 Mazda 626, if I recall correctly?

Just park it next to something newer. That shouldn't be too hard with an '89. Well, don't park it next to a Ford, pick something the bad guys will want to steal.

That's it!

A few years later, some South African company literally, though for a short time, marketed an alarm system which involved flame throwers shooting out from under both sides of the auto.

It was condemned immediately as a racist device, though I never could understand how they supposedly programmed it to recognize skin color.

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...

They don't bother my Supra or my Scion, since these have integral security systems (the Scion is Factory, the Supra I installed...)

Or, at least knock on wood...

Yup. I did this after I posted this post:

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?

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