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12V Car Alarms on Boats - what to look for?


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Has anyone used a 12V car alarm type system on their boat? Not looking for anything fancy in terms of remote alerting (I think?). Ideally just something that is noisy when any doors/hatches/(windows?) are opened I guess? More around intrusion than theft (so, unless really useful for smthing I can't think of, probably no need for GPS - narrowboats hardly made for speedy getaways!). Any recommendations/things to look out for?

 

In response to the 'but whys?' - The child has asked for it as their previous home was invaded by a known individual whilst empty. The intended mooring is pretty much as secure as they get around here (not, until they work it out anyway, known to the previous intruder) and there will be quite vocal dogs on board much of the time, certainly when we're there - So, it is only for when left (with child's treasured *stuff*/other pets/etc). I've met the manager/some neighbours and would be happy to leave them a key/remote/whatever the thing is to turn it off if it went off accidentally so hopefully it won't be too annoying but will let child have some peace of mind. There is a hook up on the mooring but thought 12V would make the alarm useful for when moored up cruising too.

 

Edited to add: I thought maybe a solar powered motion-sensitive light (LEDs?) near each door might not be overkill/actually quite useful for when trying to come home in the dark ourselves without loosing the menagerie into the cut? Are any of them reasonably robust?

Edited by TheMenagerieAfloat
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Some car alarms have motion detectors which means everybody around may enjoy its melliferous tones every time somebody passes you on tickover.

My car alarm could also be triggered when I had a dog, so you may want to consider what that could mean.

 

I too have solar powered lights, they're also dead handy for when you return to the boat from an evening at the pub, or walking the dogs.

Some of the cheaper DIY house alarms are actually 12V DC and use magnetic switches which might be more to your needs.

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Oh, cheap house alarm sounds much more like the thing then, thank you zenataomm. Hadn't realised they wd be 12V. I'm def not after motion sensors. I've had to disable the alarm in my car for when I leave the dogs inside at a petrol station. So, 5mins/month of jumping/barking/honking and flashing prevented in return for zero car security!

Edited by TheMenagerieAfloat
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Do folk with motion detectors have a commode as a drivers seat. Or are they to detect strangers using your car as public convenience. Mine has a Cobra motion detector so I don't recommend burglars using it as a bog.

Edited by bizzard
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I can't give you practical advice beyond avoiding obvious causes of false alarms - recently saw nearly all the cars on the ferry to Le Havre have their alarms go off as we left Portsmouth which would suggest the modern car alarm is not suited to boats! My old Rover alarm is linked to the interior light and goes off if a door is opened - this might be the model to follow.

 

It also sounds as if you are dealing with a situation of reassurance following previous trauma - does this mean that it would be desirable to be able to demonstrate that no-one has been on board in your absence? Not sure how you might achieve this, but I'm guessing there would be value in showing the child that "they haven't..." as well as saying that "they can't...". Such a mechanism would have to be reliable though, false alarms could have the opposite effect from reassurance.

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A lot of the cheap gsm alarms on ebay and similar places are 12v, have wireless magnetic switches and motion detectors and can be armed / disarmed by keyfobs, punching in the code on the panel or text message.

you don't have to use the gsm side of the alarm at all.

we set one up on our boat with door switches front & rear, motion sensor in the main cabin (which can be switched off from the sensor) and a motion sensor in the engine bay, we also added a wire loop that could be passed through the frame of bikes that were on the back of the boat.

 

Edited by Jess--
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  • 2 months later...

If you want to use a car alarm you can set it up to work exactly like a 12v house alarm, you can use the magnet switches on the doors and windows just as you would in a house, do not fit ultrasonic movement sensors as fitted in most cars you can purchase a microwave unit as used on convertibles that isn't affected by movement it triggers if the invisible box it emits  is broken and the box size is adjustable.What i would say however is car Alarms can be very voltage Sensitive and some are power hungry.

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4 hours ago, Dave .Morialta said:

and some are power hungry.

 

A very good point. 

 

All the alarms on my hobby cars have drained the battery in about a week of non-use. I fit battery isolators on my hobby cars nowadays to defeat the alarm systems and prevent this happening. 

 

 

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We made a home made one on our first 1980s boat. Simple was best. 2 pressure pads under the carpet one at front hatch one at rear. Connected to relay and 4 airhorns. The best bit being the horns were inside the cabin. We put a timer on the latched in relay circuit and a keyswitch on the front bulkhead. No voltage drop when armed.

with 4 airhorns inside the cabin there was little thinking available  once triggered.

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Ah this is for home mooring (only probably as that is where specific individual wd be looking for us), not cruising really. Apparently we have dubious honour of qualifying for a funded one - was impressed authorities were able to find boat-friendly one actually (will take a look when it arrives)... but have also found some which will operate like door bell or alarm depending on setting so will have handy (but not too loud) effect of letting me know if the little one makes any late night excursions onto deck ?

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Once they become more common on boats, alarms are likely to elicit the same sorts of responses from neighbours as car alarms currently do. i.e. irritation, annoyance and just trying to ignore the bloody thing. 

 

They'll just become another form of noise pollution on the waterways.

 

Expecting your neighbours to deal with false alarms when you're away is an imposition. So unless you can guarantee it won't happen don't do it.

Edited by blackrose
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On one of Charles Darwins voyages he sailed through the Fuegian archipalago to dodge Cape Horn itself. On anchoring on several nights he would sprinkle rusty tin tacks all over his side decks. Local bare footed savages and cannibals had a habit of paddling out to him on dark nights armed with big knobbly clubs and bloodgeons, leap up on to his deck making whooping, shrieking blood thirsty warlike noises only to tread on the tin tacks and leap straight off again into the water shrieking even louder and beat it off home again.  If any of em slipped over and sat on a rusty tack they probably got a dose of tetanarse.   Drawing pins would be ideal too.

Edited by bizzard
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2 hours ago, bizzard said:

On one of Charles Darwins voyages he sailed through the Fuegian archipalago to dodge Cape Horn itself. On anchoring on several nights he would sprinkle rusty tin tacks all over his side decks. Local bare footed savages and cannibals had a habit of paddling out to him on dark nights armed with big knobbly clubs and bloodgeons, leap up on to his deck making whooping, shrieking blood thirsty warlike noises only to tread on the tin tacks and leap straight off again into the water shrieking even louder and beat it off home again.  If any of em slipped over and sat on a rusty tack they probably got a dose of tetanarse.   Drawing pins would be ideal too.

Pretty similar to be had in nuneaton

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11 hours ago, TheMenagerieAfloat said:

Ah this is for home mooring (only probably as that is where specific individual wd be looking for us), not cruising really. Apparently we have dubious honour of qualifying for a funded one -

The above would seem to indicate that your reason for wishing to fit an alarm is rather different to the average boater's usual, more general, security considerations. If the forum understand this, and factor in the non reliance on your batteries, it may well change the answers you get. :)

 

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24 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

The above would seem to indicate that your reason for wishing to fit an alarm is rather different to the average boater's usual, more general, security considerations. If the forum understand this, and factor in the non reliance on your batteries, it may well change the answers you get. :)

 

Oh, yes. My mooring is perfectly secure enough to prevent almost all casual towpath based crime and is offside and off-line (in a little basin off the main canal). So, whilst technically accessible by boat, it is pretty obvious to lots of overlooking neighbours when you pull in (they pop out and help you moor as it is very tight!). Dogs provide some alarm features too. 

 

So, yes, only want alarm for the specific reasons.  And probably won't bother when cruising as boat currently without name painted on/possibly not that distinctive to a non-boater.

 

@magpie patrickpicked up on one of the reasons I want it above - small ppl need to feel there is a safety mechanism :-) 

Edited by TheMenagerieAfloat
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7 hours ago, blackrose said:

Cor, perpetuating racist stereotypes and inciting violence all in one post! ?

That's nothing, you want to read Coral Island.  Cannibals bashing each others brains out on the beach, cooking enemies in big pots,, swinging the cat around by its tail and hurling it into the sea. And that's only half of it.

Edited by bizzard
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10 hours ago, bizzard said:

On one of Charles Darwins voyages he sailed through the Fuegian archipalago to dodge Cape Horn itself. On anchoring on several nights he would sprinkle rusty tin tacks all over his side decks. Local bare footed savages and cannibals had a habit of paddling out to him on dark nights armed with big knobbly clubs and bloodgeons, leap up on to his deck making whooping, shrieking blood thirsty warlike noises only to tread on the tin tacks and leap straight off again into the water shrieking even louder and beat it off home again.  If any of em slipped over and sat on a rusty tack they probably got a dose of tetanarse.   Drawing pins would be ideal too.

Years ago my mother was into CB radio and as a result we had a 30 foot tall pole next to my bedroom window with an (at the time) expensive aerial on top.

One night I heard some strange noises from outside (around 2 am) and looked out to find someone had climbed the pole and was trying to steal the aerial, they saw me and slid back down the pole, jumped the garden wall and vanished.

The next day the pole was lowered and a foot of carpet tacks pushed through tape was added just below the aerial (bright yellow tape on a black pole) and the pole re-erected.

3 nights later I was awoken by a loud yell of F******k from outside my window followed by a distinct thud from the back garden.

 

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