Boat Alarm

For the past year, I have been wanting an alarm in my boat with all the stereo equipment and wakeboarding gear. Ben L at Acme Tops and Tunes in Sacramento, CA (http://www.acmetopsandtunes.com/) has been great to work with from day one. He started off with me wanting the world and two weeks ago, I was able to afford a piece of it . Thanks Ben L. for the communication during this entire process and looking out for my best interest.

p.s. Those Bullet 770 in your show room were loud as a mother f'er. You got me thinking and might take you up on a purchase of them. Does anyone want some Tower Speakers? Lightning Audio Arc tower speakers?

Ben ROCKS!!!!!

I agree, totally awesome work and the alarm works great...

Ops, almost forgot, don't go straight out with your boat from where they store the boats. The curb is a little LARGE!!! Trailer scratched But still loved the service.

Ben is awesome I had great service too and I was a thousand miles away. I can't imagine hearing 770's in a show room that I'm sure were hooked up to a Boston Acoustic GT-28...

Thanks guys for the props guys.

Dave - It was a pleasure working on your boat and I'm glad we were able to get all of that audio gear protected. Our techs rated your boat as one of there top 5 favorite boats to come in the shop. It looked great! Let me know when you want to make the jump out of those Arc towers. I think I can make you a better deal than you know.

Hate - I still love the color combo of the 770s you picked out. Were you able to get that Q-tune dialed in?

What type of sensors were used. Did you use proximaty sensors, infrared, motion? Can't find the infrared sensors anymore. These were ugly but worked great; only went off when something entered boat, motion didn't effect them. Are you able to get the proximaty sensors adjusted not to go off on a boat lift or having someone just walk by?

Ben any advise to what to use? Not sure what's best since we aren't able to get IR sensors anymore.

Ben, yes and thanks again for detailing that so well in that email. I'm loving the GT-28 and how clear it has made my Bullets...thanks again.

So how about some more info on this boat alarm since many people haven't done it yet? Either from the owner or installer....

to simplify my question. Can you get a proximaty sensor to be adjusted to not go off if the boat is sitting on a lift and has people just walking by it on the dock and also having the lift and cover move around? Anyone use one and able to achieve this.

I installed an alarm on my boat. I tried the proxmity alarm but gave up on it. It had a lot of false alarms. While on the trailer cats and other critters would pass under the boat. While in the water ducks would jump on the swim platform. Windy days would make the cover shake and flop.

If I had the proximity sensor adjusted so that it didn't provide false alarms it also failed to detect me climbing into the boat.

What I have now is just sensors on the lockers. The bad part is that now we can actually launch the boat with the alarm still on, have the key fob back in the truck in the parking area and then open a locker.......

Think I am going to need an alarm myself. Went to uncover the boat today and noticed the front cover has been slashed from one end to the other. I checked and made sure the radio/amps/speakers were all still there and they were but it looks like some wiring in my dash under the steering wheel has been messed with (horn and a few other things have been unplugged). It almost seems like someone went into the boat but either got spooked or could just not figure out where anything was and gave up. The weird thing is there were no footprints, just an abnormal amount of dirt in the boat on the floor.

On David's Tige we kept it very simple but did not leave out any of the important items.

The alarm chosen is a standard automotive alarm that has a LCD display on the remote control that will alert you if the alarm is triggered. On the Tige we used an Autopage that has a range of up to 1/2 a mile.

Mini magnetic switches were used to arm the requested compartments.

A proximity sensor was installed in the most centrally located position available. The sensor has a dual zone adjustment. The outer zone (bubble) was best adjusted to give a warning chirp when some approached the side of the boat or stepped onto the rear swim deck. The inner zone was set to trigger the alarm if someone stepped onto the trailer or entered the boat. The proximity sensor was installed with a switch that turns off the proximity for when it is docked or is sitting in the lake. The primary purpose of the proximity is for when it is on the trailer. The proximity sensor does not know the difference from someone entering the boat, a flapping boat cover or a large swaying tree so it may not work out for everyone in every location and may have a problem with false alarming.

A backup battery siren was used to ensure that attention would be brought to the boat even if batteries were disconnected or wires were cut. Only the owner has the keys to the siren to shut it off.

Other options that have been installed:
-Alarm with greater range of up to a mile
-Alarm capable of GPS tracking or cell phone notifications
-Additional sensors in various locations to provide a more even coverage
-Mini Peizo sirens (also known as pain generators) in key compartments
-Light flash outputs connected to tower, interior lights or bow lights
-Remote engine start
-Closed loop sensors for boat covers or tower speakers
-Starter or ignition disable
-Auxiliary channels hooked up to radio, ballast, LED lighting, train horn, disco ball or whatever else you can think of.

The installation was kept reliable by soldering every connection and making sure that every sensor was solidly mounted and did not rely on the double stick tape supplied.

I hope this gives everyone an idea of what is available and a few ideas. In the alarm world there are many options. If you work with a creative installer and share with them your concerns I'm sure they can use a relay or clever devise to keep your boat safe.

Ben,
You guys do great work over there. Just to update you, we had the Sanger out on Father's Day. The stereo sounded PERFECT. That pinched RC wire was such an easy troubleshoot/fix for you, I would've never caught it.

The Bullets, were booming as usual. Can't wait to get my dawn run in @ Don Pedro in July. Last year, my tunes were heard 2 miles from the campsite, clear as a bell! I might have to dial that back a bit this year.

Another shout out to BEN and CO. at Acme! Those guys took care of me, and the finished product was stellar! The 770 Hollow Points are shweet, and the detail and pride they put in their installs is top notch!

Now Ben, when the hell are you gonna ride with us?

Thanks again, and if I win the lotto, I'm coming for more speakers and that alarm!

David, did the same thing.....

Just got back from a camping trip and let me say. I slept much easier knowing that if anyone opened one of the compartments that were sensored, I would know that someone was in the boat.

As for the back lockers, I didn't put any sensors in that area. One locker has a lock on it already while the other locker needs one. I am currently trying to find a matching lock for both lockers. However, eventually, I would like to have the engine hatch secured since there is no lock on that cover.

Again, thanks Ben and I have been doing some number crunching and talking with friends to see if they would be interested in purchasing some used speakers.

Troy, Rik and David -

I'm glad everything is working well in the boats (even too well in Troy's). Thanks for putting out the good word. Remember.. the more people you send me the better your discounts get.