Grey wire mod (extend alarm remote range)

[98 SNAKE EATER]

I wonder if it will be tough adjusting to having an alarm that I don't have to activate and deactivate while peering in my Cruiser.

Hardest part for me is making it to my door before it automagically re-arms itself @ 20 seconds

I'm usually test the range from as far as possible and it seems I'm always running against a clock

Oh yeah, gotta be careful with that panic button...

I once put my bunch of keys in my pocket and when I sat down at the kitchen table, the button somehow got pushed and I ended up waking up the whole neighborhood

 

[Atoyot1031]

Hardest part for me is making it to my door before it automagically re-arms itself @ 20 seconds

Snake, as usual, yer killin me!

The wife is gonna be screwed at the grocery store because of this. This mod might create more problems than it solves, so I might end up having to remove the wire.

 

[Oilleeker]

Fabulous cheapo mod

Hi, the remote range sucked on my LX450; line of sight only to the transmitter and at most six feet, practically none without Line of Sight. I did this "mod" and it is TERRIFIC. I did not have to remove the seat (thanks for the pics). The pics help eliminate the :whoops: factor when cutting the single grey wire. I ran the new wire under the drivers seat to the DS trim and stashed it under there and removed the B billar as well and ran it up that (gorilla tape to the steel) and then another three feet behind the DS rear door behind the door trim (there is space there, but prolly overkill). Sweet results! About 50 feet with line of sight and about 20 without even with not-so-new batteries. Great, free clean "mod". Thanks a lot!

 

[Ebag333]

So it's been almost a year since I posted this, figured it was time for an update.

I replaced my battery in my remote about 2-3 months after I did this mod, mostly because the needed hers replaced.

Since then, while the range has dropped I can still easily un/lock my truck from 10+ yards away (yeah, I didn't run 30 feet of wire and tear apart my whole truck like someone else did ). With the truck, I practically have to be standing at the car door.

No issues with the way I ran my wire. I'll probably do what Oilleeker did next time I check on it, and gorilla tape it instead of letting it hang over the top seatbelt bolt. I wonder if I can find a small and relatively flat antenna that would match fairly close to the frequency the remotes use. Hmm, another research project....

 

[Liftman]

Was reading this post and had a look at my Alarm box, its not the same as the ones in the post,i have a single mulity conector,,,can it be done with this system???

 

[Ebag333]

Not sure which one that is, looks like one of the other (less common) port installed ones.

Would need the wiring diagram to figure out which one is the antenna, or if it's internal to the box. It's probably one of those wires on the bundle, but which one is anyone's guess.

You could follow the bundle and see if any of the wires simply terminate (doesn't plug into anything). If that's the case, fair chance it's the antenna. But that's rather tedious....

 

[Ebag333]

I wonder if I can find a small and relatively flat antenna that would match fairly close to the frequency the remotes use. Hmm, another research project....

Found in another forum...

Toyota VIP RS3000 Security Alarm - Tundra Solutions Forum

Your Toyota remote works at a frequency of 303.875 Mhz

So looks like most car alarms/remotes operate in a similar frequency. That's right on the edge of VHF/UHF...


I believe that these antenna's would work. They were designed to work with the Viper remotes, which operate at a frequency around 433 MHz. While that's not the same as the Toyota remote, it's probably closer than a hunk of wire.....

Maybe someone here who needs hundreds of feet of range should get one and try it out.

 

[wearsabrowncoat]

This needs its own FAQ link.

I ran a long wire over the B pillar and the improvement is incredible.

 

[Liftman]

Someone might have a diagram for the wiring of it hopfully

 

[pr0ject42]

I was poking around looking at antennas for 300 mHz and something dawned on me.

The wire is acting as a single pole antenna and apparently not a bad one at that. If you would want something with more gain, it would end up being most likely a directional antenna. While this could net you much more range, the problem would be that the range is directional.

So lets say you grabbed a yagi or panel antenna (or heaven forbid a dish), you would get killer range in the direction the antenna is pointing, but in the other directions, your range would suffer greatly. We won't get into lobes of the antenna pattern and the gain they provide. So really this isn't ideal for this type of application.

But you say, hey dood, what about slapping an omni up there instead? Those get gain right? This is correct but we have one fundamental flaw. This is a single wire pickup. Most antennas (antennae?) are coaxial. I'll be the first to say I wouldn't be sure about how to wire up a coax antenna into a single wire.

I would think if you really wanted to maximize the mod, you could run the wire up one pillar of your truck, completely around the truck through the headliner to the other side and back down the opposite pillar. To be honest, I think that would be overkill, and to suit the overkill I'd say you might even suffer degraded sensitivity if you get interference from modulation. Of course I don't work with 300 mHz on an everyday basis so that could be completely off too...

Whatever you do, don't drop the $50 on an antenna. You really won't realize the gains that the cost over a simple speaker wire would net you.

Whew.. maybe I shouldn't drink red bull so early in the morning.

 

[Ebag333]

I'm not planning on upgrading my speaker wire anytime soon.


Side note: Still going on the same battery I have had since I replaced it about 2-3 months after this thread was posted. I can still un/lock my truck from a hundred feet away.

 

[fzjconvert]

I was poking around looking at antennas for 300 mHz and something dawned on me.

The wire is acting as a single pole antenna and apparently not a bad one at that. If you would want something with more gain, it would end up being most likely a directional antenna. While this could net you much more range, the problem would be that the range is directional.

So lets say you grabbed a yagi or panel antenna (or heaven forbid a dish), you would get killer range in the direction the antenna is pointing, but in the other directions, your range would suffer greatly. We won't get into lobes of the antenna pattern and the gain they provide. So really this isn't ideal for this type of application.

But you say, hey dood, what about slapping an omni up there instead? Those get gain right? This is correct but we have one fundamental flaw. This is a single wire pickup. Most antennas (antennae?) are coaxial. I'll be the first to say I wouldn't be sure about how to wire up a coax antenna into a single wire.

I would think if you really wanted to maximize the mod, you could run the wire up one pillar of your truck, completely around the truck through the headliner to the other side and back down the opposite pillar. To be honest, I think that would be overkill, and to suit the overkill I'd say you might even suffer degraded sensitivity if you get interference from modulation. Of course I don't work with 300 mHz on an everyday basis so that could be completely off too...

Whatever you do, don't drop the $50 on an antenna. You really won't realize the gains that the cost over a simple speaker wire would net you.

Whew.. maybe I shouldn't drink red bull so early in the morning.

I think you are way over thinking this! I used a cheep FM antenna from Radio Shack, ran it up my door pillar, stretched the two ends out. One towards the rear of the truck and one towards the front along the headliner and I am good. I can stand a 100' in any direction and the fob works. Some times you have to put down the red bull and just do it and not over think stuff.

 

[Old#7]

Was reading this post and had a look at my Alarm box, its not the same as the ones in the post,i have a single multi connector,,,can it be done with this system???

I have the same one in my 93' I found that I could only unlock the rig if I was right next to the driver door pointing the FOB in the window. I took up the driver seat and looked at the connection, there is a wire that looks like a coax or a AV wire you would plug into a VCR on the left side of the unit right next to the big single connector. I found that mine wasn't plugged in. I plugged it in and WOW I have FOB range! I can unlock the rig from inside the house. My obvious guess is, that was the Antenna and some how it wiggled out of the socket. Make sure the wire is plugged in and that might help. I also followed that wire up under the driver kick panel, it disappears under the dash. If you have the gumption to go digging around under there you might find the end and be able to extend it. I didn't do anything else, I was just happy to not have to smash my face against the window to unlock the rig.

 

[akarilo]

Before anybody goes to the trouble to try this modification, try this;

Put the remote to your chin before pressing the button. The remote uses your body as an antenna and the range is incredible. It sounds crazy, but just give it a shot. If it doesn't work for you, what have you lost?

 

[Ebag333]

Before anybody goes to the trouble to try this modification, try this;

Put the remote to your chin before pressing the button. The remote uses your body as an antenna and the range is incredible. It sounds crazy, but just give it a shot. If it doesn't work for you, what have you lost?

It doesn't use your body as an antenna, but as a reflective surface.

Muscle, fat, and water are poor reflectors (good absorbers). But bone is actually fairly decent at it. So by putting it up by your face, you are using your head (no pun intended) to reflect the signal. Because your face is largely bone under a thin layer of skin, and quite a bit of it, it's a decent reflective surface.


That being said, there's no way that the chin trick will work better than extending the antenna. Not even close. Period.

 

[akarilo]

It doesn't use your body as an antenna, but as a reflective surface.

Muscle, fat, and water are poor reflectors (good absorbers). But bone is actually fairly decent at it. So by putting it up by your face, you are using your head (no pun intended) to reflect the signal. Because your face is largely bone under a thin layer of skin, and quite a bit of it, it's a decent reflective surface.


That being said, there's no way that the chin trick will work better than extending the antenna. Not even close. Period.

You're funny.

 

[Ebag333]

You're funny.

I do try.

 

[NKP Garage]

I haven't pulled anything apart yet to look for the antenna wire. But does anyone know if the wiring is similar on the 95-97 trucks equipped with the Toyota "Securikey" system? It's the one that has the remote integrated into the key. One unlock button, one lock button, and some green button on there, no clue what it's for.

 

[Ebag333]

Sounds completely different. You could look under your seat and see if you have the same box though.

 

[NKP Garage]

Sounds completely different. You could look under your seat and see if you have the same box though.

I'll try and find some time to pull it apart this weekend and report back.