Sneaking around AutoCop

A lot of times, my AutoCop car security system has given me problems. Especially when I’m trying to sneak in/out of my building without waking up the neighbours, at night. One big relief is that I’ve got a switch that cuts off the reversing siren, which I most conveniently use when I’m reversing out of my building in these situations.

However, there is one sound the security system makes which until now defied any sort of control. Every time I lock or unlock the car, the security stem makes a loud single or double beep, respectively. I’ve finally figured out how to stop this sound from occurring. Read on.

The point is, that the security system circuitry (like a lot of end-consumer appliance electronics) is single threaded. Let me illustrate this with an example. When I turn on the engine of the car, after a short delay the security system auto-locks all the doors. Point is, if I turn on the engine and immediately start to reverse, the reversing siren sounds off. Now while the reverse siren is sounding, the short delay timeout of the AutoCop system expires and the doors lock. However, just at the time that the doors lock, the reverse siren skips a beat, because the siren can’t sound during the short period of time that the doors are being locked. Like I said, single threaded.

Now, I just need to use this fact to my advantage to halt the lock/unlock sound in it’s tracks. The AutoCop system has a button on it’s remote labelled ‘C’ for check. When you hit the ‘C’heck button, the lights of the car start to blink in a rhythm; the idea is that you can find your car in a parking lot full of cars of every variety; or if you don’t remember where you parked it.

Just like I illustrated with my earlier example, when the AutoCop system is in blinking the car lights, if I hit the lock/unlock buttons during a blink, the operation happens without any sound.

Problem solved.

Next unsolved problem? How to get the AutoCop security system to not auto lock the car after a timeout when it’s in an unlocked state. This is actually a security hazard because one can easily get locked out of the car with the keys inside!

A lot of times, my AutoCop car security system has given me problems. Especially when I’m trying to sneak in/out of my building without waking up the neighbours, at night. One big relief is that I’ve got a switch that cuts off the reversing siren, which I most conveniently use when I’m reversing out of my building in these situations.

However, there is one sound the security system makes which until now defied any sort of control. Every time I lock or unlock the car, the security stem makes a loud single or double beep, respectively. I’ve finally figured out how to stop this sound from occurring. Read on.

The point is, that the security system circuitry (like a lot of end-consumer appliance electronics) is single threaded. Let me illustrate this with an example. When I turn on the engine of the car, after a short delay the security system auto-locks all the doors. Point is, if I turn on the engine and immediately start to reverse, the reversing siren sounds off. Now while the reverse siren is sounding, the short delay timeout of the AutoCop system expires and the doors lock. However, just at the time that the doors lock, the reverse siren skips a beat, because the siren can’t sound during the short period of time that the doors are being locked. Like I said, single threaded.

Now, I just need to use this fact to my advantage to halt the lock/unlock sound in it’s tracks. The AutoCop system has a button on it’s remote labelled ‘C’ for check. When you hit the ‘C’heck button, the lights of the car start to blink in a rhythm; the idea is that you can find your car in a parking lot full of cars of every variety; or if you don’t remember where you parked it.

Just like I illustrated with my earlier example, when the AutoCop system is in blinking the car lights, if I hit the lock/unlock buttons during a blink, the operation happens without any sound.

Problem solved.

Next unsolved problem? How to get the AutoCop security system to not auto lock the car after a timeout when it’s in an unlocked state. This is actually a security hazard because one can easily get locked out of the car with the keys inside!