SILICON C HIP
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Leo Simpson, B.Bus.
Editor
Greg Swain, B.Sc.(Hons.)
Technical Staff
John Clarke , B.E.(Elec.)
Robert Flynn
Advertising Manager
Paul Buchtmann
Regular Contributors
Neville Williams, FIREE, VK2XV
Bryan Maher, M.E. B.Sc.
Jim Yalden, VK2YGY
Garry Cratt, VK2YBX
Jim Lawler, MTETIA
John Hill
David Whitby
Photography
Bob Donaldson
Editorial Advisory Panel
Philip Watson, MIREE, VK2ZPW
Norman Marks
Steve Payor, B.Sc. , B.E.
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2
SILICON CHIP
PUBLISHER'S LE'l-l'ER
Every new car can
be burglar proofed
One of the really great aspects of running a magazine is that you get
to talk to a lot of people about electronics. Of course, we get a lot of
reader feedback on the projects described in SILICON CHIP and some of
that feedback generates ideas for new projects in the future.
We have had a lot of feedback about our car projects and it is quite
clear that people are very concerned about having their cars stolen.
Our own car alarm projects have been very popular and commercial
units are being sold by the tens of thousands every year.
But when you think about it, most of this additional expense for the
motorist is entirely unjustified, particularly for buyers of new cars.
No, I'm not saying that car thieves are suddenly going to stop taking
new models overnight. What I am saying is that it would be so easy for
car makers to incorporate electronic security into their engine
management systems.
After all, every modern car with fuel injection has a computer for
engine management. It would be so easy to add in an electronic security feature into the computer's ROM - it would be just a few lines of
code. Then, before you started the car, you would press a few buttons
on the dashboard to enter in a unique code known only to you. If
anybody else tried to start the car without knowing the code, it would
be immovable.
How much would that feature add to the cost of a new car? Say $10
or even $20. It's a piffling amount but it could virtually stop cars being
stolen overnight.
I'm not saying that such a system would stop car thieves from breaking into vehicles and stealing accessories such as radios or fancy
wheels but it would be a big improvement on the security available on
new cars now.
And with the computing power already available in engine management systems, why couldn't the system be extended to provide a complete car burglar alarm, with sensing on all doors, boot, bonnet and so
on? Very little extra wiring would be required since it is already there.
If electronic security can be incorporated into car radios such as
the Eurovox to stop theft, why can't it be fitted to cars? The answer is
that there is no reason why not. It should be available now.
Leo Simpson
