Opciones de control remoto de arranque de automóvil

Es otoño, y para la industria de la electrónica móvil, el enfoque cambia directamente a la venta e instalación de arrancadores de automóviles remotos. El tamaño de la industria del arranque remoto es increíblemente grande. ¡Algunos minoristas venden e instalan más de mil de estos pequeños y prácticos aparatos en una sola temporada! Best Car Audio quiere ayudarte a hacer más fácil el proceso de compra. Aquí está nuestra introducción a las opciones de control remoto de arranque remoto del automóvil.

¿Qué hace el control remoto?

El control remoto provisto con el arranque de su automóvil le permite encender su vehículo sin tener que salir o poner la llave en el encendido. La filosofía es que en una fría mañana de invierno o en un caluroso día de verano, puede encender su vehículo unos minutos antes de salir, lo que le da al sistema de calefacción o enfriamiento una ventaja para hacer que el vehículo sea más cómodo.

Los controles remotos se comunican con su vehículo mediante transmisión de radiofrecuencia. Hay dos tipos diferentes de comunicación:modulación de amplitud (AM) y modulación de frecuencia (FM). La metodología de comunicación por sí sola no determina el rendimiento del control remoto con respecto al alcance, y el alcance es un punto clave en la elección de un control remoto. El alcance es la distancia entre usted y su vehículo cuando el arrancador remoto ejecutará comandos desde el control remoto. Si está fuera del alcance y presiona el botón Inicio en su control remoto, no sucede nada.

Rango de rendimiento típico

El año pasado, probamos algunos sistemas que afirmaban ofrecer un alcance de una milla. Instalamos ambos sistemas en el mismo vehículo, uno tras otro. Aparcamos el vehículo en el mismo lugar para probar cada sistema. Ambos sistemas ofrecieron un rendimiento casi idéntico y funcionaron de manera confiable hasta aproximadamente 1,600 pies de distancia, no cerca de una milla. Contactamos a algunos colegas de la industria sobre el rendimiento de otros sistemas. Vimos una prueba de otra marca, calificada para brindar 1 milla de alcance y capaz de arrancar el vehículo desde una distancia de hasta 1.25 millas. Como era de esperar, el rendimiento de su sistema puede variar drásticamente.

¿Por qué los sistemas que probamos no funcionaron como se anunciaba? La mayoría de los fabricantes anuncian "alcance máximo". This distance would be under ideal conditions:no buildings, no foliage, no radio frequency interference. Imagine being in the middle of a desert and everyone else turned off all their radios, cellphone systems, TV broadcasts, satellite communications and so forth. In this impossible scenario, you’d get about a mile of range.

Why did the other system exceed the manufacturer’s ratings? Maybe this manufacturer under-rated the range. Maybe there was a lack of interference in the area. The purpose of this discussion is to clarify that performance differs based on the system you choose and where you use it.

When you go shopping for remotes, you will see a few options for range. Manufacturers advertise the shortest-range remotes as working as far away as 800 feet. Next up are the 1/4-mile or about 1,300- to 1,500-foot range units. Different companies offer different intermediate range solutions, increasing to 2,500 or 3,000 feet, then to 1 mile. One manufacturer offers a remote that claims to work at up to 3 miles. That is very cool!

Remote Feature Overview

The next consideration in selecting a car remote starter revolves around the number of buttons on the remote. The product specialist at your mobile electronics retailer will advise you about what the remote starter can control for vehicle options. These options include door locks, factory alarm control, trunk/hatch release, sliding door control, rear window defroster activation and more. Once you decide which, if any, of these features will be part of your system, you can decide which remote you need.

One-button remotes are, of course, the simplest. The single button can be used to lock and unlock the vehicle, as well as activate the remote car starter. Some remotes have four or five buttons. These remotes have dedicated buttons for locking/arming, unlocking/disarming, trunk release and remote starting. Most five-button remotes include a Function key to access additional features like auxiliary outputs and vehicle information display. Multi-button remotes are required when the system includes features like trunk or hatch release. Single-button remotes can’t activate those features.

Communication Options

Separate from the range and button configuration of a remote are options for how the remote communicates with the vehicle. A one-way remote is like your TV remote – it only sends commands to the vehicle. You have no way of knowing whether the command was received or executed unless you can physically see the vehicle. A two-way remote can send commands to the vehicle and receive information back from the vehicle. Every two-way remote has some method of letting you know what is happening. This information can be presented via LEDs, on an LCD screen, with beeps and vibrations, or a combination of many of these.

Let’s look at a real-world example of how a two-way remote control can be beneficial. The simplest of functions is locking your car. You press the button on your remote control, and the car should lock. But what if you didn’t lock the car before you went into a shopping mall, office building or home? If you have a one-way remote, you can only hope that pressing the lock button at this longer distance will secure your vehicle. If you have a two-way remote and the vehicle is in range, the vehicle will send a confirmation to the remote to let you know it worked – that it received and executed the command. No guessing is required.

Several manufacturers offer additional vehicle information display on remotes with LCD screens. You can query the vehicle to display battery voltage or vehicle temperature.

Other Communication Options

System control options use different technologies. These include Bluetooth interfaces that allow you to control the system from an app on your phone. Smartphone interfaces use the cellular network and an app to let you manage and monitor your vehicle from anywhere in the world – as long as you have a data connection. Proximity keys that unlock the vehicle when you approach it are another option. There are also small keypads that mount to the inside of the windshield so you can type in a code to lock or unlock the vehicle.

Whatever remote control solution you pick for your remote starter, be sure to deal with a reputable retailer to install the system. You want to choose someone who will take their time to perform the installation as reliably as possible. They should be cautious and gentle with your vehicle as they disassemble it to access wiring. They must stand behind the work they do. In many cases, the quality and reliability of the installation are proportional to the price for the system. If the price seems too good to be true, you may want to do some additional research. Online reviews are a great source of information.

Enjoy your remote car starter – it really will make a big difference in the comfort of your vehicle.