GrahamPye Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I've done a few quick searches and couldn't find a recent thread. I'm shortly due to take delivery of a new Pilote van which the Insurance company wants me to upgrade from Thatcham 2 to 1 so I was thinking that I would get something like the Cobra A4615 or Autowatch 695 fitted. My dealer (SMC) has proposed a Gemini 931TMH. As Fiat only give you one key that has buttons to unlock the door I thought it would be operationally convenient to have an alarm that was integrated with the Fiat key so there was only one button to press which would both unlock the door and turn off the alarm, and the additional alarm controller would also be useful to unlock the doors. Having read another forum post somewhere I was led to enquire of my insurance company if I had any leeway over how soon the alarm was fitted and was told that as long as I had fitting appointment booked I could defer the fitting for 14 days after taking delivery of the van. This meant that I could consider a local installer to fit the alarm so that if there were any problems (and there certainly seem to be plenty of posts suggesting their might be!) I would have a local person to get them fixed. So, I started searching for local installers (as an aside if anyone can recommend a good alarm fitter in Scotland's Central belt I'd be glad to hear about it) and asking them to propose systems. This led me into the debate, which I've seen mentioned here too, as to whether it's actually a good thing to have the alarm integrated with the door locking, since it's apparently relatively easy to get round the code in the Fiat key, which would result in the potential thief being able to disarm the alarm too. Which seems to make sense. However I don't see that it adds any insecurity to have the alarm controller unlocking the doors as well as disabling the alarm, although the fitter I spoke to was against that when he proposed the Autowatch 458 which I believe can have that option enabled. Comments, opinions, recommendations please... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deneb Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 Alarm turned on or off by door locking/unlocking. Thief opens door by forcing the lock or the common Sevel van method of manipulating the lock linkage using a small blade pushed behind the door handle. Result - alarm turns off before thief opens door. Alarm not linked to door locks - alarm still active if door locks compromised and will do what it is supposed to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weldted Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 I had a Thatcham cat 1 alarm installed that is set by the three button Fiat key when it’s alarmed it will go off if I use the key in the door lock either front or hab door. If from the inside if I open the door with it armed it goes off. So I presume if someone forces the door to unlock the alarm will still sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterjl Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 Hi I have had both Gemini and also Vanbitz. I prefer Vanbitz even though it has a separate fob. On my latest Moho I reverted to Vanbitz and am very happy with the system. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamPye Posted February 13, 2020 Author Share Posted February 13, 2020 peterjl - 2020-02-13 10:12 PM I have had both Gemini and also Vanbitz. I prefer Vanbitz even though it has a separate fob. On my latest Moho I reverted to Vanbitz and am very happy with the system. Peter I've heard lots of good words about Vanbitz, unfortunately they're even further away from me than my Van dealer, and one of my goals was to get the alarm installed by someone locally! What was your opinion of the Gemini system? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterjl Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 GrahamPye - 2020-02-13 10:17 PM peterjl - 2020-02-13 10:12 PM I have had both Gemini and also Vanbitz. I prefer Vanbitz even though it has a separate fob. On my latest Moho I reverted to Vanbitz and am very happy with the system. Peter I've heard lots of good words about Vanbitz, unfortunately they're even further away from me than my Van dealer, and one of my goals was to get the alarm installed by someone locally! What was your opinion of the Gemini system? Hi. Before Gemini system I had Vanbitz on my previous Moho’s so they had set a standard. The Gemini worked fine but I had issues with disabling the interior alarms. Sooo, if we leave the dog at a shop or overnight away from campsites I usually set alarm and then disable the interior alarms. With the Gemini setup I had there was no clear indication that the interior was disabled which led to some alarm events. Grrrrrrrr! Van Bitz is about 200 miles from me so we usually include fitting as a diversion on a trip somewhere. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickVanBitz Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 weldted - 2020-02-13 10:05 PM I had a Thatcham cat 1 alarm installed that is set by the three button Fiat key when it’s alarmed it will go off if I use the key in the door lock either front or hab door. If from the inside if I open the door with it armed it goes off. So I presume if someone forces the door to unlock the alarm will still sound. Sadly if the thief has a Sevel By-pass for the Central Locking, all they need to do is to send an unlock cloned signal and this will turn off your alarm and unlock the doors. You also have to be wary that a lot of these types of systems are simply plugged into the OBD port (Not Thatcham Appoved - We received official confirmation from Thatcham this week regarding the matter), making is seconds to isolate the alarm (if fitted at dealer level). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickVanBitz Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 GrahamPye - 2020-02-13 10:17 PM peterjl - 2020-02-13 10:12 PM I have had both Gemini and also Vanbitz. I prefer Vanbitz even though it has a separate fob. On my latest Moho I reverted to Vanbitz and am very happy with the system. Peter I've heard lots of good words about Vanbitz, unfortunately they're even further away from me than my Van dealer, and one of my goals was to get the alarm installed by someone locally! What was your opinion of the Gemini system? I know we may be of a bit of a distance, but we do have a AA 4 Star campsite which we include 1x night's stay as part of an alarm installation. We have been in the business of Motorhome security for 30 years and only supply and fit security products to motorhomes. Our products have won the MMM award for product/service of the year and we have had great reviews from both the media and our customers. Please feel free to ask for me if you wish to discuss any options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamPye Posted February 14, 2020 Author Share Posted February 14, 2020 NickVanBitz - 2020-02-14 12:09 PM Sadly if the thief has a Sevel By-pass for the Central Locking, all they need to do is to send an unlock cloned signal and this will turn off your alarm and unlock the doors. Thanks Nick, I think I'm now pretty convinced that I don't want the alarm to be operated from the existing key, but I still don't see what the risk is of having the alarm unlock the doors when it's disabled. Graham PS Although I'd like to give you the business you're really too far away from Scotland! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickVanBitz Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 GrahamPye - 2020-02-14 12:28 PM Thanks Nick, I think I'm now pretty convinced that I don't want the alarm to be operated from the existing key, but I still don't see what the risk is of having the alarm unlock the doors when it's disabled. Graham PS Although I'd like to give you the business you're really too far away from Scotland! No problem Graham, we are really pushing awareness of the current state of how vans are being stolen and the dangers of certain product not really being up to the task of what is a very expensive vehicle. You would not be the first person to make the trip to Somerset, I think my furthest M/H now is NZ (lol) (a regular customer whom comes to us every 2-3 years with his new van, travels around Europe, then exports it out). We have many a customer willing to make the trip to us knowing they have the piece of mind with our security product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninian Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 HI, I have the Strikeback Alarm fitted to my van and it does what I require. I use the fob supplied to operate the system. I like the option of setting the alarm when the van is occupied at night leaving us free to walk about. If I open the doors forgetting that I've set the alarm it sounds straight away. Excellent. !!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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