Prestige Transmitter, Firehouse?

So I did a routine install on a prestige car alarm on the simplest car possible....a 97 honda civic. The customer came back saying that his transmitter stops working in the morning, and he has to set the alarm off and override it with the valet. Later in the day his car alarm works fine. He says he lives right next to a firehouse, which I have seen, and it has HUGE antennas on the top. I have replaced the alarm entirely once already, but he called again this morning with the same problem. Does anyone else haven this problem? It is an older prestige alarm if that helps, it's an aps875.Seth Alvo     NY

Mobile Electronics Installer

We had a similar problem a few years ago, but it was with a basic alarm, with only a piece of wire serving as the antenna. After swapping out the alarm, the remotes, and checking out the install......... we ended up installing a combo alarm/remote start for free, with the long-range, glass mounted antenna. But, your aps875 already has that....hmm. You said you replaced the alarm entirely once already......... but does that include both remotes, antenna, and antenna cable? If not, I would do that next time the car comes back, regardless of what else you do. Also, do you sell/have access to other Audiovox/Prestige stuff? Have you seen the newer, smaller antenna they've been using the last couple of years? It's fully compatible with the older systems.......maybe it would be good to try out the different antenna and see what happens. Also, the plugs on the 875 should match right up to last year's two-way units....... Prestige APS-996A and Pursuit PRO-9800. (Most, but not all, plugs would match the new APS-997/PRO-9801.) The two-way unit has a different antenna, and claims 1400 feet of range instead of 1000...........maybe buy one of those for him.........it wouldn't be a total loss, as you could keep his brain/remotes, with your brand-new wires, and install all that in another car.

Thanks for the info. Back when I used to work at best buy, we had the same problem with the two way prestige alarm (audiovox), and the guy lived right next to a different firehouse....the way we figured out that it was the firehouse was that I actually drove to his house to disengage the starter kill for him, and when I tried to unlock my OWN car it would not work. I had the same alarm as him. We ended up giving him a viper. Don't those alarms change the code of the keypad every time you arm the vehicle? (code hopping) It only happens after the car has been sitting there for a while, I'm thinking that maybe the antennas on the firehouse are somehow scrambling it when it's reprogramming itself so to speak. Any other info or similar situations would be greatly appreciated.Seth Alvo     NY

Mobile Electronics Installer