Hello everyone. I just installed DEI's Valet 554 into my 93 teg. Of course you already know that this model boasts two way paging capabilities. I am however a bit disappointed in the range and was wondering if anyone had some insight into any methods of boosting/increasing the range. I've been kicking it around the old skull here and have considered ideas such as trying to connect an antenna amplifier (active antenna), fab an adaptor and connect to a separate car stereo antenna, or perhaps connect to a cb antenna. Any ideas????
Sorry to spoil your idea, but there is nothing you can do.
any of the above mentioned antenna extentions would render your 554t useless.
double check your antenna connection. make sure that it is not pinched, balled up or near metal. try to extend the entire antenna cable.
good luck and have fun!!!
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do it right the first time....less warranty work=more money!:)
just curious...what do you call poor range? i had one of those units in my vehicle last summer and got about 800 feet consistently...not fantastic but not bad.... i upgraded to a Responder unit and the range was noticably better
Thanks to all of those who've so far responded. I guess it's not exactly the range that I'm disappointed in as with respect to "line of sight" the unit performes fairly well and although I haven't had time to fool around with it much since I installed it, I'd estimate that 800 to 1000 feet in range is what I've experienced so far.
The disappointment is it's ability to permeate into and throughout structures as I live in an apartment building and when I park my car out on the street, and more than say 100 feet away I lose reception.
The area I live in is quite prone to automotive burglary and many of my neighbors, to include myself have been victimized. If you've never been a victim of this type of crime you just can't relate to how frustrating it really is. The only way to describe it is it feels as if your person has been violated.
That's exactly why I decided to fork out the bucks for a high end alarm with a pager as I certainly could have bought a "noise box" for alot less money however I don't think that one would be enough of a deterent for these thieves as they are quite brazen.
It's been trying the last 3 or so months since my car wa first hit as since then I've had some bad luck. It's been something like this.
Car burglarized and stereo, 2oo$ rllerskates stolen
Purchased Viper 790XV over internet
while waiting for alarm delivery installed another car stereo
DHL delivery driver ripps off alarm system during delivery
car burglarized and stereo stolen once again but this time from my place of employment
received and installed my new Valet554
Anyway, I hope that if in fact they hit me again that I do get the page and if so, god have mercy on those that I find there as as far as I'm concerned they are going to pay, and not only for what they have done but for for all of the frustrations I've experienced lately.
Once again thanks for responding.
Dale
hate to say it but you should have stuck with your original choice of the viper/clifford unit. I find i get way better building penetration with the FM system.
Darn! As my rotten luck as of late would have it. Actually, the only reason I switched up was that the 554's remote/pager has the vibrate capability and since I work in a noisy atmosphere this option was desireable. Forgive me my ignorance but doesn't the 554 employ FM as well. I don't remember seeing any reference info related to this when considering the 554.
no the 554 is an ASK AM broascast whereas the Responder units are FSK FM broadcast... BTW, the Clifford Responder unit i have allows me to switch from audio to vibrate very easily
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Kevin Gerry
Certified Electronics Technician
MECP First Class Installer
Owner/Installer
Classic Car Audio
since 1979
Thanks again kgerry. I did in fact do a bit of researching before finalizing my purchase and contemplated systems such as FM-2009 Commando 5005, Lynx 2000, Crimestopper CM20/5FM, Ultrastart 4500 to name a few. Since posting this I have improved the performance somewhat by inverting my antenna. I did have my antenna placed antenna up, on the backside of my rearview mirror but have since inverted it to antenna down to get the collector further away from my vehicles roof. This did in fact make a noticeable improvement.