What Is GPS Locating and How Does it Work?

Undoubtedly, you’ve heard the term GPS. It’s not uncommon for consumers to refer to navigation software like Waze, Google Maps, Apple Maps or a portable navigation device from Garmin or TomTom as a GPS. Unfortunately, giving these solutions the GPS title is incorrect. Let’s look at GPS, how it works, and how similar technologies are evolving.

What Is GPS?

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is one type of global navigation satellite system (GNSS). A GNSS uses an array (also called a constellation) of satellites that broadcast extremely accurate time signals. A receiver on the ground (or in your vehicle, a portable navigation device or a smartphone) receives several of these signals. Based on the information from multiple satellites, the receiver can calculate its location and altitude.

GPS was a project started in the early 1970s by the U.S. Department of Defense to provide accurate location information to military troops and was initially called Navstar GPS. Previous terrestrial locating systems such as Decca, LORAN and Omega used longwave radio transmissions from ground-based antennae. A receiver would capture a master signal, then signals from slave transmitters. Analyzing the time differences between the signals allowed for location calculation.

GPS uses a satellite constellation that circles the globe in medium Earth orbits about 20,000 kilometers above the ground. The first satellite was launched in 1978, and the full constellation was completed in 1993. There are currently 32 operational satellites, and the United States Space Force operates the system.

How Does GPS Locating Work?

Each GPS satellite orbits the Earth once every 11 hours, 58 minutes and 2 seconds. Each satellite continuously transmits a signal containing the satellite’s orbit details and precise time information from an onboard atomic clock. The receiver can calculate the distance to the satellite by comparing the time that the signal left the satellite to when it arrived at the antenna. Once the receiver has distance information from several satellites, it can attempt to pinpoint a location using a process called trilateration.

In the image above, we see a circle on the Earth. This circle represents all the possible locations where the distance between the ground and the satellite is equal. Let’s say the satellite is 26,000 kilometers away from this location. It would take 0.0867266647515195 second for the signal from the satellite to reach any place on this red circle. This information alone doesn’t tell us much about the location, other than perhaps what part of the planet we are on. We likely already know that. Let’s add another satellite.

We’ve added information from a second satellite, shown by the yellow circle. This satellite appears to be a bit farther away from our location at 29,000 kilometers. It would take the signal from the satellite 0.0967335876074641 second to travel that distance.

Whatever GNSS receiver we are using can analyze the data from the satellite and determine that we are 26,000 kilometers from one source and 29,000 kilometers from the other. This information gives us two possible locations on the Earth’s surface. The small green dots in the image above mark these locations. We are close to having our position, but we need more data. One more satellite is required.

We’ve added a third circle. This satellite might be 22,000 kilometers away. As such, we know the time it takes for the data to arrive at our receiver should be 0.0733841009435934 second. Only one location on the Earth has these three signal travel times to their respective satellites. The blue dot represents that location.

Satellite-Based Positioning System Accuracy

Unfortunately, the clock on our GPS receiver is nowhere near as accurate as the atomic clocks on the $250 million satellites. This reduction in timing accuracy decreases the location accuracy as we have to throw away some of those decimal places from the timing calculations. Some quick math shows us that limiting the timing accuracy to eight decimal places reduces the accuracy to an area of over 2 meters when the satellite is far away and about 30 centimeters when the satellite is close.

Other issues like atmospheric effects can cause timing errors. Part of the cost of operating GPS is constantly checking and calibrating each satellite’s signals. High-precision receivers at fixed locations on the ground continuously monitor the signals from all the orbiting satellites. Measurement of errors because of humidity, atmospheric pressure and ionospheric delay can reduce accuracy to dozens of kilometers. The operators use data from fixed ground stations to create compensation signals transmitted back to the satellites to counteract these and many other errors.

In real-world applications, GNSS systems require data from at least four satellites, as this allows for some error correction. Consumer-level GPS receivers typically have a published accuracy of about 30 centimeters or 1 foot. The latest high-precision receivers can provide locations with an accuracy of 8 mm in longitude and latitude and 15 millimeters in altitude.

If you’ve seen a YouTube video of a 3D drone show, they use GNSS modules that provide location accuracy with real-time precision of about 1 inch.

Below, a fleet of 200 Lumenier Arora light show drones doing testing at the Freedom Factory in Florida.

Are There Alternatives to GPS Locating?

While everyone talks about GPS locating as the de facto standard in GNSS systems, the reality is that many similar systems are in operation around the world. Aside from the U.S.-operated GPS, the Russian Federation operates GLONASS, China has the BeiDou system, and the European Union has Galileo. There are also regional systems like India’s NavIC and Japan’s QZSS. As of this article’s writing, there are 136 GNSS satellites in operation around the Earth, with 15 more as backups or in various commissioning stages.

The highest precision receivers, like those used for military and surveying, can simultaneously receive location data from multiple systems to increase accuracy. Many solutions, like Galileo, offer precision down to 1 centimeter or 0.39 inch with access to encoded data.

How Do We Use GNSS Services?

Navigation systems are among North America’s most popular consumer applications for GNSS information. Whether you have a portable navigation device (PND) like a Garmin or TomTom or rely on a smartphone-integration solution like Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze, these systems pinpoint your location on a map database using a combination of GPS and location calculation using a system called Assisted GNSS. If you’ve ever put an iPhone into airplane mode, you may have seen a message about location services being more accurate when connected to a cellular service. Assisted GNSS downloads position data from a server over the cellular data network. In short, this technology knows which cellular towers you are close to and can use that information to help triangulate your location. Data about which GNSS satellites are in (relatively) close proximity is also downloaded to speed up the acquisition time of the GNSS receiver.

Of course, tracking and locating systems like the popular DroneMobile solution from Firstech combine a GNSS receiver with a cellular data radio. You can control a Compustar remote car starter or security system from the DroneMobile app on your smartphone. If you’ve signed up for location-based services, you can pinpoint the position of your vehicle or configure location-based alerts to help you monitor your car or truck.

GPS location information and tracking are great for hikers who want to venture into the woods and still find their way back home. Devices like SPOT satellite communication devices use GNSS information with Globalstar satellite messaging services to provide emergency support services almost anywhere on the planet.

There are dozens of commercial applications for GNSS data. Construction of large buildings often starts with surveying. Precision survey equipment uses GNSS data to mark property boundaries and denote parking lot elevations for proper drainage. The corners of building footings are also crucial identifiers based on GNSS data. If you’ve ever wondered how bridges are constructed simultaneously from opposing sides of a river to meet perfectly in the middle, it is attributable to accurate GNSS data. Modern construction equipment also uses GNSS data to provide exact elevation information.

Almost every commercial vehicle has location tracking — from airplanes and ships to trains, buses and transport trucks. Companies must keep track of their assets and ensure that they are safe and comply with company usage guidelines. GNSS information can help global operations avoid weather concerns.

The Future of GNSS Information

So what does the future hold for location information services like GPS, GLONASS and BeiDou? Companies like ALPS Alpine are working on location-based sensors for vehicles as part of the vehicle-to-everything (V2X) push. These products will dramatically improve autonomous driving technologies and help develop intelligent AI-based accident prevention as vehicles can communicate with one another with impressive location precision.

For now, when someone tells you to use GPS to get directions, they are referring to a navigation device that uses some or many forms of GNSS, including GPS locating. If you want to integrate the latest navigation technologies into your vehicle, drop by a local specialty mobile enhancement retailer and ask about a new radio or smartphone integration solution with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

How Amplifiers Distribute Their Power to Multiple Car Audio Speakers

The concept of how car audio amplifiers distribute power to multiple speakers connected to the same channel seems simple. A little math with Ohm’s law and looking at the amplifier’s specifications should tell the tale, right? Yes and no. Things get more complicated when crossovers are involved. Don’t fret; we’re here to make everything easy to understand. Let’s dive in!

What Determines How Much Power an Amplifier Produces?

The first thing we need to understand is how amplifiers produce power. In almost all cases, car audio amplifiers increase the voltage of the incoming signal by a specific amount. The amount of increase in amplitude is called gain. Engineers specify gain in decibels. Depending on the amplifier’s sensitivity control setting, the gain might be as low as 5 or 6 dB for a small amp or 40 dB for something significant.

More gain isn’t better. That can lead to more unwanted noise added to the signal. Every source unit and amplifier combination has an ideal gain configuration that produces maximum power with as little noise as possible. More commonly, the correct gain setting ensures that the speakers connected to the amp blend smoothly with the rest of the system.

As mentioned, amplifiers increase voltage. Feeding a 1-volt signal from your radio into an amplifier might increase that by 10 dB to 10 volts. That voltage goes to the speaker connected to the amplifier. If the speaker has a nominal impedance of 4 ohms, you can use Ohm’s law to calculate how much current will flow through the speaker. We can calculate current by dividing the output voltage by the load (speaker) resistance. In this configuration, 10 divided by four is 2.5 amps.

You can also calculate how much power the speaker gets. To calculate power with voltage and resistance values, square the voltage and then divide that by the resistance. In this example, 10 squared is 100. One hundred divided by four is 25. So, 10 volts applied to a 4-ohm speaker results in the speaker getting 25 watts of power. Another option is to multiply current by voltage to calculate power. In this example, we have 10 volts and 2.5 amps of current, which equals 25 watts.

With a lower impedance speaker, as you might find with a subwoofer configuration, the amplifier’s power production increases because more current flows through the voice coil. Interestingly, this happens without any adjustment in gain settings. Let’s run the same math with a 2-ohm speaker. The speaker will have 5 amps of current flowing through it (10 volts divided by 2 ohms) and will get 50 watts of power (10 squared divided by two).

We can change the impedance an amplifier sees in several ways. A single 4-ohm speaker will, of course, present a 4-ohm load. Two 4-ohm speakers wired in parallel present a 2-ohm load. Read this if you need a reminder about parallel wiring. You could wire two 2-ohm speakers in series to get a 4-ohm load. You could wire four 1-ohm speakers in series to get 4 ohms. There are some performance-related drawbacks to wiring speakers in series. Primarily, the inductance values add and can dramatically affect midrange performance. It’s best to avoid series wiring when possible.

Speaker Power — Subwoofers like the Punch P3S are available with dual voice coil windings to provide your installer with different wiring options.

How Passive Crossovers Affect Amplifier Power Production

So far, this has all been relatively simple. However, we’ve assumed that our speakers act as a fixed-value load of 4 or 2 ohms. The reality is that they aren’t. Because audio signals are alternating current waveforms, and our speakers have characteristics like resonance and inductance, the impedance the amplifier sees varies with frequency.

Impedance is the term used to describe the opposite of current flow in a circuit with alternating current. It’s similar in concept to resistance but much more complicated to calculate and manipulate, as phase is also an issue.

The graph below shows the impedance of a 6.5-inch component speaker set with different settings on the passive crossover network.

The first thing to notice from the graph above is the spike at just over 60 Hz. This spike represents the resonant frequency of the woofer in the speaker system. The impedance at the resonance peak is close to 16 ohms. The amplifier produces much less power at this frequency, but the speaker becomes more efficient. Resonance implies that a small amount of energy produces significantly more output. If the speaker is well-designed, which is the case with the Rockford Fosgate T3652S woofer, the frequency response around the resonant frequency will match that of the higher frequencies.

The other bump in the impedance graph is around the crossover point between the tweeter and woofer. This impedance rise likely results from underlapping the woofer and tweeter crossover points. Ultimately, the system measures well in this area. This impedance bump is of no concern so long as the amplifier you have chosen has excellent output voltage stability in terms of load impedance.

Passive Crossovers and Amplifier Power Production

Now, it’s time to introduce alternating current signals and passive crossovers.

The purpose of crossovers is to limit the frequency range where a speaker plays sound. A low-pass crossover allows a speaker to play up to a chosen frequency. To remember how they work, keep this in mind: A low-pass filter passes audio frequencies lower than the crossover point. Above that frequency, the speaker produces less sound as you move farther from the crossover point. We use low-pass crossovers on subwoofers as we don’t want them playing midbass or midrange frequencies. A low-pass crossover on a midrange driver attenuates output where the tweeter takes over.

The other type of crossover is called a high-pass. This type of filter blocks low-frequency sounds. We use high-pass crossovers on midrange drivers and tweeters. An infrasonic filter, often mistakenly called a subsonic filter, is also a high-pass filter. These filters work the same way in attenuating output as you move away from the crossover point. Here’s how to remember how high-pass filters work: A high-pass filter passes audio frequencies higher than the crossover point.

In both cases, crossovers are not a brick wall. They don’t stop all information above or below the crossover frequency. The rate at which the sound gets quieter is called the crossover slope. For this article, we’ll talk about simple first-order -6 dB/octave passive crossovers. In real-world applications, these filters aren’t steep enough (don’t attenuate fast enough) to provide adequate filtering. Nevertheless, they are perfect for explaining power distribution when we connect multiple speakers to an amplifier.

The response graph above is a screenshot from the ARC Audio ARC DNA DSP software suite’s Graph option. These high- and low-pass crossovers are set to 500 Hz to make them easy to see.

How Passive Crossover Components Reduce Speaker Output

To add crossovers to speakers, a technician will wire a non-polarized electrolytic or a mylar foil capacitor in series to create a high-pass filter. An inductor in series with a speaker creates a low-pass filter. It doesn’t matter if the capacitors or inductors are on the positive or negative lead to the speaker.

We aren’t going to go into the math of how capacitors and inductors act as crossovers in this article. We covered capacitors here and inductors here. Consider these articles prerequisites if you want a detailed understanding of how these devices function. In short, the caps and coils increase their impedance at and beyond the crossover point.

The graph below shows the impedance of a 4-ohm speaker wired in series with a capacitor and a second speaker wired in series with an inductor.

We chose the values for the capacitor and inductor in the graph so that the crossover point is at 500 Hz. At this frequency, the impedance of the passive filters is the same as the speaker impedance or 4 ohms. The result is that the amplifier “sees” an impedance of 8 ohms and produces half as much power as it would without the capacitor in the circuit.

This second graph shows the power the amplifier produces for each speaker network based on the load impedance. You can see that the amplifier delivers 12.5 watts into both at the crossover point of 500 Hz. If we sum the power into each speaker, the amplifier still produces 25 watts.

A properly designed passive crossover network performs two tasks: Primarily, it serves as an acoustic filter between two speakers. The most common application in car audio systems is attenuating the output of a midrange speaker or woofer where a tweeter starts playing. The same network would include a high-pass filter so the tweeter wouldn’t play low-frequency information. The second task is to prevent an amplifier from seeing the impedance of two speakers at once. Some companies don’t execute this second criterion well, resulting in upset amplifiers and difficulty with system design.

Amplifier Power Distribution Takeaways

The inspiration for this article on speaker power distribution stemmed from a discussion about how much power an amplifier produces when driving a midrange speaker and a tweeter. Many people mistakenly thought that since the woofer and the tweeter have a nominal impedance of 4 ohms, the amp would see them as a 2-ohm load. Without crossovers, this assumption would be correct. However, the tweeter wouldn’t last long without a crossover to protect it from being over-powered and over-driven.

If you aren’t sure how power will be distributed among the many speakers connected to your car audio system, drop by a local speciality mobile enhancement retailer. They can help design, install, configure and calibrate a sound system you’ll enjoy!

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

The Art & Science of Custom Subwoofer Enclosures in Cars

What is a custom car audio subwoofer enclosure? Does it need to be wrapped in leather or vinyl? Should it be made with fiberglass? Does it need acrylic windows? Is LED lighting a necessity? The short answer is no to all of these questions. Let’s delve into what makes a subwoofer enclosure custom and why it’s the best way to upgrade the bass in your car audio system.

Subwoofer Enclosure Volume Matters

How large does a subwoofer enclosure need to be? The answer to that depends on the subwoofers you want to use. Thinking that way puts the cart before the horse, though. The best way to design a subwoofer system is to tell the product specialist you’re working with how much space you’re willing to allocate to the enclosure. They can take a series of measurements, do some calculations and suggest a subwoofer or subwoofers to deliver the best performance based on the available air volume. No matter what the manufacturers tell you, cramming large subwoofers into small enclosures results in poor performance. You’ll get more deep bass from a single driver in an optimized enclosure than a bunch of larger drivers crammed into an undersized design.

Part of designating the space available for your subwoofer enclosure should include considerations about accessing storage or a spare tire. The last thing you want is to be stranded on the side of the road because part of your stereo has trapped a spare or blocked access to the vehicle battery. Before you tell the shop how much space they can use, look under the trunk floor to determine what you might need to get to. Make some notes so you can share that information with the shop.

Space Optimization Is Key

The number one factor that defines a custom subwoofer enclosure is that it optimizes the available space in the vehicle. Let’s say you want a vented enclosure with two 10-inch subwoofers. Most 10-inch subwoofers on the market work very well in about 1 cubic foot of air space. So, this enclosure would need a net volume of 2 cubic feet plus the displacement of the drivers and the vent. Let’s use a pair of ARC Audio X2 10D2V2 10-inch subwoofers for this simulation. With 1 cubic foot each, plus a 4-inch diameter round vent, the enclosure needs a net internal air volume of about 2.15 cubic feet.

The person designing the enclosure for these subwoofers should optimize it so that it intrudes into the cargo area of the trunk as little as possible. Therefore, it should use the full width and all the available height to make it as shallow as possible. If we have 40 inches of width and 15 inches of height, the enclosure would need to be 8.625 inches in depth. These measurements assume the enclosure is a rectangle with no angled rear panel. If we wanted the rear panel to have a 20-degree angle, the depth at the top would shrink to about 6 inches. That gives us two more inches of usable cargo space.

Both designs are custom enclosures if finished in a durable carpet that matches the cargo area. That’s it. Nothing fancy or exotic is required to make this a custom solution. The customization aspect is that the enclosure is optimized for your vehicle and uses the available space efficiently.

By contrast, if the shop has a pre-built enclosure that’s 34 inches wide and 13 inches tall, it would need to be 11.375 inches deep. Would it work? Yes. Would it sound the same? Yes. Might it save you money versus having an enclosure built specifically for your application? Maybe. Will you have the most space to fit your groceries, sports equipment, luggage or beer? No, not at all.

Here are a few examples of custom enclosures designed to deliver great bass while taking up as little space as possible.

More Custom Subwoofer Enclosure Options

Now, there is a next level of custom subwoofer enclosure beyond a square or slanted-back prism. You might have a significant amount of room inside a spare tire or behind a trim panel in the trunk that can be used for an enclosure. Once again, the choice of drivers for these applications depends on the available space. Just because you can physically fit a 12-inch subwoofer inside a spare tire enclosure doesn’t mean that’s the choice of driver that will produce the most low-frequency output or deliver the tightest bass. A single 10-inch subwoofer might play louder at lower frequencies. An 8-inch subwoofer in a vented design will likely be even louder. Once again, the shop you’re working with should calculate the available volume and suggest a subwoofer based on that information.

Vehicle-Specific Enclosures

Many companies offer off-the-shelf subwoofer enclosures designed for specific vehicles. These enclosures are typically optimized for a specific location in the vehicle and may use a combination of stack-fab or fiberglass construction. With the benefits of mass production, these custom enclosures can make adding an optimized bass solution more affordable than having a shop create a one-off solution. You’ll still need an expert to run all the wiring and configure and calibrate the electronics.

Net Audio in Wichita Falls, Texas, offers this 2019+ Ram 1500 Crew Cab bass reflex subwoofer solution.

Musicar in Portland, Oregon, offers a variety of BMW OE-Look subwoofer upgrades, including this enclosure for F32/F83 coupes with a Morel 10-inch subwoofer.

Audio Designs and Custom Graphics in Jacksonville, Florida, has a complete line of Phantom Fit enclosures, including this one for 2015-22 Mustangs.

MTI Acoustics in College Station, Texas, offers application-specific subwoofer enclosures like this one for Jeep Gladiators.

Upgrade Your Car Stereo with a Subwoofer System Today

As we’ve shown, there doesn’t need to be anything fancy or exotic about a custom subwoofer enclosure. The enclosure needs to be constructed to be specific to your needs. You can certainly go for something flashy if you want. However, we prefer to stick with a simple, well-constructed enclosure and opt for a subwoofer that includes technologies that make it more accurate and linear. No matter your goal, drop by a local specialty mobile enhancement retailer today to find out what they can build to deliver great bass in your car, truck or SUV.

Lead-In Image: Thanks to Perzan Auto Radio in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, for the photo of this enclosure they constructed for a client’s 2023 Bentley Continental GT Azure. The enclosure features a pair of JL Audio 10W6v3 subwoofers and matching SGR-10W6v2/v3 grilles. The client can still access the space under the trunk floor without moving the enclosure.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

Product Spotlight: Compustar Pro T13 Remote Starter

Only a handful of reputable companies manufacture remote car starters, but one stands out for its innovative solutions—Compustar. Their flagship Pro T13 is the industry’s longest-range radio-frequency car starter remote. Combine that with features like proximity unlocking, an LCD screen, and intuitive controls, and this is the ultimate remote control solution. Let’s explore why range is vital to making your vehicle more comfortable.

Compustar Pro T13 Remote Control

Compustar makes it easy for mobile enhancement retailers to design a car starter system tailored to your vehicle and needs. The Product Specialist you are working with can choose from several control modules, with the right one depending on your car’s specifications and desired features. For instance, the CM-X controller is ideal if your vehicle has a manual transmission. For consumers, these decisions typically happen behind the scenes as your quote is prepared.

What matters to you is the system interface. The factory remote coded to start the car when you press the lock button three times in short succession might be adequate if the range doesn’t matter much. If you want more range and features, your retailer can pair any of Compustar’s RF remote kits with the control module to meet your needs. If you want a simple one-button solution with two or three times as much range as the factory fob, they have it. Need two-way communication with trunk release? No problem! But if you want maximum range, two-way communication, security alerts, and much more, the Pro T13 remote is the ultimate option.

The Pro T13 is impressively compact at 2.84 inches tall, 1.57 inches wide, and only 0.44 inches deep. It features a vibrant color display that indicates whether your vehicle is locked, unlocked, or running.

Simple and Elegant Interface

The remote includes three buttons to access 50 commands and configuration settings. Locking, unlocking, or remotely starting your car is just a button press away. Double-tapping the lock or unlock buttons activates auxiliary outputs one and two. These outputs can control features like power sliding doors or rear defrost. The latter can even be configured to activate automatically if the interior temperature drops below a specific threshold. Your retailer can provide more details. Car Finder, trunk release, and much more are also easily accessible.

Compustar Pro T13 — The T13 remote includes a charging cable, antenna, and all the wiring your installer needs to integrate with a Compustar remote start control module.

Class-Leading Range and Reliability

The key factor that sets the Pro T13 apart from other remote starters is its range. Range is the maximum distance from which the remote can communicate with your vehicle. Compustar specifies the Pro T13’s range at up to three miles under ideal conditions. We’ve measured the performance in real-world situations, which bested other remotes by more than 20%!

More importantly, the Pro T13’s powerful transceiver works excellently indoors. For instance, you can be at the far end of a shopping mall, in an apartment or office building, or inside a large factory and still communicate with your vehicle. This exceptional range ensures your car or truck has enough time to warm up in winter or cool down in summer long before you arrive at it.

Color Display and Two-Way Communication

The Pro T13’s two-way communication ensures reliability. When you press the lock button, the remote confirms the action with a beep and a visual indicator on the color LCD screen showing that the vehicle is locked. Unlike one-way remotes, which act like TV remotes, this feature gives you peace of mind, as you always know your vehicle’s status.

The color display not only tells you what the car is doing using intuitive icons but also shows the vehicle battery voltage, the temperature in the vehicle, and the battery level of the remote itself.

Proximity Unlocking Adds Convenience

Another standout feature of the Pro T13—and its smaller one-button counterpart, the Pro R5—is proximity unlocking. When you’re within five to six feet of your car or truck, the remote automatically communicates with the vehicle to unlock the doors—no need to press any buttons! Whether carrying groceries, holding a child, or juggling tonight’s pizza, this feature makes life easier.

Rechargeable Battery Pack and Rugged Design

Unlike most remotes, which use disposable coin-cell batteries, the Pro T13 features a built-in rechargeable battery. Connect the provided mini-USB cable to a USB outlet for a few hours to recharge it. You can even charge it while driving your vehicle.

This remote is as durable as possible, with an IPX-7 water resistance rating. This means it can survive being submerged in water, whether it’s a pool, puddle, or snowbank. Compustar backs the Pro T13 and other Pro Series remotes with a three-year warranty, giving you confidence in your investment.

Security System Ready for Added Protection

Are you concerned about theft or vandalism? Most Compustar remote car starters with the Pro T13 can be upgraded with advanced security features. Compustar’s alarm enhancements include a starter kill, a high-output siren, an optional horn-honk output, and a robust digital security sensor.

This sensor monitors impacts, motion, glass breakage, or vehicle tilting. If triggered, the Pro T13 remote alerts you with a loud beep and a display notification. This lets you take immediate action if needed.

Drone Smartphone Control Included

The T13 Remote kit includes the Drone smartphone control interface. Drone allows you to use the DroneMobile app on your smartphone to control your vehicle. You can lock or unlock the doors, remote start the engine, or even pop the trunk with a tap on your phone screen. You can even log into the dronemobile.com website and send commands from your desk at home or work.

The Drone can be upgraded with GPS-based location and geofence alerts. Tracking service plans are ideal if you let your kids drive the family car or want to monitor how your staff uses a company vehicle. Your local authorized Compustar retailer can explain the different service plans available.

Why Is Remote Starter Range Important

Let’s say you work in a large building like a hospital, warehouse, or factory. When you finish your shift, you can remote start your car or truck while packing up to leave. Your vehicle will have several minutes for the climate control to start making the interior more comfortable. In the winter, the rear window defroster can be activated automatically, so cleaning the car off is easier.

If the remotes that come with your car or low-cost car starters don’t have enough signal transmission power, you’ll have to wait until you are at the door or even outside in the parking lot to activate the starter. Now, you’ll have less than a minute for the engine to warm up. Inadequate range negates the benefit of having the starter.

The Ultimate Remote Starter Solution

If these features sound like the ultimate remote car starter recipe, you’re right. With industry-leading range capabilities, two-way communication, a color display, rugged durability, a rechargeable battery, and advanced security options, the Compustar Pro T13 is in a class of its own.

Visit an authorized Compustar Pro retailer today to learn how they can configure a system for maximum comfort and security. Use the Dealer Locator on Compustar’s website to find a retailer near you. Also, follow Compustar on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram for updates on their amazing products.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

Headlight Bulb Upgrades: Part 5: Electrical Interference

As we continue our series on headlight bulb upgrades, it’s time to discuss electrical interference. Just as in the previous article on spectral content, this is an issue that very few retailers or manufacturers check for or discuss. While these considerations don’t affect the performance of your lighting system, they can significantly affect the performance of your vehicle’s audio system. They could also potentially affect tire pressure monitoring or keyless entry systems. Let’s dive in!

What Is Electrical Interference?

Let’s talk about what causes electrical interference. At the most fundamental level, any time current flows through a conductor, an electrical field is created around that conductor. We typically discuss direct current (DC) when talking about the battery and alternator in vehicle electrical systems. The fixed electrical field around conductors isn’t a huge issue for DC flow unless the alternator has a regulator problem and is adding alternating current (AC) ripples. Even then, it’s the AC that could pose a problem.

We can get into noise trouble with DC when it powers a device with a switching power supply. Large car audio amplifiers, HID light ballasts and LED light bars are devices with switching power supplies that can cause interference issues. Some LED bulbs also have switching power supplies.

Inside a switching power supply, the DC power from the vehicle’s electrical systems is pulsed on and off very quickly. These pulses enter a transformer that steps the voltage up or down. Amplifiers typically use step-up transformers to produce higher voltages to deliver more power to speakers. Items like LED lighting systems use step-down transformers or buck regulators to decrease voltage.

When the current from the battery pulses on and off, that can create a significant source of electrical interference. If you’ve ever adjusted the dimmer in a home and heard the light bulb ring, that’s the presence of unwanted harmonics caused by switching the AC supply on and off midway through the waveform.

You will find that high-quality amplifiers, in particular, have filtering networks on the power feed into the amp. These networks help smooth any noise that might come from the alternator. Still, they primarily prevent switching noise from inside the amplifier from being fed back onto the power wire to radiate through the vehicle.

What Problems Does Electrical Interference Cause?

In lighting systems, the most common problem in poorly designed lights is the effect on AM and FM radio reception. The noise produced typically occurs in the same range of frequencies as AM (780 to 1610 kHz) and FM (88 to 108 MHz). This unwanted interference can drown out weak radio station signals or add noise to some stations.

Other wireless communication systems like keyless entry and tire pressure monitoring can be affected by sources of electrical noise. Most keyless entry systems operate on 315 and 433 MHz frequencies. Tire pressure monitoring systems use these same frequencies.

If you think a recent lighting or accessory upgrade is affecting radio reception, there’s an easy way to test to see if your hypothesis is correct. Turn on the radio and tune to whatever station you think is affected. Then, turn off the device you think is causing the interference. If it’s a lighting product, turn off the lights. Pull the fuse out of the amp if you think there’s something else, like a subwoofer amplifier, that might be causing problems. This testing process gets tricky if all the sound from your audio system is produced by the amp you think is causing the problem. In that case, seek professional assistance.

Dealing with Electrically Noisy Lighting Upgrades

If you’re in a situation where you have a noisy lighting upgrade, return it and have the shop install a higher-quality product.

If you’re determined to have the shop fight with what you’ve purchased, two solutions typically work to reduce noise feeding back into the vehicle’s electrical system. The first and most straightforward solution is to add an inline filter. These filters include capacitors and inductors that help smooth out the noise from the switching power supply in the lights.

If the installer reads the instructions for most HID and LED upgrades, they’ll note that most reputable companies recommend installing new light wiring. Companies like Lumens HPL offer harnesses with the correct connectors or plugs to integrate directly with the factory wiring. These harnesses include relays, fuse holders and everything needed to power the new lights directly from the battery.

There are two benefits to using a dedicated power harness. First and foremost, power for whatever lights you’ve chosen comes directly from the battery and alternator. These power sources bypass any daytime running light or sensing circuitry, so you know the system will get all the voltage possible from the vehicle. Second, if the bulbs you’ve chosen are from a no-name brand that does cause electrical interference on the wiring, the battery acts like a giant filter. The wiring that might have noise on it remains up in the front of the vehicle. If your installer used the factory wiring, that noise might feed back to a body control module in the vehicle interior.

Measuring Electrical Interference

We have a device in the BestCarAudio.com lab called an RTL-SDR. In short, it’s a USB-stick radio receiver. We can tune into radio frequencies and decode AM or FM audio signals using dedicated software. We can also monitor ham or GRMS radio. This device is a receiver-only solution – we can’t broadcast.

We set the antenna up about a meter from an old HID ballast and took some measurements. We don’t have any low-quality light upgrades around the shop, but at least we could see “something” from our testing.

The image below is a spectrographic capture of 10 seconds of RF energy between 90.4 and 92.9 MHz. These frequencies would be down near the bottom of the FM radio band. Brighter colors in the spectrograph show more power. The red and yellow information on the left is the audio from 91.1 FM. The light blue in the middle is 91.7, and the yellow is 92.1. You can see the clearly defined bands on either side of the 92.1 MHz audio information. Those digital side-bands can carry information like HD Radio or RDS-TMC traffic information.

We moved the antenna to an area of the lab where radio reception is much worse to establish a baseline for our test. That image is below.

Next, we turned on that HID light and repeated the measurement.

Though it’s not terrible, several dozen bands of sweeping energy have now polluted the measurement. These signals wouldn’t likely be strong enough to prevent you from picking up a radio station. Still, it would reduce audio signal clarity when reception is affected by buildings or environmental conditions.

Buy Quality Products and Avoid Headaches

When the price of a product seems too good to be true, it often is. Sometimes, it’s not the specific performance of a light or amplifier; they might do what they claim. However, other factors like electrical interference or heat may cause problems. If you stick with brand-name solutions, you’re unlikely to run into problems. Drop by a local specialty mobile enhancement retailer to learn about the high-quality lighting upgrades available to help you see safely when the sun sets.

Lead-In Image: Credit to @zirconicusso for the radio image used in the Lead-In.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

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