A Close Look at the Four Drone Subscription Packages

Drone is a state-of-the-art vehicle control, monitoring and tracking solution from Firstech. Using lightning-fast LTE connectivity, the system will let you unlock the doors, pop the trunk, remote start and ensure that nobody is tampering with your vehicle — from almost anywhere on the planet. The Drone system requires a service package to let your smartphone connect to your vehicle. You have four packages to chose from, and each includes more features and information. Let’s take a close look at the functionality in each solution.

Drone Basic Subscription

Designed to provide remote control and security system (if equipped) feedback, the Basic package is an inexpensive way to make sure you are always connected to your vehicle. All packages include remote start, keyless entry, auxiliary output control and security system alerts. You can check the battery voltage and the temperature inside the vehicle at any time, from anywhere your smartphone has access to the internet.

Drone Subscription — You can check the temperature inside the vehicle using the DroneMobile app on your smartphone.

Drone Premium Subscription

Stepping up to the Premium package adds GPS location-based tracking features. You gain access to the GPS Car Finder feature so you can pinpoint the position of your vehicle in a matter of seconds. The Drone system can be configured to provide speed-based notifications to the user, so you will know if the kids or your employees are driving safely. Using the same technology, Curfew Monitoring will let you know if your vehicle moves after business hours or bedtime.

Point of interest (POI) and geofence alerts are also included in the Premium subscription. You can define geographic areas that will trigger a notification on your smartphone when the Drone-equipped vehicle enters or leaves those zones. Setup for the location-based alerts is done through the web interface at accounts.dronemobile.com. The Premium package includes 10 point-of-interest locations and four geofences.

The Premium package also offers maintenance reminders, so you’ll never forget when it’s time for an oil change. Likewise, diagnostic trouble code alerts will let you know if your vehicle has an issue that might require service.

Premium Plus and Ultimate Packages

If you are a business owner, knowing where your assets are and how they are being used is crucial to managing your expenses. The Premium Plus and Ultimate packages are designed specifically for you. Both packages include a breadcrumb function. The Premium Plus package records a breadcrumb every two minutes, and the Ultimate records every 30 seconds. For clarification, breadcrumbs are location updates based on time. Every 30 seconds, or two minutes, the Drone system will note the location of the vehicle. Just like Hansel and Gretel, the system leaves a trail of location markings as the vehicle moves so you can review the route it has taken. Both packages also log turn-by-turn updates, and there are no limits to the number of geofence and point-of-interest notification locations you can add. Finally, the Ultimate plan includes location-based alerts, so you can be notified when your staff arrives at a client location.

History Log Information

All packages provide access to six months of activity in the History Log. You can sort information by vehicle or by the type of event for specific analysis. The information can be quickly and easily exported into a CSV file that will work with an external spreadsheet or database. The Trip Report option shows start and stop locations and times, based on the vehicle ignition being turned on and off. If any alerts are configured, they are added to the report.

Communicate and Manage Your Vehicle with Drone

Whether you want the fastest unlimited-range remote control solution for a personal vehicle, or need detailed asset tracking for a fleet of company trucks or vans, Drone has a service package that delivers a perfect, easy-to-use solution. Visit your local authorized Drone retailer today for more information. You can find a shop using the Find a Dealer page on their website. For more information, follow Drone on its Facebook, Instagram and Twitter social media pages, and check out the latest feature and tutorial videos on their YouTube channel.

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 Does DragonEye ECCM Lidar Work?

Over the past few months, we’ve talked about how radar detectors and laser defense systems work. Now it’s time to talk about the dreaded and often controversial DragonEye ECCM-equipped lidar guns and why they’re so difficult to jam.

What Is DragonEye ECCM?

Let’s break this down a bit. Based in Norcross, Georgia, DragonEye Technology is a company that develops electro-optical systems for the law enforcement industry. What does this mean? They make police lidar guns. They have two basic product categories: lidar speed measurement guns with and without a built-in camera.

Aside from the quality, accuracy and reliability of their products, DragonEye’s claim to fame is their anti-jamming technology called the Electronic Counter-Counter Measure (ECCM) system. ECCM was designed to prevent a conventional laser defense system from being able to disable DragonEye’s measurement system.

What Is ECCM?

In a conventional lidar gun, the emitting laser produces pulses of light and measures the time it takes for those pulses to be reflected back to the gun. Knowing the speed of light, the gun can calculate the speed of an object by analyzing the changes in reflection time for each pulse. For our discussion, let’s say that the gun sends out 150 pulses per second and expects to see that same frequency of pulses returned.

DragonEye ECCM — Conventional lidar guns emit a series of evenly spaced light pulses.

Laser defense systems on our cars and trucks are designed to detect these pulses of light and transmit additional pulses and varying timing patterns to prevent a lidar gun from being able to make a calculation.

When ECCM is in use, the spacing between the light pulses is somewhat random. We specify that is it only “somewhat” random because the gun needs to know when it emitted a pulse and be able to measure its reflection time. As such, there is a pattern, even though it’s complicated.

Again, purely as an example, a DragonEye Gun may start transmitting at 150 Hz (pulses per second), then ramp up to 1,500 Hz and back down.

Defending Against Variable Pulse Rate Lidar

A simpler name for lidar guns like the DragonEye Compact and DragonEye Speed LIDAR with ECCM enabled is Variable Pulse Rate (VPR) radar. Other guns like the Stalker X-Series, the Laser Ally lidar and the LTI TruSpeed also offer VPR anti-jamming modes.

It’s worth clarifying: It’s the frequency of the pulses that is changed, not the frequency or wavelength of the beam being transmitted. For most lidar guns, that beam remains in the 905 nanometer/331.26 terahertz range.

In order for your laser defense system to prevent a reading, the system needs to detect the algorithm used to modulate the laser pulse frequency and transmit a compatible yet scrambled pattern. The transmitted pulses can’t simply be random.

The Cat-and-Mouse Game

Manufacturers of laser defense systems such as Escort, AL Priority, Stinger and K40 are constantly working on updating their firmware to maintain compatibility with new firmware from the lidar gun manufacturers. Statements about which defense systems defend against which guns should be qualified with confirmation of the firmware on the gun. A four-year-old DragonEye gun that has never had an update is going to be easier to jam than one that just came off the assembly line or has just returned from recertification and updates.

If you are shopping for a laser defense system, visit your local specialist mobile enhancement retailer and talk with them about where and how you drive. If they are truly experienced in the laser defense market, they will be able to tell you what radar and lidar guns are in use in your area and help you select a solution that will meet your needs. As always, we want to remind our readers that the performance of a laser defense system depends significantly on the installation. A reliable and accurate installation isn’t cheap but it can be the difference between getting a speeding ticket and arriving at your destination without delays.

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: Sony XAV-AX5500 Bluetooth Media Receiver

Sony’s new XAV-AX5500 media receiver not only covers all the ground, but it also raises the bar in terms of smartphone connectivity. Equipped with WebLink 2.0, you can see and control your compatible smartphone right from the 6.95-inch touchscreen on the radio. Of course, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, high-quality Bluetooth audio streaming and all the digital media support you’d ever want are also included. Let’s check it out!

Same Great Look with New Features

The Sony XAV-AX5500 is an evolution of Sony’s famous XAV-AX5000 media receiver. The upgrades include WebLink 2.0 smartphone display technology that lets you cast most apps to your radio to see and hear all the action. Commands from the radio screen are fed back to the phone for easy and intuitive control. Waze and YouTube are two of the most popular applications for WebLink, and both offer an app icon on the WebLink home screen.

Users can upload home screen background images to the the XAV-AX5500 to express their style by personalizing the installation to their vehicle.

The XAV-AX5500 includes 5-volt preamp outputs instead of the 2 volts of signal available from the AX5000. This extra voltage will allow your installer to turn down the sensitivity controls on any external amplifiers to reduce background noise.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto Smartphone Connectivity

The AX5500 continues to offer Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone connectivity with its plug-and-play USB port. Both of these phone interface technologies use voice recognition to make it quick, safe and easy to access your music, make phone calls or send text messages using plain-English voice commands. Likewise, you can get turn-by-turn navigation directions to the address of your choice by simply asking.

Classic Style and Intuitive Interface Look Great in the Dash

Sony has eschewed fancy colors and lines to offer a clean look that looks great in the dash of your car or truck. Six hard buttons, a large bezel-less 6.95-inch display with a capacitive touch interface and easy-to-understand menu options make this radio look great while streamlining the process of learning all the functions.

The AX5500 includes Bluetooth hands-free calling with an external microphone and high-quality audio streaming with album art display capability, thanks to AVRCP 1.3. You can have your retailer upgrade the radio with an SXV300v1 SiriusXM satellite radio tuner module for genre-specific music, information and entertainment.

Dual USB ports allow you to connect your smartphone for Apple CarPlay, Android Auto or WebLink Cast connectivity and play MP3, WMA or FLAC audio, or MP4, WMV or MKV videos from a USB memory stick connected to the other port. The USB ports provide 1.5 amps and 500 mA of charging current.

Vehicle Integration Features

The XAV-AX5500 has a dedicated backup camera input jack so your installer can connect a backup camera and have it display automatically when the vehicle is in reverse. The radio also includes support for steering wheel audio control interfaces so you can use the factory buttons to change volume, tracks or stations.

The amplifier built into the AX5500 is rated to produce 20 watts of power into each of four channels. The radio includes adjustable electronic crossovers so that the built-in amp can be optimized for use with an external subwoofer system. Speaking of signal processing, the radio includes Sony’s Dynamic Soundstage Organizer. It helps create a realistic soundstage across the dash of your vehicle and is adjustable to accommodate any type of vehicle. Your installer can further fine-tune the sound of your system with the built-in 10-band equalizer and Extra Bass processing.

Installer-Friendly Design

Your installer will love integrating the XAV-AX5500 into the dash of your vehicle, thanks to the compact chassis design. Instead of being 4 inches tall by about 6 inches deep, the rear chassis is 2 inches tall and an inch shorter. This design leaves more room for interface modules, wiring and RCA cables that are typically tucked behind the unit.

Upgrade Your Driving Experience with the Sony XAV-AX5500

If you’re shopping for a new radio for your car or truck, drop by your local authorized Sony car audio retailer and ask for a demonstration of the XAV-AX5500. From its intuitive interface, great looks and quick start-up process to the fantastic features and sound quality, we are sure you’ll be impressed. To learn more about this radio or any of the amazing Sony car audio products, visit their website. Be sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay up-to-date with the latest product releases.

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.

Don’t Put All Your Songs in One Folder on Your USB Drive

With the rise in popularity of digital media files over the last decade, car audio enthusiasts find themselves being more likely to carry a USB memory stick than a stack of compact disks. When it comes to organizing all those MP3, WMA, AAC and FLAC files, most manufacturers suggest that you don’t put all the songs in one folder. Read on to find out why.

How Car Radios Understand USB File Structure

Unlike a computer, your car radio is very limited in its ability to interpret different USB drive formats and the subsequent file structure. Most systems require that the USB drive be formatted using the FAT or FAT32 file format. Some new multimedia receivers can understand NTFS and exFAT file formats, so larger storage devices can be used.

Songs Folder — You have several formatting options. Be sure to choose one that works with the capabilities of your receiver.

Next, you need to maintain a standard long file name format that allows for a total of 255 characters, including the file extension (.mp3, .wma or .flac). An important part of the standard is avoiding command characters such as /, \, *, :, ?, “, <, > and|. These characters may be misinterpreted by the system and result in a file being unreadable, or on extreme cases, cause the system to stop reading subsequent filenames.

Folder Structure and File Limits

In most cases, you are limited to no more than eight folder layers. So, beyond the root folder, you may have subfolders by genre of music, artist name and album name. This configuration is fine as the music is stored four layers deep. It is worth noting that extremely long folder names may, depending on the radio and its available memory, cause problems. We recommend keeping everything as short and efficient as possible.

Different source units have significantly different limits on the total number of tracks they can play and the number of files or subfolders they can interpret. Many radios have a limit of 255 or 999 files or folders per directory and can only detect up to 999 files. Some radios increase this to 5,000 or 9,999 tracks. A few units on the market can read an impressive 65,535 files per folder, and there are a couple with supposedly no limits at all.

Don’t Put All Your Files in One Folder

When you are planning on buying a new radio, it’s worth spending a few minutes to find out whether it will play your music as you have it organized on your USB stick. Some radios won’t randomize songs in different folders, and others are extremely finicky about the total number of files. If you need help choosing a receiver that will sound great and play your digital media collection, drop by your local specialist mobile enhancement retailer and give the radio you have in mind a try!

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: Hertz Mille Pro Speakers

Hertz Mille Pro speakers are designed for car audio enthusiasts who demand world-class performance and impressive value. The Mille Pro series includes five component speaker systems, a pair of coaxial speakers, or drivers in a-la-carte pairs for an actively filtered system. Trickle-down technology from the esteemed Legend Series helps to ensure that music lovers can find a solution that fits their needs.

Hertz Mille Pro Speaker Systems

Starting with the flagship MPK 1650.3 Pro, this two-way component speaker set includes a pair of 6.5-inch MP 165P.3 woofers, two MP 28.3 1 3/8” tweeters and a set of MPCX 165.3 passive crossover networks. The woofers are based on a cast aluminum alloy basket and use a 1-inch polyamide voice coil former with a 0.55-inch tall winding. The woofers have a nominal impedance of 3 ohms to maximize the power production capabilities of the connected amplifier. Xmax is specified at 4.5 mm, and power handling is a healthy 125 watts continuous. The woofer cones are made from a pressed pulp paper with cotton fibers, and they feature an exponential-curve deep-V shape. The cone is attached to a rubber surround that Hertz calls “Boundary Free” in reference to the smooth transition between the area that attaches to the cone and the outer roll. The MP 28.3 tweeters have a 1.1-inch voice coil and use lightweight CCAW wiring to assist with amazing transient response. The Tetolon fiber domes work with tuned rear chambers to deliver an extremely low resonant frequency of 900 Hz. This low Fs value allows for low crossover points and improves the overall dispersion performance of the set. The passive crossover networks include tweeter level attenuation switches and two contour settings to compensate for different tweeter installation positions.

The MPK 165P.3 Pro set uses the same 6.5-inch MP 165P.3 woofers as the above system with a set of MP 25.3 1.14-inch tweeters. These smaller tweeters are more suitable for integration into factory pods in sail panel, A-pillar and door locations. The crossover point in the included MPCX 2P.3 crossovers is at 4 kHz instead of 3 kHz, as in the 1650.3 Pro set.

Hertz Mille Pro — The MP 165P.3 Pro woofers feature a large 95 mm ceramic magnet for great efficiency in a package with a mounting depth of only 2.52 inches. Optional mesh grilles are available for custom installations.

The MPK 165.3 Pro Set uses the MP 25.3 tweeters with a set of 6.5-inch MP 165.3 woofers. These woofers retain the cast aluminum basket, pressed cotton and pulp-paper cone, the Boundary Free surround and a 1-inch voice coil design. Power handling is somewhat more modest at 110 watts, and Xmax is plus or minus 4 mm. The MPCX 2.3 crossovers have a 0 or +2 dB tweeter adjustment and filter the drivers at 3.5 kHz.

For those who require a three-way speaker solution, the MPK 163.3 Pro system adds a pair of MP 70.3 3-inch midrange drivers to the MPK 165.3 set. The mids feature a cast basket, dual neodymium magnets, cotton and pressed-pulp cones, and the Boundary Free rubber surround design. With a resonant frequency of 110 Hz and Xmax spec of 1.5 mm, these mids play down to 450 Hz with the included MPCX 3.3 passive networks.

For those who need a 5.25-inch component set, Hertz offers the MPK 130.3 Pro system. The system uses the MP 25.3 tweeters with a pair of MP 130.3 woofers. The woofers have cast baskets, and the same cone and surround design as their big-brother 6.5-inch speakers. The system includes the same MPCX 2.3 crossovers as the MPK 165.3 set.

High-Performance Coaxial Speaker Sets

There are two coaxial speaker options in the Hertz Mille Pro Series. The MPX 165.3 Pro set is a pair of two-way 6.5-inch speakers that use a 1-inch tweeter mounted at the very base of the woofer cone. The woofer uses a 1.42-inch voice coil former so that there is enough room for the tweeter to fit inside. The same paper-cotton cone and surround woofers design complement soft Tetolon diaphragms in the tweeters. Hertz added an acoustic lens on top of the tweeter to help improve off-axis performance.

The MPX 690.3 Pro is a set of 6×9-inch three-way speakers. The large oval woofer is complemented by a 1.4-inch soft-dome tweeter and a 1.14-inch super-tweeter. Both use the soft-dome Tetolon design with crossover points of 4 and 10 kHz, respectively, to deliver even dispersion both on- and off-axis. Power handling is rated at 130 watts, and the woofer has an Xmax spec of plus or minus 4 mm.

Premium Speaker Upgrades for Every Application

The Hertz Mille Pro series fits perfectly between the Mille Legend and the Energy speakers. The offerings combine great power handling, flexible installation options and the reputation for performance that has made Hertz one of the best-known speaker manufacturers in the car audio industry. For more information about these speakers, visit the Hertz website and be sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

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.

A Close Look at the Four Drone Subscription Packages

Drone Basic Subscription

Drone Premium Subscription

Premium Plus and Ultimate Packages

History Log Information

Communicate and Manage Your Vehicle with Drone

How Does DragonEye ECCM Lidar Work?

What Is DragonEye ECCM?

What Is ECCM?

Defending Against Variable Pulse Rate Lidar

The Cat-and-Mouse Game

Product Spotlight: Sony XAV-AX5500 Bluetooth Media Receiver

Same Great Look with New Features

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto Smartphone Connectivity

Classic Style and Intuitive Interface Look Great in the Dash

Vehicle Integration Features

Installer-Friendly Design

Upgrade Your Driving Experience with the Sony XAV-AX5500

Don’t Put All Your Songs in One Folder on Your USB Drive

How Car Radios Understand USB File Structure

Folder Structure and File Limits

Don’t Put All Your Files in One Folder

Product Spotlight: Hertz Mille Pro Speakers

Hertz Mille Pro Speaker Systems

High-Performance Coaxial Speaker Sets

Premium Speaker Upgrades for Every Application

Customer Reviews

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