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Dave-H

Member Since: 08 Feb 2011
Location: Surrey
Posts: 1507

2007 Defender 90 Puma 2.4 HT Tonga Green

ARMYBOB wrote:
anyone watch top gear?

put the remote against your head, it genuinely works, i always look a tw@ in the car park!

Yea lol ... i do it all the time [Well .. under my chin] Guns and Landrovers .... anything else is irrelevant.

12th May 2011 9:23pm

XS Pete

Member Since: 13 Jan 2011
Location: Suffolk
Posts: 632

2011 Defender 90 Puma 2.4 XS CSW Stornoway Grey

Quote:
Puma up to 11my 11my and after has a different set up

That explains that then. Don't mean to rub it in but my MY11 90 has awsome range straight out of the box. I did wonder if the set up was different on later vehicles.
Pete

12th May 2011 11:02pm

XS Pete

Member Since: 13 Jan 2011
Location: Suffolk
Posts: 632

The more I think about this, the more I'm sure it can be optimised for maximum range by selecting the correct length of cable as the receiving antenna. Basically, (and not going into too much of the physics) maximum range would be obtained by making the receiving antenna exactly one wavelength of the transmission freqency.

I haven't looked, but I suspect that LR have made this antenna what is known a 'a quarter wave antenna' where it is one quarter of one wavelength in length. This can be improved by making it one half wavelength or better still one whole wavelength. I'm not going into exact details of the calculation as this would give away the alarm frequency to the light fingered brigade, but owners will know as it is written on a sticker on the back of the keyfob.

Armed with this value and a little physics gives the optimum (one wavelength) antenna length as 0.6924M if you can find room for it, or 0.3462M for a half wavelength. Remember that this length needs to be measured exactly from the joint on the PCB of whatever module the antenna is connected to, to the free end.

Any other lengths will also work and probably be an improvement upon the original, although some intermediate lengths may actually be less efficive than the original, but to get the absolute maximum possible range, 0.6924M is what you need to aim for.

Pete

13th May 2011 9:02am

blackwolf

Member Since: 03 Nov 2009
Location: South West England
Posts: 17211

2007 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 DCPU Stornoway Grey

It is worth bearing in mind that the more sensitive a receiver is, the mose susceptible to interference. Many car remotes are IMHO far too sensitive - I don't want to unlock my car from 400 yards away; it greatly increasese the risk of accidentally unlocking it and not knowing (which is why many cars now auto-relock if the door isn't opened for a preset period after unlocking (better hope that Johnny Tealeaf doesn't get there in the meantime)).

I went through a period of about a month when my Disco2 could not be locked or unlocked with the remote when parked on my drive, but was fine if it was parked in the road by the end of the drive, a classic symptom of local interference. Major nuisance going through the EKA routine to open and remobilise the car every time, especially in the rain (if you have ever used a Disco2 EKA you will know why). I was lucky, by borrowing some very expensive test kit from work I was able to establish that it was a faulty TETRA cell nearby, Dorset having just gone live with TETRA at the time. A few emails to Hutchison, operators of the TETRA network in Dorset and who naturally denied it could possibly be what I knew it to be, and the problem mysteriously went away and has never - at least not yet - recurred.

Admittedly the Defender takes the low sensititvity to a ridiculous extreme; if you have to stand by the driver's door mirror to unlock with the remote, there's not much point having one. After extending my aerial I can long or unlock the car (usually) from about 50 feet away, which I reckon is about right.

13th May 2011 12:11pm

bartsimp

Member Since: 18 Jan 2012
Location: France
Posts: 41

1987 Defender 90 2.5 TD ST Keswick Green

Hi, is it also on the driver side for non uk cars ?

7th Feb 2012 10:00pm

Laurie

Member Since: 22 Feb 2008
Location: Sussex, England
Posts: 2897

2005 Defender 90 Td5 XS CSW Bonatti Grey

The reason why euroboxes are fitted with long distance remotes is so you can find yours amongst all the other euroboxes.

7th Feb 2012 10:03pm

bartsimp

Member Since: 18 Jan 2012
Location: France
Posts: 41

Laurie wrote:
The reason why euroboxes are fitted with long distance remotes is so you can find yours amongst all the other euroboxes.

hum, is this an answer to my question

7th Feb 2012 10:05pm

custom90

Member Since: 21 Jan 2010
Location: South West, England.
Posts: 20126

bartsimp wrote:
Hi, is it also on the driver side for non uk cars ?

It's hard to say as none of us in the UK know well at least I don't. I would guess it would be on the drivers side on the left for you but it wouldn't take long to just check

7th Feb 2012 10:34pm

bartsimp

Member Since: 18 Jan 2012
Location: France
Posts: 41

I'll do and report back, thanks

7th Feb 2012 11:05pm

AtleCM

Member Since: 15 Apr 2011
Location: Kristiansand
Posts: 13

bartsimp wrote:
Hi, is it also on the driver side for non uk cars ?

It is on the left hand side, at least in Norway

Atle CM
Norway
Def 110, S2a 88, S3 109, S2b FC

9th Feb 2012 10:53am

XS Pete

Member Since: 13 Jan 2011
Location: Suffolk
Posts: 632

Quote:
It's hard to say as none of us in the UK know

I think plenty do know and have made the necessary modifications to improve the range. Fortunately though, most don't give away too much specific detail on a public forum

9th Feb 2012 4:38pm

bartsimp

Member Since: 18 Jan 2012
Location: France
Posts: 41

As I mentionned I will this week end. If I'm brave enough, I will post a photo tutorial in this thread.

9th Feb 2012 4:50pm

custom90

Member Since: 21 Jan 2010
Location: South West, England.
Posts: 20126

XS Pete wrote:
Quote:
It's hard to say as none of us in the UK know

I think plenty do know and have made the necessary modifications to improve the range. Fortunately though, most don't give away too much specific detail on a public forum

I was talking about where the rough area for 'it' is he knows what I mean and likewise. No detail involved

9th Feb 2012 5:30pm

mattlab

Member Since: 16 May 2011
Location: suffolk
Posts: 143

2009 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 USW Galway Green

i`ve been trying to extend my antenna wire but i dont have an orange/grey trace wire, instead i have a black wire coming out of the loom then the black insulation is stripped back to reveal a white wire with a metal sheathing, the white wire then goes in the back left hand terminal on the plug and the metal sheathing goes in the left hand front terminal (as you look at it) anyone else got this and why is it different ? is the white wire the antenna ? LIFE`S TOO SHORT TO DRIVE A BORING VEHICLE

26th Feb 2012 1:51pm

bartsimp

Member Since: 18 Jan 2012
Location: France
Posts: 41

So I did it a few weeks ago and I'm stunned about how well it works.
Here are a few pics and steps :

On LHD :
1. Remove speaker
2. Remove 3 screws of black plastic cable "hider" next to the wind screen
3. Make a cable long enough (1.5m approx),
4. Cut the end of the cable to make the metal appear on 1cm
5. Send the newly made cable to the roof above the door and send it in the dash to the speaker area
6. Link the Orange cable that hangs and your new cable

Done ! (approx 5 mins

)

Some pictures:

4th Mar 2012 2:16pm

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