Odd Little Thing With Radio

[Ciaran]

Hi guys,

This isn't a problem, more of an observation. I'm wondering if anyone else's car does this.

I noticed last night, that everytime I set the alarm, as I'm walking away from the car, the power button on the radio lights up for a few seconds, then goes off.

Does anyone know if theres a particular reason for this? I'm not looking to mess around with it, I just find it rather amusing, in an 'XM experience' kind of way, and am curious as to why it does it.

Cheers.

Ciarán.

[wirdy]

[UFO]

It's the Citroen Eye just winking to let you know it is keeping a watch on your bank account, stress levels and importance of upcoming appointments. It then waits until all three are at critical mass and WHAMMO!

It's an evil bugger that bites when you least expect it.

[Ciaran]

Thanks for that Craig.
I had surmised it might be something to do with the radio CODE functionality, or with the alarm monitoring for radio removal (does it do that on Cits, as with Ford etc?).
However, I find your explanation much more interesting

Cheers.

Ciarán.

[Peter.N.]

I havn't had one that does that, but having said that, I am usually walking away from the car facing the direction I am going in, when I set the alarm!

Peter.N.

[onthecut]

Hi Peter and all.

Do you know, I've never quite got the faith in the system to set it walking away. Unless I've seen the flash and heard the 'clunk', I just wouldn't count on it. Certainly with mine, you have to pretty close to trigger it, although it seems to work slightly further away if you're to the back of the car. Yes --- I have got good batteries in the fob !

Mike.

[Peter.N.]

Hi Mike

I just listen for the clunk! Mind you I have often returned to the car and pressed the button and heard it clunk and then found that the doors are now locked Purely a memory problem I think, mine not the cars.

I assume from the RP No that yours is a Mk2 with radio remote? Mine works from up to about 50' away in some directions.

Peter.N.

[xmexclusive]

Hi All

On a Mk2 the aerial on the remote receiver is in the black plastic box under the glove box. From the front of the car the direct signal from the remote has to pass through at least the chassis metalwork that supports the dash. It surprises me that it works at all from the front. It must just be the higher power and higher frequency of the RF system that makes it work better than the Mk1 kit. The 2 button Mk2 remote system was not used on equivalent french models so no doubt any reported problems with UK cars was put down to customer incompetence.

The Mk1 kit did at least have clear line of sight with the receiver devices in the roof and is common with many other Cit and Pug models. These IR remotes still in most versions (all Mk1 XM's) had a bit of a blind spot from the front of the car. This was because they only fitted 3 IR devices to the receiver that looked sideways and to the back. In the late 1990's they redesigned the IR receiver and added the 4th device to look forward.

Regards

XMexc

[Ciaran]

I always stand facing the car when locking it (am I too mistrusting? ), thats how I noticed the radio lighting up one dark night a few weeks ago.

As for the range, I too have noticed that you need to be quite close to lock it, but can unlock from quite a distance away. Longer if you extend the key before pressing the plip.
You can get massive distances if you use the old 'touch the key to your neck and use body as an antenna' trick..... just a pity you look like a nutter doing it!

[DerekW]

Peter,

Reference your coming back and finding your car unlocked, I've found that too. When I checked I found that sometimes it does a double "lock-unlock" when I press the button on the remote. For that reason I always watch the door buttons when I lock it - don't want anyone pinching my three year old satnav!

Derek

[Ciaran]

I have come out of the house once or twice in the morning, and found the car unlocked, when I definately locked it the night before.

I think whats happened is that I've accidentially pressed the remote while inside the house. I have a habit of walking around with it permanently in my pocket, and the driveway is right alongside my living room, so in rather close proximity. A few times I have accidentially pressed it while sitting watching TV, and looked out the window in time to see the indicators flashing.

Now I try and place the remote upstairs whenever I'm home for the night, to avoid any chance of accidental unlocks.