So I finally get my MarkII 12GB Blue!
And I'm really happy!
But there's one point I'm thinking about.
When I install it in my car (BMW 316i Compact) there are several situations when I want to take my empeg with me but don't want to leave it in the slot.
It is to easy to steal it (just pull out and there you go).
But I also don't want to take it with me.
So what kind of solutions do you have to place the empeg in the car but prevent it from beeing stolen.
I thought about something like a metall case but I don't know where to get some!
Any hints?

This is a problem for me as well. My problem is slightly different though.

There are many times when I don't bring the empeg because I am running quick errands. Problem is, without the empeg, I can't use my aux either. Any way to hook it up so that your aux will work if the empeg is absent??? I could use a splitter?

- Jon

Um.... Does the car have a trunk? If not, if there's room under the seats, try there.


-Tony
MkII 080000554

Yes, it's got a trunk, but I don't really want to put it in there because when someone sees that I put my radio in my trunk he can imagine that it is not a 100$ one.
Under the seat there not enough space.
But I want to deposit in somewhere in the front area.
I also thought about to put it in a free space under the steering wheel but - there is no free space!!

I'm curious about a "splitter" or "switch box" type solution as well. Seems like it would be easy to just rig up a toggle that would flip from the aux HU going to through the empeg sled to some sort of pass through straight to the amps. Anyone done this or have suggestions? I have no real reason to do this because i never leave my empeg at home, but it sure would be fancy schmancy if you needed it.

In terms of leaving it in the car, i remember reading somewhere about someone welding a lock box to the frame in the trunk. Orrr...off the top of my head... a friend of mine has a gun safe that is made to go bedside so that the front flap opens up with a simple finger combination that can be typed in very quickly.... weld that to the underside of your seat and you have quick action empeg release and storage. heh. =]


|| loren.cox
|| 080000446

Well, then you have the people who'd rather just take the whole car than try and spend time getting the stereo out. In most cases it's actually faster to take the whole car, in which case, your empeg would be gone anyway.
Overall, I would much rather spend the extra time to take the empeg out of the car, it's worth it.




________
Donato
MkII/Blue/40GB/080000565

So you put your Empeg in the Empeg case, which looks very low tech and un-stereo like, THEN take it out and put it in the trunk. He'll think it's your lunch or human organs or something. Besides a trunk is more secure than any sort of box you try to put it in.

These things are rather simple if you don't let the urge to make everything high tech and customized take over :)


-Tony
MkII 080000554

I think you are right!
The human organs idea is really good!
Bad luck when an old man sees it and thinks he has found a cheap new heart but I think that's a low risk!
I think I'll make a sticker "lunch for the king" or something like that and stick it on the case!
Really good idea - thanks a lot!!

I was just thinking about this exact topic Sevenger. While developing a TV output for my empeg, I realized that you can completely control the empeg from the serial port and you will probably soon get song info out the serial port. If you add output of current menu item selected then you can recreate most of the empegs menus(no visualisations but I make my own). I was planning on then sending this information to a TV screen because I have an Alpine that has that feature. This would allow me to mount the empeg cage in the trunk(or other secure place). I could still operate the empeg from my own buttons and the TV screen and not worry about the empeg because its out of sight.

This is not limited to a TV output. Anyone could do this with a backlit LCD character screen(very visible in the direct sunlight I might add).

This obviously makes no sense if you bought the empeg to see its beautiful faceplate. At this point it would solve the problem but not too well. The best solution would be for empeg to create a remote data panel that does have the ability to completely mimic the faceplate. Then the only thing that can be stolen is a replaceable faceplate.

Alex Lear

I live in San Francisco and have a Miata (MX-5). Not a good car or city to leave your $2,000+ stereo in... Any other ideas on the splitter front?

There's gotta be a way to use the aux device when the empeg isn't there...

- Jon

Don't think along those lines. It's useless. You have to take the Empeg with you.

I've had two stereos stolen out of my car, and I have come to the conclusion that the only way to prevent a theft is to take the stereo with you. In fact, this was one of the empeg's selling points to me: The fact that I had to take it with me was GOOD. For instance, you might think that a removable faceplate is the most convenient theft protection: Think again, I've had a removable faceplate stereo stolen. Anything at all which leaves the stereo in the car (such as putting it in the trunk) will result in a stolen stereo. Trust me on this one, I've had my trunk crowbar'ed open.

I've found that the situations where I absolutely can't take the empeg with me are incredibly rare. The Empeg's carrying case makes it quite convenient to carry around. Most of the time, if I think I can't take it with me, a moment's reflection tells me that I'm acutally just being lazy and I'd better get that thing into its carrying case and get it out of the car. If I'm going to a waterslide or an amusement park with rollercoasters, then yeah, I can't take the empeg on the rides with me. But at those locations you can rent lockers, which I do. I don't go dancing, but if I did, I'd have the bartender keep it under the bar for me. When I go to the beach, I just take it with me and keep an eye on it. I could see how if you went surfing it might be an issue, but then again you'd have the same issue with your wallet and car keys at that point. Can anyone else name a situation where it's genuinely impossible to take the Empeg with you?

I've only seen one other option which allowed you to leave the stereo in the car with a reasonable amount of safety, and it was touched on elsewhere in this thread: The lockbox. However, in most cases, this is more hassle than just taking the stereo with you.

The solution I saw (in a car stereo magazine about 5-10 years ago), was to have a keyed lockbox hidden under upholstery in the trunk. The lockbox was welded to the frame of the car, so that the thief would have to steal the whole car to get the contents of the lockbox. In the dash, a hinged cover plate covered the hole where the stereo was inserted. A very stealth install. But that's a lot of trouble to go to.

Still, I'd like to come up with a stealth installation for my Honda. I need to get a cover plate to cover the hole in the dash. I'd feel a lot safer knowing that my car appeared to be without a stereo. I still wouldn't leave the Empeg in the car, but I'd feel safer about my amps and speakers.

___________
Tony Fabris

I must agree with Tony 100%. If its in your hot little hands then its not in someone elses.

The area of town where I work, 5 days a week, is not amoung the best in town. Other co-workers of mine have had their car stereos stolen in broad daylight while their cars were parked in our company parking lot. I do not see it as an inconvenience to take my player with me inside, and set it out of the way on my desk. Besides, it won't be in the hot Texas sun baking as we don't have covered parking.

To many of us, our players are much like new born children. We goo and gah over them, parade them in front of our friends, the works. Why not treat it like a child, and take it with you. Afterall, thats what the sled is for.

I like the bar idea - besides it could be a great way to pick up chicks.. trying to explain the notion of the unit to them as they wonder what it is that the bartender is handing back to you.. "better yet, come on out to my car and let me show you".

Lock boxes from Tuffy are good quality. I recommend this one
http://www.tuffyproducts.com/other/compact.html

Alex Lear

Seems like it would be easy to just rig up a toggle that would flip from the aux HU going to through the empeg sled to some sort of pass through straight to the amps.

You will also have to toggle the amp power-sense wire (the blue wire on the empeg cage that tells the amplifiers to turn on) or your aix-in signal will go into the amps, but never come out the other side.

tanstaafl.



"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

I do not see it as an inconvenience to take my player with me inside, and set it out of the way on my desk.

Better yet... get yourself a set of the small walkman-style headphones, the kind where the earpieces actually fit inside your ears. Then, you'll need an RCA to mini-plug cable (about $5 at Radio Shack) and an adapter to make the male-ended mini-plug into a female end (another $2), and you can listen to your empeg while it sits on your desk.

The 1-volt RCA outs on the empeg will not drive regular headphones, but they are perfect for the small walkman style headphones--the volume at the 0 dB setting on the empeg is exactly right.

tanstaafl.

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

Put it in the trunk and disconnect the remote release cable (if you've got one). Mine's a '90 and has no manual release, but I fitted an electonic one a while back - the idea is to wire to to the empeg somehow when I have time ;)

Hugo

Put it in the trunk and disconnect the remote release cable (if you've got one).

So the thieves don't carry crowbars in England or something? Is that like the cops not carrying guns (is that a myth or is that true?) ?

___________
Tony Fabris

So the thieves don't carry crowbars in England

I can't vouch for England, but I don't think things have gotten that bad in Europe yet. Actually, I usually keep the empeg in the trunk. Don't know of anyone who had their trunks pried open with a crow bar!

(May be this is just because it's still easier to nick a bike in Holland)

Henno
mk2 6 nr 6

So the thieves don't carry crowbars in England or something?

I think the idea is that the thief can't tell whether there'll be anything in the trunk^Wboot or not, and the risk of getting caught is often only worth it if the thief knows there's something in the car worth getting at.

Is that like the cops not carrying guns (is that a myth or is that true?)?

I once saw a policeman with a gun at Manchester Airport at the height of the IRA bomb risk, about fifteen years ago. In general, though, policemen don't carry guns -- if they think they need one, a special firearms response unit is summoned. This is not to say that all British police are Dixons of Dock Green: http://pages.britishlibrary.net/alan.lodge/gal_rts-camb96-3.htm

Peter

Neat photos, thanks Peter!

___________
Tony Fabris

Unless you have a tendency to forget things and lose things... Then it would suck to pull the empeg, go somewhere, forget it, rush back and discover it gone.

Calvin

Interesting idea. Will the empeg fit in an igloo lunch cooler?

Calvin

Actually, all airport police in airports are required to carry guns (SA80's I think).

General plod are excused and call for backup - the Tactical Support Group (TSG) who are allowed to have firearms (and are specially trained).

I know that this seems odd, since in the US and in nearly all of europe general plod carry firearms. The issue tends to come up every year and every single year the police in the UK vote that they don't want firearms.

Personally, if they don't want them - I don't want them to have them.

Cheers,

Paul.


Paul Haigh, Reg. 4120
(mk1) 6GB, Blue, 00254
(mk2) 12GB, Red, 00357