[Miata] HomeLink

[John Freas]

Previously on HomeLink, Ken Bogart <miata at thebogarts.net> said...

I embedded a garage door opener into the instrument cowl. I have a
> small button just on the flat surface below the fuel gauge.
>
> There is plenty of room in the cowl for something like this.
>

I did the same thing but rather than take the instrument cowl off (I've had
them break tabs doing that) I just stuck mine under the console.
Specifically it's Velcroed to the panel that would hold the power window
switches.  Since I have two garage doors I used some telephone cable and
soldered a pair of wires across two of the buttons on my garage door remote
(one pair per button) and then connected the other ends to a DPDT mini
rocker switch which I installed into one of the blanks on the panel to the
left of the steering wheel:  Rock left and the left door opens, rock right
and the right door opens.  Since at the  time Evan had yet to be considered
and I had lots of time on my hands I also added a small rectangular green
LED just above the switch so that it would be easy to find at night.  The
system is modular, using off-the-shelf telephone equipment and RJ-11
connectors throughout, so I can remove the console and just unplug the cable
to the switch, or if for some reason I need to remove the switch, that end
unplugs from the cable too.

There is plenty of transmission power from the door opener even inside the
console, in fact I have better range with my system than the HomeLink in our
Audi wagon, however for absolute best performance I recommend aiming the
remote according to which side of the street/car your garage door is on.
The system is *not* powered from the car, but being inside the console it
isn't hard to get to when I eventually need to change the battery, and the
wires are small enough that they fit through an existing hole in the cover
of the door opener, so it isn't just a bare circuit board sitting under the
console.

For a simple one-door round button installation I'd estimate that the whole
project including fishing the wire would take maybe an hour and look factory
when you're done.  The cost of the parts wouldn't likely reach $20.  If you
really want to get fancy and go with the LED, add another hour of dinking
around with a tiny file to get the fit on the LED perfect, or you could look
around for an internally illuminated button.

This option is compatible with the HomeLink transmitter which is nothing
more than a universally programmable garage door opener, but there's nothing
magic about the HL, your existing door opener (or duplicate from the
hardware store) will work equally well.  Either way, the device is hidden
and so is less of a security issue (seeing as how the vehicle
registration/insurance card, etc. is usually kept in the glove box and if it
has your address on it...)  Bad enough they steal the car, let alone have a
key to your house too.

    -John
------------------------------
John Freas <%20john7690 at comcast.net>
1992 *YELLOW* "Sting<http://john.freas.home.comcast.net/pix/sting/sting.html>
"
1995 Black R Package
"Spike<http://www.geocities.com/clash_girl/Spike_Scrapbook.html>
"
Elizabethtown, Indiana
- Standard Disclaimer
<http://john.freas.home.comcast.net/disclaimer.html>Applies -
Team LS1,2, SP, the Gap...
I love my Miata
girl<http://www.geocities.com/clash_girl/Spike_Scrapbook.html>and my
Miata Baby
"I have no idea what those dimple things on the windshield frame are for."
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