Great Gadjet
 

Passing on some useful (I think) information for Villagers.

A month or so ago I had to take one my cars in to the dealer to have the driver side window motor replaced. The car is not very old and I asked the technician how long do they generally last. His response surprised me. He said "Not very long in the Villages." I was quite shocked at that, and he went on to say "You guys do so much opening and closing this window that we do a lot of these replacements, we have to keep extra stock in the parts dept."

Well, that set me thinking and some while later a neighbor told me about a small company here in The V that had been installing "Villages Gate Passes" in the mirror of your car. This chip, which is programmed to match your white gate card, allows you to pull up to the gate, stop for 2 seconds and the gate goes up. It's simply brilliant!

Since this appeared too good to be true I called the company, 'Tri Line Services', and spoke to a gentleman named Ed who explained how it works, I asked a great many questions resulting in the information that you keep your white card, and yes The Villages knows about his service.His company is Licensed to do business in Florida and is also insured and has been installing chips since he developed the gadget 2 years ago. He said they have a 100% money back warranty for the product performance.

That seemed on the 'up and up' to me and so I made an appointment to have the gadget installed in one of my cars. A gentleman came, he was on time and courteous.He handed me the company business card and said he was here to install my gate pass. He installed the chip and had me go test it at the closest gate, it worked perfectly. It was just so slick to be able to drive up close to the reader and have the gate open like magic!

Of course when I came back I asked if he had time to do our other car, and do they work on golf carts? The answer to both Q's was "Yes, certainly Ma'am, I would be happy to." Now I have 3 vehicles equipped with 'magic chips' - that's what I call them - and am absolutely ecstatic, never wind down the window in the rain or let the a/c out in the heat, and my new window motor should last a lot longer. That's what you call a win win.

If you are interested call ED at Tri Line Services and he will tell you all about it.
ED 217-433-1394

Enjoy!

:bigbow:

How much to install per car?

Another guy who does the same thing is Joe, 845-542-7365. He charges $25.

Hopefully we will hear from others who have these devices.

Sounds like a great idea. It seems a little creepy to have somebody copy your chip but I don't guess there's any personally identifiable info on it. Still, howcome neither of these guys has a local number?

Joe lives in the Villages and uses his cell phone.

Because, like millions of people, they kept their old number when they moved...

Instructions on YouTube on how to do it.

Amazon: rfid reader and writer kit with blank cards to duplicate $59

"Cards" won't do it as they don't fit inside your mirror and you have to get the right type. There are dozens of types (different voltages and different chips and different frequencies) and multiple chip/antenna configurations of each "card". Some cards the antennae are too small (lower "power") and some are too big and won't fit. Some coils have more winds and work somewhat better. Best are custom made cards but if you get lucky you might find one that would suffice. Most important part to increase sensitivity is the number of winds vs. diameter of the antenna which can be custom ordered from overseas. There are also various types of readers and they all don't do the proper type of "card.". The one that works here is very "old" and the lowest power of just about anything out there now. ;) If you want to get 300 they are available from custom houses like manufacturers on Alibaba.com

(Not the same "Ed" but working on the same thing)

This is a custom made coil for those interested (NOT a card). You can stick it on the back of a credit card or any used up card and have a spare key.

When the "Ed" that was mentioned in the OP did mine I had to wait almost 3 months for an appointment. He originally quoted me $35 but when he did it the price became $42 (or $43, don't remember), not sure why but didn't argue. It worked just fine.

LOL, There is ANOTHER "Ed" that will soon have it as well once he gives a couple of freebies out for referrals. ;)

We had Ed from TriLine Services install the rfd info in our car side mirror over a year ago and think it's the best $35 we have spent. Works great and no more fumbling to grab the gate card.

Had Ed from Tri Line do all 3 vehicles for us as well. BEST money we have spent since we arrived at TV.

Does this install inside the mirror housing...i.e., is it visible from the outside?

Inside mirror housing and not visible...
:welcome: