is this possible?

[wifi4lyfe]

Is it possible for me to put some type of device into a car, possibly GPS or the like, then be able to track everywhere that this car goes from my computer at home (without car occupants knowing)?? just wondering, for alittle school project i'm thinking of starting... I was thinking of buying a handheld GPS unit but how could I get this to relay the car's location to my computer at home without the people in the car performing the operation, since they cant know whats going on...??

thanks for any help

 

[dighn]

sure it's possible

an issu eof circuit cellar has something on this. i think it's gps interfaced with cell phone

 

[farmercal]

Rental car companies have been doing this for years.

 

[wifi4lyfe]

could I make it for relatively cheap? or available for purchase relatively cheap? I've been searching on google but dont know exactly what to search for and not getting any good results-- any help??

thanks!

 

[Bootprint]

Maybe look at something like APRS for Hams, but you need a license for that or maybe something with a phone with SMS sending the gps data.
Remember the gps needs a be able to see most of the sky.

If it doesn't need to be real time, a Garmin Geko 201 can store 10,000 track points. But you'd need to retrive the gps before downloading the data.


There is a program called gps2sms, hook your gps serial output to the phone and it'll transmitter via SMS the location. One version of the program also only transmits when it receives a call.

 

[sygyzy]

The difficulty lies in the lack of readily available GPS transmitters. Most GPS devices are receivers to tell you where you are, not where something else is.

 

[Yossarian]

leave your ex-GF alone, stalker

 

[IamElectro]

Originally posted by: Yossarian
leave your ex-GF alone, stalker

Hahaha

The difficulty lies in the lack of readily available GPS transmitters. Most GPS devices are receivers to tell you where you are, not where something else is.

This is very true, they do transmit a weak signal so the satellites can triangulate a signal, but I doubt it will be strong enough to track a moving vehicle accurately. My friends handheld unit craps out on him sometimes when we get into some deep valleys.

 

[PanzerIV]

We use that system at work to track our drivers then when they get within certain range of a receiver all of the information is automatically downloaded to a program. It would be quite cost prohibitive for you though but the technology certainly exists.

Edit: I reread your post and you're trying to do this in real time? Our system uploads everywhere they have been but cannot track them as they are doing it live.

 

[Bootprint]

Originally posted by: IamElectro

Originally posted by: Yossarian
leave your ex-GF alone, stalker

Hahaha

The difficulty lies in the lack of readily available GPS transmitters. Most GPS devices are receivers to tell you where you are, not where something else is.

This is very true, they do transmit a weak signal so the satellites can triangulate a signal, but I doubt it will be strong enough to track a moving vehicle accurately. My friends handheld unit craps out on him sometimes when we get into some deep valleys.

GPSr only receive the signal from the sats. Any radio signal coming out of them is really just noise.

 

[PottedMeat]

Originally posted by: dighn
sure it's possible

an issu eof circuit cellar has something on this. i think it's gps interfaced with cell phone

yep Wireless Vehicle Tracking - Circuit Cellar Issue 163 Feb. '04

He used a off the shelf GPS receiver with standard NMEA output that fed location sentences to a single board computer. The computer would synthesize speech from the GPS output to be sent to a cellular transciever. Every so often the tracker would call the guy's cellphone and state the vehicle's location