DIY: Cheap GPS tracking

[karmapolice991]

Found this on a cbr forum. Has any body ever herd of this method or tired to locate a cell phone before useing gps. Since the crime rate on 240sx are going up I think might give this a try once school is out.

New cell phones have the ability for the network to track the location of cell phones for "911" calls. This data is transfered through the digital network of the wireless carrier. This can easily be changed in your phones menu settings.

Things youll need: a cell phone that you dont use, that supports Digital and Analog (most new phones) the ESN or HEX number from the back of the phone a cigarette lighter charger for your phone wire (12ga works best) zip ties electrical tape a good phone battery ziplock bag

(Example phone: LG VX6000) Step 1: On your phone, Go to the menu, select settings, select location, there should be menu that says "E911" and "Location On", select "Location On" or something similar. This displays Latitude, Longitude and Altitude of the location of the phone to andbody that requests it. This can be accesed even if your phone is not activated.

Step 2: Go through your phone and change any settings that would turn off or put your phone into sleep mode.

Step 3: Find a hiding spot where your charger can reach, that it would most likely not be seen.

Step 4: Find a 12 volt power source, this must me a power source that is always on (with the battery in obviously). I think there are 3 wires, you must connect the wires that are always on. The way you can tell is by testing the wires and making sure they charge the phone when the ignition is off. Once you find the "always on" wires, just splice the wires and run them to where you want to mount the phone

Step 5: Plug the charger into the phone and make sure everything works.

Step 6: Run the charger cables to an area where you can mount the phone. Make sure they are hidden from anybody.

Step 7: Make sure the phone is charging, and if it is, zip tie the charger cord to the phone and put a ziplock bag over it. Then mount the phone in an unseen area.

Step 8: Your Done!

If your bike is ever stolen, you have a few options: 1: Call the police and file a legit police report, make sure they know that you have a phone on the bike that has GPS abilities, and its setup for that exact reason to recover your bike if its ever stolen. Give them your ESN/HEX number, and it can be used LEGALLY by you or any police officer investigating the theft. 2: Call the phone carrier, give them the ESN or HEX from the back of the phone, and get Lat & Long from them. This can be inserted into any GPS or even Google Earth, and you will be able to see the location of the unit. 3: If you are a AAA member or even if you have roadside assistance enabled on your carrier, you can always call them to get the location for... umm... "Roadside Assistance" 4: Call Fugitive finder, 917-295-4425, they will find the phone to the nearest centimeter! They charge a few hundred dollars (may defeat the purpose), but it will save your bike

For those with GSM type phones (SIM Chip phones). They have IMEI numbers which are about 11 numbers long. Copy those down. GSM phones are avaliable with T-Mobile, most Cingular, Nextel, GO Phones (Prepaid), Boost Mobile (Prepaid), and Amp'd (I believe). If you have any of these companies, you most likely have an IMEI number instead of a ESN number. ESN numbers (non-SIM Chip phones) are with Sprint, Verizon, Tracfone, Virgin Mobile (Prepaid), and INpulse (Prepaid).

Also I would like to mention that if you DONT have a extra cell phone you can go buy a 20 or 30 dollar prepaid phone and dont buy minutes. It will act the same as a old post paid phone.

[boznuttz]

Amazing, I was thinking about doing this with my old phone, and taping it under the cover right under my cig lighter.

[PoorManQ45]

Cool.

LoJack without the fees

[qsiguy]

With my phone I was able to do some "hacking" with information I got from howardforums.com and was able to read my location on the phone. Plugged it in to mapquest and sure enough it knew where I was.

Now we just need to find a way to retrieve that information remotely ourselves without using the police. Hmmm To many projects dang it!

[Defiant]

New cell phones have the ability for the network to track the location of cell phones for "911" calls. This data is transfered through the digital network of the wireless carrier.

Check with your local agencies. California Highway Patrol can sometimes get the location of the nearest cell tower that's getting your signal. And that's out the window if the nearest cell was "full" and your call was bounced to another tower.The technology is out there- its implementation isn't.

[Bronze MFP]

awesome info, thanks!

[babowc]

we need to hook it up to a source that has power ALL the time, not just when the battery is in.I.E: get a battery source of some sort and hook it up that way.. replace battery as necessary.... im not exactly sure how much the phone takes to charge...