Vehicle Tracking

Gilbes · 05-09-2005, 06:07 PM

I have been searching for a GPS vehicle tracking system for a while now. I don't want to buy the $400 kits out there, and I have found no information on rolling your own.

Anyone know of any inexpensive product or ideas for creating a vehicle tracker. I would preffer it not to be PC based so you can get the location of the vehicle with the PC off at any time.

Thanks.

SnyperBob · 05-09-2005, 06:33 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Gilbes

I have been searching for a GPS vehicle tracking system for a while now. I don't want to buy the $400 kits out there, and I have found no information on rolling your own.

Anyone know of any inexpensive product or ideas for creating a vehicle tracker. I would preffer it not to be PC based so you can get the location of the vehicle with the PC off at any time.

Thanks.

Well, I don't really know what you mean by cheap. Are you looking for something less than $400? Heck, just a generic GPS receiver for a computer is usually around $100 new. A standalone GPS receiver is over a couple hundred dollars or more. I honestly don't see a cheap way to do this.

This site has one of the best solutions...
http://www.covert-gps-vehicle-tracking-systems.com/
Which is a bargain under $3k.

What sort of system are you looking for - if you want to be able to track the vehicle live, you need some wireless form of communication. Wireless Inet, GSM, cell phone style, etc.... You also need a source of power. Antennas etc...

I believe there's a reason you haven't found any DIY setups. It would be even more expensive to DIY. It wouldn't be too expensive to build a GPS vehicle tracker that just logged data. But then again, you would have to check the logs when the car is back in your possession.

What exactly are you looking to do?

GPS Secure is a great PC based Vehicle tracking system. It's developed by one of our own mp3car users. It does what you want, except it's on a PC.

pate60 · 05-10-2005, 06:15 PM

3k!

thats a rip off.

RoyN · 05-11-2005, 03:13 AM

cool! Covert... I wish I had 3k lying around...

Dont think you'll find anything like this for less than 3k!

DodgeCummins · 05-11-2005, 08:23 AM

Somewhere in these threads is a web based tracker that uses a gps/computer/cellphone to transmit the data to a server.

The expense will be the minutes you use the cellphone.

SnyperBob · 05-15-2005, 10:20 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by DodgeCummins

Somewhere in these threads is a web based tracker that uses a gps/computer/cellphone to transmit the data to a server.

The expense will be the minutes you use the cellphone.

Somewhere? LoL....that's a little vague. He was looking for something that didn't need a computer as well.

Quote: Originally Posted by pate60

3k!

thats a rip off.

I don't think 3k is that bad. Considering it's 100x better than a lojack. Lojacks used to cost 2 grand. You would be able to find your car within minutes if it were stolen. It uses the ground to help bounce the signal outwards. As it says, you can hard wire it into the car if desired.....or you can use battery power - 1 month straight. All that I can say is, I wish my cell phone held a charge for a month.

for $3k, you can't beat the portability too......you can strap it under any car you want to track for a month.....

Chris31 · 05-15-2005, 11:03 AM

How many poeple are really interested in a standalone tracking device?

SnyperBob · 05-15-2005, 11:27 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Chris31

How many poeple are really interested in a standalone tracking device?

When I get a nice car again I will be. LOL....I already had a car stolen when I was in college in Milwaukee.....that was years ago, haven't heard anything since about the car.

A standalone tracker would have put my car back in my possession same day.

Chris31 · 05-15-2005, 11:39 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by SnyperBob

When I get a nice car again I will be. LOL....I already had a car stolen when I was in college in Milwaukee.....that was years ago, haven't heard anything since about the car.

A standalone tracker would have put my car back in my possession same day.

LOL, same here my car got stolen, reason why I wanted to build one. I do have a working prototype made for under $20. Must supply a gps and a phone though.

wizardPC · 05-15-2005, 02:45 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Chris31

LOL, same here my car got stolen, reason why I wanted to build one. I do have a working prototype made for under $20. Must supply a gps and a phone though.

Now that is very interesting....

Question · 05-15-2005, 05:58 PM

Yes...more details...

Chris31 · 05-15-2005, 08:40 PM

Wow, you guys havent been following the forum then, the idea have been around for a year

Its basically a PIC MCU that take in the NMEA sentences from the GPS module. This data is converted into an FSK (string of 2 tones representing the data).

Then feed this tone into the mobile phones mic input. The mobile phone is now transmitting FSK tones representing the data.

On the receiving end, the other phone is hearing this tones. This phone is then connected to another PIC that decode the tones back into the NMEA sentences to spit it out into the PC comport.

Why it was done like that? so a normal pay_as_you_go type of phone can be used. No need for it being data enabled, no need of it having a credit and it doesnt need to have a modem built in.

Just call the tracking phone and you hear the NMEA sentences represented as tones.

The receiving phone can be just a normal landline phone, as long as it can output the FSK tones into the PC. If you check out the principle of the old data cassette back in the 80s you know what I mean.

For it to be even cheaper, less than $10 to build. The FSK tone decoder can be done by software. The output of the receiving phone is connected to the PC audio input. A software based FSK decoder is run to decode the incomming tones and spit the results on a virtual comport.

The software based FSK decoder to exist, I have used them for testing.

One draw back is that the tracking update rate is reduce to once every 3-4 seconds. Ill call that hardly a problem as some tracking device only updates once every minutes. Reason for deliverate slowing down the rate is because the way mobile phone compresses the audio. I havent dealt with sirf mode but I get a feeling it should cope well with 1 per sec update.

I dont have time to carry on wih the project right now, but I will as soon as. If update rate is really is an issue then I will look into trasmitting the NMEA (NMEA is in ASCII form) in compressed binary. So it doeasnt clog up the mobile phones audio bandwith.

I sometimes get worried with those sneaky commercial seller seeng ideas and then call it "our new product blah blah" I have seen it too often

ABSolute · 05-16-2005, 07:16 AM

This might be the solution:

http://www.budgetcom.nl/product_info.php/products_id/28

I just bought one and works fine!
Just insert a prepaid sim and and you have a complete tracking
unit with GPS and GSM. (Only GSM network!!)

Chris31 · 05-16-2005, 10:50 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by ABSolute

This might be the solution:

http://www.budgetcom.nl/product_info.php/products_id/28

I just bought one and works fine!
Just insert a prepaid sim and and you have a complete tracking
unit with GPS and GSM. (Only GSM network!!)

Wonder why they keep dropping prices?

Does that come with the GPS and a modem?

They have one barbones for 49 euro, that is cheap.

RoyN · 05-16-2005, 10:52 AM

cause they are "surplus electronics" store? (Page title).... Maybe it is old stock they are trying to get rid of...

I'm tempted to get one, let me check what frequency this thing is on... any idea if it has a GPS inside?