Track your car! (free)

**KevlarGibs** · 01-29-2005, 01:11 PM

Originally Posted by lerandell

hey, thats a new twist on the dydns. I use no-ip.com for my server at home.
for those who don't know. If your car is stolen then they drive by a house with an open access point your wifi will connect update dydnc or no-ip.com then could send you an email alert with the ip change. then click here
http://www.geobytes.com/IpLocator.htm

it will show you a map of where they are located.

That site appears to be worthless, it tells me that I am in Texas... I am in Illinois. So, it's only off off by about 700 miles. I do seem to recall visualroute being more accurate, but haven't tried it at this address yet.

The GPS idea is more like what I was looking for. I figure that if you can just have a program to run on startup, and send an email with the car's location when the computer first turns on. This would be very useful information to give police. The flaw with this plan is that you would want a definite internet connection. The Wifi may not be a bad idea.... have the computer hold the information until it can see the internet, and then fire off the email. maybe something I will try to work on when I get some time (not anytime soon at all)

**bd3521** · 01-29-2005, 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by Grayscale

im skeptical of whether you can connect and upload the data fast enough also. i mean, i've connected to networks while driving by them, sure, but actually aquiring an IP address takes a little time + you have to send the data which should be very minimal.

also, how would the car auto-connect? with windows you set it to connect to any and every wifi available? or is there some utility you guys use?

i've always used the utility that came with my wifi card, and with that you have to manually connect

Check out netstumbler.com app. Its pretty cool

**Arathranar** · 01-29-2005, 01:49 PM

It's great, It shows me all these APs that I have so far been unable to connect to!

**Grayscale** · 01-29-2005, 01:52 PM

it pinpointed my location quite well, however i plan to go the GPS route. i need to find out how we are going to get the GPS coordinates from the gps unit. i know dest3 frontend (map monkey) does this, but what about the iguidance2 users?

also connecting to a random network is probably breaking the law, i dont know if that would bother police or not

**Grayscale** · 01-29-2005, 01:53 PM

Originally Posted by bd3521

Check out netstumbler.com app. Its pretty cool

i have netstumbler on my carputer. but it doesn't connect you. it just shows up AP's.

my last post was intended for KevlarGibs, didn't expect to get 2 posts before me

**Jeeve5** · 01-29-2005, 02:04 PM

Well here go my 2 cents worth concerning this topic. The WiFi option in this plan is total wack since you usually go by an open WLAN faster than you can say DHCP! That way you will never be able to leave a 'message' where your car is. OK, one can now say. 'Hey, what about I catch one at a red light'. True, that is about the only possibility that you can get a decent con, but it is highly risky.

My approach would rather be, use GPS and a cell phone. Preferably a older Siemens phone since there is enough literature out there and they can easily be used via HyperTerinal since they act as modem. That way you might even be able to turn on your CarPc remotely, let it boot up, and SMS the GPS data to you in no time. Way safer, but I have to admit a bit harder to implement.

Now flame me

**Arathranar** · 01-29-2005, 02:50 PM

Jeeve5 - I've been considering doing exactly that. The hardest part is getting the phone to power the PC on. Mine (at least) doesn't appear to act quite like a true modem - it doesn't generate a ring request for e.g.

Extra hardware can be bought to do it, but I want to do it with a minimum or no hardware.

The other problem is that access to COM ports is typically exclusive so if your mapping software is using it, you can't have other software talk to it. I think there might be a way to multiplex the output but I'm not sure.

**Jeeve5** · 01-29-2005, 03:02 PM

Well I haven't looked into that particular problem yet since I am supposed to be studying for finals, but you are right, it is way easier to tell the cell phone what to do than getting any feedback from the cellphone. What comes to mind is the old hands-free setup I used in my car with my old phone. It automatically muted my head unit once the phone rang. you might be able to hook up this particular pinout to WOL (Wake on LAN) jumper on your mainboard, considerng you are using a ATX setup and a the power supply is at least supplied with power itself 24/7. Another thing is to let the pinout trigger a relay which opens up power to inverter, turning on the power suply and then the PC boots. I think you can set that in the BIOS. Only problem is that this will be working by calling the phone and not my sending a command via SMS.

You are right about the COM port being reserved once a single application uses the GPS device. I have been searching for a device driver to mirror or replicate the data going in one COM port to two or more virtual ones, but no luck so far. shouldn't be too hard to program though.

**Twopoint** · 01-29-2005, 03:49 PM

here is an option that nobody has brought up. if your car gets stolen, chances are good that you weren't stupid enough to leave your keys in the car.

have something wireless, i.e. bluetooth on your keys. when your carputer starts, it looks for the item. If it doesn't find it THEN it sends out the GPS coordinates via a cell phone\card.

you could have it look as it shuts down . . .