tazeat

OP of thread here.

First like I said before I no longer recomend mologogo at all. Accutracking and instamapper both are much better.

Second I recomend an alarm based GPS 100 times over this, but until costs comes down on their units it is not really a viable option for most.

Third accuracy may not be as good as a "real" gps, these phones are ancient and the GPS modules suck, but hey I can still figure out usually within a 100 ft or so where it is. I'd take within 100 ft over within 100 mi any day.

It is what it is, I just put this out there as an extreme low cost option, its not my product I'm not telling you to buy anything... It is what it is.

wrx-killer-Sti-eater

iTrader: (1)

dam you owned your own self in this post. First any alarm system that I install. Does not power itself from the main car battery. Its isolated by a dei 520t. And that goes for the gps too. So go ahead and unplug the main car battery. Its not going to effect the security system in anyway. And to call me a car theif. Thats the funnniest thing I heard all week. That really makes my day and is sig worthy! I get more emails and pms about this way of tracking your car vs a real system. So I going to say what going to work and whats not going to work. I not going to hold back any information or facts. This is a tech board if you have not checked. If you post something better be sure that it will be checked on and if possiable put to the test. And I did. And I reported facts.

If your able to build a 5k honda motor. Then you should be able to add atleast 700-1k in security imo! Why cheap out. you went that far.

If this is the only thing you can afford by all means go for it. Dont expect much in return. But atleast you can stake the block out in a area close to were the car could be. Better then nonething. What you are reccomending really blows. The price of a quality quick release and lock and wheel and adding the phone gps. You could of purchased the correct system, alarm system and diy and have a peacefull night sleep



Check out the write up that i did above. Dei never had there own tracking unit. It was a mobile iq badge under there name. And the price is about $150 cheaper and falls into price range of a high end alarm system. I moved over to them and its all the same.

wrx-killer-Sti-eater

iTrader: (1)

I going to say this. Op I never tried to dump on your thread. I just wanted the facts to be set straight. I get alot of im and emails about this setup. I have had people tell me I am out my mind for trying to tell them the correct way to do gps and tell them the price of a real system and they see a $40 price tag for this. You pay for what you get. Op, I am glad you posted this. Its a cheap way to protect your car. Its better then nonething and most things I have seen. Any thing extra is good. This is a tech board and facts are facts. So qoute me on this " If you can afford to get the real deal. Please go that route. If you can't this is a cheap way to get into gps and should be used to you can save up to get a real system"

tazeat

I agree 100%. If you have 5k in to your motor/car this is not for you. Period.

AndrewH

Apologies for digging up an old(ish) thread but I've stumbled accross this and I'm interested in applying this in my car.

Tazeat - Do you still not get charged for data using instamapper instead mologogo? Both of the sites mention that you ideally need an unlimited data plan. Is this just some freak thing that you don't get charged? Do you have any additional info on what ports/sockets it uses?

I'm in australia and i'm trying to determine if i will be charged for the data or if i can do it on the cheap like you have.

zrickety

iTrader: (1)

not sure about australia mate! if you have pre-paid or pay-as-you-go phones with gps capability, i would just buy one and try it out. i can confirm that you don't need a data plan for it to work here, only an active phone with minutes...and they don't get used.

newtodd78

Thanks for sharing the information

beezee

I know this is an old thread, but if I found it through Google I'm sure others do too...

Long story short, I did this same thing using Instamapper (http://www.instamapper.com) - they provide an API and I'm a web developer so I built myself an alert service, and now I get a text within 5 minutes if my car is supposed to be parked but it's moving.

Yes, it's easy for a thief to bypass once they find it, but more than likely I'll know they took, and I'll know where they are before they know they're being tracked.

I'm opening the notification service to signups and need some beta testers. More details below:

I followed the instructions under HOWTO (http://www.instamapper.com/diy.html) to wire an IDEN phone to my car battery and keep full time monitoring on the car.

I'm pretty paranoid about theft, having gone through it once before, and I'm also a web developer, so I used the InstaMapper API to build myself an app that knows if my car is parked, and if it is, checks every 5 minutes to see if it's moved.

If my car moves while it's supposed to be parked, I get a text message within 5 minutes, with a link to a map of the current location compared to the parked location, so I can see the trajectory.

This means if someone steals my car, I'll know where they are within 5 minutes of them stepping on the gas, and they won't get very far.

A few weeks later I had a new development framework to test out for my job, so I figured I'd build out my InstaMapper notification service to allow people to sign up.

I'm just one guy, and this is only a side project for me, so I'm going to charge $5 a month to cover the expenses of being able to send notifications, but right now I'd love to have a couple of people who want to help me with early stage testing sign up for free. If you do, of course you'll get to keep free membership as long as I keep the app online.

Anyone interested in helping me test the app in exchange for a lifetime free membership, please head over to http://cartrackr.com and wait a few seconds for the beta signup box to pop up. Shoot me your email address and I'll get you set up.

Thanks!

Brian

sxysweed

Hella bump.

Boost is phasing the iDen network out and has stopped activating sims/phones. Their website doesn't say this, it says things are all good and happy, but it's not. Boost Mobile -based tracking is done for.