I know this might sound stupid but does anyone think this works? Is it just really ghetto or ingenious?

I no absolutely nothing about wiring or 12v electronics so please don't flame me too bad. I'm just curious so see what everyone has to say.

http://www.diylife.com/categor...ation/

Make your own vehicle surveillance systemPosted Sep 13th 2007 11:00AM by Brian White
Filed under cars and transportation
Gone are the days of $300 car alarm systems ore expensive Lo-Jack surveillance systems. Well, not quite in some cases. Even if you already have a factory-installed car alarm or some kind of mobile tracking security system, you can create a pretty inexpensive one using a cheap-o mobile phone and a standard car charger for your selected mobile model. You'll need some elbow grease, tape and maybe some wire as well.

Looking at the video below, this system is so simple it's ingenious. The premise works like this: you hotwire a mobile phone charger directly to your car's battery (thereby bypassing any fuse block issues), and connect it to your chosen mobile phone This can be a spare unit or a cheaper prepaid unit. This ensures the mobile phone has power all the time -- hence, it is "callable" all the time, and local cell towers are in contact with it constantly.

Now, if your vehicle is stolen, you can give the authorities the IMEI number from that in-car 'hidden' handset, which can then be tracked using cell tower triangulation or GPS, and hopefully recovered. You'll of course need some kind of airtime subscription to ensure that phone is operable at all times.

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Make Car Surveillance System - video powered by Metacafe</font>

 

its called "ghetto lojack" and there was a huge thread on it in GDD a few months ago.


Yeah it works... maybe not as quickly as lojack but it costs a lot less.

 

It's a myth. You call them and tell them that your car is stolen, please track it and give the location to the police. And they'll say you're misusing the system. That it's only for 911 to track down people in an emergency that call on their cell phones. Messing around with 911 is a serious offense. It's a great idea, but it just doesn't play out. I swear I added this to the FAQ but I could be wrong.

 

I say that its a big sign saying, PLEASE STEAL ME, I'm as easy as a Thai hooker. then the perps get it back to the chop shop and start laughing and saying "Damn, almost got in trouble with that one."

 

problem is that your cell phone doesn't run from 12V, more like 3 or 4. Is there a step down transformer in the phone or is that in the cigarette adapter? If its in the adapter and that vid shows you cutting it off, your idea flew out the window.

Seems like by the time you buy a damn cell phone and wire it up the hell with it, just shell ou the extra cash for a real anti-theft system.