> Sorry if this is something that's been talked about before (I'm relatively
> new to the list) but has anyone here actually attempted some sort of DIY
car
> tracking system? I've pondered a few ways of doing this, such as using a
> simple direction-finding method using a transmitter, to implementing a
> system whereby a coordinates from a GPS receiver are transmitted over a
> radio system of some sort. However, I guess that in practice it would be
> pointless saving money by making one and not just buying a commercial
one -
> an approved tracker will save me more money on car insurance I suppose...

Sounds like something that I'm using in my car.
I'm a radio amateur and we have something that calls APRS,
automatic position reporting system.

There is a very small hardware that uses the 16f84 on www.byonics.com.
This hardware takes the gps position in nmea and transmits this with the
help of a radio.
More about aprs one could find at www.aprs.net
To see where different radio amateurs is, www.findu.com.

The problem with sending the position via radio is the need of a receiver
that hears
the transmitter. A better way might be a gsm module that can send a sms with
your position.

/regards

Michael Pettersson
SM6XOG

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