DIYer concocts homegrown GSM-GPS tracking device

As we've seen time and time again, the desire to really know what's going on behind the scenes seems to be a growing trend, and while there's a number of pre-fabricated methods to keep track of your vehicle, mischievous offspring, or straying SO, why not take a little initiative and build an alternative yourself? Thankfully, a crafty DIYer has done just that, and has spelled out the details in order for you to replicate his work. The homegrown device is built around the Telit GM862 GSM-GPS module, and all told, he spent around $286 to scratch the mobile GPS itch. The device is small enough to be crammed into nearly any nook or cranny, and can transmit its position via text message to the owner. So go on, give the read link a visit and bust out your credit card -- just be sure to not let the soon-to-be-tracked individual know what you're up to, capiche?

[Via NaviGadget]

[diverguy @ Jul 17th 2007 9:23PM]

i can feel my paranoia setting in again.....

[Mike Klein @ Jul 17th 2007 10:19PM]

With the exception of 2nd cellular bill this would be a great way to track down the scumbags who've stolen your car (btdt twice!).

Oops...my bad. Most carriers' (except Sprint) TOS prevent doing anything of this nature.

With ATT you can browse the web (not a good experience on a pda of any kind) and do email...but if you want to actually do anything 'kewl'/innovative...or something that conflicts with a service they offer SEPARATELY for $$$...you'll find it's actually ATTNet you've been sold access to.

Thanks again Cingullattizon! You know what's best.

Bitter enuff?

[scott @ Jul 17th 2007 10:21PM]

I wants a spidertracer...

[Peter Beckman @ Jul 17th 2007 10:33PM]

Try Mologogo.com. Sure you have to pay $10.70/month to Boost for the unlimited data plan, but now you have all of your data on where your car/phone has been. I have my phone set to also send the data to my own server, where I've added a few niceties like only record the waypoint if it is more than 300 feet away from the last one (300 feet is about the true accuracy of the thing), trip-based mapping, etc.

Got me a phone and a prepaid plan for $80. Much cheaper than the $286 above. Plus it came with a cigarette power cord, plugged nicely in the trunk of my car.

[Shawn Miller @ Jul 17th 2007 11:13PM]

Wonder if we could figure out how to hook this into Atlas by Fresh Logic Studios... http://www.freshlogicstudios.com/Products/Atlas/GpsApi.aspx

[ethana2 @ Jul 18th 2007 1:04AM]

It's still a shame it costs so much. The way I understand gps works, they should be able to put something like this in every laptop sold...

[Duh @ Jul 18th 2007 1:17AM]

Sounds like APRS, been done cheaper in amateur radio for at least a decade.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Position_Reporting_System

[thedef @ Jul 18th 2007 4:57AM]

I hope I'm not the only one that's annoyed by the term "DIY" I wish people would just say Do It Yourself!

[Richard! @ Jul 18th 2007 3:21PM]

The date on your link to the site shows July 16th as the posting date, but hacakaday posted the exact same project on July 15th. http://www.hackaday.com/2007/07/15/sms-tracking-with-a-gps-gsm-enabled-avr/

[Earl @ Jul 18th 2007 10:58PM]

My team and I created something similar except we posted the position onto google maps and used ajax calls to update it. The aplicom N12 does this same thing and you can transmit the data through GPRS if you set up a server and parse the information.