GPS Tracking

Your 660 is a receiver. It doesn't transmit its position. No one you track it. If you want tracking, you will need to get a specific device to do that and probably pay a monthly fee as well.

There are some systems that are able to do this via cell phone.

Yeah, but every GPS device is capable of transmitting short tracking signals just like every phone with GPS tracking chip.

The GPS tracking chips are not less receivers than the ones in the the GPS devices we use.

The fact is though nobody wants to play with their GPS to hack it and try to activate the tracking GPS circuit. Besides it would be very silly to do it anyways. You will give a reason for the Homeland Security to put a tap on you.

I'm sorry, but respectfully, I have to entirely disagree with you. A GPS chip, such as the SiRFstarIII, is nothing but a microcontroller (there is no radio "circuit" to be hacked). The entire schematics are available from the manufacturer to anyone in their SDK.

As Motorcyclemama wrote, any kind of tracking or position broadcasting is done by passing the GPS output data to a different component. This can be a radio (Such as in a Lo-Jack) or as data that can be sent through a network or the Internet.

TomTom Buddies and a number of other third-party software allow me to send my position to whoever I choose, and so far, no men in black suits have shown up at my doorstep, nor does a white van follows me to work.

kriegers right. the only garmin that can be tracked or traced is the astro for your hunting dog

I totally agree. A GPSr is only a receiver. It does not have the capability to re-transmit its coordinate out.

price, and with no monthly fees (they say), this looks like a pretty good buy.
http://www.rmtracking.com/gpsproducts/gpstrackingkey.html

Even that device does not seem to have a transmitter. you will need to retrieve the unit and hook it up to a PC to see where it has been.

this one seems "neat"
http://www.vehicle-tracking-usa.com/store/trimtrak-gps-live-...

Thanks guys. Its not a big deal. I am going to be making a long haul trip alone and was just wondering.

You have the right to disagree. It is after all a free country.

Your GPS device consists of not only one chip. The GPS chips themselves and the circuits do not need to be hacked at all. You just have to hack the software to do activate (if your device has it) the beacon system. It is not easy, but it can be done. Only you will screw up a totally good GPSr.

As all GPS chipsets SiRFstarIII has a pair chip for transmitting tracking signals. Did you ever open your device to see if this pair chip is not in there?

As an example the one that I know with published information is the FS Oncore from Motorola, launched 2003, which can do both receiving and transmitting tracking signals and which is small enough to fit on a quarter and can be put in any modern pocket device, including very small portable MP3 player.

As for the MIBs -- I was being sarcastic, but everybody took it very seriously . Next time I should probably just say directly it is sarcasm or even better - a joke.

Check out http://www.byonics.com/tinytrak/ this works very well. “No fees” You will need a license however.

GPS coordinates can be sent to a cellular phone and then that is transmitted either through an SMS or otherwise. This was a college project!

I would like to see the final paper on that project.

It work nicely with 340 , 5xx series, 6xx and other.

http://www.tigergps.com/beaconc340.html

http://beaconwireless.net/index_na.htm

-Track vehicles - even set up alerts if the driver leaves a designated area

-Contact drivers - send text messages to the GPS receiver or a cell phone

-Give directions - calculated in the car or in the office

-Maximize efficiency - save time, money, and fuel by optimizing drivers' routes; figure out who should go where and when, then put it into effect with the click of a button

Garmin & Beacon Wireless make for an eminently affordable solution. After purchasing and installing the hardware, there's a one-time activation fee of $25 per unit; after that, the dataset and interface fees run only $44.98/month per vehicle. Factor in the thousands of dollars earned with an electronically integrated fleet, and FleetMaster is an outstanding bang for the buck.

Eureka

You are clearly confusing a GPS chip with a GPS product, but anyway...

What you are saying is, that all manufacturers, for some reason and regardless of the added cost and production overhead, include a transmitter, or as you call it, "the beacon system", in some, but not all of their products, that is accessible through software calls, but yet, somehow, "screws up" the receiver when utilized?

Did we miss another joke?
Where is this documentation that you know of?
Are you an agent of a competing website?

You are of course, entitled to believe all this if you like, but please don't post it as facts.

By the way, the Motorola FS Oncore is a also single chip GPS module, smaller than a dime -not a quarter- and nope, no transmitter or "pair chip". But don't take my word for it, you can read it all in Motorola's own press release for their product.

Is any of the stuff here relevant to this debate?

http://www8.garmin.com/solutions/commercial/mrmsolutions.jsp

Ditto. I believe I stated that "a GPS device consists of MANY chips, or so called "chipset" and also some passive components.

Besides you don't have to attack people to make your point. I happen to have some schematics of these devices, which you are so convinced you know better than me.

There is no cost for the manufacturers. On the contrary. If you don't know the radio principals every receiver can be turned into a trnasmitter, but this is a different topic.

You don't even know what do you have on your computer's motherboard available as a device. Do you? Only what your OS recognizes. But you can believe whatever you want.

I happen to HAVE the facts.

I know you can Google it, but did you read the specifications? The chip itself needs some circuitry around it. Does not work on its own. That's why adding this circuitry makes it smaller than a quarter, not a dime.

Besides I happened to have worked with this circuitry and I happen to have turned on the transmitter!

What did you do?

Best regards!
ET

You've certainly intrigued me! What frequency does the transmitter use - I'm curious as to the intended recipient of the transmission.

Also, what data can be transmitted?

The frequency of the GPS tracking systems is tunable between 1450 to 1600Mhz. You can have the device tuned through its API command to the frequency you desire. The commercial tracking receivers work by scanning the frequency range they have selected for their group (say HazMat group). The military tracking devices work on a wider bandwidth (say the above scale for example).

If you are interested in GPS tracking, you probably have to get a license and proper equipment.

I'm not attacking you, I'm debating. Or what? You can make jokes, but can't take them?

Your posts have taken us from "are the same as in cell phones" to the mysterious "pair chips" to "the Motorola FS Oncore can do it" to "but it needs other chips", without being able to cite references for any of these claims, or explaining how would this generate any usable data.

In any case, if you had any clue of what you are talking about, you would know that:

1) You cannot receive and transmit at the same time, over the same component.
2) If you feed any CMOS circuit more than 5.5 Volts, you destroy it.
3) A receiver has no amplifier - range is extremely limited if used as a transmitter.
4) There is no modulator for the output.

So all that you would be accomplishing, is broadcast interference to the people around you.

So how is this data usable to trace your position? Anyone that could receive it, let alone decode it, is within eyesight anyway!

Just for the record, I do work for one of the oldest technology companies in the planet, and no engineer that I've ever met debates in the "I'm right because I've done this, what have you done?" fashion. That's what little kids do. A professional discusses over verifiable facts, not accomplishments.

Krieger

Why can't this issue be discussed without the mud-slinging and name-calling?

RT

First I apologize if you considered my words a personal attack. No such intend.

On your list:

"1) You cannot receive and transmit at the same time, over the same component."

I did not say that. What I said is that there are circuits that you may not know about. But you are right. You can not receive and transmit at the same time. You don't have to. Nobody said it should be simultaneously.

2) If you feed any CMOS circuit more than 5.5 Volts, you destroy it.

There were no parameters and their values mentioned in any of my posts. In fact the older CMOS you can feed with this high voltage. But the current ones work in the range of 0.8-0.3V, so no need to go overhead there. Especially the new 45 nm technology CPUs.

3) A receiver has no amplifier - range is extremely limited if used as a transmitter.

True. Only making a point that a receiver can be a transmitter and did no say it is used that way. In fact there are different circuitries for that in some of the devices sold in the retail stores. They are prepared for the upcoming requirements of the government for tracking all possible devices, using radio waves. But this is a separate discussion.

4) There is no modulator for the output.

Where? In what device? Are we still talking about the Motorola set? Besides some of the modern chips do not require outside passive components to accomplish the modulation. And I am not talking about a particular chipset here. The only outside component required is the antenna. Just take a look at some of the new cell phones with tracking GPS transmitters.

Anyway. I will end my part of the discussion here. I think this thread should be taken to some other discussion forums, not here.

Good luck.
ET

I don't think there were name-calling issues...only mud-slinging ... kidding... no problem there. It was just a heated discussion, but that's it... We should end this discussion here. This forum is not about the topics we discussed.

No offense taken from my side!

Best!
ET

Here ... check this out.

http://www.findmespot.com

SPOT. The World’s First Satellite Messenger.
With the SPOT Satellite Messenger, you and your loved one have peace of mind knowing help is always within reach. SPOT is the only device of its kind, using the GPS satellite network to acquire its coordinates, and then sending its location – with a link to Google Maps™ – and a pre-programmed message via a commercial satellite network. And unlike Personal Locator Beacons, SPOT does more than just call for help. Tracking your progress, checking in with loved ones, and non-emergency assistance are also available, all at the push of a button. And because it uses 100% satellite technology, SPOT works around the world – even where cell phones don't.

Why would you think HLS would even care about you if you weren't illegal? If they had an interest in you, you wouldn't even know it.