[DeTomaso] SemiPC: Lojack for Classics Promotion- One Last Thought

[gow2 at rc-tech.net]

There are a lot of systems out there which do different things. The
purchase price of the descrite GPS box is pricy but the real expense is
the monthley service. The question is what do you want.

The service you are paying for is how often it updates from the GPS to the
server. If you want to track ever movement then there is a lot of
comunication. I know Blacklinegps starts at $120 annually for their
security bassed service which is not bad.

Question is when do you want it to update? When it moves? How much
movement, speed, or when interogated?

I used to have a circuit for these which turned the unit on when motion
was applied. Without motion, the unit was off. This was nice for trailers.
If it did not move, it did not need to update.

There are advantages and dissadvantages to have a security company be on
top of the information or you be on top of the nformation.

We had a truck stollen once and we did not know about it till they left a
gas station on the interstate. It had no tracking device. We found out it
was stolen when a gas station on the interstate called and said our driver
just drove off wothout paying. We said, well no, our truck is in the lot.
We looked out and it was gone.

We called the State Police and told them we found out our truck was
stolen, heading east on Interstate 64 at mile marker xxx. The State police
told us they could not do anything until we went down to the police
station and filled out a stolen truck report. We told them, "WE KNOW WHERE
IT IS...RIGHT NOW!" They said sorry, can't help.

In that situation I am sure a security/tracking company would have more
clout.

Working for a GPS tracking company, we got a call the day after Christmas
a truck was stollen. Where the truck was parked the antena was on the
ground as was the lock; but the truck was gone. I called in the techs. We
were still getting signal from the SIM even though it could n ot locate
GPS.

HOWEVER...we were working with another form of loose tracking for packages
which might be in metal containers and would lose GPS. The cell towers
have unique identifiers although they are not published and are owned by
different companies. We had software running which was creating a loose
locating service by collecting cell tower locations as truck were driving.

When the truck lost it's GPS, the techs were able to use this information
to locate the truck within a 1/2 mile. We told the trucking company to go
to that area and look for it. They called the police, they did a search
and found nothing. They called us back I told them, you guys know your
truck, why don't you guys go for a drive.

First loop around the neighborhood and the truck was located.

I personally liek to be in command of my own information when I can, if I
can. But you have to understand how it works, and why you get the
information you get.

On a side not, latter that year the company called us back and said they
fired a worker and had not seen the truck since. We looked and said it is
in your yard. They said, no we looked. We said look again. They called us
back said, no it is not there. I said we are activly talkign to the GPS
unit in the truck located in your yard. We hung up scratching our heads.
How could we be getting wrong information, could the unit be in an
incorrect truck, etc.

They called us back....Um....We found it......After we fired him, he got
mad and wedged the truck between 2 buildings, and had to kick out the
windshield to get out. We had no idea a truck would fit there.

The technology is interesting. Personally, the more hands on the more fun
I can have with it. I think that is part of the deal for some of us.

Gary








> Guys:
>
> At the possible cost of insulting Larry, the point of the Lojack system is
> that the* police retrieve* your *stolen* vehicle.  If Larry's rental is
> stolen, and he was too cheap to pay for the extra insurance, Larry's only
> choice will be to venture among the deep dark downtown denizens, armed
> only
> with his smile, and charming wit to reclaim his stolen car.
>
> .... and we all have a really good idea how *that's* going to turn out....
>
> Personally I want the *police* to bring my car back.  I like Larry, he's a
> great guy, but I'm not sure how far his smile and humor will take him..
> especially if he's in an "english as a second language" 'hood...
>
> There are a lot of tracking systems, lots and lots of them and I'm sure
> they're great when you want to know what the wife's doing, how fast the
> kids are driving, or just where your mother-in-law really is.  But the
> Lojack system is designed solely to *assist local law enforcement recover
> stolen vehicles*.  Nothing else.
>
> And at a one time expense of roughly $300 for this device, it's a nice
> touch of added security.  I can spend $300 in one day on AN fittings, and
> still not have the right fitting when I get home (Larry probably got
> it)...
> but spending $300 to help safeguard my Pantera for the next 10 years,
> that's a good deal in my estimation.  These units are entirely self
> contained, and self powered with a 10 year battery, and are totally
> isolated from your car's electrical system, or electronics.
>
> The installers are very careful in their installation (if they do
> something
> wrong, they get "failed". Four "failures" and they get *fired*).  Very
> precise in what they do since their job is riding on how well they do it.
> If the car is stolen, and recovered, the Lojack system is inspected by
> Lojack management to ensure that the system operated correctly, and was
> installed correctly.  These guys are very careful in what they do... very
> professional.
>
> And as always, I'm just the messenger here...  Or, as Larry says, YMMV....
>
> Chris
>
> Chris Difani
> '73 L #5829 "LITNNG"
> Sacramento, CA
> Email: csdifani at gmail.com
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