Jim, would one drawback be keeping the phone charged? How often do you have to take the phone out and charge it?

DIY Real-Time GPS Tracking here

This DIY contains step-by-step instructions on how to track your vehicle from the Internet using a $40 prepaid cell phone and InstaMapper's free GPS tracking service. The end result should be similar to what you see in this demo.


Summary

Difficulty level
Easy to medium, depending on whether you want to permanently install the cell phone in your car.

Time commitment
1-2 hours, including the time it takes to buy a phone. Hardwiring the phone into your car will take a bit longer. Everything needed for this DIY can be purchased locally.

Cost
The prepaid cell phone costs about $40. The phone comes with $5 of free service, sufficient for 14 days of tracking. After that, you pay $0.35 / day for Boost's unlimited data plan, needed for sending location data to InstaMapper.

What you get
24/7 online GPS tracking with very fast position updates. As an added benefit, you can use the cell phone to make emergency phone calls ($0.10 per minute), and send / receive text messages and emails ($0.10 per SMS). The phone also has limited capabilities for web browsing.


Steps:
1.Buy a cell phone
2.Activate it
3.Create a free InstaMapper account
4.Install tracking software
5.Optionally, hardwire the cell phone to your car's battery

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1. Buy Boost Mobile's Motorola phone

Boost Mobile prepaid phones (i290, i335, etc) are available from most major retailers, including Best Buy and Target. We recommend buying from Target because of their 90-day return policy.

Disclaimer: buy the phone at your own risk. InstaMapper tracking service is provided as-is. There are no guarantees that anything will work or that the tracking service will continue to be available. Save the receipt to your phone in case you need to return it.




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2. Activate the phone


�Install provided SIM card and battery.
�Turn on the phone by holding the red "hangup" key. The phone will display "No Service".
�Go to Boost Mobile's phone activation page. If the link doesn't work, go to http://boostmobile.com, click "activate" and then "create a new number" under PayGo.
�To activate the phone, you will need three numbers -- SIM (back of SIM card holder), activation number (back of SIM card holder), and IMEI (bottom of the retail package).
�Make sure to select "activate wireless web". Your phone will not be able to transmit data without this option.
�If you don't receive a phone number at the end of registration, check your email after a few minutes. The number will also be sent to your phone as a text message.
�Power cycle the phone. It should now say "Boost" and display a few bars of signal strengh.
�The web browser may initially give error messages ("error while retrieiving user"). The errors do not interfere with tracking and will go away in a day or two.
�You may want to change some of your phone settings (Menu -> Settings). For vehicle tracking, you probably want to set the ringer volume to 0. We also prefer to silence the keypad, set theme to "Alkali", wallpaper to "Ramps", and enable home icons. Your mileage may vary.

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3. Create a free InstaMapper account

Use this link. Registration should only take a minute or two.


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4. Install tracking software

The easiest way to Install InstaMapper on your phone is by loading it over-the-air using this tool provided by Sprint:

http://144.230.114.35/adp1/FUN/index.jsp?output=100

The tool will ask you for a .zip file, which you can get here.

Then go to Menu -> Games & Apps -> Download Apps. Click on "New Purchases". If you don't see the app there, navigate to Menu -> My Info on your phone and hit "Edit". If Line 1 is empty, enter your full phone number there (starting with the area code). Then try downloading the app again.

Alternatively, you can install the app from your PC using a regular USB cable and Motorola's iDEN Java Application Loader (JAL) software. The latter can be downloaded directly from Motorola here (free registration required; click "join MotoDev" when they ask you for your login information). After JAL is installed, connect your phone to the PC with a USB cable, start JAL, and hit "Connect to phone". Unzip InstaMapper tracking software to a folder on your PC, then hit "Download" and select "GPSTracker.jad" from that folder. Hit "Disconnect" when the transfer completes.

Now start the app you just downloaded -- it will be under "Java Apps", possibly on the second screen (hit "More"). The app is called "GPS Tracker" and has an icon that looks like a satellite. Enter the device id from your InstaMapper account. Click "Save". The phone will ask for your permission to access the GPS chip. Say "yes". When the status message changes from "Locating..." to "Tracking..." your should be able to see the location of your phone on InstaMapper.

Note: the app will pop into foreground during the first few days of operation (the intention here is to discourage covert tracking). Unfortunately, on Motorola phones a notification sound is played whenever an application requests to be run in the foreground. We recommend leaving the app in the foreground during the first few days that it's running, or muting notification sounds in the phone's settings.


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5. Hardwire the phone

For 24/7 tracking, you can hardwire the phone to your car's battery. Only do this if you are comfortable with your car's electrical system, and are willing to accept the risks (shorts, fires, etc). Seek the help of a professional installer otherwise.

The basic idea is to get a SYN1630 Motorola car charger for your phone ($7 on eBay, other chargers may also work), then connect the charger to car's wiring with RadioShack's Accessory Outlet ($7, catalog number 270-1556). You will need to find an always-on 12V wire in your car. To do this, consult the wiring scheme for your car, ask your mechanic, or simply probe the wires with a small sewing needle connected to a multimeter. If your car's fuse box is accesible, an easy way to attach the red wire of the outlet kit is by using a fuse tap such as this one (available at most local autosupply stores). The black wire can be attached to any grounded metal bolt.

As an alternative, you can get an adapter that will power on your phone automatically whenever you start the car. See this discussion for details.

We recommend installing the phone in the glove compartment. This way the phone is easily accessible for making phone calls.


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Important notice

InstaMapper does not allow covert tracking. You may not track a person without his or her consent, or track an object without the consent of its owner.

I bought the i335 phone from Boost Mobile. With the standard battery, it runs for 10 hours. They make a higher capacity battery that will probably give 14 or 15 hours.

It can be wired to a constant power source if you have to time to do it. I find that charging it overnight and starting it in the morning gives me enough time.

Awesome tool!! I wish I knew about it on d-day.

The hardest part is loading the application on the phone, I had to go to Motorola's site and find USB drivers for Windows 7, load JAL and so forth. After doing it once, I am sure I could get a phone from out of the box to reporting in 30 minutes or less.

The only problem with charging the phone overnight is the logistics of getting it out of the WS's vehicle, finding a safe place to recharge it, and then getting it back into the WS's vehicle.

You'd be surprised how easy it is. I did it every day.

This is great information, Jim!

I'm sure it's easier for some than others. I could never get away with it because our vehicles are in view from our family room windows and my H is a really early riser.

Most cars have magazine pouches on the rear of the front seats. Throw it in there while he is showering in the morning.

Jim, I'm WAY past checking up on him. I KNOW he's not cheating anymore. I've developed a radar for what he's up to, plus there are other reasons why I'm sure he's not going to cheat again. Another reason is that right now, he seems to be trying to win me over again, since I gave him the ILYBNILWU speech (and no, I'm not having an affair or even thinking about one). I let him know that his treatment of me over the years had just about killed any romantic feelings I had for him, and that I was worn out.

Anyway, he drives a diesel, as do I. I tested out a VAR in my truck, and couldn't hear a thing over the road noise. As for the GPS, I can pretty much find him anytime I need to. He ususally has either our son or grandson with him, anyway.