Ham radio guys and gals have been doing this for decades with APRS. It's fun and easy to do.
https://aprs.fi/#!lat=37.25320&lng=-80.43470
So that 1979 Ford F150 can be tracked too ;)
Detection of hidden cellular GPS vehicle trackers
91–100 of 118 posts
Re: Detection of hidden cellular GPS vehicle trackers
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you know if they also monitor bluetooth devices? Like all cars have one and if should be detectable. Also, most recent cars have DCM which are always sending data, including position to the car maker.
TPMS is also common and detectable.
This is tire pressure monitors for those that don't know.
Didn't even cross my mind...
Re: Detection of hidden cellular GPS vehicle trackers
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you know if they also monitor bluetooth devices? Like all cars have one and if should be detectable. Also, most recent cars have DCM which are always sending data, including position to the car maker.
Bluetooth doesn’t have the signal strength beyond 20ft. Even then it requires a handshake pairing to send data as every device shares spectrum.
I can almost assure you NYC subway does this.
Re: Detection of hidden cellular GPS vehicle trackers
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
Bluetooth doesn’t have the signal strength beyond 20ft. Even then it requires a handshake pairing to send data as every device shares spectrum.
> Bluetooth doesn’t have the signal strength beyond 20ft Oh dear. I think you will find a directional antenna can rather increase this by several orders of magnitude.
and 20 feet is not that short.
Those overpass things with cameras and transponders can definitely still pick it up within this range.
Plus like many have written, it's not even difficult to extend that range with cheap hardware.
Re: Detection of hidden cellular GPS vehicle trackers
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
Bluetooth doesn’t have the signal strength beyond 20ft. Even then it requires a handshake pairing to send data as every device shares spectrum.
BLE transmissions go much further last time I experimented with them [0]. However the problem of anonymity comes into play since they frequently generate new MAC addresses. [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38252566
> since they frequently generate new MAC addresses
This has not been my experience.
Re: Detection of hidden cellular GPS vehicle trackers
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
Simply putting a fake plate would bypass that. Truckers usually have a pulley system on their plates to avoid tolls, so maybe more normal drivers will implement such a system or find a way to create something that messes up their camera OCR.
> Truckers usually have a pulley system on their plates to avoid tolls You mean like James Bond's rotating license plates ? Got a pointer to this stuff ?
Just search for it.
I found video review of $80 in seconds.
There's also videos online of cars flipping it right before they cross a toll by plate.
I would not do this. This is serious fraud and antisocial behavior.
Re: Detection of hidden cellular GPS vehicle trackers
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
Probably the most effective technique for detection would be attained by spoofing the GPS signals, like the IRGC did to capture multiple US' drones? https://www.gpsworld.com/gps-circle-spoofing-discovered-in-i... I wonder how easily GPS can be spoofed, locally ... https://rntfnd.org/2021/10/28/cheap-and-easy-gps-gnss-spoofi... Seems someone already had the idea: https://www.reddit.com/r/hardwarehacking/comments/10na5…
I used to have a GPS repeater installed in our lab for RF testing. The FAA did not like it at all and threatened us with action. Don't go spoofing or broadcasting your own GPS signals unless you have a decent legal team behind you.
We had one of those in an underground parking garage for autonomous vehicle testing at a previous job, but it was a naturally really well shielded room, and it was just repeating surface signals so no one would complain.
Re: Detection of hidden cellular GPS vehicle trackers
#98It'd be cheaper to buy an RTL-SDR and an LTE antenna than this tinySA. I'm not convinced that a layman would have enough practical experience with radio's to detect these signals though. The bands used for IoT aren't exclusively used for IoT either - they'll contain "normal" LTE signals too.
RTL-SDRs have a typical usable bandwidth only about 2 MHz, so that is going to rule them out of any real usable LTE related decoding and detection
Re: Detection of hidden cellular GPS vehicle trackers
#99I wonder how effective an EMP would be at "sterilising" a vehicle of such trackers. Especially if the vehicle in question has no electronics and uses a mechanically-injected diesel engine.
The last car without electronics I drove was a Tavria made in Soviet Ukraine 35 years ago. Then dad installed an aftermarket ignition timing chip. You need to go really far back in time to find vehicles without chips.
Re: Detection of hidden cellular GPS vehicle trackers
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
If low cost is the goal, consider a voltage measurement device. ICE engines have electrical systems that run ear 13V when the engine is on, and ~12.5-12.8V when the engine is off
That would require plugging into the wiring. At that point you no longer need a battery and can just use the car's power.
I'd be wary of draining the battery while the car is off. You don't want to prevent the car from starting