Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[peter scott]

A friend passed this on to me. It sounds like a pretty good idea.

Peter

Vehicle security is not always at the forefront of our minds. Many of us
accept the fact that our old cars can easily be broken into and driven away.
Hopefully you take some precautions to protect your car, but even though it
’s not worth thousands of pounds, how would you feel if it was stolen?
As time goes by our cars get rarer and potentially more attractive to
thieves.
Someone may want it for spare parts; weigh it in for scrap metal or even
Banger racing!
Without getting too paranoid I wanted to reduce the risk but at the same
time not spend a fortune.

Many luxury vehicles are fitted with Tracker devices – these allow vehicle
movements to be tracked by satellite and their position relayed to the
police. The devices are expensive to fit and incur monthly service charges.
However, there is a viable alternative to this system which uses the
mobile phone network.
A service exists which was designed to protect our most precious assets –
children. A child’s mobile phone can be registered on a web site and its
location tracked to within a few hundred metres.
You may raise your eyebrows at the use of such a service – but what if the
phone wasn't in your child’s pocket, but in your car?
Within a few clicks of the mouse you can instantly see where your car is.

In practical terms you need a basic mobile phone with a decent battery and
a cheap Pay As You Go (PAYG) SIM card. You’ve probably got an old phone
stuck in a drawer. It could be worn, cracked, bent or buckled – as long as it
works.
The phone needs to be hidden in the car and you’ll be surprised just how
many hiding places there are!
Ideally, it should be connected to the battery to keep it charged, but I
found that many mobiles have a standby life of two weeks or more. You just
need to periodically remove it for recharging.
Another tip is to switch the phone to silent and turn off Bluetooth mode
to prolong battery life.
Finally, set the phone to divert all calls to another number. This is
because many PAYG services will disconnect a phone if it’s not used for 60 days
or more. If you divert the line then periodically call the number it will
keep it active.

I researched a few websites before selecting _www.childlocate.co.uk_
(http://www.childlocate.co.uk/)
It’s very easy to create an account and register your phone number. You
then pre-pay for credits which are used every time you locate the phone. A
typical search cost less than 50p
The phone is shown as being within a radius of the nearest cellular tower.
You can zoom in to street level on the map. My tests have shown it be
accurate to at best 300 metres and at worse 600 metres.

So, from a one-off cost of £10 plus an old mobile phone you can have the
peace of mind that you’ll find your car if it goes missing!
_________________
https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[Job-Rated]

Nice one, Peter!

Thanks for the tip.
_________________
Don't run your fingers over my truck & I won't run my truck over your fingers!


http://www.loosechange-band.co.uk/