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Using HAM radio, I can do this using APRS (http://www.aprs.org) A GPS receiver tied to a mini-computer that you can build as a kit that acts as a modem for a small pocket-sized radio. Byonics (http://www.byonics.com) sells the kits called TinyTrak's or they make an all-in-one package that does this: http://www.byonics.com/microtrak/mtaio.php APRS is the packet radio format of the radio transmission, and it's picked up by APRS users in the area and forwarded over to an internet gateway. Then you could go to http://www.findu.com/ or http://aprs.fi/ to locate your call sign and watch it's movements. I do this all the time with my car and most cities have really good coverage. The only downside is it would require you to get a HAM license (not hard at all) and you can not use encryption at all. You would have to accept the fact that anyone can track your call sign, you don't have to give out your callsign to anyone though.

APRS http://aprs.org/ http://www.aprs.net/ http://findu.com/ Just need to use it on an airplane frequency instead of ham, and get everyone else to do the same. Then again, isn't that what ACARS was supposed to be?

CWOP uses FindU.com's database back-end. The FindU guy is running the service as a hobbyist; keeping the source closely held (because he doesn't want commercial interests using it) and is funding it out of his own meager salary.

* http://www.tapr.org/pipermail/aprssig/2005-September/009128.html
* http://www.findu.com/

I have a problem with defacto services being run by one guy who promises he'll hand the whole thing over to someone else if he should ever get bored of it. Ya, Right.

Posting as AC because I don't have time at the moment to go through the password recovery rigamarole.

They do use data from State DOT roadside sensors (such as found at rwis.state.mn.us (nearly every state's dot uses these google "RWIS and your state"), APRS stations such as those found at findu.com, and Citizen Weather Observer Program

Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS) Designed by Bob Bruninga http://eng.usna.navy.mil/~bruninga/aprs.html it uses a GPS, an encoding circuit and a radio. Reports position and speed onto a national frequency with digital repeaters and Internet gates. Most systems also report speed and some people have set up their digipeaters to send out alerts if someone goes past a set speed. In most metros and everywhere else all the data is logged and posted online. http://www.findu.com/ The system has been expanded to include weather reports and other data as users see fit on the network.

With this I have LIVE position and speed reports from the car. I don't have to worry about it getting "knocked loose" or something else "happening" to the unit, I've got it installed in the car nice and secure.

If you want to give them similar features to this other "new" gizmo, install a TinyTrak http://www.byonics.com/ and set it to only report when going over a set speed.

Get you ham license,a Kenwood TH-D7 Dualband HT and a GPS puck. Then anyone can find out where you are at http://findu.com./

You can see his current location with this link. This is trasmitted via amateur radio, picked up by a local radio networks, and then forwarded to a server. You can also see the track he took on his current trip with this link.

You can see his current location with this link. This is trasmitted via amateur radio, picked up by a local radio networks, and then forwarded to a server. You can also see the track he took on his current trip with this link.

I have to wonder if Google tapped into already public data, or if they contracted with them for this data. This reminds me a lot of the Amatuer Radio technolgy APRS.
Take a look at: My School's station (The actual club call is W5YJ, but we havn't updated the software yet.)
Search for stations near the NOKC digipeater... here
You can even see local (Stillwater Oklahoma) weather data via APRS by clicking here

I have to wonder if Google tapped into already public data, or if they contracted with them for this data. This reminds me a lot of the Amatuer Radio technolgy APRS.
Take a look at: My School's station (The actual club call is W5YJ, but we havn't updated the software yet.)
Search for stations near the NOKC digipeater... here
You can even see local (Stillwater Oklahoma) weather data via APRS by clicking here

I have to wonder if Google tapped into already public data, or if they contracted with them for this data. This reminds me a lot of the Amatuer Radio technolgy APRS.
Take a look at: My School's station (The actual club call is W5YJ, but we havn't updated the software yet.)
Search for stations near the NOKC digipeater... here
You can even see local (Stillwater Oklahoma) weather data via APRS by clicking here

and from your journal: Next up, sending GPS data over a GPRS cellular modem to an SQL database via the internet and then pulling up the data with a GUI on an internet connected computer.

Why re-invent the wheel, so to speak. Try APRS: www.aprs.net and www.findu.com.

Us ham types've been doing GPS navigatin not only of our own vehicles, but others as well for over 12 years now! I use a package called 'Xastir' and an on the air protocol called APRS.

Basicly, take a GPS receiver and a laptop (Not just linux, xastir will run on Windows too), a TNC and a VHF radio - use pretty much any map you'd care to use (local or online), current weather information, satallite imagry, NWS alerts, warnings, etc, etc, etc... See your track - find your way, see forest fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes....
The only limit is imagination

Just wanna check on someone? Use your web browser and visit Findu - plug in their callsign and see where they're at.

And no, you don't need a ham license to play along. Just to feed data into the world wide Information System.

Kinda neat to zoom in on 'the old country' and watch my firends in the UK on thier way to work as I'm get'n ready to call it a day, then keyboard to keyboard messaging with 'em along the way.....
And no air time fees

Lojack doesn't use Satellites for tracking, they use ground-based antennas http://www.lojack.com/what/see_how_lojack_works.cf m

As has been stated in other threads, GPS receivers are passive.

You can do similar things with ameteur radio (Brett Neilson's presentation at Defcon covered this -- track him at http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=kc7iib! Brett%20&radar=***)

Any instructions on how to set one of these up?

Hams do this sort of thing all the time (well, broadcasting their location, rather than stalking their girlfriends.)

Here is a list of stations currently broadcasting their coordinates near my house ...

CWOP is the Citizen Weather Observation Programme, a part of NOAA. You can find the data on http://www.wxqa.com/ all about this data. The problem for the private weather industry is that all this data is freely available, and is not able to be restricted in availability thanks to the infrastructure...

With CWOP, all the data is sent to http://www.findu.com/ where anyone can retrieve the data.

Weather data is free this way, thanks to the support of Ham Radio operators internet infrastructure.

Darryl Smith, VK2TDS
Sydney. Australia

Try this...
1. Get your ham license
2. install an APRS node in your car/truck/whatever
You need a TinyTrak, a radio, and a GPS, don't forget cable, ant, etc. You also need an igate (APRS internet gateway) in your area.

On low power the radio should go for MANY days sending GPS data when powered from the boat/car/etc. If your boat/car/etc goes missing, do a search online @ www.findu.com, call the police, and tell them where your boat/car/etc is. Using the scanner you are sure to aquire as a ham, listen to the police find your boat/car/whatever

This works by sending short bursts of location information over the radio at pre-defined frequencies, including your callsign. These are broadcast and picked up by repeater stations (and anyone can be a repeater.) Eventually, they're picked up and stuck in a database.

You can then query this database to find out where you are - or where your friends are.

It don't get geekier.

Lojack uses the paging system; you have to report your vehicle stolen; their ops center sends a signal to activate the lojack transmitter, then police have to locate it using radio direction finding techniques (doppler DF system using square array of 4 whip antennas on roof of car).

10-20's system obtains position using GPS and relays it via satellite hourly to once/day depending on the level of service you buy.

It is the SAME concept as Orbcomm's, as well as the proposed system using Eyesat-1 microsatellite Interferometrics launched in 1992. The ham radio ops have something similar using APRS including internet links and real-time mapping and an experimental satellite component PCSAT.

In urban areas, using 2-way pager, CPDP, or cell phone network is going to be cheaper and provide better coverage with less latancy. Most of the potential customers are there. In rural and remote areas, satellite coverage fills in the gaps in terrestrial networks, but the customer density is rather low. So the business model may be a challenge.

I'd like to know which LEO satellite system they're using. I suspect Orbcomm's.

My primary experience has been with APRS, the Automatic Position Reporting System. It's in many ways similar to this system. It's used quite extensively by ham radio operators to coordinate public service activities, track storms out in tornado ally, etc.

The neat thing about APRS is that it isn't just a position tracking system, but it's a distributed network of repeating stations linked via radio and landlines. Here are some neat links you might find interesting:

• My APRS server/digipeater
• These are the results of a baloon tracking exercise I participated in a little while ago
• The APRS homepage
• www.findu.com allows you to locate any ham radio operator's last known position transmitted via aprs from location in the world that has coverage to an APRS internet gateway.

It's called APRS (or here), and it's free... Get a Ham license!

Yes! APRS is cool, and it's free, and there is a very nice web interface to it that which is really amazing. The guy that runs it is a real pro, despite his open source politics ;)

I use APRS to track my favorite underground music icons.

They have a GPS/APRS transmitter on the tour bus, so you can track its location in real-time (well, close).

Neither this article, nor the previous one posted on /. mention what the USNA plans to do with the satellite.

Ham radio operators all over the world (please view with Netscape; it doesn't load right with IE) use a nifty packet application, APRS through PCSat.

APRS is short for Automatic Position Reporting System. Basically, the satellite allows hams to send GPS reports (such as mine), short text messages, weather reports, etc. to a large number of users. The satellite acts as a 'digital repeater'. Any packet it hears, it send back to earth.

To hit the satellite, all you need is a hand held radio running less than five watts of power into the stock 'rubber duck' antenna. If you're a boater, hiker or whatnot that isn't in range of land communications, you can easily send your data through the satellite and have it relayed to a huge earthly footprint.

Over much of the populated world, there are land based digital repeaters that will relay these packets for hams. Many even gate the information to the internet where it can be viewed by anyone.

If you're the least bit technically and electronically minded, you can probably get the base level ham license (Technician) without any difficulty. It doesn't require a knowledge of Morse Code (CW) anymore. You can take the sample Tech test online. The sample test uses real questions right off the FCC exam. The test costs under $10 in most areas.

Using more than a dozen ham radio satellites for free isn't the only reason to get your ham license, of course. There's also that you can modify those 2.4 gHz network cards to run up to 1,500 watts of power legally instead of under half a watt as sold. Think what kind of distance you could extend your network! (And how many birds flying nearby will be microwaved!)

If nothing else, a ham radio license will get you another punch in your 'biggest geek' card. Who doesn't want that?

Matt (k4mls)

Neither this article, nor the previous one posted on /. mention what the USNA plans to do with the satellite.

Ham radio operators all over the world (please view with Netscape; it doesn't load right with IE) use a nifty packet application, APRS through PCSat.

APRS is short for Automatic Position Reporting System. Basically, the satellite allows hams to send GPS reports (such as mine), short text messages, weather reports, etc. to a large number of users. The satellite acts as a 'digital repeater'. Any packet it hears, it send back to earth.

To hit the satellite, all you need is a hand held radio running less than five watts of power into the stock 'rubber duck' antenna. If you're a boater, hiker or whatnot that isn't in range of land communications, you can easily send your data through the satellite and have it relayed to a huge earthly footprint.

Over much of the populated world, there are land based digital repeaters that will relay these packets for hams. Many even gate the information to the internet where it can be viewed by anyone.

If you're the least bit technically and electronically minded, you can probably get the base level ham license (Technician) without any difficulty. It doesn't require a knowledge of Morse Code (CW) anymore. You can take the sample Tech test online. The sample test uses real questions right off the FCC exam. The test costs under $10 in most areas.

Using more than a dozen ham radio satellites for free isn't the only reason to get your ham license, of course. There's also that you can modify those 2.4 gHz network cards to run up to 1,500 watts of power legally instead of under half a watt as sold. Think what kind of distance you could extend your network! (And how many birds flying nearby will be microwaved!)

If nothing else, a ham radio license will get you another punch in your 'biggest geek' card. Who doesn't want that?

Matt (k4mls)

Neither this article, nor the previous one posted on /. mention what the USNA plans to do with the satellite.

Ham radio operators all over the world (please view with Netscape; it doesn't load right with IE) use a nifty packet application, APRS through PCSat.

APRS is short for Automatic Position Reporting System. Basically, the satellite allows hams to send GPS reports (such as mine), short text messages, weather reports, etc. to a large number of users. The satellite acts as a 'digital repeater'. Any packet it hears, it send back to earth.

To hit the satellite, all you need is a hand held radio running less than five watts of power into the stock 'rubber duck' antenna. If you're a boater, hiker or whatnot that isn't in range of land communications, you can easily send your data through the satellite and have it relayed to a huge earthly footprint.

Over much of the populated world, there are land based digital repeaters that will relay these packets for hams. Many even gate the information to the internet where it can be viewed by anyone.

If you're the least bit technically and electronically minded, you can probably get the base level ham license (Technician) without any difficulty. It doesn't require a knowledge of Morse Code (CW) anymore. You can take the sample Tech test online. The sample test uses real questions right off the FCC exam. The test costs under $10 in most areas.

Using more than a dozen ham radio satellites for free isn't the only reason to get your ham license, of course. There's also that you can modify those 2.4 gHz network cards to run up to 1,500 watts of power legally instead of under half a watt as sold. Think what kind of distance you could extend your network! (And how many birds flying nearby will be microwaved!)

If nothing else, a ham radio license will get you another punch in your 'biggest geek' card. Who doesn't want that?

Matt (k4mls)

http://www.findU.com/cgi-bin/pcsat.cgi

And, of course, that GPS/APRS information is gated to the Internet at the site FindU.com. For example, I'm right here. (Actually, I was there a while ago.)

Position information can be updated as often (every ten seconds) or as rarely as you want (when active, I send a packet every two minutes when moving; 30 minutes when stopped). You can also stations near me.

I never found ham radio very interesting until the advent of APRS. I can talk with someone across the world using email or a telephone. APRS brings something to ham radio I really enjoy.

When I'm touring on my bicycle, I generally have the GPS and ham radio with me. Folks all over the work can track me on the internet. One of these days, I'm going to tap into my heart rate monitor so that data can also be uploaded to the internet using ham radio.

Ham radio is a great way to your geekness to the next level.

InitZero

And, of course, that GPS/APRS information is gated to the Internet at the site FindU.com. For example, I'm right here. (Actually, I was there a while ago.)

Position information can be updated as often (every ten seconds) or as rarely as you want (when active, I send a packet every two minutes when moving; 30 minutes when stopped). You can also stations near me.

I never found ham radio very interesting until the advent of APRS. I can talk with someone across the world using email or a telephone. APRS brings something to ham radio I really enjoy.

When I'm touring on my bicycle, I generally have the GPS and ham radio with me. Folks all over the work can track me on the internet. One of these days, I'm going to tap into my heart rate monitor so that data can also be uploaded to the internet using ham radio.

Ham radio is a great way to your geekness to the next level.

InitZero

And, of course, that GPS/APRS information is gated to the Internet at the site FindU.com. For example, I'm right here. (Actually, I was there a while ago.)

Position information can be updated as often (every ten seconds) or as rarely as you want (when active, I send a packet every two minutes when moving; 30 minutes when stopped). You can also stations near me.

I never found ham radio very interesting until the advent of APRS. I can talk with someone across the world using email or a telephone. APRS brings something to ham radio I really enjoy.

When I'm touring on my bicycle, I generally have the GPS and ham radio with me. Folks all over the work can track me on the internet. One of these days, I'm going to tap into my heart rate monitor so that data can also be uploaded to the internet using ham radio.

Ham radio is a great way to your geekness to the next level.

InitZero

There is a site which stores all these and produces both single reports and summary pages. For example, here is the page for reports re-transmitted by the International Space Station:

http://www.ariss.net

(presently the amateur equipment abord ISS is turned off, so there is no data from the last few days).

When PCSat is operational, there will be a similar page available for the output from this satellite. I don't have the URL yet, but look at the main page for the database for it once it is available:

http://www.findu.com

Steve Dimse K4HG

(Mainly for the benefit of others reading your comment.) The idea behind amateur radio is that it's a hobby, and meant for experimentation and for trying new things, learning, etc. It's not meant to do the job of something you can find commercially.

So generally speaking every signal you send over amateur frequencies must be things that a) you're perfectly comfortable sharing with the rest of the amateur radio community (thus the rest of the world); and b) aren't things that should probably be sent via some existing, equivalent (probably commercialized) route.

In this case, the guy's having fun trying to learn how microwave transmissions work, and what better way to learn how to do these things than to get an amateur license and actually build the darn thing? But the regulations say if he wants to use this link for anything but completely open, completely personal use, he needs to pursue a commercial license (or use a non-amateur product).

For this reason you will not find amateur digital links directly connected to the Internet for any Joe Schmoe to (perhaps inadvertantly) send anything violating FCC regulations over amateur radio frequencies. Things like porn, advertisements and commercial activities do not belong on amateur radio frequencies, and nowadays the web is full of it. In a way, this also hinders a lot of amateur radio digital activities, since we're effectively limited to e-mails and other communications between HAMs.

But this is just one area of digital amateur radio. We've got several satellites in orbit, some capable of doing digital work, and we have new cool things like APRS for instant world-wide messaging (even via satellite if you're in the boonies) and GPS positioning. You could build a home-made LoJack out of something like this.

Dave, WL7RO