BIKERK9
Santa Cruz, CA
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If a cell phone is left turned on, hooked up to 12v, and tucked away hidden
in the RV or trailer, WILL IT allow the police to locate its location if they are
given the cell number 
A 2nd cell phone costs average $10 a month for service and wondered if
it could be used by LEO's like a lo-jack to track down the RV if stolen.
DoggyDaddy
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nelson
Clio,Mi USA
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I think there is a service that will let you do that. My son has it on my Granddaughters phone and he can check and see where she is. Exact location. Not sure what he pays for this service but sure it has a cost.
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lwmuddy
Wallingford,PA
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As long as it isn't a disposable type phone which, I think, may be hard or even impossible to track, Judging from crime shows I've seen, but they are only TV shows and might not be accurate.
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Klueck
Georgia
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It's a great idea if it works. I'll be watching for answers.
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trnfla
Tampa
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Check out this service to do what you are talking about for free:
Mologogo
* This post was
edited 11/07/09 05:04am by trnfla *
Have a great time camping,
Terry
Please say a Prayer for my 16 month old Granddaughter
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BillArf
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Mologogo's homepage.
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jharrelson
Carson City, Nevada
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I can't answer your questions ... BUT... I have a few questions ...
Most RVs are metal boxes... so if the phone is hidden inside the RV, will the phone signal be able to maintain contact with the satellite so it can be tracked ?
If the RV is stolen and then "Stripped" will they steal the phone also ?
Or.. if thieves don't find the phone, how long will the phone battery last if phone is left turned on ?
If the RV is stolen and taken across the Mexican border.. will your next phone bill show several hundreds of dollars worth of "Out of Country" phone calls ?
Can the RV be recovered from Mexico ?
Will there be anything left of it to recover ?
NO... I'm not trying to be a smartarse... but as most folks have discovered over the years ... some things in life have no simple answers...
I like your idea ... if it would work...
John
John Harrelson
Carson City, Nevada
fulltime since 1977
93 Ford 350 4wd Diesel
95 Prowler 30.5 ft 5th wheel w/slide
TWO CENTS WORTH
The story goes that a man died and was approached by the Devil who told him that he could buy his soul back for a dollar. The man searched his pockets and could only come up with 98 cent. While begging the Devil to forget the two cent he was short, an Angel happened by and hearing the Devil laughing, asked the man, "Would you mind if I put in my two cents ?" The Devil got so mad that he exploded in a puff of smoke and the man's soul was saved.
The moral: Sometimes putting in your two cents worth makes a difference.
JOHN "the cook" 1997
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stevelv
Living on the island
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A phone talks to a tower - that tower has a 5 mile radius of operation
Some phones have cell tower triangulation which gets you to about 300'
Some phones have real GPS which gets you to about 3'
If the phone cannot receive service then it won't work - if the phone can receive service then depending upon what type it is then it would work but you would have to get the Police to take a real interest in obtaining the warrent to get the phone company records which might not be very easy.
There are lots of alternatives that you could use - wristbands for locating kids comes to mind that may be cheaper than having contiuous cellphone service and you get direct access to the location data without requiring a warrent.
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ShapeShifter
Buffalo, NY
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lwmuddy wrote:Judging from crime shows I've seen, but they are only TV shows and might not be accurate.
That's an understatement! I would say a majority of what you see on the crime shows is either technologically impossible, or if possible would take weeks or months to happen and not the minutes that it takes on the TV.
_____
To the OP: I suppose it's technologically feasible, but will it really be practical? You may be better off getting one of the services that others have already mentioned.
Another solution may be to get one of the phones that are designed for kids. The kind that has just a few speed-dial buttons that can be programmed to call family members, and that allows tracking of the kid's position by the parents.
Or, you can go all out and get a system like the RV Nanny that lets you monitor your rig, and track its position. But that doesn't quite fit into the low cost model that you're looking for.
I just did a Google search on "Child cell phone tracking" and got lots of interesting hits. Maybe you will find something that works for you. While most people are concerned about keeping tabs on their kids, I don't see why one of those solutions wouldn't work for an RV (keeping jharrelson's comments in mind.)
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vtaero
Fredericksburg, VA
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I have used Mologogo and it works. It tracks with updates on a schedule and works with many phones. It even works with prepaid phones. That is the type I had it on.
I have also used Google Latitude which tracks in real time. The nice thing about Google Latitude on a Verizon phone is that if the GPS is not getting a great fix, the cell towers are used to pull it in more accurately. Even if you don't have any GPS you still get a big circle where the device is located somewhere in the circle.
I have also had Google Latitude on an ATT phone which you can get for 30$ a month with unlimited data and NO voice service. I bought a smart phone from ebay and they gave me service for 30$ a month. Even if you do use it for voice it is only about 45cents a minute even without any voice contract.
Both of the above are totally free and really work. I have Latitude on my ATT phone and Verizon phones now and it is great.
Both the services however require a data connection which will cost something depending on your current wireless plan.
When I had MOLOGOGO it was on a Boost prepaid phone which was Nextel and is now with Sprint and only cost about 6-10$ a month if you only used it for the unlimited data. The only downside with those is that they don't have the coverage of ATT or Verizon.
Hopefully this information helps.
I have been a huge fan of cell phone tracking for years and I try to make my own way of doing it, without paying for something like the child tracking which is in my oppinion a rip off.
Tim
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