Would not even need a laptop; just a Palm to do this.

You could even use a PalmPhone, and add to it a "kill switch" on the
ignition, a flow restictor on the gas (won't go over 10kph) or a "park lock
override" on the transmission (if automatic) which would prevent the
vehicle from getting out of Park.

Would take the fun out of using APRS, but you'd get your car back a lot
faster.

On Mon, 9 Feb 2004 22:42:27 +1100, "peter berrett"
wrote:
snip

Equipment:

1 x old notebook computer with sound card to act as modem
1 x mouse gps - usb connection
1 x 2m ht

The idea is that the ht would sit on 144.900 mhz and listen for aprs
packets. It would however only supply an aprs packet if polled remotely (ie
you have to send it a special code to start transmitting aprs packets)
however so most of the time there is no transmission. If you fill up at a
pretrol station there is no danger because your setup is not transmitting at
all.

Say your car gets stolen. You send a particular code through the aprs system
and tell the notebook computer to start transmitting aprs packets every
minute. You then track the car until the police catch up with it.

Workable but safe?

Very safe. The story about risk at petrol stations form RF has been
disproven as an Urban Legend.

cheers Peter
--
Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT.