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2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/diy/ - Do It Yourself

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806255 No.806255 [Reply] [Original]

I'm looking to make a faraday container for the GPS tracker in my company vehicle. It uses a tracking system that contacts both cell towers and GPS satellites to report vehicle location.

Before I was able to just unplug the device from the car's OBDII port and the receiver would think the car was stationary/off until it was plugged back in, now the device reports any loss of power so that is no longer an option.

I've wrapped the tracker (approximately 12"x4"x1" under the dash) in aluminum foil and this effectively blocks GPS satellite reception but the unit still reports to the tracking system when the car is turned off and on but shows it stationary (meaning it is still maintaining cell tower reception). Ideally I would like to block all ability for the device to send/receive signal at all.

I have read that to block outgoing signals the faraday cage must be grounded (else it acts as an antennae itself) and this is possibly why outgoing signals are still getting through on the cell frequencies. Also possibly a better material choice would net better results. IIRC the wavelengths I'm trying to block are around 30cm.

Thoughts?

>> No.806257

Wrap it in copper mesh

>> No.806261

>>806255
>Thoughts?
thought #1: you could find and detach the cell phone antenna. assuming it is easily detachable.

thought #2: if your car is the only one that they regularly lose total contact with, they're still going to know you're doing something wrong.
and even if you're not really doing anything wrong, they will still think you are, since you are hiding the car's location.
,,,,
How's about you think about staying employed and not fucking with company property?

>> No.806267

>>806261
The antennae is incorporated into the device. the only cable coming out plugs into the OBDII port under the dash and is where it communicates with the vehicle and gets power.

The device only reports to the tracking system when the car is started. If I block all communication with the system while the car is off then go drive the car it will just look like the car is powered off and stationary as it will not be able to report the start up event or its location.

I am partially in charge of the tracking system in question and fucking with it would not cost me my job. Thanks for the concern though.

>> No.806268

>>806255
If it only reports when the vehicle is turned of and on could you not wire pin 16 (+12V) to a 12V line that does not turn off with the ignition? As long as the device doesn't draw too much and flatten the battery, this should stop it reporting.

>> No.806276

>>806268
I should clarify.

The trackers only STARTS reporting when the ignition is turned on. It then reports every 2 minutes with GPS coordinate breadcrumbs so that the vehicles location and path can be tracked in real time and after the fact via an online app. The device then becomes inactive when the vehicle is shut off and does not transmit any location. Showing up as just a rad square (inactive) until the vehicle is started again.

Wiring an alternate full time 12v source is an interesting idea. However I believe it would just keep the device active and transmitting at all times. This coupled with the GPS blocking faraday wrap would nullify any stop/start reports and any location change reports however the vehicle would appear to just be idling stationary indefinitely which is not ideal.

Ideally I would be able to block the devices ability to send/receive signals completely so the vehicle would simply appear stationary and off at all times to the tracking software.

>> No.806311

>>806276
can you disconnect it from where it is attached? If so you can make a case for it and seal it in anti-radiation paint.
No radio signals will pass through then.

>> No.806315

I'm not an electrical engineer...but if you can figure out the frequency it sends and receives on you, could use another device to create a lot of noise on that signal.

Just out of curosity, are you trying to break the system to prove it can be broken, or do you just want to drive wherever you want to drive without being tracked? Strip-club during work hours?

Its a company car, do you take care of maintenance on it or does the company? Because if you go in for an oil change and you are up 5k miles, and it seems odd to the guy, he could check the GPS record and realize your car should only have 1k miles or whatever...Just saying, your plan aint fool-proof.

>> No.806321

>>806255
>Thoughts?
Yes, you can't collect unemployment insurance if you are FIRED from your job for violating company policy, and for misappropriation of a company vehicle, so the NO TRACKING DATA that will be collected will be a dead giveaway to your bosses that you're tampering with shit, so how about you stop being faggot and do the job you're paid to do and not fuck around doing shit you're not supposed to be doing? Use your own vehicle for going to see prostitutes, or meeting up with your dealer to get your drugs, or whatever stupid shit you're trying to hide.

>> No.806327

>>806255
you could buy a jammer, they could be used for GPS. Google for GPS signal blocker

>> No.806329

>>806327
>jammer
Criminal offense to posess, likely to get you locked in a small room for long periods of time by HLS as a suspected terrorist these days.

>> No.806332

>>806329
not making one yourself

>> No.806335

>>806332
>thinking you won't get caught

>> No.806337

>>806311
Yes, it is held in place with zip ties and I can easily slip it into a case or wrap it in foil. I plan on ordering an anti-RF phone slip and seeing if that will put its cell connection out of commission.

>>806315
Cell frequencies are pretty well known but actually jamming those frequencies gets into legal territory with the FCC that I'd rather avoid. There was a guy in FL that got caught using a cell jammer for two years and was fined $50,000.

>Just out of curosity, are you trying to break the system to prove it can be broken

Little bit of both, I find it sort of a personal challenge. As I said I'm also partially in charge of mantaining the tracker and monitoring employees so I want to know just how fool proof the system is should anyone else get any bright ideas.

>do you just want to drive wherever you want to drive without being tracked? Strip-club during work hours?
Work hours I can drive wherever I want anyways. I'm more interested in use after work hours when the cars are supposed to be parked.

>Its a company car, do you take care of maintenance on it or does the company?
Company pays for it but each driver is in charge of monitoring and getting services done. No one else is keeping track. The tracking software does have an odometer reading but it never matches up with the car odometer (mileage recorded via different methods, GPS vs. speedometer in car) and no one pays any attention to it anyway. Plus I can edit those values anyway.

>> No.806340

>>806337
Do you have a spare car you can plug it into over night?

>> No.806341

>>806321
Thank you for your concern but this would not get me fired. It's more about headache avoidance and my constant need to figure out problems.

>so the NO TRACKING DATA that will be collected will be a dead giveaway

There is no such data. The tracker does not report to the system if the car is off. If no data is received from the tracker the system assumes the car is stationary and off. Hence completely blocking all data from the in-car tracker would render the system unable to track and the car would simply appear stationary and off.

>so how about you stop being faggot and do the job you're paid to do
Funny because I do do the job I'm paid to do. and this is pretty much my job.

>not fuck around doing shit you're not supposed to be doing
Thanks for the tips Moral Orel.

>>806327
GPS jammer solves the GPS issue however I can already solve that with a faraday shield made of foil. The problem I have is trying to block the in-car tracker from getting cell signal out. If just the GPS is jammed/blocked then the car appears to turn on and stay stationary for the duration of its drive as the cell radio still reports engine start/stop events.. It just doesn't know where the car is because of no GPS signal.

>>806329
AFAIK the small GPS jammers aren't illegal and pretty much impossible to detect because they have such small range and narrow frequency. However blocking GPS signal isn't a problem for me. Cell jammers on the other hand are easier to detect and very illegal.

>> No.806342

>>806340
I do but that would require unplugging the unit which generates a report.

If unplugging the unit was an option I could just unplug it and leave it in the car then drive the car anywhere (which we used to do, it shows the car stationary and off). But now the software was updated and the units generate an "unplugged" report whenever the OBDII plug is removed.

>> No.806346

>>806342
Seems like your problem could be solved with some fancy programming skills and a arduino. plugged into the OBDII pins to give it whatever data makes it happy.

This is getting too technical for my pay grade tho.
Best of luck OP, you have a fun problem.

>> No.806349

>>806341
Don't believe you, and anyone with a lick of sense shouldn't help you, either. If you have a company-installed GPS tracking system on your company-owned vehicle then it's there for a REASON and defeating it should get you fired. I find it more likely you're on house arrest or something like that, wearing an ankle-worn GPS tracker, and are trying to defeat it.

Please just leave. /diy/ is not here to help anyone break laws. Don't even bother denying it since you can't prove you're *not* doing that. Nice try though.

>> No.806382

>>806346
I do not believe there is any significant data transmitted between the car and the tracker via OBDII other than ignition on/of to tell if the car is running.

>>806349
>Don't believe you
You're believing me is not a requisite for this thread. I do not care.

>If you have a company-installed GPS tracking system on your company-owned vehicle then it's there for a REASON
It is there for a reason. I have never contested this.

>defeating it should get you fired.
Fortunately my continued employment is not based on such arbitrarities.

>I find it more likely you're on house arrest or something like that, wearing an ankle-worn GPS tracker, and are trying to defeat it.

No one cares what bullshit you've pulled out of your ass you find more likely.

>Please just leave.
I would ask the same of you and my thread.

> /diy/ is not here to help anyone break laws.
Nothing I've outlined here has anything to do with breaking laws. In fact when people have suggested solutions that required the breaking of laws (wide-band jammers), I told them i was not interested.

If I was doing whatever nefarious thing youa re accusing me of anyway to break the law I would have no qualms with actually doing something illegal to accomplish this, such as use a wide-band frequency jammer.

>Don't even bother denying it since you can't prove you're *not* doing that. Nice try though.
Denying what? Your baseless and flatly retarded accusations that you've pulled ot of your ass? I don't need to deny or prove anything. I am not responsible for proving your negative. You've made the accusation, burden of proof is on you to substantiate it.

>> No.806384
File: 268 KB, 361x691, 1427653647433.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
806384

>>806349
Oh my god. Fuck off.
Hide the thread, and move on.

>> No.806390

>>806384
Thermonuclear terrorist Whitehouse pedophile detected

>> No.806396

more foil op load of thickness

>> No.806423

>>806255
Make fake OBD-II port attached only to a 12v power source (computer PSU) and keep the device attached to that in the garage when you're doing shady things with the company car?

>> No.806450

>>806255
This is illegal.

>> No.806470

>>806276
give it power, but never an "engine start" signal. Could be as simple as an extension cord where you cut the wires that carry a signal instead of just power.

>> No.806475

>>806341
>car appears to turn on and stay stationary
This is stupid, it should really say 'location unknown'.

>> No.806506

>>806450
[citation needed]
He hasn't even said where he leaves, I don't think.
Could be fucking Vladisdurkistan.

>> No.806517

>>806255
Criminal scum please leave.

>> No.806581

>>806337
>OP: I'm also partially in charge of mantaining the tracker and monitoring employees so I want to know just how fool proof the system is should anyone else get any bright ideas.

Notice right after someone said don't do it, OP is executive vice president, large and in charge.
If he wants to know about the system he could ask the manufacturer. If he maintains the system he would have been trained by the manufacturer, no need to ask various anons. Any reputable company that makes these things knows how it can be defeated, and would tell the executive that monitors these employees what to look for. (i.e. loss of signal)
He's doing something fishy....
and is probably a janitor....

>> No.806587

>>806506
Vladisdurkistan has draconian laws about this sort of thing. Not only is it illegal there but he'd be executed in a pretty gruesome way. Vladisdurkistanians don't mess around.

>> No.806935

>all these moralfag companydrones who justify tracking
Kill yourselves now

>> No.807061

When engine starts, voltage rises a bit from 12.5 to 14.2 volts. Just by logging this value one should be able to figure out if vehicle was used.
Also there is a little noise coming out of alternator that varies with rpms. It could be also used in this kind of trackers for safety measure. Software may show less than is really being logged. Also device could be using positive or ground wires as antenna like mp4 uses headphones to receive fm signal.
But if above assumptions would be incorrect, then just wrapping device with thicker and denser material like lead or copper for example and grounding it to chasis of vehicle should work.

>> No.807134

>>806935
New poster.
I hate the tracking but my issue is there ain't no way to defeat the tracker without getting caught for doing it and looking like you did it on purpose.

I might have a good idea but I ain't sharing because its only good once and of they figure it out ot wont work no more.

>> No.807143

>>806349
You're just shitting up the board at this point, trust the mods and shut up if you can't contribute

>> No.807143,1 [INTERNAL] 

Has anyone figured this out yet? I think I may have it.