What the heck is this in my car?

[thaiguzzi]

Our 747's, and just about every airliner will phone home if you do something wrong, like start your taxi out without the flaps lowered to takeoff position. Will get a text message from company from the chief pilot with a phone number to call. Certain things are programmed to notify company via radio modem. Of course EVERYTHING is recorded and every so often they'll come on board, plug in a computer and download the data. EVERYTHING is recorded. This system is completely separate from the black boxes which don't record a fraction of what FOQUA gets.
It's just like modern cars that record everything. Cars throw codes for system errors, we do as well, except it displays the info on our screens with EICAS, which prioritizes and groups the severity into four levels. The center console has a display much like a OBDI reader. Tells you detailed info of what failed, the hex data the sensor read, the fault code, etc.

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Have you flown one of the 737 MAX's?
And if so, would you again after they have confirmed a fix?

[lakeside53]

My truck like most modern vehicles relies on my cell phone for most "data" functions. You can tell the vehicle NOT to hold gps (tracking data), contacts, messages, phone logs etc. You also need to remember to tell you phone the same... but how many really do? and then Goggle.. you need to go to their website and explicitly ask to erase all data about you. If you don't do all of this and more... then...

oh... you don't have to buy a smart phone or enable your smart vehicle functions. I do, but I do manage my privacy settings.

[Glug]

Will get a text message from company from the chief pilot with a phone number to call.

This system is completely separate from the black boxes which don't record a fraction of what FOQUA gets.

Talk about dreading a text. And I'm pretty sure I know how the crews pronounce "FOQUA".

[OaklandGB]

I'm not particularly informed on things electrical. But, wouldn't the tinfoil wrap have to be grounded to block the RF?? Just asking if true or not.
Thanks,
Oaks.

[RB211]

Our 747's, and just about every airliner will phone home if you do something wrong, like start your taxi out without the flaps lowered to takeoff position. Will get a text message from company from the chief pilot with a phone number to call. Certain things are programmed to notify company via radio modem. Of course EVERYTHING is recorded and every so often they'll come on board, plug in a computer and download the data. EVERYTHING is recorded. This system is completely separate from the black boxes which don't record a fraction of what FOQUA gets.
It's just like modern cars that record everything. Cars throw codes for system errors, we do as well, except it displays the info on our screens with EICAS, which prioritizes and groups the severity into four levels. The center console has a display much like a OBDI reader. Tells you detailed info of what failed, the hex data the sensor read, the fault code, etc.

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[Willy]

Seems kind of odd that whoever put the tracker in the car didn't take it back out to use on another car.

Brian

These types of trackers are relatively inexpensive, labor to exchange them probably puts them at a break even point. You or I might swap it out but when you consider the time it takes to process the entire exchange, which will include dropping the car off and picking it up afterwards, etc. etc. it's just not cost effective.

As I mentioned previously one of my pickups is a former fleet vehicle, you should see the left behind telemetrics it still carries.

[Willy]

My question regarding black box data loggers is who owns the data?

Automotive Black Boxes: Fact Versus Fiction

[bborr01]

Seems kind of odd that whoever put the tracker in the car didn't take it back out to use on another car.

Brian

[ironmonger]

Heh.

"In 2013, 96% of every new car sold in the United States came with a black box, and as of Sept. 1, 2014, every new vehicle must have one installed."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/...vate/20609035/

My question regarding black box data loggers is who owns the data?

[A.K. Boomer]

If they ended up keeping their focus and just used it for stuff like that id be fine with them doing just that, just another way to harness the sheeple's info for picking out the stray threats as long as it does not cross into that all too familiar gray area which seems to be difficult to keep from happening,,,

[RB211]

Professional pilot finds a transponder in his car. Loses his mind. Film at 11

I totally get it. It would have been hard to not terminate it with extreme prejudice.



I think many newer models do.

And then there are the smartphones and vast numbers of apps that share location info. There needs to be a cartoon with a guy excitedly yelling into a smartphone, "I found a tracker on my car!!!"

Cell phone is a government sponsored spying device. I think it was used to find the DC Sniper, polled everyone that was in the vicinity of each sniping, found one person at every location. They will never admit to it, but I bet that's what they did.

[Glug]

Who ever installed it did a really good job. Must of been the original owners

Professional pilot finds a transponder in his car. Loses his mind. Film at 11

I totally get it. It would have been hard to not terminate it with extreme prejudice.

"Black box" isn't "tracker"

I think many newer models do.

And then there are the smartphones and vast numbers of apps that share location info. There needs to be a cartoon with a guy excitedly yelling into a smartphone, "I found a tracker on my car!!!"

[Willy]

The point is that it was an aftermarket GPS tracker phoning home over a cellular network without my knowledge. I paid for the car outright in cash. Who ever installed it did a really good job. Must of been the original owners, but this thing was draining the battery constantly on. Could be the dealership never knew about it, and original owners didn't care about it.
Just something I wouldn't expect to find in a car that I've been driving around for over a year.

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I'm sure that it was a current drain on your battery so it's good that you found and removed it but I think it is highly unlikely that it was phoning home. The monitoring platform to track vehicles will likely cost anywhere from $15-$30 per month depending on the features that are activated, maybe more.
Knowing some folks involved with fleet logistics is where I've gleaned this info, and like I mentioned previously these types of accounts are terminated pronto as soon as the vehicle is cut loose from the fleet. They have no vested interest in that vehicle anymore and are not likely to be paying monitoring fees for a service they no longer require.

[lakeside53]

Heh.

"In 2013, 96% of every new car sold in the United States came with a black box, and as of Sept. 1, 2014, every new vehicle must have one installed."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/...vate/20609035/

"Black box" isn't "tracker"

[ironmonger]

Tinfoil hats may be coming back into vogue...

Here's a case where tinfoil would actually work. If your tracking device is like this one, wrapping it with aluminum foil or copper shielding tape will block the RF, especially if electrically disconnecting carries some kind of legal ramification.

An unrelated use of RF shielding would be to 'disconnect' remote key fobs from the linked vehicle. I saw where car thieves employed an amplifier to boost a car fob signal located in the house to allow them to simply push the start button to drive off.