I saw Will Zehring's (I think) post on Lojack-type stuff, so I thought I'd
stick in what I know. I know three people with the system, and I investigated
putting Lojack in my car. As far as I know, the procedure is as follows: You
buy the service, which in essence means a transmitter and registration code.
They install the transmitter in some dark secret corner of your car (they'd
prefer to do so after you've completed retoring it, according to their sales
staff.) You pay a rather hefty flat fee (at least in my area) for the hookup;
after that, there are no monthlies. If your car is, er, creatively reparked
by an unauthorized driver, you call the police and give them your Lojack code.
The Lojack transmitter sends out a fairly powerful 'activation pulse' to your
coverage area, at which point the transmitter in your car starts screaming its
head off. The police, as Will indicated, have at least one car with a tracking
receiver which gives them directional information. They follow it to your car.
I spoke with a Boston cop who knew about the system who had personally been
given nine Lojack calls...he said they found them all within 1/2 hour. Three
with arrests.
If I had the cash, I'd buy this. The limitation, as far as I know (well,
one of them) is that the coverage areas are limited...they only appear to be
presently servicing large, high-risk urban areas like Boston, NY, LA. YMMV.
-JBZimmerman!
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