Lojack close call hit

Status
Not open for further replies.

mike619

Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2006
Messages
452
I was wondering if when you pick up lojack with close call would that mean a vehicle is getting stolen or a stolen vehicle in the vicinity around you?
 

KevinC

Big Dog...celebrating 10 years of abuse!
Super Moderator
Joined
Jan 7, 2001
Messages
11,336
Location
Home
Possible, or you are near the base transmitter site.
 
Joined
Apr 18, 2009
Messages
6,169
Location
CT
you pick up lojack with close call
The Lojack transmitter is activated when a vehicle has been stolen.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) - LoJack

LoJack - Signal Identification Wiki


Is my LoJack System always “on”?

Your LoJack® Stolen Vehicle Recovery System is always in receiving mode, ready to be activated by a silent signal from law enforcement computers. Please refer to the Recommended and Required Maintenance Sections in the Owner’s Manual for more information.
 
Last edited:

rk911

Rich
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 11, 2004
Messages
586
Location
Wheaton, IL
if i recall correctly a lojack device is activated when the vehicle has been entered into LEADS.
 

dlwtrunked

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
2,109
Possible, or you are near the base transmitter site.
And there are lots of base stations transmitting every 64 seconds. The base station turn off and turn on the protected assets as well as control their sending rate when turned on.
 

letarotor

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
1,050
Location
Arlington, TX

Thanks for These links. I never have looked into LoJack monitoring because I just assumed that it was probably a signal up a few gigahertz at least. I do find it interesting that there is only one frequency in the United States used for LoJack.

This is something I never have thought of trying to see if I could pick the data signal up from. And just yesterday and the night before I was trying to see if I could pick up the local area flood warning data signals. I'll have to look a little bit more when I can see better and see what the ERP is on a LoJack signal. But I want to throw the frequency in any way and see if I can received at some point a signal from my Mast mounted antennas at home. I've heard enough pursuits over the decades as well as Air 1 following LoJack signals coming down the Highway through my city. This should be an interesting signal to here.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

Sent using Google Voice to Text. Please excuse any errors I could not see or catch.

Brian (COMMSCAN)
 

XTS3000

Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2005
Messages
1,098
I’ve always scanned LoJack frequency in my normal scan list and in 15 years, I’ve found 2 stolen items... a boat and one of those BobCat earth movers.

Turned on my scanner both times and it stopped on LoJack with the tell-tale squawk. So decided to investigate. Here’s how I tracked them down with a Uniden 396T, then 396XT

Put on a low gain UHF (yes UHF) with squelch set to 0 and went driving around with the attenuator turned off. When the signal got full strength, turned on the attenuator till the signal went full strength. Removed the antenna and turned off the attenuator till the signal got close or full strength. Attenuator turned back on went walking around until the signal went to close to full scale. Now I’m in a construction site building a few homes. Now I put a 50 ohm SMA terminator on the antenna port with a 1/32” hole drilled through the side metal shell. This acts like a beam antenna where the small hole is. Using my body as a RF shield and the 1/32” hole pointed away from my body, I went around all the heavy trucks and machinery and got a strong hit on a BobCat. Put on another 50 Ohm terminator without any hole and there was no question the BobCat was emitting the LoJack signal.

Called my local PD and they showed up, quite skeptical honestly. They ran the serial number and it came up stolen from another state 3 weeks earlier. Asked how I got a LoJack receiver, I showed them my simple scanner and antennas used to hunt it down. Long story short, they staked out the BobCat and arrested the owner of the construction company and the BobCat was returned to its owner. Same thing happened to a docked boat I got a hit on 7ish years later.

As far as I know, no PD within 100’s of miles has a LoJack receiver in their squad car.
 

letarotor

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
1,050
Location
Arlington, TX
That's a fascinating and intriguing story. Very smart the way you did things also. As the signal was stronger you used antennas and connectors to make your reception weaker to bring you closer to the signal. I had never heard of the hole drilling idea before to make the scanner's connector more directional in signal locating. Very cool indeed!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

Sent using Google Voice to Text. Please excuse any errors I could not see or catch.

Brian (COMMSCAN)
 

K7MFC

WRAA720
Joined
Nov 18, 2017
Messages
863
Location
Phx, AZ
How widely used is LoJack these days? I would have guessed the ubiquity of GPS and cellular/wireless networks long rendered LoJack obsolete.
 

ecps92

Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2002
Messages
14,359
Location
Taxachusetts
an FCC Search on 173.0750 will indicate what states are licensed for use
How widely used is LoJack these days? I would have guessed the ubiquity of GPS and cellular/wireless networks long rendered LoJack obsolete.
 

ecps92

Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2002
Messages
14,359
Location
Taxachusetts
I remember working with a few of the Lo/Jack technicians in the 80's/90's and they used Radio Shack Weather Cubes. wich worked great in parking garages. I still tended to use the ole Scanner


I’ve always scanned LoJack frequency in my normal scan list and in 15 years, I’ve found 2 stolen items... a boat and one of those BobCat earth movers.

Turned on my scanner both times and it stopped on LoJack with the tell-tale squawk. So decided to investigate. Here’s how I tracked them down with a Uniden 396T, then 396XT

Put on a low gain UHF (yes UHF) with squelch set to 0 and went driving around with the attenuator turned off. When the signal got full strength, turned on the attenuator till the signal went full strength. Removed the antenna and turned off the attenuator till the signal got close or full strength. Attenuator turned back on went walking around until the signal went to close to full scale. Now I’m in a construction site building a few homes. Now I put a 50 ohm SMA terminator on the antenna port with a 1/32” hole drilled through the side metal shell. This acts like a beam antenna where the small hole is. Using my body as a RF shield and the 1/32” hole pointed away from my body, I went around all the heavy trucks and machinery and got a strong hit on a BobCat. Put on another 50 Ohm terminator without any hole and there was no question the BobCat was emitting the LoJack signal.

Called my local PD and they showed up, quite skeptical honestly. They ran the serial number and it came up stolen from another state 3 weeks earlier. Asked how I got a LoJack receiver, I showed them my simple scanner and antennas used to hunt it down. Long story short, they staked out the BobCat and arrested the owner of the construction company and the BobCat was returned to its owner. Same thing happened to a docked boat I got a hit on 7ish years later.

As far as I know, no PD within 100’s of miles has a LoJack receiver in their squad car.
 

dlwtrunked

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
2,109
I’ve always scanned LoJack frequency in my normal scan list and in 15 years, I’ve found 2 stolen items... a boat and one of those BobCat earth movers.
...

Most people are going to hear the base stations only...It inly worked for XTS3000 as he was in a location where that is not true There are states with no base stations but along the east coast, for example, each state has at least several base stations tranmitting every 64 seconds. LoJack is now used primarily to secure items other than cars--particularly industrial equipment and sometimes even boats. At my location (Virginia), I can hear 8 base stations, a different one every 8 seconds, until the pattern starts up again at 64 seconds. The nearest base station (high power and licensed to the state police, as done in most states, and among the other antennas on a tall tower) is 2 miles from me.
 

wtp

Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2008
Messages
5,914
Location
Port Charlotte FL
a personal friend that is a sheriff's deputy here told me that his lojack went off and it took him a couple of minutes to figure out what is was. and he is at the ready to retire from them stage. i guess we don't get many around this part of Florida.
 

letarotor

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
1,050
Location
Arlington, TX
I'm just put in the 173.075 frequency on my SDS200 and I get a squawk about every 10 seconds or so. It will squawk a few times and then maybe be silent for 1 minute. Sometimes I get what sounds like static or the squelch being opened up but then I'll get the squawk again. Is this likely something to do with a LoJack tracking signal on a tower maybe or does this indicate there is a vehicle or machinery that is squawking because it is stolen and close by? Here is a video sample of what I'm hearing and since I film in high resolution I can't add it as an attachment or upload to RadioReference. So I just have it uploaded to my Google Photos.

I don't know if this indicates I'm receiving a stolen vehicle or if this is something LoJack is broadcasting for tracking or looking for stolen vehicles? Thanks for any help...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/hHxJU3QkGhTNn84BA

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

Sent using Google Voice to Text. Please excuse any errors I could not see or catch.

Brian (COMMSCAN)
 

letarotor

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
1,050
Location
Arlington, TX
That's normal for routine, daily operation (Not tracking anything. I assume it's polling.

I forget what it does when tracking something, but you'll hear the difference.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP-Rm7uqKAE


*Google is your friend.
Thank you for that information and also for the link. I was just about to start looking on YouTube to see if there were any examples. I don't guess we can actually decode the signal but I'm guessing it will make a different sound when it is receiving a signal from a stolen or tripped vehicle. Thanks again for the help full information!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

Sent using Google Voice to Text. Please excuse any errors I could not see or catch.

Brian (COMMSCAN)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top