Omelet said:In article <[email hidden]>,
"Nancy Young" <[email hidden]> wrote:
Quoted message said:Quoted message said:<[email hidden]> wrote
Quoted message said:Actually, yes they do. Cell phones send out an, "I'm here" signal
on a regular basis. The timing varies, but on the order of everyI was surprised to see that on some real life detective type show,
they were able to show that some suspect was driving a certain
path by what cell phone towers they passed. At first I thought
I misunderstood. Weird.
Quoted message said:That is interesting...
Quoted message said:So if your cellphone is transmitting and you place a 911 call (say if
you are about to be attacked) and you drop the phone still connected,
can they use the phone to find your approximate location?
Yes, though it may be several city blocks worth of approximate, so
not necessarily helpful. There have been some cases where people
trapped in car wrecks called 911 and given the general area from
cell tower information the police found them by driving by the area
with their sirens going and the 911 center telling them when the
sound peaked. There have also been cases where this technique
failed and the wrecked car was found in a deep ditch or other
hard to see area months later.
Quoted message said:Or do you need a phone with a GPS for that?
The ones with GPS are much more accurate. That should get
them within a few yards. These newer phones are required
to report location, and the process can be automated, but
older ones may need help from the phone company and could
take time because they are working off of cell tower info.
Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, Va.