remote start via disposable cell

Happy to hear it's up and running.

True.dat! I actually received my order from Parts-Express yesterday, about 24 hours after I placed the order. That is AWESOME! I have also soldered up the finished project, albeit with the opto instead of the relay, as those are in my Digi-Key order and it has not arrived yet. I also have a generic 12v charger on order from Monoprice. All in all, counting the phone and minutes, the project is costing me about $50. I shouldn't have to spend but maybe $60 in minutes the rest of the year. Sounds like a winner to me, if it lasts. I mod stuff...yeah...

FYI on most phones you can set them to only gets calls from caller ID phone #'s that are in your phone book in the phone. Any other calls go directly to voice mail.Joe Foe from Buffalo

This is true, thanks Joe! Also, I was just featured on Hack A Day, Yay!I mod stuff...yeah...

FYI Related but not related. I spoke with Crime Stopper tech support today and was told they are going to have a alarm /remote start that will can use a sim card. They we will be able to call our cars or our cars will be able to call us. The ETA will not be for a couple months at best though.Joe Foe from Buffalo

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/20/the-diy-10-prepaid-cellphone-remote-car-starter/

Can someone tell me how to do this, but something a little easier to understand? The diagram on the first page is kinda confusing to me. I basically need a diagram or something that details how to hook up the relay.

This is all really good treading and good luck with future projects. Some thoughts though. DEI have marketed a product in the UK called CallGuard for the last 3 years. It does all of the above plus monitoring the alarm and acting as a location device. All European and Chinese sourced product will use a SIM card, i.e. GSM not CDMA so make sure you can receive TMobile or At&T where the car is! Also make sure it's a quad band nothing less because GSM in the US is 800/1900, in Europe it's 900/1800Mhz. Lastly I'd be surprised if you were able to use an 02 SIM card unless paying roaming charges, it's a UK/Spanish owned network and works great here. On a geeky note they showed an NCIS episode (not LA I hate that show)where they tracked a UK registered cell phone. They got the country code right, tags 44 on the front of my number as it shows on the receiving caller ID when I'm outside the UK) but their researchers never realised that all cells in the UK start with 07!