Almost every person is intimately familiar with the navigation system. GPS helps to quickly and accurately determine the location of a specific object - a person, car, other modes of transport or animals. The simplest beacon is inexpensive in the store, but a more powerful one takes a bit of a toll on your wallet. But why buy if you can really make it yourself? From what and how will those who wish to learn now.
Self-assembly of a GPS beacon, what to make it from, how to proceed
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Every modern phone, car, and computer has a GPS beacon. The program is convenient, simple, and most importantly productive. The location of any object is determined instantly with its help. A GPS beacon, as an independent device, is popular among motorists and parents who constantly want to know where their child is, but not everyone is in a hurry to shell out their money in the store for this device. For such thrifty people, there are ideas that will help them construct a GPS tracking beacon on their own and at minimal cost. There are several ways to make a tracking beacon with your own hands, and these are the ones we will talk about now.
Owners of cool smartphones will receive a tracking system for free and without effort
Every smartphone that has a built-in GPS module can become a full-fledged beacon that a person can use to obtain the coordinates he needs. The entire technical aspect of creating such a beacon is as follows:
After these steps, the owner of the smartphone will be able to use his device not only for calls, entertainment and access to the Internet, but also to track the location of a specific object. In this simple way, a smartphone turns into a full-fledged GPS beacon.
For the system to work correctly, the Android device must have a version no lower than 3.2, but it is better if it is no lower than 4.1.2. Data about the tracked object will be displayed on the phone in the form of SMS messages or points on Google Maps.
How to mount a GPS beacon using a less sophisticated mobile device
A phone that is slightly inferior to powerful mobile devices on the Android operating system too 
can become an excellent basis for a GPS beacon. To assemble such a device with your own hands, you will need to buy something else and show your skills in handling technical devices. In addition to the phone, you will need to stock up on an adapter - it could be a broken charger, where the side connected to the phone has survived. You will also need to buy a GPS/GPRS module and receiver.
If all the elements of the future lighthouse are at hand, you need to stock up on tools - a knife, a soldering iron. The work must be carried out according to the following principle:
- the wires that form the basis of the cable for connecting to the phone need to be stripped;
- they must be connected to the module or using a soldering iron;
- connect the system to the phone socket, which is intended for charging;
- turn on the receiver and try to configure the necessary parameters from your phone.
Such a GPS beacon will send signals to the phone in the form of regular text messages, and if it is possible to open maps, it will be easier to look at the coordinates on them, because this will make it easier to navigate in space and determine the specific location of the object.
This beacon is easy to use, but at home. The design will be quite inconvenient to carry or install in a car. This is an ideal option for those who are going to keep an eye on their loved ones and children from home.
Is it possible to make a beacon without a phone?
Before answering the question of whether it is possible to make a GPS beacon with your own hands without a phone, you should understand what this device actually is and what features it has. GPS beacon is a device that is mainly used to protect cars. It has a compact size and is powered by charging. The system accurately determines the location of the object, but for it to work correctly, a SIM card must be present inside the device. 
The last fact makes it possible to understand that the operation of a beacon without a SIM card is not possible. In this case, there are only two ways out of the situation - buy a ready-made beacon in a store or make it yourself using a mobile phone and additional components. If the SIM card is missing, the system will not be able to perform the following actions:
- correct and timely signal transmission;
- registration of a new tracking object and display of statements about it;
- Connect to the Internet - this is necessary for the GPS to work.
If you are using a phone with the latest operating system and a powerful processor, you just need to download a special application, while a simpler model requires additional elements to work in GPS beacon mode.
Advantages and disadvantages of a DIY GPS beacon
Even store-bought technical devices have a number of advantages and disadvantages. If we talk about a do-it-yourself GPS dome, its positive aspects are as follows:
- the ability to quickly, without outside help and large financial investments, make a reliable tracking device;
- even if you have to buy additional little things to construct the lighthouse, it will be much cheaper than in the store;
- In terms of functionality, such a device is in no way inferior to beacons that were bought in a store.
A person will be able to use such a beacon for many years, and if any inaccuracies arise in the work, they can always be corrected.
A beacon for cars created with one’s own hands has a number of disadvantages that make it inferior in popularity to the standard version bought in a store. These negative aspects are especially noticeable for car owners and are as follows:
- due to the design features of the system, it cannot be correctly placed in the car;
- Part of such a beacon must necessarily be a mobile device, and the constant tracking process can create difficulties for mobile communications;
- The beacon consists of several elements connected to each other, and when the car moves, they may become disconnected from each other or the wires may break.
If a person plans to use a beacon for receiving GPS data for his car, then it is better to buy this device in a store. When a tracking system is needed exclusively for home use, a do-it-yourself beacon will be an ideal option. The frequent use of such systems for cars prompted the creators to develop a monoblock design of compact dimensions. If you make an analogue of a beacon yourself using only a smartphone and a special program, you can use it for placement in a car. If the lighthouse is created from separate elements, it is better to leave it for home use.
A GPS beacon will always help you search for cars or other moving objects. You can buy it in a store or create it yourself. It is worth deciding which option to choose, taking into account your own financial capabilities, the purpose for which the device will be used and soberly assessing your communication skills with technical devices.
Samsonova Larisa
"Lighthouse" craft for children 5-6 years old.
Target: develop creativity children. Tasks: 1. Teach to see the potential for transformation in ordinary objects. 2. Learn to draw up a work plan and implement it independently. 3. Strengthen the skill of rolling and flattening sausages from plasticine. 4. Strengthen the skill of cutting along the intended line. Strengthen the skill of smearing children. 5. Learn to evaluate your work.
To work, you will need a plastic bottle of yogurt, kefir or milk, plasticine, red cardboard, a pencil, and scissors. Remember with your children what it is lighthouse. What is it for, what parts does it have. Offer to choose from waste material what might be needed for work. Make a work plan.
Remove the label from the bottle and degrease it.
Place the bottle on colored cardboard and trace the base. To this circle add another circle 1.5 - 2 cm larger. This is the future bridge for the caretaker lighthouse. Add another circle 1 cm larger. This is the bridge railing. From the center of the circle, draw cutting lines to the first circle. Mark the cut lines where the railing would be.
Cut out the part. Bend the piece along the cut line.
Shorten the internal sectors of the part.
Roll out long sausages from red plasticine and flatten them. Roll thin sausages for windows from blue plasticine. Connect them into round windows.
Using the smearing method, secure the plasticine to the bottle.
Place the bridge piece on the top of the bottle and secure it with plasticine.
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February 23 is coming soon, every year all teachers have a headache, what kind of gift to make for dads and grandfathers this time. I offer you a master.
I have always been interested in unusual-looking lamps not only because of their peculiar appearance, but because of their originality and uniqueness. In fact, making a lamp with your own hands is quite simple. If you are interested in this topic, then in the presented master class I will tell you how to make a lighthouse lamp. Since I have two small boys, and the youngest often complains that he is afraid to fall asleep at night, I decided to build a small beacon-house so that the children would feel comfortable in their room. Since the light bulb in the lighthouse will still have to be changed (it will burn out or shake off), the lighthouse itself must be removable. Therefore, as planned, it was decided to place the lighthouse on a rock, in which wires and a light bulb with a socket would be mounted.
So, to make a lighthouse lamp I needed:
For the workpiece:
- very thick cardboard
- scissors
- a light bulb with a socket and a wire with a plug (I used a small light bulb, the kind you put in the refrigerator)
- thread, needle
- plastic bottle
- Super glue
For decoration:
- finishing gypsum putty
- palette knives (you can use a small spatula)
- paints, brushes
First, I assembled the structure of the future lighthouse from cardboard: the lighthouse itself and the rock base. I attached a light bulb with a socket at the base, and brought out the cord from the bottom. I sewed the base with threads, since it was problematic to connect with glue. I cut out small windows at the lighthouse. I cut out window glass from a plastic bottle and glued it to the inside of the lighthouse with super glue. The result was windows with glass.
This is how the blank came out for further decoration with plaster.
While the putty mountain was drying, I decided to make miniature bricks to later line the lighthouse with them. To do this, dilute the gypsum putty with water. I prepared a substrate from chipboard, and lined the substrate with cellophane on top.
I already applied an even layer of putty to the cellophane, and then cut it with a wide spatula into small bricks. I let it dry completely for 24 hours, took the bricks apart into separate segments and began lining the lighthouse with them. I attached it again with putty.
This is the lighthouse lamp I made from plaster.
After the entire structure had dried, I primed the surface and painted it with dispersion paint, tinting it in the desired color.
At the very end, the lighthouse was coated with a protective water-based varnish.
WE WANT TO THROW OUT: coffee cans, newspaper (or paper egg cartons)
WILL DO: decorative figurine "Lighthouse"
The sea season seems to be over, but the ideas remain. And I suggest you save tin cans in order to build a guiding lighthouse for the new season. The photo shows a small structure made from coffee cans for the home, but you can build a similar one from larger cans for the garden.
Crafts on a "marine" theme. And, of course, we use everything unnecessary...
This craft can be simply a decorative element at home or in the garden. Or maybe a toy for children.
But if you wish, you can turn it into a lamp: only carefully, with the participation of an electrician and using a special “non-heating” light bulb. Well, or use an LED candle.
"Lighthouse" with your own hands.
WE WILL NEED:
1. Acrylic paints + varnish.
2. "Liquid nails" for joining cans.
3. Brushes.
4. Wire from "Champagne" - for handrails.
PROGRESS:
1-2. Clean the jars with sandpaper. We customize the design: cut holes where necessary.
3. We mold the missing parts - the roof, lifebuoys, stones - from paper dough (papier-mâché). Let's dry it.
4. We paint.
5.Assemble and decorate.
Don't forget about varnish, and for use in the garden - yacht varnish.
Note: the “weather vane” can be cut from a tin can.
FOR THOSE WHO LIKE SIMPLE:
But, in general, you can get by with just tin cans: connect them using liquid nails or glue. All “decor” (stones, windows, etc.) should be drawn or pasted on (decoupage). And instead of the roof, insert a suitable (!) solar-powered garden lantern.