GPS tracking

[griffiths_r]

anyone stuck a GPS tracker into their car?

given where my car is stored it can go quite a while without a visit...

ebay has some cheap GPS trackers which send coordinates by SMS when movement is detected. ie if someone decides to try and nick it.


or... do i just accept that it's insured.


thoughts?

[epilot]

battery drain ?

[griffiths_r]

battery drain ?

yeah was wondering about that.

i seem to have a rare beast that can be left for 3 months and still have no trouble starting without a trickle charger. not sure that would still apply with a device attached.

that said, device and leaving a trickle charger on is still an option.

but was still thinking that something with it's own battery would work better.

[Merv]

If it works from your car battery then the tracker is of no use if the thief disconnects the car battery. Most seem to have internal batteries with long standby times.

http://www.brickhousesecurity.com/product/spark+nano+gps+tracking+device.do

[griffiths_r]

haven't got much further.

these two seem to be stand alone - no drain on car batt.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Tough-Portable-GPS-Tracker-180-working-days-with-Strong-Magnet-Case-Car-Asset-/201227159036?pt=AU_Electronics_GPS&hash=item2eda12c5fc

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/GPS-tracker-CCTR808S-solar-power-4000mHA-battery-standby-12months-waterproof-/321244336129?pt=AU_Electronics_GPS&hash=item4acba79001

starting to think relying on insurance is easier...

[Merv]

Many of them require some kind of contracted connection.

[griffiths_r]

ok, will try and bring all the other GPS tracking threads together here...

http://www.typ901.org/showthread.php?t=5808

http://www.typ901.org/showthread.php?t=5742

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so, this is the unit I bought.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/221622439979

have put a 3G/4G optus prepaid sim card in it... seems to work fine (despite the fine print saying otherwise).

here's my early review. putting aside the crappy user interface and instructions translated by a monkey with a typewriter in some foreign land.

smaller unit than i was expecting - think size of 2 matchboxes...

the unit has quite a lot of variables which can be set:
- SOS alarm (can call someone when you press a button on the unit)
- Call for location update (will send a location update when it receives a missed call from a particular phone number)
- Timer based sms location (how frequently it will send a location update when it is “awake”)
- Low battery alarm
- No gps signal alarm
- Geofence alarm
- Overspeed alarm
- vibration alarm (detects vibration)
- low power mode (amount of time unit sleeps between being awake for 10 mins)


All the settings can be changed by sending an sms to the unit (one at a time). Or you can change all of them with your laptop.


the unit obviously has a power saving mode (which is how they claim such good battery life). once in sleep mode though, the unit is effectively a brick. If you set the sleep time for 24 hours, it will wake up for 10 minutes every day and see where it's at. This overrides all the other gps/sms functions.

the biggest issue I have come across is trying to limit when it sends an sms to conserve battery and telco charges. the idea being that i only want an sms when someone tries to steal the car. then balancing this against battery life.


the sms tracking function is just a simple timer – when the unit is awake it will send the location by sms every X minutes. Don’t really need an sms every hour or day etc… just when the car moves.


so, i have the timer function turned off at the moment (overspeed and vibration are off too), and testing the geo-fence function. So the only warning it will send me is when the unit is awake and outside a 1km radius from home. It is set to wake up every hour (17 days batter life at that rate… 298 days if set at 24 hours sleep time).


assuming that as soon as I receive a geofence warning (which could be 1 hour after the car has been stolen on the current setting), I would then need to send it an sms command to send me sms locations every few minutes and turn off the power save mode.

Not a bad unit for the price… but doesn’t quite do what I was expecting or want it to… would rather it woke up on vibration, and then did something immediately rather than wait for hours before the unit wakes up. It can also have a battery pack plugged into it to extend the battery life…

[Fishcop]

I would tinker.

If battery life is an issue I would hard wire it in... Dick Smith or Jaycar would have something to reduce the 12 volts (what voltage does it run on?).

Pick a powered location. For example the cavity next to the interior light inside the headlining (high in the car and unlikely to be discovered in the short term). Getting clever, you could hard-wire to the door switch which would power the tracker when the door is opened and send an SMS.

If power is cut at the battery it will default to internal battery and send you an SMS.

Discuss with an auto-elect... with a bit of ingenuity you could be on to something.

[Merv]

As you say John, thieves could well disconnect the main battery to disable any (other) alarm systems that would negate that option. I know that Merc, Subaru WRX and some other brands hide a small (motor cycle type) 12 v battery elsewhere to overcome this issue. I can't imagine the draw on the battery would be great anyway.

The long Telstra thread that I posted earlier is full of complaints, however, about the inaccuracy of the location info. Can be metres or often kilometres (with the JayCar device), as well as time delayed! Contracts for the sim can be as low as $1/month.

These are also worth small cost http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/GPS-track...item27c58e2cd5

Last, as someone said earlier, use an old mobile phone with an app like GreenAlp installed and it can do almost all the things for you.

[griffiths_r]

ok, i am starting to think you get what you pay for... d'uh!

getting the unit to get a gps lock is very patchy.

and reasonably frequently it sends the coordinates as -145.020018,145.020018... (doesn't exist?)


not really features you want if someone has nicked your car!

[Merv]

Richard, I think we all appreciate you doing this test and raising the issue. I have done a few things including a well hidden cut out switch and some other deterrent initiatives. I am also going to use an old Samsung with a low cost plan and GreenAlp installed, when ever I leave the car out of my garage.

[Merv]

Any further developments Richard? Do any of these work well enough to justify their installation?

[Merv]

John F uses this I believe as an immobiliser. Seems simple and effective. Any reviews available?

http://www.dynamco.com.au/products_preview.php?model=P205

[Fishcop]

Yep that's what is in mine. I like the transponder arrangement as I don't need a remote control (just proximity), and if I lose keys there is an override.

There's also a few other 'tricks' - but nothing will stop a couple of pros with go-jacks and a flatbed Which is why the cheap lo-jack/GPS tag idea would be good...

[griffiths_r]

Yeah, no joy on the one I bought. Useless e-junk.

Slightly distracted by putting cars back together, will hopefully revisit later in the year...

R