Vehicle Tracking: A Beginners Guide

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I'm still no clearer, please help me. In a simple way I will understand.
I would like a hidden tracker linked to my phone that tells me it has moved and exactly where it is regardless of the signal breaks with all the hills and mountains round here.
There is so much to choose from and I don't want to make a mistake. I often leave my Landy up remote hills and disappear for hours on foot.
And what about these side locks that cover the outside of your doors? Are they any good?
Much appreciate it fellas
 
AL110 said:
I'm still no clearer, please help me. In a simple way I will understand.
I would like a hidden tracker linked to my phone that tells me it has moved and exactly where it is regardless of the signal breaks with all the hills and mountains round here.
There is so much to choose from and I don't want to make a mistake. I often leave my Landy up remote hills and disappear for hours on foot.
And what about these side locks that cover the outside of your doors? Are they any good?
Much appreciate it fellas
Click to expand...
At the moment I cannot recommend a good tracker unit as I've only had experiance with one model. Member AI203 has the same model as me and seems to be getting on better with it than I am.
As for side locks that cover the outside of your doors I didint even know you could get them, any chance you can post a link so we can all have a look
 
John03 said:
At the moment I cannot recommend a good tracker unit as I've only had experiance with one model. Member AI203 has the same model as me and seems to be getting on better with it than I am.
As for side locks that cover the outside of your doors I didint even know you could get them, any chance you can post a link so we can all have a look
Click to expand...
Will do as soon as I get home
 
AL110 said:
I'm still no clearer, please help me. In a simple way I will understand.
I would like a hidden tracker linked to my phone that tells me it has moved and exactly where it is regardless of the signal breaks with all the hills and mountains round here.
There is so much to choose from and I don't want to make a mistake. I often leave my Landy up remote hills and disappear for hours on foot.
And what about these side locks that cover the outside of your doors? Are they any good?
Much appreciate it fellas
Click to expand...
Yer has 2 options from what I can see:

1. Buy yer own devices and fit yer own sim card. Monitor it yerself. This is the cheaper option. Bit of a fiddle to start with and some may not like having to mess about to learn how to use it. Some on ere have taken up the challenge so we will learn more as time goes buy. GPS location is available by request or if you somehow set it to tell you this in the event it's "set oft". You receive text messages from the tracker. Yer can also send it a message to ask it questions. Keep topping up the sim and making 1 call every so often (or text) to keep the sim activated (as required by network provider).

2. Buy a skytag or similar cheaper device, or something from Tracker UK which is the dog's but more expensive. These trackers are supplied working and monitored by their respective companies 24/7. If the tracker is "set oft" they contact you. If stolen they assist the police with updates on it's location (after yer have phoned the police for a crime ref and reported it stolen). Web access is available to check location yerself. Monthly charge paid dependent on service required (skytag starts from £6.99). This would work betterer if yer don't have a phone signal to monitor it yerself, out of the county a lot or yer phone is flat. At least someone else is tracking it for yer.

Option 2 is more eggspensive to buy initially, and more eggspensive on monthly costs, but provides a lot betterer security.

Regardless of what option yer choose, get a proper alarm fitted with vibration and motion sensing if yer dun't have one.
 
Just a wee update about my tracker after emailing Back2you and letting them know the difficulties I was having with my tracker, Jake from Back2You emailed me back, asked me for the password and number of my tracker and after less than an hour had it up and running as it should. Totally brilliant service really helpful.
 
John03 said:
Just a wee update about my tracker after emailing Back2you and letting them know the difficulties I was having with my tracker, Jake from Back2You emailed me back, asked me for the password and number of my tracker and after less than an hour had it up and running as it should. Totally brilliant service really helpful.
Click to expand...
That's what I found, John. Excellent service. Pleased they came through for you, I was beginning to think you hadn't got the same response I did.
 
Al2O3 said:
That's what I found, John. Excellent service. Pleased they came through for you, I was beginning to think you hadn't got the same response I did.
Click to expand...
Stupidly I didint attempt to contact them until a Friday late afternoon so it was Monday before they responded. The only thing I'd like to know is what they actually done I did ask but all they said was they reset it, I had attempted several times to rest the unit using their app to access it but as you know that did not work. Lets just hope it does not develop a fault again :)
 
John03 said:
Stupidly I didint attempt to contact them until a Friday late afternoon so it was Monday before they responded. The only thing I'd like to know is what they actually done I did ask but all they said was they reset it, I had attempted several times to rest the unit using their app to access it but as you know that did not work. Lets just hope it does not develop a fault again :)
Click to expand...
Fingers crossed, John. Good luck with it, I'm sure it will be ok. They'll probably just swap it out if it faults again. They seem very keen on customer service. And, to be fair, we haven't exactly bought expensive units. ;) I don't think they'll be too bothered about replacing it.
They're probably pretty sure it will be ok.
 
Al2O3 said:
Fingers crossed, John. Good luck with it, I'm sure it will be ok. They'll probably just swap it out if it faults again. They seem very keen on customer service. And, to be fair, we haven't exactly bought expensive units. ;) I don't think they'll be too bothered about replacing it.
They're probably pretty sure it will be ok.
Click to expand...
Now that I have it working properly I believe its a much more reliable unit than the GSM alarm I have installed on my caravan. I wonder how long it would run off a carvan battery
 
John03 said:
Now that I have it working properly I believe its a much more reliable unit than the GSM alarm I have installed on my caravan. I wonder how long it would run off a carvan battery
Click to expand...
No idea, John. The document for the tracker will probably have the power consumption somewhere. Then find the capacity of your battery and you can calculate it. Leave a factor of safety based on age of battery etc.
 
Al2O3 said:
No idea, John. The document for the tracker will probably have the power consumption somewhere. Then find the capacity of your battery and you can calculate it. Leave a factor of safety based on age of battery etc.
Click to expand...
I think even a good caravan battery which mine is not would only run the tracker for two maybe three days. Not sure how long the internal battery on the tracker lasts after that must look into it. As for fitting it into the caravan not an easy idea, caravans tend not to have door switches or window switches so installing all that would be a nightmare not easy to feed wires through and hide them. There are tracker units that just track, no door activation, they text you when it senses movement or like the one we have reply's with a location when you send a text to it. Very small so easy to hide.

Anyway I'm still impressed with how good the tracker is so far no delay with sending or receiving texts messages unlike the one I have in the caravan, which by the way just sends a text message when a door is opened magnetic switch glued to the door. Uses same giffgaff sim card so now I know its the unit causing the delay not the networks.
 
AL110 said:
I'm still no clearer, please help me. In a simple way I will understand.
I would like a hidden tracker linked to my phone that tells me it has moved and exactly where it is regardless of the signal breaks with all the hills and mountains round here.
There is so much to choose from and I don't want to make a mistake. I often leave my Landy up remote hills and disappear for hours on foot.
And what about these side locks that cover the outside of your doors? Are they any good?
Much appreciate it fellas
Click to expand...

People are trying to better trackers by taking the simple way they work and adding lots of complicated ways of getting the information.
You only need two things. A simple GPS tracker and external antennas.
Whatever you have it needs to be well hidden in a place no one can look.
Thats it. You can add as much crap as you like and pay a web site as much as you like but it wont help in a blind spot and it wont help if a burglear finds it and pulls the plug. The only other thing that may help is a dedicated battery that again is hidden and un disconectable.

Take the usual inexpensive unit available from tinterweb.
s-l1600.jpg

Throw a pay as you go sim card in it (one with decent coverage in your area). Stuff the per minute text per pound bull crap you wont use all that.

If the unit comes with a remote control. Bin it.

If the unit comes with a wiring loom that could run a space rocket, cut every wire out of it except the live and neutral.

If the unit comes with a relay, bin it.

If it comes with a microphone, bin it.

Right, you now have a basic dial up to locate unit.
I personally dont like running such things on raw vehicle voltage. Its a bit up and down and can cause problems. I therefore run them through a 12v regulator. They are only cheap and you can get them with a built in fuse. The unit probably has one built in but I like to make sure.
Mount the unit in an undiscoverable place along with your regulator. Mr thief will look in the obvious places so be a little creative.
Now the hard bit.
You have two antennas. One for normal mobi things and one for Gee Pee essy things. Both need to be mounted as high as possible and as open as possible. Open that is to the sky.
Euro boxes such as frords and dihatsuns have nice deep dash boards and parcel shelves with only glass over them. This is where mr thief is going to poke his wire cutters first. Again you need to be as subversive as them and think out the box. The tin box that is. The cables to these are also instantly recognisable so they must be hidden or disguised.

Switch it on.
Send it the code for your mobile so it sends you its location and a security code..
Several other mobile numbers can be used as well. (see chinglish instructions kind purchaser.)
Text it; 'disarm+code'
It now switches itself into sleep mode. It wont use air time and it shouldnt send you any texts telling you next door but one has left the gas on.
I say shouldnt but the one I have sometimes gets a little lonely and lets me know I have run out of diesel even though that bit isnt wired up and I have three quarters of a tank?
I just send it the disarm command again and it keeps quite for a few more weeks.
If you need to know its location at any time you simply phone it up. It sends you a text with a link and when you press the link, up pops google maps with a pin.
For the grand sum of one text message.
Dont worry about sims turning themselves off if you dont use them. They will last a year before this happens if at all and I'm sure you will use it more than once a year to re start the countdown.
 
Bobsticle said:
People are trying to better trackers by taking the simple way they work and adding lots of complicated ways of getting the information.
You only need two things. A simple GPS tracker and external antennas.
Whatever you have it needs to be well hidden in a place no one can look.
Thats it. You can add as much crap as you like and pay a web site as much as you like but it wont help in a blind spot and it wont help if a burglear finds it and pulls the plug. The only other thing that may help is a dedicated battery that again is hidden and un disconectable.

Take the usual inexpensive unit available from tinterweb.
View attachment 110277

Throw a pay as you go sim card in it (one with decent coverage in your area). Stuff the per minute text per pound bull crap you wont use all that.

If the unit comes with a remote control. Bin it.

If the unit comes with a wiring loom that could run a space rocket, cut every wire out of it except the live and neutral.

If the unit comes with a relay, bin it.

If it comes with a microphone, bin it.

Right, you now have a basic dial up to locate unit.
I personally dont like running such things on raw vehicle voltage. Its a bit up and down and can cause problems. I therefore run them through a 12v regulator. They are only cheap and you can get them with a built in fuse. The unit probably has one built in but I like to make sure.
Mount the unit in an undiscoverable place along with your regulator. Mr thief will look in the obvious places so be a little creative.
Now the hard bit.
You have two antennas. One for normal mobi things and one for Gee Pee essy things. Both need to be mounted as high as possible and as open as possible. Open that is to the sky.
Euro boxes such as frords and dihatsuns have nice deep dash boards and parcel shelves with only glass over them. This is where mr thief is going to poke his wire cutters first. Again you need to be as subversive as them and think out the box. The tin box that is. The cables to these are also instantly recognisable so they must be hidden or disguised.

Switch it on.
Send it the code for your mobile so it sends you its location and a security code..
Several other mobile numbers can be used as well. (see chinglish instructions kind purchaser.)
Text it; 'disarm+code'
It now switches itself into sleep mode. It wont use air time and it shouldnt send you any texts telling you next door but one has left the gas on.
I say shouldnt but the one I have sometimes gets a little lonely and lets me know I have run out of diesel even though that bit isnt wired up and I have three quarters of a tank?
I just send it the disarm command again and it keeps quite for a few more weeks.
If you need to know its location at any time you simply phone it up. It sends you a text with a link and when you press the link, up pops google maps with a pin.
For the grand sum of one text message.
Dont worry about sims turning themselves off if you dont use them. They will last a year before this happens if at all and I'm sure you will use it more than once a year to re start the countdown.
Click to expand...


Keep up old chap if you had been reading this post properly from the start you would know that we have already covered everything you said in this long post. thanks for your input all the same
 
John03 said:
Keep up old chap if you had been reading this post properly from the start you would know that we have already covered everything you said in this long post. thanks for your input all the same
Click to expand...
Yes I covered it also many threads ago on the same subject but the poster I answered seemed to be struggling a bit. Never mind perhaps I should have given him no help at all like your good self..
 
Cutting out wiring to reduce a tracker to basic function of location on demand only takes away a lot of the additional security features it may have. Like ignition on warning or movement detection.

Having any type of tracking device is a good idea. But yer has to remember there's 2 types of tracking. I'm not knocking the good work on this Fred on finding out about cheaper alternatives when I says this.
  • One that tells you it's location only when you ask it (or if it can sense movement it alerts you)
  • The other that frequently tells you where it is - normally via a 3rd party company who tracks it for you and may provide a web service where you can see it's history. Normally GSM sim with GPRS option included.
The first is a reactive device. You only ask it for the location when you know it's missing. It may have the option of monitoring movement which can trigger an alert sent to you to warn it's moving when for example the ignition is oft, or the battery has been disconnected. Some disable this option as it's annoying but it does provide valuable info. Only valuable when stolen though. Looking around it seems insurance companies don't normally give discounts for this type of device. If you could get a multi network sim it would make this device betterer due to a greater network area coverage.

The second device allows you to trace it's location history, up to the point where the tracker is killed/removed or the battery goes flat. This is more likely done by subscription to a 3rd party who supply the device with a multi network sim which has greater coverage, and GPRS enabled
. We all know of places where mobile signal is zero which is an easy storage location. So at least you know the history of the direction it travelled towards to get to a zero reception zone (where it's undetectable). This at least gives you some hope of a rough location if it's in one of these zones. You can have a go yerself at history tracking anorl. History of where it's been is useful if the tracker is found and removed at a later date. There's also an automatic reaction to tracker movement etc by the call centre who will contact you if an alert is notified to them. The subscription cost of this type of device is normally less than the discount on yer insurance for having it fitted. Especially if yer tratter is of high value or considered a likely target. So it can actually pay you to have it fitted.
 
Last edited:
Bobsticle said:
Never mind perhaps I should have given him no help at all like your good self..
Click to expand...

oh is that right well between AI203 myself and a few others I thought we were doing a good job of helping not only AL110 who I think English is not his first language but a few others on here. in which case the only way I can help him is to find out what his native tongue is and attempt to learn it or hire a translator. If English is his native tongue then I apologise.
Also please bear in mind that what I and I think Al203 have put up here is based on what we have learned from using the tracker and are still learning. All you did was post up exactly what we have put up before just not so long winded and all you have probably managed to do is confuse AL110 even more and **** me off by saying I'm no help.
 
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