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Sun Jul 25, 2021 10:45 pm

jAndrew wrote: Steve M. wrote: 4Gears4Tires wrote: It's $60 + $5/month. Still pretty easy/cheap.

Haven't bothered to look into the details of the tracker in regards to battery life.
I'm using the "VanTracker" and plenty satisfied with it along with my kill switch.

VanTracker looks pretty good. Compatible with 1996 and newer OBD, where do you have connected?

It is connected through my solar power/Aux battery system.

Tue Oct 19, 2021 1:37 pm

I just bought this one and will take it to Baja next trip. Looks like a good product. Report forthcoming . . . :

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HSODG10/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Tue Oct 19, 2021 5:09 pm

Looks promising.

Tue Oct 19, 2021 5:34 pm

Looks like it is supposed to plug in to an OBD II port?

Tue Oct 19, 2021 6:42 pm

They have different models. Some a hard-wired, some are battery-powered magnetic pucks . . .

Wed Oct 20, 2021 5:20 am

Corwyn wrote: I just bought this one and will take it to Baja next trip. Looks like a good product. Report forthcoming . . . :

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HSODG10/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

"NO MONTHLY FEE, One-time ACTIVATION fee: $39.99 (full refund if returned and account cancelled within 30 days). 1 year Service included. Renewal (USD 78.93) in 2nd year (no activation fee)."

No monthly fee but there is an annual fee. Sneaky Sneaky! lol.

Still very reasonably priced compared to my Spot Trace annual fee. =) Which I still gladly pay... I've been happy with it.

Wed Oct 20, 2021 5:43 am

many/most will be fashioned that way.
most cars don't have a Cig lighter or power ports are already in heavy use in the center console..
good thing is you can buy a OBD-II port to wire in wherever you want to hide it.
they really just want the constant power wire.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trk...p;_sacat=0

Sun Oct 24, 2021 5:43 am

Howdy van friends,

In late 2013 I posted my review of the TK103 tracker bought on Amazon.

That tracker remained installed and functional in my van continuously until this week. While it was still working (responding to SMS queries) where I live, it was increasingly less responsive in areas where certain types of cell service have been deprecated (think 2G wireless service). A replacement was necessary.

The old TK103 was a great device. I had it direct wired to the house battery for continuous power. It was connected to the van's ignition so that I could remotely determine if the van was running. It was also connected to the door light circuit so I could tell if the front doors or slider were opened. It had a connected panic button that would alert the affiliated admin operators when pressed, and had a microphone, allowing the tracker to be called by voice phone to listen in on any audio in the van.

The features I used most were the "arm/disarm" alert and the on-demand GPS tracking. When armed, the tracker would spontaneously send me an SMS message if the doors were opened, ignition started, or the van was moved. I would enable this alarm when parked in risky areas where I had a fully packed van. The GPS tracker was my best effort to track and recover the van if it was stolen.

The TK103 used a GSM SIM card from Ting, my cell service provider. This arrangement cost $6 per month for the phone line, and incremental additional charges for SMS messages or data. In the eight years of service, this device never cost more than $7 in any one month. The Ting device dashboard allows me to disable/enable the SIM card at will.

I wanted a similar replacement and found one in the TK419 tracker from Amazon. I was led to this device by reading Dave O's (dobryan) post about it. This device is not as feature rich as the TK103 (it lacks inputs for door sensors) but it adds mobile device app and website support. While these support formats are nice, I won't be using them regularly--I want the simplicity of SMS. The fundamental wiring for the TK419 is similar to the TK103, so I did not have to modify my existing tracker wiring much to achieve this upgrade.

Documents: TK419 specifications | TK419 manual | TK419 SMS commands

Using the TK419 is basically the same. After the setup process (using the http://hk.sky200.com website) you can control the device with web commands, a mobile device app, or SMS.

Simple commands line WHERE? STATUS? URL? sent from the registered administrator's phone elicit these responses:

And for those of you who want a mobile device app, here's what that looks like:

The TK419 is smaller, and has the GPS antenna and GSM/cell antenna integrated into it neatly. The old TK103 had those antennas external to the device. The old TK103 also came with the relay for remote fuel pump shutoff and a panic button; the TK419 does not come with those accessories, but they are separately available for purchase.

In summary, I think this will meet my requirements for the next few years.

kourt

Tue Nov 02, 2021 5:06 am

One could imagine a scenario in which a vehicle deployed A) a Compustar T13 car alarm with a 3 mile range on the remote fob (a kind of radio they use so it does not depend on being in Cell range), a device which also has the GPS and cell phone integration (such as we also have with our own vendor's excellent Vantracker) plus B) a SPOT trace locator for satellite plus C) an IOS Apple Airtag "tracker" (with the speaker disabled -- see Youtube) plus D) a TILE tracker (android) all operating at the same time. That would give you RADIO* (w GPS), CELLULAR* (w GPS), SATELLITE (w GPS)**, and also both APPLE and ANDROID methods of recovering your car, all systems operating at once. If we could find an old "Autopage" alarm that broadcast to a pager on the CB frequency that would add E) yet another modality, but that would require hooking up a CB antenna and optimally connecting an illegal linear.

* Door pins send alerts
**Movement sensitive

To me, the most important trigger is going to be one of the door pins opening. That would require sensor triggers for this (or more easily a late factory OEM VW central locking system). I think all these systems would show your vehicle's location on a map provided you can find Internet to view these maps. The door pins would be your first-alert in most cases, with the exception where the perp was climbing through broken glass and not opening a door, which doesn't sound like a default choice he would have. Because the door pin operation is so definitive, the geo fence functionalities offered by some systems seem less compelling by comparison because by then your vehicle is already stolen.

Add to this battery backup systems for your devices in case they disconnect the battery, plus the usual foot pedal locks and steering wheel locks, and at least one blinking red light in the dash, and maybe a 2nd battery to use for starting when your battery goes dead. It would be a nice touch to shut devices down when the battery feeding them fell below 12.25 volts just to avoid savaging the car battery. Not sure if this would be needed with lithium batteries.

Somehow I feel like Garmin has something to offer in relation to the above, but I am not sure what that is exactly.

Tue Nov 02, 2021 8:56 am

Without posting a bunch of pictures or statistics, I just wanted to say I'm really happy with the Vyncs GPS tracker I bought.

Simple install, no battery, 4G coverage and annual renewal for around $110/year. It doesn't open the garage door, or kill the engine but so far it's worry-free.

I'm in Olympia, WA if anyone wants to see it working.

Tue Nov 30, 2021 2:02 pm

TK-419 arrived yesterday. Wired it in after work, then tried giving it a voice call to which my old tracker would then respond a SMS with map link to where it is. However, of course, where I park at work none of my trackers have worked, so I had to drive a little way. When I got tot the top of the hill, I pulled off and dialed up my trackers phone number. It answered, but there was no audio that I could discern. I hung up, hopeful to get a location by SMS, but none came.

Today, I got all set up with the web component, and see my complete home bound trip from last PM. Nothing from today, as I drove to work. And, of course, I am parked, again just out of signal... Grrrr..

Anyway, on my way home today I will see if sending SMS of 'URL?' will get my location.

Interesting unit. I've only got power to it right now, but like that it at least connects more places than the old one I just took out (old was 2G I believe)!

Any other tips?

Tue Nov 30, 2021 2:43 pm

If you're used to the old TK104 series, the TK419 will probably be a bit of a disappointment. It has been that way for me. The TK419 is more compact but has fewer features and has a very poorly documented syntax set.

I've since discovered the eelink (company that manufactures the TK419) protocol:

https://www.eelinktracker.com/Images/default/EELINK%20Device%20Protocol%20V2.0.3%20(A4).pdf

Reading over this doc may provide more information. Otherwise, use the guides I have referenced in my post above for help.

What really troubles me is that I can't figure out any SMS password security. My brother, who is not entered as an admin on the TK419, can send the device texts and obtain its position without authentication. That is troubling.

kourt

Tue Nov 30, 2021 3:29 pm

Thanks Kourt,

I'll read those up. As long as I can figure out SOMETHING that can get me easy to remember, and quickly, the location, I'll be fine with it being more basic.

I also have a brother (in-law) that I have trusted to know my location... When I take his sister on vacations, it helps him relax a bit. Also, I have trusted my son with the number as well. Its just for a Worst Case scenario, but useful to anxious family, if we inexplicably become non-responsive to calls, texts, etc.

Thu Jan 20, 2022 10:39 am

Apple Airtags have been in the news lately for nefarious use. Does anyone have any experience with these as a location device, should your vehicle be stolen? Seems like an easy and inexpensive tracking device.

https://www.apple.com/airtag/?afid=p238%7CsMrC1zQo...--product-

Thu Jan 20, 2022 2:25 pm

termuehlen wrote: Apple Airtags have been in the news lately for nefarious use. Does anyone have any experience with these as a location device, should your vehicle be stolen? Seems like an easy and inexpensive tracking device.

https://www.apple.com/airtag/?afid=p238%7CsMrC1zQo...--product-

This is the news article I saw about Airtags:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/apple-airtag-showing-up-crimes-rcna9416

Thu Jan 20, 2022 7:27 pm

termuehlen wrote: Apple AirTags ... Does anyone have any experience with these as a location device, should your vehicle be stolen? Seems like an easy and inexpensive tracking device.

To me, this looked brilliant ! Then I read up on it -- including the article you referenced. So, maybe not. Here's a few things to consider, as best I understand it:

1. An AirTag uses bluetooth, so its inherent range is only about 100 meters. However, whenever other devices are nearby (iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices), it sends its location to iCloud (internet). Basically, when there's people around, you'll get good tracking. As you get more rural and wilderness, not so much. So a lot of its value may depend on where you live.
2. In order to prevent its use for stalking (as much as one can), the AirTag beeps out an alarm if it's separated from the owner's device (iPhone, iPad) for too long. Specifically, "too long" can be as soon as 8 hours and as long as 24 hours, randomly selected.
3. Also to limit malfeasance, if the AirTag is traveling without the owner's phone nearby, and it determines there's another iPhone traveling with it (nearby), it sends out an alert to that other phone -- i.e., "you've been tagged."

So, it really wasn't built for what we want it to do. A hidden device that announces its location is kind of an oxymoron. :?

PROs: Inexpensive. No wiring needed. Small and easy to hide. Batteries should last a year.
CONs: It only tracks when there's iPhones or other Apple devices nearby. It's tethered to your phone. It announces itself as soon as 8 hours after you leave it.

Thu Jan 20, 2022 7:41 pm

Tile was out earlier. similar (maybe same) tech of any BT device can detect

https://www.thetileapp.com/en-us/store/tiles/sticker

Thu Jan 20, 2022 9:05 pm

Corwyn wrote: Without posting a bunch of pictures or statistics, I just wanted to say I'm really happy with the Vyncs GPS tracker I bought.

Simple install, no battery, 4G coverage and annual renewal for around $110/year. It doesn't open the garage door, or kill the engine but so far it's worry-free.

I'm in Olympia, WA if anyone wants to see it working.

Did you use one that requires an OBD port or a free-standing battery powered one?

Fri Feb 04, 2022 1:09 pm

Posting this here from another topic since it is very relevant.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/posting.php?mode=quote&p=9799986

djacksonsf wrote: Well, the good news is that I embedded an Apple AirTag in the upper bunk and it worked like a charm.

The bad news is I know this because crack heads stole the camper sometime early this morning. The AirTag led me to a nearby Home Depot parking lot, where I met the police.

Other than reeking of smoke the camper was in great condition, but I'll have my mechanic check it out. The thieves had drawn the curtains, and had just been seen by local security exiting the van. They clearly didn't expect to be caught because they had left all their belongings inside.

I didn't have time to install the kill switch. Among the belongings left inside was a saw to cut through boots, pedal locks, etc. I feel lucky to have found it so quickly...now for the insurance morass that will ensue :-(

Fri Feb 04, 2022 2:49 pm

It might be time to remind people with Cellular, especially older Cellular tracking devices that their device may be expiring this year as older Cellular phone technology is being shut down.

If so, it is time to upgrade to a newer tracking device.

Dave