GPS locator to find a stolen Vanagon

[yiucycle]

remember SPOT with basic plan only track 5min per waypoint. So if the thief drive into a garage, you have a 5min unknown location. But you can upgrade to 2.5min tracking for additional $100 a yr on top of the basic plan. None the less, SPOT Trace is very easy setup compare to the amazon GPS unit.

Looks like they have a $25off on their official website which makes it $75 for the unit plus service plan:

http://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=230&...queebanner

But i probably still plan to use the amazon gps unit as it have more functions and can track the van anytime and alerts you went the vehicle move out of a preset boundary.
_________________
1980 2.8LV6 Fiero ASI/Riviera Vanagon
"there is no point in being embarrassed of all the stupid shit i done and will continue to do"

Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[tarandusVDub]

Does anyone with SPOT experience know if you can upgrade mid-contract/year from the 5 min to the 2.5 min tracking?

Kind of like a phone plan when you go over your monthly data limit?

If not I will try and find out. Would be nice to just do the basic function until something happened...cheaper!
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1990 Syncro 16" DoppleKabine 2.1 DJ 112i
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Sold: 1972 Bay Campmobile; 1984 Westy, base model, 2WD.

[danfromsyr]

that's how they get you.
always spoon feeding you with new items at a trickle..

hey it's new and great.. $$$$ please

two months later..

Ohh that's old news
we have Hey it's new and great $$$$ please available now.

for me I'm torn.. as I don't feel I need a theft security tracker just yet for my rig
and I could get by with a cell app for when traveling (which I don't do cause i don't have an app capable phone)

but I may pick one of these up just to keep track of mom
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[danfromsyr]

Viucycle
there's a secret special rebate link here for a full $100 rebate on the purchase. CLICK HERE ----> This rebate

[Jon_slider]

Are people who have used SPOT happy with it? Have you found a way to keep it charged in a van?

http://www.rei.com/product/869419/spot-trace-gps-tracker#descriptionTab
"Worthless
I purchased the Spot Trace so that my family and friends would have an idea of where I was at during an extended wilderness trip. During the 6-10 hours per day that I was moving, the device would register a location once or twice per day while set on hourly updates. One day I got seven hits. Some days my location would not register at all causing more worry among my family and friends than if I did not have this device with me at all. If I stopped moving for a few minutes there would be no more updates for the rest of the day. It's a great idea with extremely poor performance."
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My Soapboxes: Inflation; Handling; Gearing; Decoupling; Swepco

[tarandusVDub]

I'll be testing it out in a couple of weeks on a trip to Canada.

On the previous page "srmpf" seems to have had good luck with it.

All GPS are dependent on satellite constellations, which can be affected by location, topography, and time of day.

Hopefully it will work well. Just wish I'd gotten in on the refund deal.
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1990 Syncro 16" DoppleKabine 2.1 DJ 112i
________________________
Sold: 1972 Bay Campmobile; 1984 Westy, base model, 2WD.

[srmpf]

I have the SPOT device installed in the van and hooked up to the house battery. And I'm impressed - every time I drive the van I'll get an email from SPOT. It tracks the waypoints every 5 minutes without any issues.

Shouldn't really make a difference if you drive in the city or some remote place since it's not relying on cell phone coverage. For the $99/yr i think this is a very good device. As others mentioned - the 5 min interval (and even the 2 1/2 minutes upgrade) might be an issue when you look for a stolen vehicle.

The selling points for me were that its using satellites to communicate and not cell towers and that it doesn't drain the battery as much as a cell phone based solution. The SPOT device runs on the 4 AAA batteries for months and probably for the whole year on my house battery.

[Jon_slider]

[Gnarlodious]

A cheaper solution but probably not so reliable. I received 2 of the TrackR’s as an indieGoGo funder and they work:
http://www.thetrackr.com

The concept is that you hide one in your van and it reports its location to any smartphone it can hit by Bluetooth that is running the TrackR app. That phone forwards its location to your smartphone by cloud. As more people join the cloud the device will get more effective, so JOIN THE CLOUD!

You install an iPhone or Android app, link to TrackR and monitor its battery condition periodically. I don’t know how long the battery will last.

The device is cheap, I got 2 for $20 as a sponsor. Much more affordable than a GPS tracker, and super tiny. No service fees to pay ever.

Seems like cheap insurance against all these stolen vans.
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Vanagon ’83 diesel AAZ w/Giles injection, 5spd 4.57R&P+TBD and a '78 diesel Rabbit

[dobryan]

^^^^ I think this might work in an urban area. How effective in the far suburbs or rural areas would it be? i.e. how close to a cell phone does the device have to be in order to send a message?
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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2002 Subaru EJ25 and Peloquin TBD

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson

MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646

Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371

The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794

[danfromsyr]

how close to a cell phone THAT IS RUNNING A TRACKR APP
not good for where I live at all.
and I don't think that car thieves would be running said app on their phones.
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[Californio]

I just filed a police report for another stolen vehicle (my Honda CT-70, RIP) that was mounted on the front of my Syncro. For what it's worth, the responding officer said the way to go with GPS is hands down Lojack. It seems the cops actually monitor the Lojack system real time, unlike the other GPD devices that pop up on your cell phone or whatever. I don't know much more about it than this.

Another amusing detail: the same cop said that once her Tahoe was stolen, but she had left part of her police uniform etc. in it, and the vehicle was found a few blocks away.

Maybe we need to do is toss a blue shirt with a badge on it on the passenger seat. Holster on the dash for good measure.

Anyway, that's the first bit of information I've heard from law enforcement on this subject. It makes sense that given the number of these devices and the number of calls they must get, police departments must prioritize in some way. Maybe this is what you're paying for in the Lojack.

[RainierSyncro]

I'm not sure if you want to put a blue shirt with a badge in your van. The cops might think you might be impersonating an officer. What I do is put a couple of magazines on the seat. One would be a hunting magazine, a handgun magazine, maybe add in Soldier of Fortune magazine, a survivalist mag and throw in a muscle magazine for good measure.

The IQ level with some crackhead car prowlers might not be high enough to notice the magazines on the seat as they grab the change out of your ashtray.

[mariusstrom]

I know kourt already mentioned it a few months back, but is anyone else a ham and considering using APRS? I'm considering putting a TinyTrak tied to the ignition power and mounting the TinyTrak and a dipole antenna on the underside of the luggage rack. 10W output power from the TinyTrak with SmartBeaconing should get pretty good location data for free.

Anyone tried something along these lines?
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Marius Strom Otto: 1988 Vanagon Syncro Westy Camper
[SOLD] Felix: 1967 Deluxe Beetle

[kourt]

I don't know of anyone else who is using the TinyTrak APRS device for tracking.

I use mine about half the time I drive, and it's very reliable for tracking information. I have the CPU mounted deep in the van, with the GPS antenna stuck to the outside facing cabinet wall behind the driver side rearmost window. I then have the transceiver antenna mounted on the passenger rear engine vent, at the top of the D pillar.

It's an extremely reliable system that costs nothing to operate, though it is worth noting that extremely rural areas lacking APRS ground stations really don't offer accurate tracking:

You can see the spots, especially in the Texas panhandle crossing from New Mexico, where there isn't any real APRS tracking--the line is simply a straight line drawn between to tracking points over 300 miles apart... so it's not a perfect system.

kourt

[Abscate]

[almo]

Any updates on this?

I am contemplating the spot, any other good options show up? More reviews on the spot?
gonna have to pull the trigger soon as I'm off on a trip next week Ca and Baja would like to have Something hard wired b4 I leave.

Cheers
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San Francisco/Mayo Ireland

1986 2.1L Westy 2wd 4-spd Sold!!!!
1987 2.1L Westy syncro
2005 Subaru legacy 2.5Gt Wagon 5sp MT

[Waldemar Sikorski]

Anyone using something like this (TK103B Gps Tracker)?


Link

[kourt]

Yes, I posted an extensive review of my install and use of a member of the TK103B GPS tracker family on page 4 of this thread... but here's a link to the review:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6946473#6946473

I'm still using it today. It's been very reliable and I have it fully featured in the van--both the panic button and the fuel pump shutoff relay are installed. I have the door triggers wired to the device as well. I can determine the location of the van by calling or texting it. If the tracker's alarm is armed, it will warn me by SMS if anyone opens a door, starts the van, or moves the van (even without starting it).

There is no "service" fee but the pay-as-you-go GSM SIM card in the tracker costs about $10 per month.

Considering all these features (door alarm notification, ignition notification, movement notification, plus the GPS tracking, and other extensive features not listed here), I have yet to see any product (and that includes Spot) which comes close to this device in terms of overall function and value.

kourt

[yiucycle]

kourt, Do you know how accurate the GPS while its moving and stationary? I was looking at the TrackR,(Bluetooth Crowd Source Tracking) and the review is really bad(from not working to couple 1000ft off).
_________________
1980 2.8LV6 Fiero ASI/Riviera Vanagon
"there is no point in being embarrassed of all the stupid shit i done and will continue to do"

Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!