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VicVan
Samba Member
Joined: July 01, 2015
Posts: 1845
Location: Vancouver Island, BC
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 Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:11 am Post subject: Re: GPS locator to find a stolen Vanagon |
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| Yellow Rabbit wrote: |
| I’m wondering how well the new Apple Airtags would work. If I understand correctly if they come near an iPhone the location can be tracked. Granted, not everyone has an iPhone but there are plenty around. For $29 it might be worth a little experimentation. |
I like the idea, I'll look into it. Do car thieves typically have Iphones? That would be ironic.
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'90 Little Blue Truck, 2WD auto, FAS GenV 2.0 NA (AVH) |
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Yellow Rabbit
Samba Member
Joined: August 31, 2005
Posts: 1146
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| Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:19 am Post subject: Re: GPS locator to find a stolen Vanagon |
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Something like 45% of US phones are iPhones. I’m wondering if a thief were to pull up next to someone at a stoplight and the person in the other car had an iPhone if it would get a ping.
It’s not at good as GPS but in my area you can be out of cel range in 10 minutes anyway. (Well 15 minutes in my 1.9 Westy) |
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VicVan
Samba Member
Joined: July 01, 2015
Posts: 1845
Location: Vancouver Island, BC
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| Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:47 am Post subject: Re: GPS locator to find a stolen Vanagon |
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One drawback (source https://www.techradar.com/news/apple-airtags-release-date-price-news-and-features):
Apple AirTags: privacy
(...)What if someone wanted to track you by slipping an AirTag into your coat or bag?
Apple's got around that issue by bringing in 'Unwanted Tag Detection'. You'll need to set up your tag with your own Apple device at the start, and if you then were to try and place it on someone else, they'd get a notification.
If they still didn't notice on their phone - perhaps the battery is dead - then the Tag will just start to emit a noise to let you know it's there.
So if the thief does have an Iphone, not good. Too bad.
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'90 Little Blue Truck, 2WD auto, FAS GenV 2.0 NA (AVH) |
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Steve M.
Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2013
Posts: 6832
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Fl.
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| Posted: Tue May 11, 2021 6:33 pm Post subject: Re: GPS locator to find a stolen Vanagon |
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Just got an email from T-Mobile offering a tracker device that will give it's location back to your phone.
Only for 5 bucks a month onto your phone bill.
https://www.t-mobile.com/devices/syncup-gps-tracke...HVQY664811
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This free advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.
There are seven days in a week. Someday is not one of them. |
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4Gears4Tires
Samba Member
Joined: October 08, 2018
Posts: 3048
Location: MD
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| Posted: Tue May 11, 2021 7:14 pm Post subject: Re: GPS locator to find a stolen Vanagon |
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It's $60 + $5/month. Still pretty easy/cheap.
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'87 Syncro
Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition |
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Steve M.
Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2013
Posts: 6832
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Fl.
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| Posted: Tue May 11, 2021 9:29 pm Post subject: Re: GPS locator to find a stolen Vanagon |
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| 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.
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This free advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.
There are seven days in a week. Someday is not one of them. |
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jAndrew
Samba Member
Joined: October 11, 2020
Posts: 306
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
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| Posted: Wed May 12, 2021 4:28 am Post subject: Re: GPS locator to find a stolen Vanagon |
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| 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?
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'89 Syncro Doka |
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AirHead1966
Samba Member
Joined: October 17, 2019
Posts: 568
Location: Triad Area NC
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| Posted: Wed May 12, 2021 4:58 am Post subject: Re: GPS locator to find a stolen Vanagon |
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| Yellow Rabbit wrote: |
| I’m wondering how well the new Apple Airtags would work. If I understand correctly if they come near an iPhone the location can be tracked. Granted, not everyone has an iPhone but there are plenty around. For $29 it might be worth a little experimentation. |
Probably the best idea. No need to reinvent the wheel. Apple has over a billion iPhones in service. A few would be near the thing you are tracking, unless you live in a cave.
$29 and done. No monthly fees, no fuss. Change the battery in the tag when it tells you that it needs changing. |
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bobbyblack 
Samba Member
Joined: May 21, 2015
Posts: 4351
Location: United States, Iowa
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| Posted: Wed May 12, 2021 6:30 am Post subject: Re: GPS locator to find a stolen Vanagon |
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| AirHead1966 wrote: |
$29 and done. No monthly fees, no fuss. Change the battery in the tag when it tells you that it needs changing. |
.... Must not have read that the iPhone tells the owner that it had found a tag .... What a way to loose your Vanagon. "Hey, this rig has a tag, it'll be a no brainer to steal it, and dump the tag somewhere that will lead the cops to the wrong place, HAHA!!"
_________________
'87 Westy 'Flossie','86 Westy 'R1','86 tintop GL - Subi2.2 'J2','83.5 stock tintop L 'ZoomBus','74 Karmann Ghia, '63 Notch |
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AirHead1966
Samba Member
Joined: October 17, 2019
Posts: 568
Location: Triad Area NC
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| Posted: Wed May 12, 2021 6:43 am Post subject: Re: GPS locator to find a stolen Vanagon |
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| bobbyblack wrote: |
| AirHead1966 wrote: |
$29 and done. No monthly fees, no fuss. Change the battery in the tag when it tells you that it needs changing. |
.... Must not have read that the iPhone tells the owner that it had found a tag .... What a way to loose your Vanagon. "Hey, this rig has a tag, it'll be a no brainer to steal it, and dump the tag somewhere that will lead the cops to the wrong place, HAHA!!" |
I would hide it in the car, not leave it plain sight. |
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dobryan
Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006
Posts: 16504
Location: Brookeville, MD
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| Posted: Wed May 12, 2021 6:54 am Post subject: Re: GPS locator to find a stolen Vanagon |
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| AirHead1966 wrote: |
| bobbyblack wrote: |
| AirHead1966 wrote: |
$29 and done. No monthly fees, no fuss. Change the battery in the tag when it tells you that it needs changing. |
.... Must not have read that the iPhone tells the owner that it had found a tag .... What a way to loose your Vanagon. "Hey, this rig has a tag, it'll be a no brainer to steal it, and dump the tag somewhere that will lead the cops to the wrong place, HAHA!!" |
I would hide it in the car, not leave it plain sight. |
If the thief has an iPhone he will get a notice that there is a tag nearby. May help make him move on though.
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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 |
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bobbyblack
Samba Member
Joined: May 21, 2015
Posts: 4351
Location: United States, Iowa
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| Posted: Wed May 12, 2021 7:07 am Post subject: Re: GPS locator to find a stolen Vanagon |
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So, I assume pretty much everyone has an older phone from when they upgraded. Even without a SIM, you can still phone 911. All you need for the Authorities to find that phone is the MEID, and have it turned on, hidden. This is a zero cost solution if you consider NOT selling or otherwise destroying your old phones. You could have a LOT of old phones in your rig.
Anyway, plenty of tag type solutions, the Apple one is facing legal infringement action as of now.
Edit:
I still have and use a conventional tracker, as indicated many pages ago. I like it, mostly. The reason for other options like old phones is that my tracker uses AT&T signal, and for some reason, enough places I go don't have decent AT&T service. Thus, I have a variety of other types and carriers' phones, and that should give the Authorities enough to find, at least the phones.
_________________
'87 Westy 'Flossie','86 Westy 'R1','86 tintop GL - Subi2.2 'J2','83.5 stock tintop L 'ZoomBus','74 Karmann Ghia, '63 Notch |
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Steve M.
Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2013
Posts: 6832
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Fl.
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| Posted: Wed May 12, 2021 12:01 pm Post subject: Re: GPS locator to find a stolen Vanagon |
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| 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? |
At the moment I am just using it for the GPS Location. I haven't hooked up it's kill switch functions yet. Still deciding if I want it to just not start or launch the ejection seat.
I am using my simple reliable kill switch I installed about 4 yrs. ago.
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This free advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.
There are seven days in a week. Someday is not one of them. |
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jAndrew
Samba Member
Joined: October 11, 2020
Posts: 306
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
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| Posted: Wed May 12, 2021 1:30 pm Post subject: Re: GPS locator to find a stolen Vanagon |
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| Steve M. wrote: |
| 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? |
At the moment I am just using it for the GPS Location. I haven't hooked up it's kill switch functions yet. Still deciding if I want it to just not start or launch the ejection seat.
I am using my simple reliable kill switch I installed about 4 yrs. ago. |
So it just has a way to hook to vehicle power and not have any of the OBD functions? That's the way I would use it as well.
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'89 Syncro Doka |
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Steve M.
Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2013
Posts: 6832
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Fl.
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| Posted: Wed May 12, 2021 6:06 pm Post subject: Re: GPS locator to find a stolen Vanagon |
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| jAndrew wrote: |
| Steve M. wrote: |
| 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? |
At the moment I am just using it for the GPS Location. I haven't hooked up it's kill switch functions yet. Still deciding if I want it to just not start or launch the ejection seat.
I am using my simple reliable kill switch I installed about 4 yrs. ago. |
So it just has a way to hook to vehicle power and not have any of the OBD functions? That's the way I would use it as well. |
Yes. I have a separate fuse panel for my house batteries and it is running off that continously.
I have 3 usb cigarette plug chargers from BlueSeas on pretty much all the time and I run 3 usb powered fans from Walmart from them all night and if i need to charge the cell phone or tablet device they handle that as well.
Just using the 3 fans from 10pm to 7pm the battery goes from 12.7v down to 12.7 volts so there is not a lot of amps being burned and I have cooling air circulating all night.
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This free advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.
There are seven days in a week. Someday is not one of them. |
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Wellington
Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2004
Posts: 1889
Location: Montreal
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| Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2021 5:10 am Post subject: Re: GPS locator to find a stolen Vanagon |
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I'm looking in to dash cam for my daily, and one of the features included is a GPS locator. The system uses a cloud, which is free.
Not cheap initially, but if you want tracking, it comes now on some dash cams.
Thinkware U1000 4K UHD Dual-Channel Cloud Dash Cam |
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jAndrew
Samba Member
Joined: October 11, 2020
Posts: 306
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
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| Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2021 5:18 am Post subject: Re: GPS locator to find a stolen Vanagon |
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| Wellington wrote: |
I'm looking in to dash cam for my daily, and one of the features included is a GPS locator. The system uses a cloud, which is free.
Not cheap initially, but if you want tracking, it comes now on some dash cams.
Thinkware U1000 4K UHD Dual-Channel Cloud Dash Cam |
That looks promising. Did you get the dual camera unit? If so how did you mount the rear unit?
I have an AUTO-VOX V5 dual camera unit that fits over the rear view mirror. Another member recommended it but I'm going to have to ditch it. Advertised as anti-glare but it's impossible to view most of the time. Plus it's too heavy and pulls the mirror down. Would be nice to find a unit with the same cable so I wouldn't have to fish another up the A pillar- that was no fun.
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'89 Syncro Doka |
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Wellington
Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2004
Posts: 1889
Location: Montreal
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| Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2021 3:00 pm Post subject: Re: GPS locator to find a stolen Vanagon |
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Correction/update.
The unit I was considering for my daily car: Thinkware U1000 has GPS tracking, but the data goes to a cloud, which you have to access through an app on your mobile device. The problem with my idea is that data only goes to the cloud when the ignition is on. So to find a stolen vehicle, it would not work if the vehicle is parked, and turned off. |
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dobryan
Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006
Posts: 16504
Location: Brookeville, MD
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dobryan
Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006
Posts: 16504
Location: Brookeville, MD
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