A Motorhome tracker you'd be stupid not to fit. (1 Viewer)

[Allanm]

Can track Asset - track.com

Up to 9 years battery life, no hardwiring, GPS tracking, radio broadcast activated in event of theft, trackable behind concrete, steel or in buildings unlike GPS only. Dedicated in house recovery team. One of the best asset recovery rates on the market. Not as cheap as chips, but very reasonable for what you get.

I had an Appello Geo unit sold by Cantrack a few years ago. 12 months battery life, reports it’s position once a day, has geofence and anchor facility and can be turned on to track continuously if needed.
Sound similar to what you are proposing Jim.

 

[SuperMike]

Once tracking continuously and sending it’s position, it will consume battery quickly. Also remember even if you locate it’s position, you have to get the fuzz interested enough to do anything. They seem stretched on all fronts.

My unit is hard wired into the 12v and asleep. I wake it up by ringing the 2G SIM card installed in it and once woken, it continues to track etc till using its app, I send it back to sleep. It has geofence and all that stuff built in and a hefty magnet to keep it in position.

 

[Richard n Ann]

Our van has got 'Tracker Retrieve' on it. The battery is independent and is supposed to last 5 years. We don't subscribe to it as the insurance company didn't offer a discount.
I think it is used on caravans a lot too.

https://www.tracker.co.uk/products/retrieve-battery-powered

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[eddie]

I reckon Sub £200 that is self fit, and usable for “most” people that don’t understand programming, it would slot nicely into a gao, that I know exist in the market

I have spent thousands of pounds buying Chinese crap on eBay testing it to destruction, failure or in one case spontaneous combustion

If I can help I will happily contribute as Thatcham is a money making monopoly owned by the insurance industry

 

[DuxDeluxe]

I reckon Sub £200 that is self fit, and usable for “most” people that don’t understand programming, it would slot nicely into a gao, that I know exist in the market

I have spent thousands of pounds buying Chinese crap on eBay testing it to destruction, failure or in one case spontaneous combustion

If I can help I will happily contribute as Thatcham is a money making monopoly owned by the insurance industry

I’m stuck with Thatcham as the insurance won’t insure the van without it. This is a ScorpionTrack system which looks good but I’m sure can be disabled

 

[tonyidle]

gps and 2g signal blockers freely available on ebay for £15 - £20 that just plug in cigar socket

That would make any tracker, whether battery powered or not, utterly pointless. Even one designed to the spec @Jim has outlined.

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[eddie]

That would make any tracker, whether battery powered or not, utterly pointless. Even one designed to the spec @Jim has outlined.

Don’t worry, most of them don’t work, the Chinese send them knowing this, equally knowing that they are illegal to own in the UK so people that buy them can hardly make a fuss about it, and it’s not worth paying to send it back to China anyway.

Even the really expensive better ones, will fail when in a decent signal area, or when driving, you drive into a good signal area.

Talking to the experts at Thatcham and the largest selling system in Europe Teletrac (Trackstar) at a meeting last year, when I asked about “Jammers” they didn’t see them as a problem, and no evidence that a jammer had stopped a live tracking/recovery event

I am sure if it were, they would have a solution and charge us for it lol

 

[tonyidle]

Don’t worry, most of them don’t work, the Chinese send them knowing this, equally knowing that they are illegal to own in the UK so people that buy them can hardly make a fuss about it, and it’s not worth paying to send it back to China anyway.

Even the really expensive better ones, will fail when in a decent signal area, or when driving, you drive into a good signal area.

Talking to the experts at Thatcham and the largest selling system in Europe Teletrac (Trackstar) at a meeting last year, when I asked about “Jammers” they didn’t see them as a problem, and no evidence that a jammer had stopped a live tracking/recovery event

I am sure if it were, they would have a solution and charge us for it lol

Pity - I could see one being quite useful on a long train journey .

 

[DuxDeluxe]

Don’t worry, most of them don’t work, the Chinese send them knowing this, equally knowing that they are illegal to own in the UK so people that buy them can hardly make a fuss about it, and it’s not worth paying to send it back to China anyway.

Even the really expensive better ones, will fail when in a decent signal area, or when driving, you drive into a good signal area.

Talking to the experts at Thatcham and the largest selling system in Europe Teletrac (Trackstar) at a meeting last year, when I asked about “Jammers” they didn’t see them as a problem, and no evidence that a jammer had stopped a live tracking/recovery event

I am sure if it were, they would have a solution and charge us for it lol

Thanks for that Eddie.....

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[DuxDeluxe]

Lithium Thionyl chloride battery - AA size

 

[simbadog]

Sounds brilliant, I'm in!

 

[Teuchter]

Sounds brilliant, I'm in!

Me too

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[hilldweller]

Lithium Thionyl chloride battery - AA size

View attachment 259583

Hell of a battery.

 

[Jim]

Cantrack prices are pretty high. It looks like it's around £450 for the unit and first year, with around £150 a year thereafter. Much too expensive.

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

Brilliant idea Jim, if you have the time and contacts then well worth the exercise regardless of what the neysayers come up with.
We have Edies Growler and Non Starter which may stop the amateur but a pro will already know where Eddie fits them so it will be removed and driven over but that with your system hidden under the floor or inside the casing of a roof vent would be brilliant. There is also the possibility of using a loop like mobile phones and charge the unit inductively every few months.
I had problems with the Lebara Sim fitted by Eddie not getting a signal but the Tesco one I have fitted since has had no problem at all and texts are half the price.
I am up for it if you can succeed and get the price right, the non Starter is great but can be a great but an expensive sacrificial one. If Eddie is willing to help great, then there may be a way of getting the Non Starter to switch on Jims one if the Non Starter is disabled. Would be a great addition for Eddies fantastic service as well but the hiding part should be up to the owner. There are thousands of places in a Motorhome.
Once again, great dea Jim.
Steve

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[PhilandMena]

A Question ! How do thieves quickly find tracking devices hidden in motorhomes ?????

 

[eddie]

A Question ! How do thieves quickly find tracking devices hidden in motorhomes ?????

There are many many places that they can be hidden

A better question is how many motorhomes with Growler and Tracking systems have been stolen, and if stolen, not recovered

 

[Jim]

A Question ! How do thieves quickly find tracking devices hidden in motorhomes ?????

Because so many are hidden in the same places (because they require a 12v source.) Or they are transmitting all the time and are found by their signal.

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[PhilandMena]

Because so many are hidden in the same places (because they require a 12v source.) Or they are transmitting all the time and are found by their signal.

OK! So how do you find there signal ! Does it require a special device.

 

[Jim]

OK! So how do you find there signal ! Does it require a special device.

Just go to and search Gps Detector

 

[eddie]

OK! So how do you find there signal ! Does it require a special device.

yes

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[hilldweller]

Just go to and search Gps Detector

There does seem to be a lot of confusion here. GPS is a satellite receiver, it transmits nothing to detect.

GSM or mobile phone communications search for and transmit to find a mobile phone mast to make/receive calls. This does transmit. If it does not transmit it cannot be logged to a mobile phone mast to receive calls.

So a tracker could fire up once a day, establish GSM comms and send a message saying where it is then shut down. But once shut down you cannot ask it to track because it's not linked to a mast.

A tracker could be receiving GPS signals, undetected but drawing current and fire up the GSM to tell the world if it moves, at that point it can be detected.

These trackers do advertise "magnet base, hide in chassis" but I wonder if they can get a usable GPS signal screened by the chassis. The GPS satellite transmit the tiniest signal imaginable, it's not hard to lose it.

It's common to hide them in the seat of a motorbike.

It's not rocket science to make one.....
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=arduino+gps+tracker

 

[Lenny HB]

Great idea Jim, I'd go for it.
Currently use a £30 job, enabled us to find our way back to the van when on a bike ride in France and some dumbo didn't take enough notice of where he parked it.

 

[olley]

Need one for the wife when she's shopping.

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[hilldweller]

Need one for the wife when she's shopping.

Much much better not to know.

Just think of the consequences:
Next - "I need a drink"
M&S - "I need another drink".
John Lewis - "Thash wasn't a ferry gig dwink".
Hilde Palandino - "Ohhh sh shi shhhh shhhhitttt noooo whersh shat ozzer bittle of scitch"

 

[Roger20]

Yes, these are hooked up via the 12v system and constantly transmit. Because of this they are found pretty quickly.

I would be very interested - always been put off trackers because unless the signal is very infrequent, as Jim says they are usually too easy to find or jam. I have seen some worthwhile devices but not at a price or subscription I would be prepared to pay.

 

[albial]

Could one be fitted to the roof my van is nearly 3m high and need s a ladder to reach

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[tonyidle]

Could one be fitted to the roof my van is nearly 3m high and need s a ladder to reach

Inside a sat dome would be an excellent spot.

 

[eddie]

Inside a sat dome would be an excellent spot.

Shhhh!

 

[Reallyretired]

The only bit where the positioning is critical is the GPS antenna (which of course doesn't transmit and cant be detected) as satellite signals are very weak. The roof would be ideal as not many thieves would carry a ladder. The GSM antenna will probably work in most places in a motorhome. The tracker could be concealed within the structure of the furniture, It would probably be quite a long job for the thief to dismantle the mh to that extent, bearing in mind an axe would be somewhat out of the question if they are looking to resell it. Disconnecting the power if they could trace the leads would not be effective as most have an internal battery that would keep it going for a day or so. Probably having two trackers, one being fairly easy to find would be a good idea as they might stop looking after neutralizing the first. Fitting of trackers by the owner rather than a commercial firm is also a good idea as professional installers probably fit them in standard places which would tend to be known to professional thieves.
Also many thieves are opportunist rather than professional and probably would not have the knowledge or equipment anyway.

Detecting the GSM radio signal may not be that easy as a tracker that only reports its position when asked or an alarm is triggered will only transmit occasionally, possibly every 5 minutes or so but could be as long as once every eight hours if it is not moving and not near a border between cells. I have just tried it with my phone and it only transmitted for a few seconds once in the last 10 minutes. Detectors are available but probably don't work for trackers though they would for hidden cameras which is what they are sold for.

As having a detector specifically for trackers would have no legal use there probably would be few complaints if they didn't work!

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