Hi guys,

As someone who uses the tracker system to find stolen cars I thought I would put my bit in. Th VHF trackers can be very good. When you find your car is stolen you call tracker and they can activate it/ boost the signal. Police cars and helicopters that have the receivers fitted can then search for the signal. This is not always as easy as it sounds, you need the right equipment and to be close enough to get a reception. It's easier on open or flat ground, the signal obviously travels further. Even if you do get a signal it's difficult to work out where its coming from. Bounces off buildings etc, or could have just passed your area doing 100mph on the motorway and by the time you Sus out you have a signal it's gone again. More often that not they are found parked up somewhere. However they massively increase the chance of getting that vehicle back but will take longer.

GPS trackers are incredible to work with. You can often track them yourself on computer or mobile. Especially good if its just been taken. We love working with them. Get a real time update of where it is how fast it's travelling and we can intercept them rapidly. This obviously has its pros and cons. We have a higher chance of finding your vehicle, including finding the thief.

In my experience very few of the car thieves and burglars carry these signal blockers. To break into a house is relatively easy and you need few tools. The more things like this you carry the higher chance police will find them when they get stopped and searched and they will get arrested for going equipped. Far easier to nick the car and the. Park it up somewhere, then wait a day. If the car gets recovered likely it had a tracker if not then it probably didn't.

I recommend the GPS systems but they are expensive, I hope one day to be able to afford it.

Well I've had Tracker Monitor fitted along with an immobiliser.
It's the VHF + motion sensor one, so if the bus is moving without the immobiliser being deactivated (ie it's been nicked an its on a truck) you're alerted by Tracker.
Fitted by Steve at Road Radio, really good, came from Crawley to Hertfordshire to do it. £150 for the tracker (which is the cheapest I've found) and 150 for the immobiliser.
(Tracker subs on top of that).
And now I'm sleeping a little better.

Recommended by a friend who restores classic cars is one of these off eBay...
http://bit.ly/SkWMSr
A gsm GPS tracker you text it and it sends you back its location etc
Not bad for 35 quid, ill let you know how we'll it works when I get it.
Might stick them in the kids to test

Sjtw wrote:Recommended by a friend who restores classic cars is one of these off eBay...
http://bit.ly/SkWMSr
A gsm GPS tracker you text it and it sends you back its location etc
Not bad for 35 quid, ill let you know how we'll it works when I get it.
Might stick them in the kids to test

Sounds like a good option

I have what appears to be exactly the same box but it's branded as Camper Tracker and cost 3 times that!

Note you will also need a simcard (payg).

I have to say with the app on my iPhone I can set a stockade, move alarm, speed alarm etc and it does send texts for each of these, you can also ring it and it will send a link to google maps showing the current location.

Got to be worth £35 + simcard, £2.99 for the app and 20 minutes fitting, worthless if the scumbags have a GSM jammer though.

Richard

Richard, what's the iPhone app that goes with it?

It's called Camper Tracker, basically it is just a way of sending text instructions to the device in an easy way.

You can manage it without the app but it is certainly easier with for a couple of quid.

Guess it will work with that device off eBay as I would imagine the text instructions are the same.

Can send screen grabs if required?

Richard

Thanks Richard. Got the app and the tracker now and got both talking.
Is there a way of seeing the tracker location on the map in the app? Or do you have to input latitude and longitude manually into the web?

I think the map on the app is only to set your "stockade" so that if you bus moves outside that area it sends you a text message, I guess it's if you use the bus every day you set a stockade to cover that journey and if the bus is taken outside there the tracker sends you a text.

I don't use my bus everyday so I have a move alarm set, but if you use it all the time that could get tedious and expensive.

Hope this helps.

Richard

Thanks Rich. I found out of you text smslink123456 (password) it sends you back a link to google maps

Is yours wired to the battery? I was worried if I did that it might drain it, but unconnected it only lasts a few days.

Definitely worth the 30 quid if you're as paranoid as me.

Yes mine is wired to the battery, don't think the drain is that big but will find out soon

Have a leisure battery so may rewire to that.

Let me know how you get on Richard, be interested to know if it drains it significantly.
Cheers
Steve

I am also very interested in getting a tracker system for my bus but keep reading different opinions and am getting confused with all the options. What the best one to go for?

I'm in two ways about getting a tracker:
What is the point if the signal can be blocked.

Just read this on the tracker.co.uk website:
TRACKER uses VHF tracking technology to generate signals that can transmit clearly even through steel containers or from underground car parks.

and

Tracker use VHF and GPS tracking devices supported by the UK police force to locate and recover your vehicle no matter where it is hidden. Our insurance approved trackers can even successfully find your stolen car if thieves use GPS/GSM signal jammers.

Bl**dy expensive though.

Gertjan

Not a huge amount of crime where i am, but i'm thinking for trips away about tucking an old iphone away under the R&R bed, wired to the leisure battery, and simply using the find my iphone app to track where the van is.

Obviously not cost effective to buy a new phone, but with a old worthless one laying about i can't see much harm?

Hi Guys
Just thought I'd share an update I received today from Tracker showing the statistics for September - makes for some interesting reading and makes me feel even safer for having one fitted

http://www.tracker.co.uk/Tracker/media/ ... ow-res.pdf

Orb