Cheap Boat Tracker

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davedpc

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In a motorhome mag. that i subscribe too it is suggested that if you have an old mob.phone and buy a pay as u go sim card. The phone is hidden and kept powered up. As long as you make a call now and again the service will not be shut down. Now here is the part i know little about.... if the boat is nicked for a small charge of less than a £ per call you can get the position of your loved one [the boat i hope not swimbo]. Can anyone put any light on this service?
 
Yes you can do this. But you only get an approx position, based on the phone's distance from the nearby cellphone masts. http://www.childlocate.co.uk/

You'd be much better off buying one of those tiny GPS trackers that have an onboard phone and sim card. There are lots - here's one example http://www.echopilot.com/easy-tracker.htm These will give you a lat long and COG/SOG, plus warn you automatically if the vehicle is stolen using a geofence alarm function, etc
 
Mobile works on GSM / GPRS and range will not be great once a boat heads out to sea - should be OK along the coast.
 
In practice I find 2G is fine 20-25miles offshore and 3G about 15-20miles. If a thief takes the boat that far you can kiss goodbye to it for a few hours, but then they'll come in somewhere for fuel

(3G has to be shorter range becuase of the time delay - the allocated time slots for data packets are so short that if the phone is too far away the data packet misses its slot)
 
GSM/UMTS/GPRS Ireland would be my area of expertise - sorry I have no experience of UK coverage so happy to be corrected.

Ireland East Coast:

ArklowBankGSMcoverage.jpg
 
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In practice I find 2G is fine 20-25miles offshore and 3G about 15-20miles. If a thief takes the boat that far you can kiss goodbye to it for a few hours, but then they'll come in somewhere for fuel

(3G has to be shorter range becuase of the time delay - the allocated time slots for data packets are so short that if the phone is too far away the data packet misses its slot)

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Pico Cells using TDMA

However most 3g phones revert back to 2g when no 2g signal available considering we're talking about phones here as opposed to just data? (I'm assuming SMS is used to send co-ord's of boat rather than packets)
 
BTW, a little off topic.... next time you're using your 3g dongle and you've cr4p coverage and you're swearing and blinding at it etc.....

Put some Tinfoil behind / under it (you should know where your nearest 3g mast is - leave LOS clear between dongle and mast) and viola, you've just improved your signal

Yes, of course you could just use an extenal omni/directional antenna (or go all out like i am on my boat - more of that later) but you're not gonna find a suitable antenna with a pigtail adapter just lying about on yer boat now are ya /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

For the sceptics out there - my college apartment block has sh1te 3g coverate - i'm using the tinfoil method and it's noticably better
 
Sounds interesting. Can you be a bit more specific about where you put the tinfoil and how much you need please? I'm intrigued as my vodaphone dongle is utter cr*p and loses the signal every minute or two on the boat and on trains.
 
Just send £29.99 to me and i'll send you your special signal booster device /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

OK problem on the train is that you don't know where you want the signal to bounce, so let's take an example of your home...

You have your dongle at the window, well you don't want the signals bouncing into the house now, do you? You want them bouncing out the window.

So, put your dongle on the window-sill (or wherever) and place some tinfoil (shiny side up obviously) underneath it, then behind it (so between you and the dongle) make a 90 degree bend upwards - this means that any signals bouncing into your house will (sort of) be reflected out the window

It's not a magic solution and may only have slight effect, but it's better than nothing. It does work, trust me, i've had to make a directional antenna out of a Pringles box before!
 
Al, you might want to check the functionality before buyng

With that one linked to in your post, to find its position you send it a 7 digit text. So you have to store the text in drafts or whatever, and pay for the text. On the other hand it might send its position to any phone that sends it that text, so maybe you can access it from multiple phones.

I use the SMS Textracker from these people , made in scotland. To get the unit's position you just call it and hang up, and it texts you back. So it is much easier/quicker to use, and you dont pay for a text to it. But it is sort of "paired" with my mobile phone, and I have to use my mobile to access it. It wont talk to another mobile (unless I go thru the set up procedure to pair it with it to a new mobile, but it only pairs with one at a time). This suits me, but it might not suit everyone

Also make sure it has a geofence alarm, so it texts you automatically if it moves from any set position (your berth, in the case of a boat, of course)
 
Thanks.
Is the unit you use, subject to a monthly contract?

I'd prefer a one off purchase, with no running cost other than topping up the Pay as you Go sim card.

Also the other unit gives me the flexability to move it from vehicle to vehicle with out any installation.

I don't really need the Geofence alarm, as all our vehicles are kept indoors at night time, I really want one so as I can track the vehicle during the day, see where the van is when customers phone up and ask when the van will be with them.

Your thoughts would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Al.
 
Ok Forget the previous post, I see the do a Pay as you Go unit.

The 2 systems seem to do the same sort of thing, the main difference though is the Hornet Traccer is completely mobile and doesn't need any instalation.

Al.
 
No, the SMS tracker model that I have is no monthly contract. You just buy it for £250 or so, and that's it. Has a PAYG SIM card inside it which I top up now and again

I just use it to see where the boat is, when I have guests using it without me onboard. And it sends me a geofence alarm to say it has left/returned to its home berth

You can fit a cigar lighter plug and move it from vehicle to vehicle if you want, though it's a bit cumbersome for that (lots of trailing wires) and the one in your post might work better for that
 
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Will a KitKat wrapper do? Seriously though thanks for spelling it all out. Will certainly give it a go

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In theory yes, but its very weak tinfoil. Just splash out on some from your local supermarket - it'll be worth the £2 /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
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