Personal Trackers

[Lazy-Ferret]

Does anyone have any experience of these personal tracker units?

We had a rather nasty experience tonight, Suz's dad, who is completely unable to walk, diabetic, and suffering from very bad short term memory went out on his battery powered disabled scooter at about 3pm, and was still out at gone 9pm, well after dark. He has always told us he will never take it out after dark, or when it is raining, so alarm bells were ringing when his neighbour called us and told us he was still out.

He lives 45 miles away, so it's not a case of just popping round.

We called the police, and fortunately they took it very seriously, and set to checking for reports etc, and by the time we had battled the M25, and got to the house, they had been there for some time. Just as we were about 5 miles from his house, they called to say he had just returned, and apart from being very cold, and confused, seemed OK.

Basically, he had driven to the "local" supermarket, which is about 3 mile away, and by the time he had finished shopping, it was dark. He managed to get lost coming home in the dark, and while his buggy is good for 20 odd miles, he managed to run the battery low as well, so the cart was struggling.

Luckily for all of us, apparently a very kind lady who was walking her dog, helped him back, but disappeared before we got there, so we have no way of thanking her, I just hope she gets the good Karma she deserves.

Anyway, the reason for the post is, we are thinking of fitting a cheap tracker to his buggy, so we can find him if this should happen again. There are quite a few on Ebay, so I just wondered if anyone on here had used one, and if so, which one, and how do you find it?

[AlexD333]

Blimey that's a bit scary.

I know you can track some mobiles with an app. Charging it with the buggy might be a tricky one though. Not sure on solution here :nenau

[perelaar]

I use "Find my iphone", in case the thing gets stolen.
Only works though if the phone is on, and has an (mobile or wifi) internet connection...

[Lazy-Ferret]

Thanks... problem is, he struggles with phones, and the only one he has is one of those very basic giant button ones, with no modern features. Not only that, he always forgets to take it with him!!!

I need something we can install in the buggy, and he never needs to worry about it.

[AlexD333]

I'm trying to think of an answer desperately but nothing springs to mind.

[Lazy-Ferret]

I'm trying to think of an answer desperately but nothing springs to mind.

We have ordered one of these.... I just hope it is as good as it says it is...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141415491744?_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Should be good, I will connect it up to the key switch, so it will send us a text every time the heads out, and another once he gets back home, so we will know how long he has been out for.

Also if has an SOS button, so if he does get lost again, he can press that, and we know to send out the search party....

Like I say, I just hope it is as good as it thinks it is..

[Lazy-Ferret]

Well, I went ahead and got a GPS303C, and I have to say I am very impressed so far.

After spending several hours trying to understand the Chinese to Russian to French to German to Dutch to Icelandic to American back to French and then to pigeon English instructions, I finally managed to make a cheat sheet, and get it set up.

After a few more tests, if it carries on seeming as good as it is now, I will be getting 2 more, one for the T2, and one for the Tin Tent.

It has a huge list of features, but basically, the ones that sell it for me are:-
It sends a text with location:-
if the battery is disconnected
When the Ignition is turned on and off
When the SOS button is pressed
It has remote control of a relay so you could kill the engine, or trigger the horn to attract attention to the vehicle.
You can call it, and listen to the in-built Microphone. Not sure how good this will be once it is hidden inside the car, although it will be perfect for my initial use.

I have not tried the other features, like the geofence, that warns you when it has moved outside a specific area or the shock sensor that tell you if it has received a bang, and I am still trying to translate some features, to understand the point.

Once you have the tracker, you just need a basic SIM, on a basic PAYG, with GPRS Data, and you join up with a Tracking web site for a small annual fee, and you are ready to go. I can just pop into an APP on my phone, and know exactly where the tracker is, and how fast it is travelling at any time day or night.

If anyone is thinking of getting the same device, give me a shout, I can give a few pointers now, and will even share my "Cheat Sheet"

[makeitfit]

Cool result :thumbs
I'm also wishing good Karma to the kind lady :rose

[AlexD333]

That's cheap!!

Whats the annual killer? :naughty

[firebobby]

Get him to play his music loudly at home, he then gets an ASBO and they can fit a tag to his ankle...sorted :thumb2

It must be a worry for you both though.

[kitchenman]

That is brilliant, I have ordered one for my Maverick

[Lazy-Ferret]

That's cheap!!

Whats the annual killer? :naughty

Not bad really especially for the piece of mind.

The SIM was a pound, with a top up of £10, which should last a couple of months before it needs topping up again, it really depends on how many Texts it sends, and the tracking software company want 20euro's a year. There are cheaper, but I had issues with the websites on the cheap one I tried, so went to a UK based one.

So as a guess, about £80 a year, max. I know more once I have had a chance to run it for a bit of time.

Get him to play his music loudly at home, he then gets an ASBO and they can fit a tag to his ankle...sorted :thumb2

It must be a worry for you both though.

That made me laugh... I wish I had thought of that..:clap:clap

[Ianinessex]

Not bad really especially for the piece of mind.

The SIM was a pound, with a top up of £10, which should last a couple of months before it needs topping up again, it really depends on how many Texts it sends, and the tracking software company want 20euro's a year. There are cheaper, but I had issues with the websites on the cheap one I tried, so went to a UK based one.

So as a guess, about £80 a year, max. I know more once I have had a chance to run it for a bit of time.


This looks really good. Thanks for the info. You mentioned getting more, for the car etc. Will they all be covered on the one tracking software licence or will you need to pay E20 for each one?

[Lazy-Ferret]

This looks really good. Thanks for the info. You mentioned getting more, for the car etc. Will they all be covered on the one tracking software licence or will you need to pay E20 for each one?

It's 20euros per unit, but they do price breaks, so 5 for 80euro's Blah Blah

http://www.gps-server.net/access-to-gps-servernet

I am using a 7 day free trial with these guys, so now I have it working, and understand how the settings work much better, might have a look around for another provider. The tracker provider that comes with the unit is £5/year/unit, but as I say, I was having issues setting it up at the time, and their website was very slow.

[AlexD333]

Sorry to veer off course a bit but so those asbo ankle things need charging or what? :nenau

[rayf3262]

This might be worth some attention:
http://opengts.sourceforge.net/

[panelbeater]

just plug them into the mains to give them a shock.

[Lazy-Ferret]

This might be worth some attention:
http://opengts.sourceforge.net/
Looks very interesting... Although I think after reading the first page of the installation guide, it may be above my capabilities...

I use a hosting company, and have no idea on which of the requirements are available, and know nothing about Java.