Vehicle Tracking devices

[Anonymous]

I'm looking at buying a cheap tracking device to fit into my classic car. Most, if not all, currently utilise a 2G SIM card for communication purposes. My question is : What would be the cheapest way of puchasing a 2G SIM card to put into my new device ? The most basic tariff would be adequate. Some of the more expensive devices charge upwards of £120 per annum for the privelage of a subscription. Admittedly they will provide instant access to vehicle location (for fleet operators or trucking), but I just need it if the car ever gets stolen. Any cheap suggestions out there 

Andy G.

[Anonymous]

I applaud your effort for looking after you pride and joy but if you are not interested in paying for a high end product then maybe a better solution that would be more cost effective would be an idea. 

Wheel locking device and a mechanical immobiliser would be cheaper and suffice.

[Bambino]

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@Anonymous wrote:

@ bambino, they will if it is on the approved list. 

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It is on the approved list and it makes no difference. It's a Navtrak and was installed by my vehicle's dealer. My car is also garaged and that makes no difference either.

[Anonymous]

Very strange Bambino, I have always had a fair reduction for having a tracker retrieve fitted on my cars. In fact I had one put on my Mrs latest car and had nearly £300 pound taken off her insurance. 

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Your could consider APRS which can be done a number of ways and probably wouldnt need a subscription (depends of method used)

For the software side of it you could use either Google APRS (www.aprs.fi) or a software program called APRSIS or other similar programs.   Any of these could be monitored from your pc or mobile phone.

How to get the signal from your car:-

- There are units which are not mega bucks you can buy that will send signals - advertised

   in various magazines.

- Radio Amateurs build a little add on box for their rigs and use this combo.

- Make use of a a Raspberry Pi with the above software and wifi dongle and either

   1. Let this transmit a signal to a MiFi unit   (O2 do them but 3 is cheaper to buy unit) or

   2. If you want to monitor while the car is stationary then the RP could send a signal 

      to your home router or any free WiFi point.

   I know this could mean mobile broadband data use but the running costs could be low

   if you only switch on when you need to or use option 2

I am going to play with the latter option over Christmas and I will use a combo of 1 & 2

The vehicle is actually fitted with a Tracker System, this is just a boys toy which will help

me find the vehicle in a strange area when I have forgot where its parked and I like messing

with computers  

[Bambino]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Very strange Bambino, I have always had a fair reduction for having a tracker retrieve fitted on my cars. In fact I had one put on my Mrs latest car and had nearly £300 pound taken off her insurance. 

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Who are you insured with? My insurance is with Churchill. I've had the Navtrak tracker on my car for 13 years and it hasn't made a jot of difference to my premium.  

[Anonymous]

Hi reader.

Most of that was Dutch to me, to be honest !! haha. My car is more likely to be stolen for it's aluminium content than it's intrinsic value. I don't want it stolen anyway, however, because I quite like it 

I was just playing around with the idea of protection that would be traceable. I already have a system installed which uses chips (like those used for animals) which can be detected by the fuzz and tracked home to me. There are various other parts to it which give a DNA type of reading, so individual parts can be traced as stolen. This only really helps if the car is cloned or stolen for use abroad, but is better than nothing.

It's called DATATAG http://www.datatag.co.uk/

Andy G. 

[adamtemp64]

@reader oh the days of packet radio.

One of my old hobbies