GPS Tracking . . .

[Digger]

Can anyone recommend a reliable GPS Tracker to be discretely hidden away in a vehicle

I'd rather not pay subscription fees to a company so happy to use one that uses a SIM card and ideally uses GPRS as a backup to GPS, assuming I've understood how the technology works!?


Out of interest, if you were to install your own tracker (such as the above) in a vehicle that subsequently gets stolen are the Police obliged to track it, or will they only do that when an approved Tracker has been installed by one of the recognised companies that we pay subs to etc?

Cheers . . .

[richb77]

I have one of these in my land rover.

http://www.chilli-tech.com/index.php/products/car-...

I paid £40 brand new.

It takes a PAYG sim. call that sim and you get a txt back with GPS location.

The GPS figures are a little odd (I believe there is two formats?) but it tracks mine accurately down to a couple of metres faultlessly.

Can be plugged in and swapped about or wired in permanently.

[Digger]

Thanks for that.

Anyone know the answer to. . . if your car is stolen and its installed with a gps tracker that you've installed, are they obliged to track it, or will they only so that if its installed by one of the Insurer-approved companies?

[Billyray911]

Whatever the Tracking system,within reason,the Police will assist in the recovery.
So,for example,if your vehicle is stolen and you are able to track your vehicle via a laptop,the Police will act upon the information that you give,in order to assist in its recovery and arrest any offenders.
Your vehicle will probably still be recovered for FSI though,as part of the investigation.
Obviously,it helps with vehicles fitted with 'Tracker' as most traffic vehicles/force helicopters are fitted with the ability to receive the signal emitted and track pro-actively.

[ging84]

Digger said:

Thanks for that.

Anyone know the answer to. . . if your car is stolen and its installed with a gps tracker that you've installed, are they obliged to track it, or will they only so that if its installed by one of the Insurer-approved companies?

I don't think you understand what the police do, they are not paid by tracking manufacturers or insurance companies.

[Digger]

ging84 said:

Digger said:

Thanks for that.

Anyone know the answer to. . . if your car is stolen and its installed with a gps tracker that you've installed, are they obliged to track it, or will they only so that if its installed by one of the Insurer-approved companies?

I don't think you understand what the police do, they are not paid by tracking manufacturers or insurance companies.

Thanks, but I found a more constructive answer to my query on the Thatcham website!

Thatcham said:

Police Response to Stolen Vehicles

The police service has a public duty to prevent and detect crime and bring offenders to justice. The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) has produced a Policy on Police Response to Security Systems, which includes Vehicle Tracking Devices.

Where vehicle-tracking devices comply with the ACPO policy a Unique Reference Number (URN) can be allocated to the System Operating Centre (SOC). This will allow the SOC on receipt of a crime number to report the unauthorised taking of motor vehicles to the police over dedicated lines, direct into police control rooms. It will also allow the SOC to give real time information on the movement and location of the vehicle and if requested, immobilise the vehicle. In return, systems that meet these requirements, will give the police confidence to allocate a priority response. When a vehicle is stolen and does not have a tracking device or has one that does not meet the requirements of the ACPO policy the following will apply:
The level of police response will depend on the quality of information received.

[streaky]

Digger said:

ging84 said:

Digger said:

Thanks for that.

Anyone know the answer to. . . if your car is stolen and its installed with a gps tracker that you've installed, are they obliged to track it, or will they only so that if its installed by one of the Insurer-approved companies?

I don't think you understand what the police do, they are not paid by tracking manufacturers or insurance companies.

Thanks, but I found a more constructive answer to my query on the Thatcham website!

Thatcham said:

Police Response to Stolen Vehicles

The police service has a public duty to prevent and detect crime and bring offenders to justice. The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) has produced a Policy on Police Response to Security Systems, which includes Vehicle Tracking Devices.

Where vehicle-tracking devices comply with the ACPO policy a Unique Reference Number (URN) can be allocated to the System Operating Centre (SOC). This will allow the SOC on receipt of a crime number to report the unauthorised taking of motor vehicles to the police over dedicated lines, direct into police control rooms. It will also allow the SOC to give real time information on the movement and location of the vehicle and if requested, immobilise the vehicle. In return, systems that meet these requirements, will give the police confidence to allocate a priority response. When a vehicle is stolen and does not have a tracking device or has one that does not meet the requirements of the ACPO policy the following will apply:
The level of police response will depend on the quality of information received.

Your next questions are: "Does my device meet the requirements of the ACPO policy?" and "How do I set up a SOC?"

Streaky

[Digger]

streaky said:

Your next questions are: "Does my device meet the requirements of the ACPO policy?" and "How do I set up a SOC?"

Streaky

Nope, but I'll allow you a moment of facetiousness.

[Furry Exocet]

Digger said:

Thanks for that.

Anyone know the answer to. . . if your car is stolen and its installed with a gps tracker that you've installed, are they obliged to track it, or will they only so that if its installed by one of the Insurer-approved companies?

Yes they will assist in tracking it. They obviously won't be able to do it without you passing on the location as you get it. Remember though that they aren't always accurate. I once tracked a digger on one of these devices, we spent around 30 minutes going to the locations we were given, then when someone finally got to the yard, the digger hadn't moved

They also don't work once put into containers and there are very simple GPS blockers that can be bought on ebay very cheap (these have previously been recovered in cars)

[Elroy Blue]

Give me GPS tracking over Tracker any day.

We have the phone numbers for all the tracking companies in our cars and we will call all of them when a decent car is stolen. Often the owner won't even know if they've got one fitted.

[Furry Exocet]

Elroy Blue said:

Give me GPS tracking over Tracker any day.

We have the phone numbers for all the tracking companies in our cars and we will call all of them when a decent car is stolen. Often the owner won't even know if they've got one fitted.

The new tracker stuff is gps too and it works quite well, so you get the best of both worlds, but unless it's a seriously nice car, it's an expensive option

[FurtiveFreddy]

richb77 said:

I have one of these in my land rover.

http://www.chilli-tech.com/index.php/products/car-...

I paid £40 brand new.

Just out of interest, it's for sale there for £150 so how did you get it for £40?

[KevinOctiScout]

Digger said:

Out of interest, if you were to install your own tracker (such as the above) in a vehicle that subsequently gets stolen are the Police obliged to track it, or will they only do that when an approved Tracker has been installed by one of the recognised companies that we pay subs to etc?

Cheers . . .

How will they track it? With Tracker (as I understand it) when activated the unit sends out a signal that the police can track with their compatible equipment. What signal will a GPS tracker emit? and how will it be tracked by you?

[Furry Exocet]

KevinOctiScout said:

How will they track it? With Tracker (as I understand it) when activated the unit sends out a signal that the police can track with their compatible equipment. What signal will a GPS tracker emit? and how will it be tracked by you?

The police can only use their vehicles to track official tracker equipment. I would imagine with the one in the link, you'll have some software to install which you use to track

[GC8]

Theres a good deal of confusion here!

Tracker originally used a simple RF signal and the police vehciles used simple direction finding.

Later Tracker branded kit added GPS & GSM, but retained the RF capability too. A lot of trackers (with a small T) can be defeated using simple interference gadgets, but the RF system is more robust and really needs a Faraday cage or a big hole in the ground to beat it (unless you use a sniffer to find it within the vehicle)...

[Digger]

I have a Tracker (big T) in my RS6 and was quite surprised when I had a missed call and a text land on my phone I subsequently discovered that this was caused by the detailers that my car was at, had removed the wheels from my car for refurbishment, and this had caused the Tracker to activate and alert the control centre. It was good to know my system was at least functional.

Thanks for the helpful replies chaps.

[Chiswickboy]

FurtiveFreddy said:

richb77 said:

I have one of these in my land rover.

http://www.chilli-tech.com/index.php/products/car-...

I paid £40 brand new.

Just out of interest, it's for sale there for £150 so how did you get it for £40?

Even a quick Google does not get anywhere near 40 squids. Should this be 140?

[GC8]

You can buy a GPS/GSM tracker off eBay for £30 delivered.

[Scotfox]

richb77 said:

The GPS figures are a little odd (I believe there is two formats?)
.

One uses Degrees Minutes and Seconds. The other Degrees, Minutes and thousands of Minutes

[GC8]

Arent there three ways of describing your location? Going back to the nineties, I seem to recall my Garmin having three available output formats.