gprs tracker

citykid5

hi all.i've just purchased a gps tracker for my sons moped.this works by useing a mobile sim card,so just bought a talkmobile sim only contract £1p/m for 25mins talk +40texts.now the question is am i likely to run up a huge bill for the unit aquireing a gps signal? i relise this maybe a bit of a thick question,but i'm not very savvy with these things.as far as i can tell,if the bike goes missing i simply text the tracker and it will text me back a longitude and latitude location for google maps.i havn't tryed it yet.just a bit worried that i may run up a big bill.any advise will be much appreciated

Guys_Dad

citykid5 wrote: »

hi all.i've just purchased a gps tracker for my sons moped.this works by useing a mobile sim card,so just bought a talkmobile sim only contract £1p/m for 25mins talk +40texts.now the question is am i likely to run up a huge bill for the unit aquireing a gps signal? i relise this maybe a bit of a thick question,but i'm not very savvy with these things.as far as i can tell,if the bike goes missing i simply text the tracker and it will text me back a longitude and latitude location for google maps.i havn't tryed it yet.just a bit worried that i may run up a big bill.any advise will be much appreciated

If I read your post correctly, that will depend upon how the tracker gets its GPS position. You need to read up on that from the literature you got with the tracker or ask the manufacturer.

One question though - what sort of battery length between charges for the tracker and how do you recharge it? Nothing to do with costs - just curious as I can see this as a possible weakness of the system if it is not run rom the moped battery.

My guess is that it probably won't use the internet from the network but will use it's built in GPS in the same way that Tom-Tom and Garmin Sat Navs do, but check with the tracker manufacturer/reseller.

grumbler

I am pretty sure that the tracker gets the position from gps signal that is free. As it sends the information by texts and only on request I think this sim card is fine for this purpose.

That said, in a long run a PAYG card can be more economical as £10 topup will last almost forever providing that at least one text is sent every 180 days.

citykid5

Guys_Dad wrote: »

If I read your post correctly, that will depend upon how the tracker gets its GPS position. You need to read up on that from the literature you got with the tracker or ask the manufacturer.

One question though - what sort of battery length between charges for the tracker and how do you recharge it? Nothing to do with costs - just curious as I can see this as a possible weakness of the system if it is not run rom the moped battery.

My guess is that it probably won't use the internet from the network but will use it's built in GPS in the same way that Tom-Tom and Garmin Sat Navs do, but check with the tracker manufacturer/reseller.

thanks for your reply
it says batt life of 48hrs,but i intend to rig it to the mopeds battery.will investigate the gps a bit further but i think your probably right that it works in a simalar way to tomtom,so should only cost me the price of a text to findout where it is,hopefully.thanks again

citykid5

grumbler wrote: »

I am pretty sure that the tracker gets the position from gps signal that is free. As it sends the information by texts and only on request I think this sim card is fine for this purpose.

That said, in a long run a PAYG card can be more economical as £10 topup will last almost forever providing that at least one text is sent every 180 days.

didn't realy look into the payg option?
i could change it as the talkmobile contract is on a monthly rolling contract,will investigate further once i've set the unit up properly.thing is it's his first bike,and haveing a couple of mopeds stolen from his brothers as their first bikes,thought i'd try a belt and brasses approach on this one,hope it works.could of insured it as tpft but the insurance excess and extra cost compared to third party only would wipe out the value of the bike.

grumbler

citykid5 wrote: »

didn't realy look into the payg option?

Well, if an opportunistic thief finds the tracker in the bike and takes the contract sim card out, not only will you not find the bike, but will probably face a huge mobile bill to pay.

citykid5

grumbler wrote: »

Well, if an opportunistic thief finds the tracker in the bike and takes the contract sim card out, not only will you not find the bike, but will probably face a huge mobile bill to pay.

hmm i'm haveing secound thoughts now,hopefully if the bike is stolen,i'll be able to find it fairly quickly,by means of the tracker? if not i can phone and barr the sim? also my sons considering makeing a steel locker to fit the tracker in,should be able to discuse it to look like part of the framework or hidden out of sight?whats your thoughts?
thanks again for your help

grumbler

If the stolen bike is, say, in garage or in an area with a poor reception you face a dilemma:

• bar the sim and lose the last chance to trace the bike,
• wait and take the risk of facing a mobile bill.

Regarding a steel locker, I think the tracker will be able to get neither a gps nor a mobile signal inside the locker.

citykid5

grumbler wrote: »

If the stolen bike is, say, in garage or in an area with a poor reception you face a dilemma:

• bar the sim and lose the last chance to trace the bike,
• wait and take the risk of facing a mobile bill.

Regarding a steel locker, I think the tracker will be able to get neither a gps nor a mobile signal inside of the locker.

thanks again for your reply grumbler.
what to do,what to do.
i think i will still go with the tracker,chances are it's likely to be nicked by local scrout's with a low i.q and half pi55ed on cheap lager.the mobile reception is pretty consistant in the area.hopefully i'll never need to use it,but that's probably just wishfull thinking,considering my other sons past records.but at least with the tracker i'm upping the odds on getting the bike back,regards the steel looker,will have a rethink on that.cheers again

Guys_Dad

citykid5 wrote: »

thanks again for your reply grumbler.
what to do,what to do.
i think i will still go with the tracker,chances are it's likely to be nicked by local scrout's with a low i.q and half pi55ed on cheap lager.the mobile reception is pretty consistant in the area.hopefully i'll never need to use it,but that's probably just wishfull thinking,considering my other sons past records.but at least with the tracker i'm upping the odds on getting the bike back,regards the steel looker,will have a rethink on that.cheers again

Follow grumbler's advice in post #3. Put a PAYG sim in with £10 on it and that's the most you will lose as far as mobile calls go. :beer:

citykid5

Guys_Dad wrote: »

Follow grumbler's advice in post #3. Put a PAYG sim in with £10 on it and that's the most you will lose as far as mobile calls go. :beer:

yep will do.do you know which sim?help me out grumbler