Don't know if anyone has done this already but if you have an old iphone laying about you don't use ,you can make yourself a cheap tracking device out of it. I have an iphone 5 with a cracked screen and have just set it up as a new phone and called it Van Tracker ( original i know ) and then deleted every app i could from it ,turn off everything you don't need and turn the screen brightness right down.Then i bought a usb socket off Ebay for a couple of pounds and wired it up in the van " somewhere" you can do a permenent live or wire to ignition depends on how much you use it . then plug the phone in on the charging cable and mount it so it can't move about and then use the find my phone to locate it . The battery lasts a long time on standby and if your pride and joy gets nicked at least you will have some hope of finding it. With find my phone you don't need a sim card but you could put a pay as you go sim in and set the phone to auto answer so you can perhaps hear a name or a place being said by Mr scumbag as he drives your van away .
Oh yeah if you do put a sim in set the ring to silent , might be obvious if mr scumbag hears a ringing noise coming from under you cupboard.
Better still hide a kill switch linked to a cut off fuel solenoid from VW Aircooled works and stop the thieving knobs from taking it in the first place Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk
But if you ring the phone who is going to answer so you can hear mr (or Mrs) scum say where there are going to drive your van too... Also without a sim find iphone barely works as it needs data to for location services to work better
If someone wants your van they’ll have it. Make it difficult yes but it’s likely to be towed away rather than driven. The latter I’m sure will soon be recovered from the bottom of your road, when said scumbag realises how slow and terrible these things are
This is true. It may take an eternity to get a first fix (assuming it can get GPS signals while buried in the van).
i have always liked the idea of a track but the cost of some units can be alot. Regarding the phone i would be concerned about power usage, when i looked into them i liked the idea of this unit and only around £15, this video is rather informative.
The relay is a neat idea , probably will have reception trouble mounted under the solid steel dash, both with GPS and mobile signal. It would work better in modern cars where the dash is plastic. This is really the trouble with our buses. Unless you have a Westy or something with a GRP poptop or high top, there are no hidden locations that arent covered in metal.
That’s an interesting idea, using an old phone. It could double up as a music source too. I fitted a cheap Chinese alarm/tracker to mine maybe 5 or more years ago. Cost about £35 off Amazon if I recall. Actually works very well, uses a pay as you go sim, tells me by text if the alarm is set off, what set it off and sends me a URL map location. Comes with a pair of remote fobs and is controllable via text messages too. You can turn on the mic remotely as well as disable the fuel pump if you have an electric one and you’re so inclined. The GPS and mobile antennas are on the dash and never seem to have an issue and are easily hidden by putting something non-metallic over them, but then I see that as a deterrent. Mike makes a good point though, I hadn’t considered placing them below the Westy roof... The unit itself is maybe half the size of a fag packet and easily concealed, contains its own battery and I run it off the leisure battery. A UK company started selling the same units but used their own monitoring subscription service but I found that unnecessary and more complicated/costly. The only other issue Is fitting door sensors on sliders and tailgate/engine lid. Photo type contactless ones used for LED lights in cupboards are the best bet. Oh, and forgetting the alarm is set at a campsite isn’t amusing for others. Sirens are very cheap, I chose that over rigging it to the horn as it’s a lot louder and attention grabbing as the tone changes and becomes ever more irritating the longer the siren sounds. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Well, at least you have a souvenir when it's been loaded on a flatbed, you wont know where it is mind or be able to track it.
I'd have two lots of antennas. Real ones which are hidden, and fake ones which act as a deterrent, which if that's ignored it gives them a false sense of security when they cut the fake wires. I think I know which one you mean, renamed 'iSomething' that they painted white, and it also made its way onto Halfords shelves?
Reading user manuals, a lot of the cheapo trackers with a subscription service are the same as the ones without, one of the settings is the computer that they send their data to. The subscription servers collect the data then present it to you when you log in , on a map. I just ordered a really cheap £9 tracker/immobiliser from China. I shall do some research with it. Its cheaper than the "relay" version because it doesnt have the actual immobiliser electrical relay in it.
The one I have was exactly the same as the UK subscription one except as you say Mike. I bought one of those for a mate and asides having trouble setting it up on his Peugeot van because it’s all low voltage ECU controlled circuitry we couldn’t be arsed with the faff of registering it on their service. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Give your van a full name. Register it on the government track and trace app. Claim it has Covid. What could possibly go wrong?
"You have been traced because you have been tracked in close proximity of person 'Teetoo Bay' - this person has reportedly been running a high temperature, spluttering and leaking fluids."
I have had a TK102 installed for the last year, but for some reason it doesn't like being permanently connected to 5v and the internal battery lasts about 2 days. Anybody recommend a replacement for about a tenner? Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
Probably an overheating voltage regulator chip so it shuts down periodically, reboots , registers with the network, reports in , overheats ( or the burst of RF it produces crashes the microprocessor in it.) On battery it doesnt have the power wires acting as antennas feeding the GSM signal back in. Try resiting it.
