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Old 12-30-2018, 12:00 PM   #1
Greasey Harley
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Best tracking device?

I hate thieves. My wife's Honda got ripped off a couple years ago, we got it back but it burned oil after we got it back. The joy rider drove it 80 miles (Apparently @ 7500rpm), and basically destroyed the motor. They also stole several hundred dollars worth of tools and the stereo.
I would literally cry if my truck got ripped off. So, I've been considering a tracker. Not sure which one. GPS or bluetooth, maybe both. Anybody have any thoughts on these devices? Unfortunately, price is always a consideration.
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Old 12-30-2018, 12:26 PM   #2
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Re: Best tracking device?

Well you can argue all day as to the best....I personally use these little guys, they are reasonable at $100 and $20 per year to ping every 5 minutes. You can track on your phone or computer to see right where your vehicle is at.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Constant-Ve...item2cb57b4db6

https://www.vappusnet.com/
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Old 12-30-2018, 01:13 PM   #3
davepl
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Re: Best tracking device?

I have LoJack in the vehicles I care about, for one important reason. If I call the police in MY AREA AND STATE, they police know what LoJack is, they have the equipment, and will actually do the work. Tracking your vehicle on your own is likely a bad idea.

I asked those questions of the local PD before I bought.

I have once or twice tested it by moving the car without the fob present, and sure enoufgh it notifies you.
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Old 12-30-2018, 01:24 PM   #4
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Re: Best tracking device?

Good point Dave - not the best idea chase em down - perhaps in the interest of THEIR safety or one's own. I can't imagine the police wouldn't help if you, as the owner, tell them where your stolen vehicle is - because you happen to have put a GPS device other than Lojack on it(?) Am curious if anyone has run into this scenario. I've been considering these also.
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Old 12-30-2018, 03:37 PM   #5
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Re: Best tracking device?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sheepdip View Post
Well you can argue all day as to the best....I personally use these little guys, they are reasonable at $100 and $20 per year to ping every 5 minutes. You can track on your phone or computer to see right where your vehicle is at.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Constant-Ve...item2cb57b4db6

https://www.vappusnet.com/
With a ping every 5 minutes I suppose you can't get as detailed as seeing on a map the route the truck is taking as on this example, is that right? Can you show a screen shot of what the data or map looks like? Are there options such as changing how often it reports or if change of direction in a certain number of degrees makes it report?
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Old 12-30-2018, 04:44 PM   #6
Sheepdip
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Re: Best tracking device?

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Originally Posted by dmjlambert View Post
With a ping every 5 minutes I suppose you can't get as detailed as seeing on a map the route the truck is taking as on this example, is that right? Can you show a screen shot of what the data or map looks like? Are there options such as changing how often it reports or if change of direction in a certain number of degrees makes it report?
True not as detailed as your map.....But.....pay more money and get more pings for your buck$.
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Old 12-31-2018, 01:18 AM   #7
stsalvage
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Re: Best tracking device?

I've just had a few friends of mine just had over the last 7 months 11 car's and trucks stolen from there houses 7 of them honda's the other 4 are old chevy trucks

My friends wife and son's Honda Civics come up missing Thanksgiving night.So he went on like a bought one of them tracking devices that you do a copy of your Semis card from out of your phone so you can locate your phone it take one of them watch battery's last up to 3-4 years.

His truck he put it in a plastic bag and put it on the driver side next to the fuel tank cubby holes where no one seems to look and very hard to reach in there unless you take the seat out.2 weeks after Thanksgiving that came back an stole his 1972 1/2 ton.He called the cops the next morning.

They came out to make a report An he said i put a tracking devise in his truck and showed them on his tablet where the pings where showing where his truck was it was 30 miles away.So the cops called up dispatch asked his the Chopper was still in the air they said It was just taking off from refueling.

They got in touch with the county sheriff an asked if they could send units to the address and sit on the property until they could get a warrant. 3 hours later they rolled in to this whorehouse.with swat and 15 to 22 police plus geto bird.It was a big theft ring.They found his wifes car and son car almost token apart.15 people Arrest.All for 1 small tracking device.
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Old 12-31-2018, 11:29 AM   #8
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Re: Best tracking device?

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Originally Posted by davepl View Post
I have LoJack in the vehicles I care about, for one important reason. If I call the police in MY AREA AND STATE, they police know what LoJack is, they have the equipment, and will actually do the work. Tracking your vehicle on your own is likely a bad idea.
This!
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Old 12-31-2018, 01:15 PM   #9
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Re: Best tracking device?

Quote:
Originally Posted by stsalvage View Post
I've just had a few friends of mine just had over the last 7 months 11 car's and trucks stolen from there houses 7 of them honda's the other 4 are old chevy trucks

My friends wife and son's Honda Civics come up missing Thanksgiving night.So he went on like a bought one of them tracking devices that you do a copy of your Semis card from out of your phone so you can locate your phone it take one of them watch battery's last up to 3-4 years.

His truck he put it in a plastic bag and put it on the driver side next to the fuel tank cubby holes where no one seems to look and very hard to reach in there unless you take the seat out.2 weeks after Thanksgiving that came back an stole his 1972 1/2 ton.He called the cops the next morning.

They came out to make a report An he said i put a tracking devise in his truck and showed them on his tablet where the pings where showing where his truck was it was 30 miles away.So the cops called up dispatch asked his the Chopper was still in the air they said It was just taking off from refueling.

They got in touch with the county sheriff an asked if they could send units to the address and sit on the property until they could get a warrant. 3 hours later they rolled in to this whorehouse.with swat and 15 to 22 police plus geto bird.It was a big theft ring.They found his wifes car and son car almost token apart.15 people Arrest.All for 1 small tracking device.
Edited.

Last edited by LockDoc; 12-31-2018 at 03:00 PM. Reason: We don't correct people for grammar usage on this board....
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Old 12-31-2018, 11:26 PM   #10
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Re: Best tracking device?

What was the tracking device?
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Old 01-02-2019, 05:35 PM   #11
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Re: Best tracking device?

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Old 01-02-2019, 07:00 PM   #12
El Dorado Jim
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Re: Best tracking device?

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Originally Posted by Sheepdip View Post
Well you can argue all day as to the best....I personally use these little guys, they are reasonable at $100 and $20 per year to ping every 5 minutes. You can track on your phone or computer to see right where your vehicle is at.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Constant-Ve...item2cb57b4db6

https://www.vappusnet.com/
do both of these require an annual fee?
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Old 01-02-2019, 11:31 PM   #13
Sheepdip
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Re: Best tracking device?

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do both of these require an annual fee?
Vappusnet is $20 per year for 5 minute pings....more pings equals more money. I would not ever try and reclaim my stolen vehicle, your smart to let the authorities handle that part. And by the way that $100 dollar purchase includes your first year so it's actually $80
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Old 01-03-2019, 12:39 AM   #14
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Re: Best tracking device?

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Originally Posted by davepl View Post
I have LoJack in the vehicles I care about, for one important reason. If I call the police in MY AREA AND STATE, they police know what LoJack is, they have the equipment, and will actually do the work. Tracking your vehicle on your own is likely a bad idea.

I asked those questions of the local PD before I bought.

I have once or twice tested it by moving the car without the fob present, and sure enoufgh it notifies you.
Here's a bit of fun history WRT to Lojack. Back when it first came out, I was fairly active in radio direction finding in the amatuer radio community. A friend of mine, Jim (KA4IIA), had made some significant improvements in the Roanoke Doppler tracker and a bunch of us hams in Atlanta were running them. We'd heard of Lojack and would monitor the 173.075 megahertz frequency hoping to hear one.

One Saturday we were running a fox hunt (a transmitter that periodically transmits a short message is hidden, and the hunters have to find it) and we heard some noise on 173.075. Jim and I were in my Jeep Grand Cherokee which was festooned with antennas and receivers and one of Jim's doppler units. We start DFing (Direction Finding) the signal and wound up in the MARTA Park'n'Ride lot in Roswell just off GA 400 next to a passenger car with a guy sitting in it.

We pulled up next to him and he rolled down the window, and we asked him if he had a Lojack unit. And he wants to know how the hell we knew that, and how we found him. So we told him, showed him the rig, etc, and he was seriously impressed. He was one of the trainers teaching the Fulton County PD how to locate Lojack equipped cars. He'd been out there for 45 minutes, and the trainees still hadn't found him, and yet here are two amateur radio operators that heard the signal, had suitable equipment, and tracked him down. We hung around until the cops showed up, and went through the whole spiel again.

Back then (and I don't know if there's a Generation II or Generation III version of Lojack now or not), the receivers in the police cars had a 6 digit display that would show the Lojack ID number (2 characters and 6 digits, IIRC) on a display when a Lojack transmitting vehicle was within a moderately close range of the police car (maybe 2 miles, depends on terrain and environment). The cops would the call the number into dispatch asking if was an active vehicle.

The display also had 16 LEDs, representing 360 degrees divided into 22.5 degree sections. It the police car is facing north, and the LED at the 90 degree mark was lit, it meant the signal was coming at 90 degrees to the right of the police car. So you'd basically drive towards the signal, using the LEDs to tell you where it was in relation to you. IIRC there was also some audio output from the receiver, and the quality and volume gave an idea of how close you were.

For Lojack to work, the officer has to first notice the Lojack ID number on the display, and be interested and not busy enough to pursue it. Recovering a stolen vehicle is pretty low in priority compared to a traffic accident, domestic violence, etc. It's probably the lowest priority event they deal with.

Lojack also presumes that the stolen vehicle is within range of one of the transmitters that can activate it, and that it hasn't already been ripped out. I'm a little skeptical of their 90% recovery rate. Is that 90% of reported thefts? 90% of units within the activation area?

There's also readily available equipment for thieves to tell them that a Lojack unit is transmitting from the car, which may cause them to abandon it (which adds to the odds of it being recovered less damaged). OTOH, you pull it into a metal trailer, and the Lojack trailer can't hear the transmitter to tell it to activate.

All in all, certainly better than nothing, and probably worth the insurance discount. But neither is it a panacea.
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Old 01-03-2019, 11:55 AM   #15
davepl
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Re: Best tracking device?

It's all part of the puzzle. To get to my truck, you need to bypass:

Entry gate
Perimeter Alarm
Driveway Alarms
Dogs
Alarmed Shop Door
Shop Motion Detectors
Boot locked onto front tire
Standard GM ignition switch
Late-model car blocking it in

None of that is a panacea either; every step can be bypassed or worked around. So it's just a lot of layers stacked on top of one another in the hopes that "deeper security" works better!

Quote:
Recovering a stolen vehicle is pretty low in priority compared to a traffic accident, domestic violence, etc. It's probably the lowest priority event they deal with.
I can't agree with that statement. Every time I've seen a police officer given the opportunity to interrupt a crime in progress they get excited like school kids! They spend their days, years, and lives dealing with the aftermath of crime, so I think they jump at most opportunities...
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Old 01-03-2019, 12:33 PM   #16
jcwren
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Re: Best tracking device?

Quote:
Originally Posted by davepl View Post
It's all part of the puzzle. To get to my truck, you need to bypass:

Entry gate
Perimeter Alarm
Driveway Alarms
Dogs
Alarmed Shop Door
Shop Motion Detectors
Boot locked onto front tire
Standard GM ignition switch
Late-model car blocking it in

I see "German Shepherd Dog" is missing from your list Over the years, I've found a large barking dog to be a most effective deterrent. Not that they're infallible, but they're part of a complete security system.
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Old 01-03-2019, 01:07 PM   #17
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Re: Best tracking device?

[QUOTE=davepl;8419139]It's all part of the puzzle. To get to my truck, you need to bypass:

Entry gate
Perimeter Alarm
Driveway Alarms
Dogs
Alarmed Shop Door
Shop Motion Detectors
Boot locked onto front tire
Standard GM ignition switch
Late-model car blocking it in

None of that is a panacea either; every step can be bypassed or worked around. So it's just a lot of layers stacked on top of one another in the hopes that "deeper security" works better!



Elementary stuff for "Danny Ocean"
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Old 01-03-2019, 01:09 PM   #18
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Re: Best tracking device?

Forget the alarms, tracking devices, dogs, Over insure it and stop worrying . If it does get stolen at least you get paid and NONE of us doing complete restorations will ever get all the time and $ we've invested back on a sale . I don't know about anyone else but the "build" is the best part . Once it's done I'm ready to build another with different options and style

Have you ever watched any of the boat launch videos on you tube ? new 4x4 trucks "accidentally " back into the lake or salt water ? Truck/ boat totaled loan paid off by insurance . I wonder how many were actually accidents ?

And before anyone asks I've never had even a fender bender or ever filed any type of claim after all these years of driving . State Farm loves me ,I just keep paying and paying ...
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Old 01-03-2019, 01:48 PM   #19
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Re: Best tracking device?

Well, I can tell you that after hundreds of hours invested in a family heirloom, show winning build that my family and friends did all of the work on that was double insured for a good chunk of change was totaled by a blithering idiot,

I'd rather have our truck back. I'd rather have my Dad right again. I'd rather his dog be alive. I wasn't in this deal for the money. Yes, the new one's gonna be cool, but it's not the same. And I have to build him a whole new truck for free again. I'd rather have our truck back.
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Old 01-07-2019, 02:44 AM   #20
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Re: Best tracking device?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Grumpy old man View Post
Forget the alarms, tracking devices, dogs, Over insure it and stop worrying . If it does get stolen at least you get paid and NONE of us doing complete restorations will ever get all the time and $ we've invested back on a sale . I don't know about anyone else but the "build" is the best part . Once it's done I'm ready to build another with different options and style

Have you ever watched any of the boat launch videos on you tube ? new 4x4 trucks "accidentally " back into the lake or salt water ? Truck/ boat totaled loan paid off by insurance . I wonder how many were actually accidents ?

And before anyone asks I've never had even a fender bender or ever filed any type of claim after all these years of driving . State Farm loves me ,I just keep paying and paying ...
I always got the impression those "boat launching accidents" were beer-related.
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Old 01-07-2019, 02:51 AM   #21
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Re: Best tracking device?

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Good point Dave - not the best idea chase em down - perhaps in the interest of THEIR safety or one's own. I can't imagine the police wouldn't help if you, as the owner, tell them where your stolen vehicle is - because you happen to have put a GPS device other than Lojack on it(?) Am curious if anyone has run into this scenario. I've been considering these also.
My brother had two of his work trucks stolen, police were no help, so he went driving around till he found both, called police, and gave them an ultimatum "either come do your job or I'll do it for you." They did their jobs.

I know at least one large US city has downgraded car theft to the point they won't do more than take a report.

There was a woman in the news some years ago that did what my brother did except the police didn't come so she stole her car back. Naturally the police were upset, out of embarrassment I guess.

I don't know anything about locator systems.....if that's what you want to spend your money on, go ahead, but I'd be ready to go find your truck yourself first and call police once you get there. Like the earlier poster said, if it was a chop shop, all you'll find are parts anyway. Tag all your truck parts?

Now there was the one member with the 1/2 ton 3OTT with overdrive, that had his stolen from a commuter train parking lot I think, he found his via a Facebook group on stolen cars. The thief was actually driving the thing! I could see that being a great instance for a locator system.

Last edited by In The Ten Ring; 01-07-2019 at 02:56 AM.
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Old 01-07-2019, 08:29 AM   #22
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Re: Best tracking device?

Prevent truck theft....put a manual transmission in it...most of those boneheads cant drive a stick
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Old 01-07-2019, 05:58 PM   #23
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Re: Best tracking device?

I used a service from TrackMate. Its like the others already described where you pay for the frequency of updates. I got the cheapest plan - longest interval. It's ok, but a vehicle can move a long way between updates and the vehicle disappears if it isn't under clear sky. I've got a manual as well as an ignition disabling device so if my truck is stolen I'm hoping I at least get an indication of which direction it was taken.
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