Busy weekend

[Smokey]

Good work mate. The eBay tracker is on my list as it looks a great kit. I also have a gps logger on my tablet (fitted to console) that automatically monitors where the car has been. The car will have no secrets with both fitted lol!

[andys1981]

liking the sound off the tracker unit fitted,was it hard to do,probably help with insurance quotes aswell

[Steves Cleenz]

Originally Posted by andys1981

liking the sound off the tracker unit fitted,was it hard to do,probably help with insurance quotes aswell

as above anymore info on it, working? very interested in getting one

[pheelay]

Some more info on the tracker.. It's got many features but I've not bothered with a lot of them:
- Remotely activate/deactivate a relay included in the kit (usually to cut off the fuel pump)
- Door trigger
- Ignition on (ACC) trigger
- Power cut trigger
- SOS button
- Output for an (optional) siren
- Microphone to monitor cabin
- Internal backup battery
- Geo-fence trigger (alert if the tracker ventures outside a defined area)

For basic operation, you call the tracker, it hangs up and sends you back an SMS with GPS coordinates, a link to Google Maps and the status of various triggers (i.e. Power On/Off, Door Open/Closed, Ignition On/Off). It can be set to only respond to your number. Each trigger can be set to send a notification if tripped, or I guess activate the fuel cut-off relay if you wish.

I wont go into too many details on here on how/where I installed it as it would defeat the purpose! It wasn't difficult, I wired it directly onto the SCU loom. The hardest part was working out which wires to tap into. I can PM more details on that.

The GPS and GSM antennae work through plastic so they're well hidden and seems it picks up accurate GPS signal incredibly quick (faster than any TomTom I've ever used!).

My worry for now is the power consumption. It's definitely going to shorten how long the car can be left unused. It draws about 100mA @13.1V when operating. There's a sleep mode, which can be programmed to activate when ACC is off. Sleep mode disables the GPS. GSM still works so you can communicate with the device. Current draw in standby is 50-60mA @13.1v. The car is off the road at the mo while I try sort out insurance so going to be interesting to see if it starts after!

I'll be mentioning the tracker to the insurance, but think they might only recognise professionally installed and documented kit and only makes a different on cars with very high value?

[Steves Cleenz]

so do you have to put a PAYG sim in it?

[pheelay]

Originally Posted by Steves Cleenz

so do you have to put a PAYG sim in it?

Yes, exactly. Free same-network texts so shouldn't cost anything as long as I keep the SIM active with one top-up every 6 months.