Tracker Poll

In relation to my previous thread, Cheap Alarm, I'm also looking at possibly getting a tracker for my SV650S, but I don't like the Datatool Snitcher (£259 inc fitting & 1st year, then £60/year) or the Datatool Monitor (£399 inc fitting & 1st year then £119/year).

So I've done a little research, with emphasis on 'little'.

The poll above is to find out everyone's opinions more than anything. During my research I've found another tracker system. The DataTool systems use the GSM network to pinpoint location (this can be done to any mobile phone, but only has an accuracy of 1-2km at best in the UK). Then it switches to an RF signal for closer range, and all UK police forces apparently have the ability to track this signal to within a few feet.

The opposition, comes with GPS locator (accurate to +/-0.5m), GSM (as DataTool) and RF. It has a built in modem for talking to HQ, and the company that manufacture it are more than willing to add an output for a simple immobiliser. Unfortunately the company that make this alternative have only just started selling to the public, and you have to sign a non-disclosure agreement to even talk to them (handy when you do work in the security industry). To date, pretty much their sole clients have been top end security firms, and apparently the MoD/intelligence agencies. The prices they were offering at IFSEC last March were around £150 each, and £7 a month subscription. This doesn't include fitting, but it's designed for places like belt buckles, so I'm sure a bike battery would do fine. Two wires (and possibly a resistor to step the voltage down) and secure it in place, not something I'd pay £40 for (number picked from thin air). Another downside unfortunately is that some UK Police forces don't have the ability to track this system yet, but more and more are coming around to it every month.

For anyone concerned that there's a serious lack of space under the seat of the SV, your credit/debit card is bigger than the tracker I've found!

I'm thinking that, should enough people be interested, it might be worth putting a bulk order in with them to get a discount. So, thoughts entered on the Poll please folks.

Ive heard stories of people hiding mobile phones on the bike and registering with a website that can track your mobile's movements.....might be a cheaper option?

Genius

A few years back (mainly because of my work in the security field - cows can be precious too :P) I knew the kind of people that had access to the sort of technology used. Unfortunately social circles keep moving & I'm no longer in touch with them.

A little googling returns companies like FollowUs.co.uk who, for a small fee, tell you the location of a mobile phone (with permission by SMS from the phone to be tracked). They also don't ask for anything silly like a monthly subscription for not using their service. This, combined with the nice folks at places like Tesco. A PAYG phone for approx £20, an in car charger (~£10), a little work to wire the cig lighter plug direct to the bike battery, and a max of £14.99 to find my bike should it be stolen.

Granted, it's not going to be insurance approved, but if it means I have a shot at getting the bike recovered after any potential theft, imho it's worth the £50 outlay.

(Looks like I owe Ward8124 a beer... might as well just get the first round in at AR07... wait, no, that's a bad idea, I'm not signing my name to that!)

Yep the hidden mobile phone was used alot in cars a couple years ago before the proper companies started cropping up.. great idea!

I doubt you would have to really hide it either, I mean your going to realise that yours bikes been knicked pretty quickly and the chance of them getting into the guts of the bike before that (unless they are ripping it apart and by that point im not sure you would want to find it :P)

If you go for this option tell us when you have it setup

I'm planning on calling off at tesco's on the way home tonight. If they have something in stock that will do the job at the right sort of price, then I'll be calling at my local Maplin's to get the bits tomorrow night, and will probably fit it all to the bike whilst there. (I used to work there & a few of the guys are into their bikes as well) I'll probably put it under the main seat, near to the battery and doesn't take up space under the pillion seat. Also you'd need to remove 4 allen bolts to get at it. Only issue could be waterproofing, but I doubt that'll be an big issue.

From FollowUs.co.uk, if you buy in large quantities, it costs 18p for each time you 'loose' your bike. Credits also don't expire. The only thing is that the mobile might need fairly regular top-ups (every 3months etc) to keep the account active.

So that'll be approx £100 and my K6 SV650S has an alarm (which still hasn't turned up yet), imobiliser (part of the alarm), tracker and Loobman fitted. Bargain.

Originally Posted by Ward8124

Ive heard stories of people hiding mobile phones on the bike and registering with a website that can track your mobile's movements.....might be a cheaper option?

Yep - I understand that it works well

its ok til your battery runs down. if you have a V3 like me thats about 5 minutes.

Originally Posted by keithd

its ok til your battery runs down. if you have a V3 like me thats about 5 minutes.

I thought of that as well, which is the main reason I'll be calling in at Maplin's. Little switch mounted under the pillion seat for easy access see. That way, I can charge it when I like, and leave the battery alone when I dont need to. I commute 100miles a day, so I figure leaving the phone on but not charging at night (in my garage), ride to work, charge the phone while working. Repeat ad-nauseum. Granted there's going to be times when I forget to flick the switch, but if I'm sensible enough in the early days, it'll be part of my pre-ride (daily) check.

Realistically, my pre-ride check could involve checking the battery level on the phone to see if it needs topping up.

(Not forgetting the technicalities of charging mobile phone batteries for optimum life, and the fact a mobile phone only uses an avg of 3v at 0.5a to charge)

Originally Posted by Jabba-the-Hutt

Yep - I understand that it works well

I don't think that the GSM system is very accurate - at least not accurate enough to locate a stolen bike. Look at their accuracy document:
http://followus.co.uk/datasheets/Fol...20Accuracy.pdf

Whilst you'd probably be OK if the bike is somewhere in central London, I'd hate to search the radius they show in Macclesfield.

I'd prefer the accuracy of a GPS system and might be interested in something like that.

Originally Posted by wyrdness

I don't think that the GSM system is very accurate - at least not accurate enough to locate a stolen bike. Look at their accuracy document:
http://followus.co.uk/datasheets/Fol...20Accuracy.pdf

Whilst you'd probably be OK if the bike is somewhere in central London, I'd hate to search the radius they show in Macclesfield.

I'd prefer the accuracy of a GPS system and might be interested in something like that.

If you prefer the GPS style, they start at around the £175 mark. The company I originally posted about are saying £205 each, without fitting. The GPS models usually work on GSM as well, because they have a GSM modem built in to enable sending back positional data (satellites are only good for 1 way use unfortunately). For the cost, I'm happy about the GSM coverage, and that's quite a sentiment, considering I live almost in the middle of nowhere (Snowdonia, well, Anglesey).