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Easy-X |
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Easy-X Super Spammer
Joined: 08 Mar 2019 Karma :
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Posted: 14:56 - 08 Oct 2021 Post subject: Vehicle Tracking |
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Something I've been working on for a while and I could do with some opinions from the BCF members if you would be so gracious
"Traditional" tracking services general involve purchase of a tracker, possibly professional install and a hefty annual fee. If you're riding round on a brand new Ninja H2R these costs might be trivial but for your typical commuter bike you might find it a little difficult to justify.
No worries, turn to a little DIY! You can grab a basic Chinese-made tracker for £20, right? Some downsides...
Supply your own SIM
While you could just buy a pay as you go SIM you're probably looking at ~£5 per month and O2, GiffGaff, Tesco, etc. are expecting you to have the SIM in a phone the upshot being managing the credit might be a pain and £60 per year on a mobile connection means you're a good way towards a traditional tracking costs.
Okay, so do these traditional tracking services have this problem? Nope, they negotiate for more specific services e.g. limited data requirement, no voice calls needed, international roaming and this brings the costs down dramatically. As a consumer you can get single SIMs with the limited functionality needed by a tracker but it becomes a bit of a murky area interpreting what you might need from business oriented suppliers. There's also a big overlap with the whole "Internet of Things" market which can be both help and hinderance.
Is it worth the effort? If you can get the right mobile solution it could bring the annual cost down to £10~£20.
Configuration
In a word: fiddly. The cheap trackers need carefully formatted SMS to be sent for things like setting up security and the mobile APN. Replies are often in Mandarin
Software
Out-of-the-box vehicle tracking information is sent to a ropey website in China, 'nuff said Thankfully you can send it elsewhere and there just so happens to be an Open Source project to do this in traccar.org. You therefore have the option to either run your own server or bung them some money each month. What you get is an easy to use map which updates itself with vehicle telemetry.
Questions
So... is a cheap tracking solution of interest to anyone? I'm pretty sure I've asked before but got zero reaction If it is of interest you can either do all the above that I've outlined above (the tech bois with have a grand adventure with it) or would anyone be interested in a more turnkey solution?
"Aiiiiii! He's selling something! Burn the heretic!!!"
No, I was thinking more along the lines of a step-by-step guide - what to buy, where to get it, how to fit it, configuration, etc. - but that's a fair bit of work and I haven't got all the pieces in place yet, so to speak. ____________________ Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter |
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xX-Alex-Xx |
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xX-Alex-Xx World Chat Champion
Joined: 12 Sep 2019 Karma :
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Posted: 15:33 - 08 Oct 2021 Post subject: |
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I've been semi-tempted to add something to the car and bike but never seen much point as I'm in a low risk area and my insurance would actually go up if I added it to either vehicle.
If I did though, I'd probably just use an Airtag.... Hide it in one of these and you're sorted.
https://i.ebayimg.com/thumbs/images/g/K14AAOSw-Ktgmop~/s-l225.webp ____________________ DILLIGAF |
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Easy-X |
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Easy-X Super Spammer
Joined: 08 Mar 2019 Karma :
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Posted: 16:16 - 08 Oct 2021 Post subject: |
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AirTag isn't a GPS tracker. If there aren't any Apple devices nearby it doesn't have anyone to talk to, it also doesn't offer any sort of telemetry. And Apple?! Barely any better than relying on the Chinese ____________________ Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter |
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xX-Alex-Xx |
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xX-Alex-Xx World Chat Champion
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Keithy |
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Keithy Spanner Monkey
Joined: 22 Sep 2020 Karma :
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Posted: 21:39 - 08 Oct 2021 Post subject: |
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I’m in for a cheap tracking solution!
MCN article Sep 29 ‘Beat the bastid bike thieves’ - a bloke called Kieran Donnelly-Shard of Mad Slick Motorcycles say they can supply an alarm for £30 or a tracker for £50, £65 for both. Although I notice they are looking at £6/month for the SIM.
Our work account has a ‘data pool’, so we pay a fixed amount for 1TB of data and it is split over however many SIMs we have in circulation. I know mobile providers have family accounts, I wonder how cheap we can get a data only SIM when it’s using bugger all data. |
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Kawasaki Jimbo |
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Kawasaki Jimbo World Chat Champion
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Easy-X |
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Easy-X Super Spammer
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yen_powell |
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yen_powell World Chat Champion
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recman |
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recman World Chat Champion
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Easy-X |
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Easy-X Super Spammer
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Easy-X |
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Easy-X Super Spammer
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Posted: 21:25 - 09 Oct 2021 Post subject: |
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Looks like a picture to me. How many vehicles are there? How fast are they going? Are their ignition systems active? Can you remotely deactivate them if they are? ____________________ Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter |
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GettinBetter |
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GettinBetter Crazy Courier
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Easy-X |
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Easy-X Super Spammer
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Posted: 20:06 - 19 Oct 2021 Post subject: |
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I quite often hear of bikes dumped/moved only a few streets away. If the thieves are just scrotes they'll probably try (and fail) to hotwire it. But I wouldn't go alone, that's for sure!
Personally I'd like to know exactly where it was and carefully plan my next move. The police are of zero help and I could do without my insurance being hiked up. I suppose a high-end commercial tracker might get them to issue a crime reference number a tad quicker but that's about it.
Anyhoo, progress update on SIMs. My usual UK supplier has a new plan with 20MB of data and 20 text messages but the price is £4 per month. At that price the like of GiffGaff don't look too bad I'm instead looking at a German supplier focused on the IoT market which should cost around £10~£20 per year. ____________________ Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter |
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Ste |
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Ste Not Work Safe
Joined: 01 Sep 2002 Karma :
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Easy-X |
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Easy-X Super Spammer
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Posted: 23:23 - 20 Oct 2021 Post subject: |
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At £39 per month I'd expect them too! I'm talking more like £20 for a device, fit it yourself and pay ~£20 per year to run it. Apples & Oranges. ____________________ Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter |
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AL- World Chat Champion
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Easy-X |
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Easy-X Super Spammer
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Posted: 15:01 - 21 Oct 2021 Post subject: |
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That's a much more reasonable proposition.
I'm making some progress with the German IoT SIM provider. The reason they're so cheap is because they're not actually on the Internet and MO (mobile originating) access is via a NAT layer. Given how rubbish Chinese kit is for security this is actually a blessing.
For example one tracker I'm looking at at the moment literally has zero: no password, no tie to a single number for SMS commands, nothing. If one were to put a standard PAYG SIM in there anyone who knew the number could switch it off surreptitiously. And just to compound things you could buy an identical looking tracker with a more extensive security system for the same money - just a different chipset inside.
Anyhoo, outgoing only is fine for telemetry as command and control is via SMS. ____________________ Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter |
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Easy-X Super Spammer
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Posted: 00:38 - 27 Oct 2021 Post subject: |
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A progress update: I've got the shit tracker working with my secure SIMs. Lacking though it is in security it seems to go to sleep until it senses movement which is a nice bonus feature. I'm hoping it'll give a more continuous stream of data for a moving vehicle which would be very frugal on data usage.
It also features a remotely controllable silicon relay. I don't think I'd want it to control all the power on a bike - probably better as a hidden kill switch for the ignition.
As the German SIMs can send and receive SMS via a REST API I should be able to slap together a unified interface for telemetry, remote alerts and commands ____________________ Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter |
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xX-Alex-Xx |
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xX-Alex-Xx World Chat Champion
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Posted: 08:03 - 27 Oct 2021 Post subject: |
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Easy-X wrote: | A progress update: I've got the shit tracker working with my secure SIMs. Lacking though it is in security it seems to go to sleep until it senses movement which is a nice bonus feature. I'm hoping it'll give a more continuous stream of data for a moving vehicle which would be very frugal on data usage.
It also features a remotely controllable silicon relay. I don't think I'd want it to control all the power on a bike - probably better as a hidden kill switch for the ignition.
As the German SIMs can send and receive SMS via a REST API I should be able to slap together a unified interface for telemetry, remote alerts and commands |
The Scropio alarm I had on my Gixxer and F4i had a circuit cutoff for anti hijack. I found the fuel pump relay was the best one to splice into. Killswitch might be a bit sudden if it decides to suddenly activate when you're mid corner..... ____________________ DILLIGAF |
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Easy-X Super Spammer
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xX-Alex-Xx World Chat Champion
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Posted: 20:34 - 27 Oct 2021 Post subject: |
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Hong Kong Phooey |
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Hong Kong Phooey World Chat Champion
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Jmoan Brolly Dolly
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t121anf World Chat Champion
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Ste Not Work Safe
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Old Thread Alert!
The last post was made 2 years, 101 days ago. Instead of replying here, would creating a new thread be more useful? |
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