Looking For Vehicle Tracking Units:

[Syndyre]

So the very basic product is a (rough) cellphone hidden in a part of the car (location specified by manufacturer type).

This allows the cells to triangulate position and transmit the coordinates to the network and tracker company, who can then use a GPS to track the vehicle.

It seems like it but there's also this:

this is called sign posts,and there are thousands in sa and at sa borders.
I cannot say more about where they are and how they work

So I'm guessing there's some form of triangulation going on without involving the cell networks.

 

[skydog]

We used to use the Vigil software to track our fleet but it did not work for us because we thought we would test the system by getting the drivers to press panic buttons. well test 1 revealed a 15% success rate while test 2 was 25% test rate and so it slowly climbed up. we felt like we were a test lab for this system so gave it up.

i hope that the system has improved as it had potential.

My understanding of this system is:
the unit in the car is capable of receiving GPS data.. if it cant (eg under a bridge in an underground parking lot...then it will use cell phone towers to try work out it's position. It will also use these "sign posts" to work out where it is. once it has it's position it stores it on the unit till it is time to bundle it up and send it home. the unit can also collect data on speed, fuel..... basically anything you can connect at sensor to and also store that data. when the "buffer" is full it bundles it up and uses an SMS to send the data to the database. it is then transfered into readable data by plotting stuff onto a map. not sure if they using other means to transfer the data back to HQ. eg 3G/GPRS

 

[kronoSX]

ok let me tell you its a myth that there is a tracking company that can track a vehicle underground,There is a 20% chance of this happenin with any tracking company,
netstar uses rf/gsm/gps,tracker uses rf matrics uses rf.gsm.gps cartrack uses gsm
And you know that saterlites is line of site,so if a car of any tracking company has saterlite gps and they say thay can track it,they will be liaring.

 

[Syndyre]

ok let me tell you its a myth that there is a tracking company that can track a vehicle underground,There is a 20% chance of this happenin with any tracking company,
netstar uses rf/gsm/gps,tracker uses rf matrics uses rf.gsm.gps cartrack uses gsm
And you know that saterlites is line of site,so if a car of any tracking company has saterlite gps and they say thay can track it,they will be liaring.

Couldn't they track it to the last point it was at before it went underground? That should give you a pretty good idea of the location, there aren't massive underground areas after all.

 

[cyberarmy]

Couldn't they track it to the last point it was at before it went underground? That should give you a pretty good idea of the location, there aren't massive underground areas after all.

I think you need to Activate those system first before you can track them(certainly not those high end system but tracker retrieve/netstar sleuth.etc)....

So dablakmark8, does it mean netstar is more advanced in ways of tracking because it's RF/GSM/GPS but tracker only has RF (I won't believe they don't have GPS systems).......One channel to compliment the other if it failed??

 

[Syndyre]

True, assuming it was activated at least though.

 

[kronoSX]

no no,with netstar, the tracking system records the last sign post reading,and yes this will tell you where it was last before it went underground,but with a gps this will not work,thats why netstar and matrix puts 2 units in the vehicle ,or 2 types of tracking or 3 like gsm rf gps.
netstars top product vigil is that type of system,matrix also has
dont know tracker or cartrack,
Tracker is by far the low runner of the 3
Its fact,I have been involved with tracking systems for 9 years,So i should know what is the best in the country.tracker is not one of them,but there ads makes them great,and figures on paper.
they bend the truth,with the figures of recovery,
C track is also a good truck monitering system

 

[kronoSX]

o i forgot,It also depends on the model unit you take if they can track a car underground.
I would put the models down from the tracking companys,that cannot track a car underground but,due to legal reasons i cannot,If i did then antwan would have to submit me,which i know he wont

 

[Leitmotif]

CTrack are terrible for vehicle monitoring, actually. Antiquated system. Almost as bad as Tracker, and that's pretty damn bad.

There's a company called Orbtech who were the first to jump on GPRS for data transmission... far as I know they're pretty small, and mostly do truck/fleet management. Their GPRS implementation and GPS accuracy is supposedly good, but they have no marketing whatsoever.

If the OP is serious about getting units, PM me. I know of a company that can make their units work with custom software. They only sell to dealers, though, not end-users.

 

[kronoSX]

c track,should pull there finger out,I did not know that they have slacked,over the years,

 

[Ozymandias]

The Flextrack LOMMY caught my attention. Its a GPS/GPRS combo which can send data via SMS or via HTTP GET Requests. HTTP GET Requests would seem to me, to be a much better alternative to SMS. Firstly, sending data via SMS would probably need to go via some sort of gateway before the system could be automated. However, sending data via a HTTP GET Request would be a lot simpler and cheaper to implement. All data such as latitude, longitude, speed, battery levels etc can be passed as web URL parameters. Web software could easily enter this data into an online database all at about a tenth of the cost of an equivalent SMS system.

Although they are not quite down to street level here in SA, Google Maps is definitely on its way soon. Having released their API to the public, I envision quite a few simple tracking applications. I was plotting GPS data from a database onto Google Maps last weekend and there isn't all that much to it. As mobile phones become increasingly GPS enabled, I bet that a lot of people will be setting up their own personal tracking services.

I think that LOMMY is being sold locally by Eagle CCTV. I couldn't find any mention of it on their website but I gathered as much from the SecuritySA site.

 

[cyberarmy]

Too bad our insurance only recommend and recognise tracker....

 

[Need4Speed]

Which tracking solution to get?

Hi dablakmark8,

I'm also looking at getting myself a vehicle tracking solution. As I see it there are basically 3 ways to track and 2 ways to communicate

Tracking
+++++++

GPS:
****
Pros: Accurate - 5m, global coverage
Cons: High frequency (around 1.8GHz I think), so it won't penetrate underground or into Farraday cages

GSM triangulation
*******************
Pros: National coverage, lower frequency (around 900MHz) - better penetration
Cons: None really...

Proprietry RF
**************
Pros: Lower frequencies ?? - better penetration ??
Cons: Maybe not as wide footprint as GSM ??

Reporting
++++++++

Proprietry RF
*************
Pros: Better penetration ??
Cons: Maybe not as flexible as GPRS, no panic button?

GPRS
*****
Pros: Cheap, national coverage, could use SMSs as well?
Cons: SIM contract must be kept up to date ??

Am I far off the mark, Mark? Could you give us a (rough) indication of the rf frequencies used by the proprietry systems?

Another thing that will influence my decision is the quality of the teams performing the recovery. The fact that Tracker "works with the SAP" is NOT an advantage in my book....

 

[briantw]

GSM Blocking Devices

Through all the pros and cons, you didn't mention that a GSM device is easily blocked by a perp. I work for a movie theatre chain, and they tested a GSM blocker a few years ago. The thing was truly evil. Operated on simple 12V supply and I couldn't get a signal within 50m of the thing, even through all those thick walls.

 

[Syndyre]

Another thing that will influence my decision is the quality of the teams performing the recovery. The fact that Tracker "works with the SAP" is NOT an advantage in my book....

You mean Tracker don't have their own teams??

 

[intogadgets]

Orbtech User

Good day,

as a private user of the orbtech system, i have to tell you i have not seen better as of yet, there system updates every 60 sec down to street level, they even give theire private clients a free software pacage were you can play and track your own vehicles. i have got total peace of mind when my wife uses my bakkie to visit her parents in nigel. you oaks should give them a call for a demostration you wont look back.

 

[captainwifi]

Good day,

as a private user of the orbtech system, i have to tell you i have not seen better as of yet, there system updates every 60 sec down to street level, they even give theire private clients a free software pacage were you can play and track your own vehicles. i have got total peace of mind when my wife uses my bakkie to visit her parents in nigel. you oaks should give them a call for a demostration you wont look back.

You don't understand the technology. You can buy a phone jamme from
http://www.phonejammer.com for R400. You push the button and all your
GPRS/GSM tracking devices goes "poof". I have explained counter measures
elsewhere. You must, must use a http://www.roundsolutions.com modem.
The modem detects the phonejammer signal then pulls in a relay. The relay connects to http://www.netstar.co.za Netstar gets a panic signal they http
into your home PC to get your LAST GPS COORDINATES. They send out the
marines and catch the phone jammer hijacker.

 

[intogadgets]

Orbtech User

Good day,

if this is true about the cellphone jammer why does netstar premote a gprs system to the publick, according to my knowlidge a selphone jamer only has a batery life span of 15 min. the orbtech system can survive this with a smile.



Regards,
gadget

 

[Syndyre]

And you don't think they could organise an additional power source for the jammer? I'm guessing the jammers just aren't currently in use so that's why they don't worry, or maybe they constantly track the position so if the signal dies they know the last recorded point as captainwifi was saying?

 

[captainwifi]

Good day,

if this is true about the cellphone jammer why does netstar premote a gprs system to the publick, according to my knowlidge a selphone jamer only has a batery life span of 15 min. the orbtech system can survive this with a smile.

Netstar is not a magician, they don't have that powerful stuff tannie Manto has.
GPRS is not magic, any radio signal can be jammed. Netstar has the most radio towers. IF the GPRS dies, your base PC will send an alert to a friend. He will try and contact hte roundsolutions modem in your car or you on your cell. If he doesn't get through he phones Flam (that is the persons name) at Netstar Nelspruit telling him that the GPRS has been jammed and did he get a PANIC signal from the netstar unit. If he did he will then put two-and-two together and understand that your cell connection has been jammed.

You can't just jam Netstars radio signal because you don't know what it is and it doesn't use GSM like technology.

And a phonejammer can obstruct a gsm signal for hours.

So after your embedded pc is installed as I have explained at lenght elsewhere you go and see flam personally and demonstrate to him your GPRS/GPS
system and show him how you have connected the anti-jamming relay of roundsolutions to his netstar PANICBUTTON.

You can only use NETSTAR because only they have the most radio towers. No they are not paying me. I am merely stating a fact.