iWh the holiday season fast approaching I thought it would be a good idea to install a tracker on the family caravan. However I find that apart from the price of the unit I have to pay a fee, annually which is even higher than the layout cost. Then I also found that it has to be wired into the caravans battery electrical system which means it can be cancelled out by simply disconnecting the battery, with only a one hour back-up I would have to carry the phone with me at all times and then race to where ever the caravan is. Surely there is a better system out there.

granda1 - 2020-11-01 18:11:00

HIde a cheap smartphone in the caravan. Enable location on it and make sure it can see satellites and the body of the caravan, or roof or whateve isn't blocking it too much. You'll be able to track it with that. It might need a cheap, basic cell connection to be useable so it'll be able to aleart you to movement. Theres free apps that can geofence for you and alert if you go out of that area. You'd need to give it an external powersupply also probably.

Edited by nice_lady at 6:45 pm, Sun 1 Nov

nice_lady - 2020-11-01 18:43:00

A few ideas both that cost nothing on an ongoing basis. 1) Buy a cheap smart phone with its own google email account and put in something like a skinny sim card ($5 a year) and have it hidden discreetly with a discreet connection to the caravan battery. Most of these phone will last a week with no connection and you can check via google timeline where it is. You can even use it as a phone when you are in the caravan. 2) Buy a car tracker. This will let you when it goes out of a certain area. Ideally this should be discreetly connected to its own 12volt battery from the caravan battery. This could last for several weeks

duncb - 2020-11-01 18:54:00

There are tracking options with batteries that will last 10 years, they have a monthly subscription though.

It depends if you want set and forget or cheap.

sw20 - 2020-11-01 19:23:00

No smartphone, cheap or not, will NOT last a week if its running GPS and that's the ONLY way you'll be able to track it.

nice_lady - 2020-11-01 20:44:00

nice_lady wrote:

No smartphone, cheap or not, will NOT last a week if its running GPS and that's the ONLY way you'll be able to track it.

Correct, done that experiment with a few modern ph's
The battery will last about 2 or 3 days at best.
You can get a modern cell ph battery to last a week or slightly more, but thats on airplane mode/ offline.

Cheap cell ph thats got GPS & location services plus an external aerial connection plug & suitable lead.
Add a 4 amp portable battery pack connected to a charger attached to the vehicles battery

In reality, not many cheap ph's have gps & full location services so that could take a bit of digging
The ph would need to be hidden in a water proof & vibration proof area but accessible from time to time but not an obvious area

mrfxit - 2020-11-02 09:12:00

Thanks guys and gals, I think I might just have to brush up on my welding skills and devise a very good locking system, bloody thieves are every where.

granda1 - 2020-11-02 10:44:00

No solution will be that great, they all require GPS & cell coverage (to call home and report location).

bitsnpieces2020 - 2020-11-02 13:02:00

https://www.jaycar.co.nz/4g-gps-vehicle-tracker/p/LA9038

nice_lady - 2020-11-02 20:42:00

Interesting. If using any device needing a charger, (phone etc) might pay to hard wire in a small solar charger on the assumption that if nicked the caravan would be outdoors and keep charging.

On the other hand, an internal type towbar lock might be just as effective?

Paint the van roof with a distinctive logo that a would be thief might not notice... Won't stop it getting nicked though.

Put it on axle stands and remove the road wheels...

socram - 2020-11-03 19:31:00

Have a look at Aliexpress - there are some 3G trackers that claim to have 60-day battery life

allan_mac - 2020-11-04 09:42:00