No more crying over stolen race car or trailers!

[Don Sofranko]

All
This has been a good read on these gadgets, and it made me wonder about the TrackR, so I did some reading on that. I thought about the 100 foot range, and if you consider you can see that far pretty easy, then its a poor security device. The website says the founders made it to find their car keys. Yes there is the crowd locator, but that's only good if 90 percent of the country is working with crowd, and then for how long?

I also like the idea of a small gadget you could put on a dog, or something light.
Even if you find another similar blue tooth gadget ,150-200 feet is the max range?

Ok then, what gets you the most bang for the buck?

1- It looks like the most powerful feature to look for is real time GPS tracking.
Yes, they require a monthly cell subscription fee to get real time tracking.
I looked over this site, and they sell spy trackers and counter tracker devices:
https://spyassociates.com
One of these sells in the 200-250 range plus monthly cell fees
Spy Hawk Turbo Portable Real-Time GPS Tracker
https://spyassociates.com/spy-hawk-t...e-gps-tracker/
Live GPS Tracking Monthly Fees apply

2-How about just using an obsolete or cracked screen smart phone, with a working location services turned on, so you could use "find my phone feature"? That way it could be left on a charger, and would not go dead right away. If you are on Verizon, I think its not much to add another number to your plan.

3- Anyone else know of a highly secure option? Besides dogs, guns and guards?

[Jason Oldfield]

Deleted.

[Jason Oldfield]

I'd be very interested to hear about any modifications. From what I can see, the TrackR basically only works within Bluetooth range, but has a "Crowd GPS" function where if somebody with the app walks within range of your TrackR device it will notify you of the location (I'm assuming that you would have to mark it as lost / stolen). The problem that I've read is that the battery life in many instances is only a month, and once the battery is dead, no more tracking. In addition, it seems that the number of people using these is currently too small for the "Crown GPS" functionality to be of any real use.

The other popular Bluetooth tracking device is the Tile, which I just found out also has the "Crown GPS" functionality. You can buy an 8-pack of Tiles on Amazon for $130 (or from the Tile website):

https://www.amazon.com/Tile-Mate-Fin...7HCB8NZEB&th=1

I can't say which is better as I've never used either, but the reviews on Amazon certainly favor the Tile (my guess is mostly due to the much better locating sound that it plays). But, we wouldn't be using the devices for that type of application, so I don't know that it would really make a difference either way. The locating sound that the Tile plays is DEFINITELY better than the TrackR, but the TrackR has a replaceable battery, whereas the Tile does not (they have a "reTile" program that sells you a new unit at a discount). The Tile battery supposedly lasts up to a year. To me, the replaceable battery SEEMS more valuable, but not if I have to replace the batteries every month.

It's certainly not foolproof, nor as good as a dedicated GPS tracker. But, in the end, it MAY better than nothing at all, and the more people that use them and have the app on their phone, the better the "Crowd GPS" tracking. You can buy the TrackR for as little as $12/ea. (they currently have a deal of buy 4 and get 6 free). They also have a waterproof case for the TrackR Bravo (the unit I think everybody on here would want).

Here's a link below to order, if you want. If you order using the link, we'll both get a free one after you order:

https://www.thetrackr.com/?ref_code=C8Op6

Honestly, I'm on the fence (I want to be able to locate my stuff if it's stolen, but I don't know that these would help.)

[Bruce Noland]

I keep my trailer wired to the burglar system plus loop video.

But I've often thought about a self contained unit that a person could build into their trailer. It would have a motion sensor, timer, battery and a siren(s) that could all be installed inside an upper panel(s) and impossible to quickly disable. If the trailer moves the motion sensor would activate the timer which would be set by the owner. The timer would be important if a racer has his equipment parked in a remote area. That way it could trigger the siren at a time when the hypothetical thief would be in a more populated area. It's kinda hard to go unnoticed if your towing with a blaring siren(s) sounding off. It would be cheap to build. I think the thief would probably want to part ways with the trailer ASAP.

[gd31]

http://www.racingjunk.com/Drag-Racin...ngue-Lock.html

[Mike Pearson]

Originally Posted by gd31

http://www.racingjunk.com/Drag-Racin...ngue-Lock.html

Locks only keep the honest people hones. A thief would have that off in a matter of seconds with a battery grinder and a cut off wheel. A removable hitch would be a better solution. That's what I would have if I stored mine outside.

[voltdr]

I just contacted the TrackR people and asked about using it for my trailer. They did not recommend using for a stolen vehicle. The trackR has to pass within 100' (bluetooth) of anyone also using their app for it to notify you where it is. Not sure this would be reliable.
Dan