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Trackers - Are Global Trackers Available?? Trackers - Are Global Trackers Available??
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Photo by Alessio Corradini, on the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, of two locals

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Alessio Corradini,
on the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia,
of two locals



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  #1  
Old 21 Mar 2009
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Trackers - Are Global Trackers Available??
I know you can get trackers fitted to vehicles which enable their location to be found when they are stolen but does anyone know if there are such devices which work and can track a vehicle by satellite globally rather than nationally?

Web search reveals nothing
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  #2  
Old 21 Mar 2009
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The touratech catalogue list a few tracking systems and also name Argus Networks as one of its partners (Argus Networks mobile Sicherheitssysteme). It is only the polar regions that seem to be out of range.

Rather than buying, it appears that touratech offers a monthly rental scheme on the DMR 200 D/L system

Hope this helps.

baswacky
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  #3  
Old 21 Mar 2009
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Spot........
You could try this. I have purchased the unit but as yet unsubscribed to the service. You pay in $US !

SPOT SATELLITE MESSENGER :: HOME PAGE

As well as sending pre programmed messages to email and or text, you can be tracked by google.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Ken
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  #4  
Old 22 Mar 2009
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Not Global
Yes - my mum has jsut bought me one of these (she thinks she has tagged me!).

Obviously just check the coverage area with this, as it doesn't include Africa and India (from memory). And a lot of the sea!
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  #5  
Old 22 Mar 2009
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You're bloody geniuses

I love this sight, there's always someone with more knowledge that you and they always come up with answers. Thanks everyone
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  #6  
Old 24 Mar 2009
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Does anyone know what the 'low-cost' subscription costs are?

Piers
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  #7  
Old 24 Mar 2009
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Yes
Yes we paid this in the UK:

£115 for the tracker

£99 for a years basic subscription

£39 for a years tracking

£11 for a years S&R insurance

SPoT Satellite Messenger
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  #8  
Old 24 Mar 2009
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function
I like the setup and the cost is acceptable. I can see that this technology will become mainstream in GPS devices and you'll probably have a choice of different services you can then subscribe to - It already looks like my Garmin Etrex Vista from the back.

This may seem like a strange comment but should people expect to be rescued? Does this service give a false sense of security? Has the world become so small that it is now feasible to rescue everyone who needs rescuing (for a price)?
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  #9  
Old 24 Mar 2009
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Rescue
the question was 'Should people expect to be rescued'?

No - I suppose thats the whole point to a subscrioption like this, is you shouldn't expect to be rescued. But £11 is a small price for my mum to pay to increase our chances, even a small amount.

Personally there are two reasons to get this for me.

1. I love the tracker function, recording a log of where I am going. I am also logging the temperatures every hour, both inside and outside the cab. Might explain why I ended up doing a maths degree, the love of numebrs.

2. Makes my mum happy to know where we are and can look at this on the web at any time.

I would not have personally paid the preice, just because there comes a point where you have to stop paying. my mum, on the other hand, loved the device and is more than happy to pay the uearly subscription.

And the £11 on top of that was insignificant.

I have heard of 99% good stories fo this device. I will, myself, report back.

Cheers
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  #10  
Old 24 Mar 2009
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Ollie,

I've been looking at SPOT too. I'm quite keen on it. I've read some negative reviews but they all sound like people who haven't bothered to read the instructions. As usual it seems that mostly only the people with negative experiences write reviews, I suspect there are a lot of happy customers.

Have you got round to trying it out yet?

Al
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  #11  
Old 24 Mar 2009
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Ah, ok you beat me to it!
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  #12  
Old 24 Mar 2009
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I considered a SPOD but then went against it, in that SPODs are only useful where there are advanced medivac facilities , ie if you crash in the Alps or the Pyranees , they can send a Helicopter out to get you and airlift you out (and charge you a fortune if you are not insured).

The Urals and Siberia don't have such facilities, a SPOD may alert somebody in the UK to your situation but what are they going to do about it?.

Thus my thoughts are to ride with a wingman (I was going to do this solo) and ride carefully and not take too many risks.
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  #13  
Old 24 Mar 2009
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I think there are pro's and cons for the SPOT, but it's a bit off topic here.

PS Haven't tried it yet, next week will be trying it.
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  #14  
Old 25 Mar 2009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by edteamslr View Post
This may seem like a strange comment but should people expect to be rescued? Does this service give a false sense of security? Has the world become so small that it is now feasible to rescue everyone who needs rescuing (for a price)?
Funnily enough - for me what was upper most in my mind when I was thinking if there was such a device was the fact that each of the last three of my bikes has been stolen (this was in the UK) and as I'm taking a bike on the back of an old army truck RTW it would be easy to find my bike or truck if it was stolen and TAKE IT BACK from the ...

Looking at what these things can do you could use it to make a virtual map on a web page if you are into that kinda thing.

As to the kidnap thing, if such an occurance took place I'd expect each and every member of the HUBB to use the co-ordinates and come mob handed to rescue me! Or - at the very least give the co-ordinates to the US armed forces so they could direct a cruise missile into the camp
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Old 25 Apr 2009
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I don't have a SPOT, but looking at it I think it's a real shame they didnt spring for the extra 2 bucks to put a friggin LCD display on it. I mean there you have a fully capable GPS unit that takes up space and weight that is of no direct benefit to you on the road whatsoever. I'm not asking for nav functionality, only a sodding display to show lat/long coordinates, so it can double as a backup to your existing compass or gps setup. Can't believe they didnt think of this

Edit: come to think of it, I believe I read about some sat phones a while ago, that have a sort of gps tracking feature. I believe it can send your gps coordinates as a text message to a mobile at home or to an email address. However I forgot the company/make that supports this, and whether the feature can be activated automatically at certain intervals, or whether it only works on demand. Might be worth looking into as an alternative though.
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