GPS Tracking

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › GPS Tracking

NZVengeance

134 posts

Master Geek

#130907 2-Oct-2013 11:06

Hey everyone,

Does anyone know of a free way to track the location of something?

I know that devices can be tracked over cellular but that requires data.

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Geek @ Coastguard NZ
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#906318 2-Oct-2013 11:12

Dont know if this would do what you want.... I run it on my iPhone (no particular reason) and very rarely have data enabled and it keeps track of where Ive been

https://openpaths.cc/

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NZVengeance

134 posts

Master Geek

#906327 2-Oct-2013 11:16

Any Idea how it uploads the data if you don't have cellular data enabled?

RunningMan

8953 posts

Uber Geek

#906329 2-Oct-2013 11:18

SMS

NZVengeance

134 posts

Master Geek

#906333 2-Oct-2013 11:30

What if you wanted to track a device that doesn't have an cellular capabilities.
Something that costs you nothing.

I'm just playing around and building something at home and I want to try and track it while it drives around in a car.

Inphinity

2780 posts

Uber Geek

#906337 2-Oct-2013 11:35

You're going to need some sort of communication functionality. GPS in and of itself doesn't support this.

russelo

328 posts

Ultimate Geek

#906362 2-Oct-2013 11:57

It works with cellular data off, maybe because it logs the GPS coordinates offline and as soon as the device is connected to wifi, it sends it to server?
I've just installed it on my phone now. We'll see.

What if I have two phones I want to track? Can I track both under the same account?

NZVengeance

134 posts

Master Geek

#906364 2-Oct-2013 11:59

I know when your on a phone it can use wifi to determine location with cellular turned off but that's on the device so its localized.

Problem is if your wanting to track it from somewhere else.

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RunningMan

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#906368 2-Oct-2013 12:13

You are not giving enough details for people to help you. What are you trying to track, over what distance and timeframe, how often do you need to know the location, do you need real time, or a after hours log, what power capabilities are there, is it going to be in cell coverage, what is your budget?

NZVengeance

134 posts

Master Geek

#906390 2-Oct-2013 12:44

RunningMan: You are not giving enough details for people to help you. What are you trying to track, over what distance and timeframe, how often do you need to know the location, do you need real time, or a after hours log, what power capabilities are there, is it going to be in cell coverage, what is your budget?

Small item (External HDD size)
Would need to be able to track it in real time (Think Find my iPhone)
It will have plenty of power to run the device. Unit will have a 3000mah+ battery on board
At this point I don't have a budget.

Talkiet

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#906401 2-Oct-2013 13:00

Without using mobile data, SMS or having the device make a phone call, you have the following options for it to communicate with you.

- Hope it's within range of a WIFI access point with no encryption
- build in a smoke signal system
- attach a pigeon (or set of pigeons) to periodically message the location to you.

There are heaps of off the shelf GPS trackers that do this (using SMS or mobile data) for under $100. I am not aware of any that use anything but mobile data or SMS. Because, well, it would be stupid to try and use anything else.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

Stu

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#906405 2-Oct-2013 13:06

You forgot Radio! Hardly cost effective, but a non-cellular way to transmit/receive information.

I'd go for the SMS option, maybe mobile data if data usage was small enough. As pointed out above, they're cheap enough to buy.

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NZVengeance

134 posts

Master Geek

#906410 2-Oct-2013 13:23

In this case I would imaging for real time tracking SMS would be prohibitively expensive.

I would imagine that data use would be very minimal if all its doing is transmitting lat/long every 2/3 minutes

Talkiet

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#906412 2-Oct-2013 13:27

NZVengeance: In this case I would imaging for real time tracking SMS would be prohibitively expensive.

I would imagine that data use would be very minimal if all its doing is transmitting lat/long every 2/3 minutes

I have actually modelled this and it's not as cheap as you would expect. You need to look in excruciating detail at the way mobile traffic is charged in small chunks due in part to the fact that sessions don't stay up perpetually.

I have a GPS tracker on one of my cars and I use SMS, but it's about being able to find out where it is (or disable the fuel pump remotely) rather than having a track of where it's been.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

KevinL

656 posts

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#906413 2-Oct-2013 13:31

A GPS tracker with a prepaid 2degrees SIM relaying to a service like gps-trace.com would be your best bet.

I use one of these for my car: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Recent-Vehicle-car-Tracker-GPS-GSM-SMS-GPRS-Intelligent-Position-Terminal/821282128.html

Other similar devices: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2013-New-Mini-Car-Tracking-System-GPS-Personal-Tracker-LBS-SMS-GPRS-Drop-Shipping/1245549509.html and http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Miniest-GPS-GPRS-GSM-Tracker-car-Vehicle-SMS-Real-Time-Network-Monitor-tracking-Devices-Free-Shipping/1294041291.html

SumnerBoy

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#906420 2-Oct-2013 13:43

If you have data you could try something like Mqttitude (www.mqttitude.org) which sends location updates to an MQTT broker of your choice. Very low overhead and you have complete control over who 'sees' the data - i.e. you are not sending to some third party service who store the data.

Still need some sort of data connection however.

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