Req: Bike Tracking

Crapbag

I have had a few bikes stolen over the years. Got one or 2 back thanks to some switched on Gardai and a brother with a sledgehammer. However I suspect my current bike is being watched due to recent tinkering with my lock where I live. In fact I foolishly left my oxford lock and chain (worth €100 plus) unlocked and it was whipped off the bicycle rack.

I have been looking around for a system that could track a bike but can only see stuff from the US or that is worth half the value of the bike. Has anyone got some solid info on bike tracking tools? I have had alpha dot and other such marking systems on bikes but dont like the idea of waiting for the bike to be found for it to work.

I know the chances of getting this system at a cost effective price is quite low but I thought someone might have an idea somewhere on how to do it. Considering the price of GPS and GSM technology these days, there has to be a market in it.

Cuddlesworth

Almax chain. My bike has been sitting in full view next to a not so nice estate for 9 months without a single problem. I've had a few people eye it up, but no attempts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cpf35C7wu6Q

reverandkenjami

I've a tracker on my bandit - cost me €250 a year ago! Was living in a not so nice area!

Idleater

I've been in contact with this crowd about possibly getting a bulk discount depending on numbers.

Steffano2002

nereid wrote: »

I've been in contact with this crowd about possibly getting a bulk discount depending on numbers.

This is interesting! How much are we looking at here? I could get another few people interested...

Idleater

Steffano2002 wrote: »

This is interesting! How much are we looking at here? I could get another few people interested...

I'll root through my email conversation with them. It was a while ago (possibly a year or more). I had asked on bicker and ibf too with some interest too, but there was some requirement (that escapes me at the moment) that was in development at the time and not available.

The way I left it at the time was that I would be in contact after that version was released with numbers. If I have some idea of numbers I can email them and see where we are at. I believe at the time it was around 10.

Crapbag

If you got pricing, I might be interested in going in on it

KTRIC

I'd definitely be interested in this myself. Count me in.

Idleater

Cool,

Here are the couple of recent emails I had with them
I'm going to email them again to see what the current story is, so please don't take the prices below (£) as gospel, perhaps only a guide.

L.

Sent: Wednesday, 1 October, 2008 16:57:42
Subject: OnTrak Plus

Dear L,
I hope that you don't mind me contacting you again.

We have now got a unit with a battery backup in production. It can also text
you if an alarm goes off. I don't know if it would be of interest to you or
any other bikers.

Please have a look at www.on-trak.co.uk or contact us for more information.

Sent: Wednesday, 22 August, 2007 2:02:33 PM
>> Subject: Re: OnTrak enquiry form
>>
>> Dear L,
>>
>> Thank you for your email.
>>
>> If you want to buy several trackers, we can offer some discount.
>>
>> The 1 off price is 200+vat
>>
>> If you want 5 off, we could offer 175+ vat each
>>
>> For 10 off, it would be 150+vat each
>>
>> There might be a lead-time for 5 or 10 off, but we won't ask for any
>>
> money
>
>> until they are ready for shipping.
>>
>> The discounted prices are for:-
>> One shipment to one address.
>> One single payment, for the entire amount, before shipment.
>> No setting up in those prices.

Crapbag

So that is Sterling I take it. Also are there any further charges on top of the units e.g operator charges for GPS and GSM facilities?

traco

I could be ineterested also - would like to see what the ongoing charges are or if its a SIM system the just SMS's you the co-ordinates so that you can bang them into google earth or something.

Steffano2002

Would like to hear what the latest on this is! Sounds very interesting indeed! Keep us in the loop!

Idleater

The prices I was given are Sterling all right and ex vat. No response from my email to them as of yet (maybe they are upset since I never got back to them a year ago )

GPS incurs no cost to the user

GPRS does.

The device as far as I remember accepts any sim card, so you would get a sim card from o2/vodafone/3/tesco/meteor etc and whack it in. They give these away for free now.

Anything that it sends to you or you send to it costs at whatever rate you have set up. eg txt msg = 11c, gprs=2c/kb etc. I think PAYG is the way to go with this.

There are no fees associated with tracking the device or with the service provided.

It is purely a mechanism for facilitating interaction between two telecommunications devices and a GPS device.

As such, presumably they absolve themselves from any liability resulting from the device failing to operate effectively for you to retrieve your tracked possession.

KTRIC

Would it not work out quite expensive when sending sms all the time ?

Idleater

KTRIC wrote: »

Would it not work out quite expensive when sending sms all the time ?

AFAIK It responds to text messages.

So you set it up to send them when something happens (eg the alarm goes off or it moves 5m from where it was parked etc). It doesn't constantly text you.

So yes, it could cost you.

But I thought that this was the point. You want something to text you when this happens. you don't want to leave your office and walk to where you had parked your bike only to find it gone. you want to know when it moves.

You should see if the cost of the service is worth it in relation to the bike.

I honestly can't see it costing much assuming no one steals your bike. If unfortunately someone does steal it, surely the €5 on GPRS data that it costs while it is being driven around in a van is outweighed by you recovering the bike by telling the guards the exact location of the bike?

traco

Seemed like it was that type of system - definitely ineterested, might contact them myself as I could use them in the business also.

Idleater

Here is the response that I got from them yesterday evening. Based on this, I'd be interested in the Plus unit - the features are quite comprehensive for the price. Also, you can probably ignore the UK Simcard offer

Dear L,

Thank you for contacting us again.

The OnTrak Plus does more than the OnTrak unit, as you would expect. The additional features are:-

Improved aerial sensitivity.

Backup battery. This will let the unit run for about 2 days of normal use or a week of standby use without the vehicle battery. The backup battery is charged from the vehicle battery. The Ontrak basic unit has no backup battery so it will stop immediately if the vehicle battery is disconnected.

Tilt sensor. This can cause an alarm to be raised by text and / or email if the vehicle is moved without the ignition on.

Alarms. Text and / or email alarms for low battery, battery disconnect and an external input (usually from a separate vehicle alarm) are all available if required on the OnTrak Plus.

Immobiliser connection. The vehicle can be immobilised remotely by the OnTrak Plus. This does involve a more wiring, and would reveal the presence of security devices if used.

Improved online reporting. Either unit will report its current position to the website as often as you want it, and you can set the frequency of the update more often when moving. The OnTrak Plus will also report older positions when it reports. For instance, if you set one to report every 10 minutes when moving, when it does that it will also report the older positions that have been stored every 2 minutes. This gives a more detailed record of your movements at no extra cost.

The advantages of the OnTrak basic unit is that it is cheaper, smaller footprint (but slightly taller) and that it only needs 2 wires to connect up, while the OnTrak Plus needs and ignition connection as well for full functionality.

The price for the OnTrak Plus is £299 including VAT. If you buy 10 at one time, we can offer £250 each including VAT.

The price for the OnTrak is £199 including VAT. The 10+ price is £180 including VAT.

The OnTrak and OnTrak Plus will work with any SIM card, but the tarrifs vary a lot for small amounts of mobile data. We can offer an O2 PAYG SIM, with £10 of credit, set up and working to the www.on-trak.co.uk website, for £20. The cost of running that is about 1p per report to the wesbsite, so the monthly cost depends on the frequency of update.

We can also offer contract SIM cards, with unlimited tracking within the UK for £42 per year, minimum 2 years. They work outside the UK, but there may be roaming charges.

I hope that this is of interest. Please contact me if you have any more questions.

Yours sincerely,
X

Ontrak
Unit 10, Alliance Business Park
Attleborough Fields Industrial Estate
Nuneaton
Warwickshire
CV11 6SD
United Kingdom.

seanybiker

Hmm fair interesting. Be so cool getting texts from me bike.

Idleater

seanybiker wrote: »

Hmm fair interesting. Be so cool getting texts from me bike.

even better : you could sign your bike up for a twitter account!

people could chat to your bike

@mybike: lol where r u lol

@seany : I'm at 66.34.37E

Steffano2002

nereid wrote: »

even better : you could sign your bike up for a twitter account!

people could chat to your bike

@mybike: lol where r u lol

@seany : I'm at 66.34.37E

And everybody can come and steal it then! Great idea nereid! :rolleyes:

Steffano2002

I'm interested in the OnTrak Plus myself! Back-up battery is a must!

Crapbag

What about tilt switches that activate a mobile phone output? It seems much more cost effective... i.e when the bike is taken off the stand it rings a mobile number. It would be cheaper to implement as it requires less technology. Any one any info on that kind of solution? I just dont know if I have the cash for something like on-trak at the moment

EvilMonkey

Crapbag wrote: »

What about tilt switches that activate a mobile phone output? It seems much more cost effective... i.e when the bike is taken off the stand it rings a mobile number. It would be cheaper to implement as it requires less technology. Any one any info on that kind of solution? I just dont know if I have the cash for something like on-trak at the moment

So your bike texts you and tells you its stolen, you would still have no idea where it is. This kind of solution needs to be able to give you its location.

Having said that anyone robbing bikes to order or for parts surly this is the first thing they will look for before moving it somewhere else and striping the bike down?

KTRIC

EvilMonkey wrote: »

So your bike texts you and tells you its stolen, you would still have no idea where it is. This kind of solution needs to be able to give you its location.

Having said that anyone robbing bikes to order or for parts surly this is the first thing they will look for before moving it somewhere else and striping the bike down?

Thats usually why they are left in an underground car park somewhere for a week or two.

Crapbag

EvilMonkey wrote: »

So your bike texts you and tells you its stolen, you would still have no idea where it is. This kind of solution needs to be able to give you its location.

Having said that anyone robbing bikes to order or for parts surly this is the first thing they will look for before moving it somewhere else and striping the bike down?

No it doesnt. If it is live then you know where it is already. It would be a cheaper solution for people who park it somewhere. You dont need to check a website to locate it. It is parked in your garage, garden, underground. It gets moved off the stand and instantly rings you. You'd have to be fairly forgetful to not know where it is. The bikes Ive had stolen were all from where I was living at the time, while I was either asleep or in the immediate location. This solution would work for me. Where this system is limit is if you werent there at the time but even the GPS system has its limits.