leeds Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 How do the vehicle detection trackers cope with being fitted to a Defender? Assuming they are hidden somewhere underneath the vehicle are these units impervious to mud/water/waxoyl etc i.e are they totally encapsulated? Or will using a Defender as it is meant to be used slowly degrade a tracker unit? Brendan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBMUD Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 On a similar note, do any of them work abroad? For example, if I were in France or Morocco and the car got nicked, would the tracker be any more use than a paper weight? Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top90 Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 There was a thread about this a while back Leeds. I wanted to get a tracker fitted to a 90 pickup and the installer told me it was a waste of time. On a defender there is nowhere good to hide it. Best place is under the dash which is not very viable in a Landrover utility. Their opinion was that it would be easy found and disabled. I think there was other views on that thead... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBMUD Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 Apparently tracking devices are very easy to find in any car with the right (everyday and easy and cheap to buy) equipment. Now that villains apparently know this the value of trackers is surely reduced. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Neale Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 Apparently tracking devices are very easy to find in any car with the right (everyday and easy and cheap to buy) equipment. Now that villains apparently know this the value of trackers is surely reduced. Chris Depends very much on the tracking system fitted and the quality of the install. "Tracker" is a brand name - and is to tracking systems what Hoover is to Vacuum cleaners... A simple system uses a small transponder and relies on having a receiver (usually mounted in a Police vehicle) pick up the signal - this will give distance and direction data only. More advanced systems use GSM / GPS - in other words, a satellite receiver to obtain current location together with a mobile phone type transmitter to relay that info to a control room. Systems like this are generally tied in to the alarm/immobilser systems of the host vehicle as well - the better ones can relay this and other info to the control room - right down to whether the vehicle has it's lights on etc. Obviously all systems have their limitations - if there is no mobile phone coverage, or a "jammer" is used to block the signal, then they won't be able to get any info out. Most systems work internationally - it depends on the tracking company really. Eurowatch (for instance) work in conjunction with the haulage industry and have pan-european coverage. A good guide can be found on the Thatcham website - all UK systems are tested and rated by them for insurance approval and compliance. Hope this helps, Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedro Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 I bought a gps unit that feeds off 12V and is hidden on the car somewhere. The major problem is visibility. There is an aerial that is needed to send data via mobile phone card (in unit). The unit send lat/long info to yr mobile phone via txt if car is moved etc. Which is cool as may they may not be looking for this kind of security. I have coupled this with mech lock to cover as many bases as poss. The GPS unit was around £150 and took about an hour to install. Of course you are reliant on being able to receive a mobile sig, but as the car moves (can have the immobilser integrated so when it senses the vehicle if moving it shuts the fuel pump down and sends txt) Overall glad bought as may just work when needed, can be used with google earth to pinpoint car at any time! you will need a sim card (PAYG) as uses txt's for data. Prevention better than cure i suppose, so fit gd immobilisers first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cieranc Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 My area of expertese this. My money would only ever get spent on a top of the range genuine Tracker. ALL of the sim/payg/gps type trackers are great for spying on your lass, but useless at dettering the professional thief. They wouldn't waste time looking for the unit, nor tracing power feeds etc.. A pro thief wouldn't be bothered if it had an ariel on it, in fact it would give him the sign that's it's a SAFE BET to steal! Because you can buy a jammer for £20 these days, with a cigarette lighter style plug on it. It would be plugged in before the vehicle is started, and nothing within a 20 foot radius can transmit or recieve a legible signal. Which means your tracker won't even recieve it's activation message, let alone get it's initial message out, it'll never get chance to work properly. Only the top range units are not affected by these jammers. But they are very expensive for the operator to run, meaning it's expensive for us guys, the customer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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