Bongo Fury

Still thinking about buying and installing a GPS/GPRS/SIM tracking device. Feedback for (Chinese) sellers of the product Julian has mentioned has a few bad scores, so I'm looking around ebay and have found (cheaper) alternatives:

£45 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vehicle-CAR-TRACK ... 41578ce64a

£58 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/OEM-TK102-2-GSM-G ... 45f987ed06

£biddable http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Car-Realtime-GPS- ... 4aaa98cd59

This looks like the device Julian referred to earlier. Its not clear to me whether you wire these direct from the car battery or whether (like the other ones I've just listed) they have their own internal li-ion battery which you have to charge using some kind of charging device.

£55 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GPS-TRACKING-SYST ... 4aaab08a10

This also looks like the one Julian recommends, but with a London seller and (unlike other suppliers) no suggestion that import duties may be added. Product description is poor but I'm guessing that it is the same model and that it does all the alarm/immobiliser things that other similar looking ones do.

Finally, I'm trying to work out what siginificance of wiring into door opening switches is (Julian mentions this, and some adverts do to). I presume that this is becuase the assumption is that the device should be active whenever the car door is closed, and that you can then use the tracker devices immobiler function to cut of fuel etc. if you are alerted that the vehicle has moved off without authorisation.

But would it not be simpler (wiring wise) and more robust to:

1) immobilise the vehicle via a concealed switch or somesuch, when you leave the vehicle unattended.

2) Using the same switch (or a separate switch, if you want extra hidden switches), set the tracker device to 'on' at the same time as it activates immobilsation. You could still use the trackers immobilisation feature to disable a critical component if the thief manages to over-ride the primary immobilsation device.

I'd be interested in any thoughts on the above & thanks (we might all find it interesting to pursue this debate a little further ).

Mike

PS - I see some of these devices have microphones so you can listen to what' going on in the car. But I imagine these are little more than a gimmick, not worth considering over the other core features?

_________________
I Bongo, therefore I am...
Bongoing, BonGoing, BonGone

321Away wrote:Hi Mike, when i've installed them, ive always connected the door pins, same as when installing an alarm, in that case its the first line of defense, but in the trackers it sends out a first alert, assumedly to alert you that the vehicle has been opened, not much use if your not in the vicinity of the vehicle! Not sure what you mean about the door bit? the system can be armed at any point and if its on par with most systems now it should ignore the doors if they are open already, as it should only recognise a change in state. I do find it curious that it has so many 'layers' of defense, first perimeter (doors), then igntion (hotwiring) and finally movement, an advantage or possibly disadvantage depending on how you see it, is the unit doesnt have a visual indicator, which means an intruder doesnt know the systems been triggered but at the same a thief would have no deterrent from attempting to break in.

An immobiliser is just an electronic secure switch, so fitting a simple throw switch is exactly the same thing, i've had lots of customers who have wanted a switch fitted to their car using an original manufacturer switch so it blends in, could use the engine pre-heat switch and wire so it has to be on before the car will start??

the trackers i've fitted are activated by sending them a coded text, if they were powered down and them back up, they boot into the unarmed state, and not sure if the ignition detect wire, prevents it from being armed once the vehicle is started?

Agree the whole mic thing is a bit odd, the whole units are more likely to be used for spying on people rather than tracking a vehicle!

Julian