Nifty gps enabled device

[Sarah in SC]

Came across this today, mentioned by a musician friend. Seems there are lots of thefts of band trailers and this has helped more than a few recover their gear.

Thought it would be interesting to those who park campers away from their homes or have to leave them unattended in remote areas.

dewalt mobilelock portable alarm with gps: protect and locate your remote and high value assets

You install it on the vehicle and activate the tracking, and the account is set up through your mobile phone.

So if it is stolen, you can track it and even activate the alarm to allow law enforcement probable cause to go into a garage. Trailers on job sites are apparently their primary market.

Seems like an ingenious idea and one I never knew existed.

[Ronstar]

Very cool - thanks for posting!


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[braumeister]

I saw a contractor's truck parked at Home Depot the other day with a big sticker on the back saying something like "Tools protected with tracking device."

This must be what it was referring to. Very nice!

[NW-Bound]

Would the warning sticker alert the thief to remove the device?

I clicked on the link and found that this device is not for sale, only for rental at $19/month. They point out this one interesting feature: it has an audible siren that you can turn on remotely with your phone. What it is useful for is when the device leads you to an enclosed space. When you are right outside the premise of the thief, you still need some proof to show the police in order for them to obtain a warrant to enter the premise, and the ability to turn the siren on/off provides that proof.

But that lead to another question: how well the device's GPS can work inside an enclosed space? They claim it works, but usually GPS signals can travel through brick and drywall, but not metal roofs.

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound But that lead to another question: how well the device's GPS can work inside an enclosed space? They claim it works, but usually GPS signals can travel through brick and drywall, but not metal roofs.

According to their web site:

Quote:

Unlike most of the GPS locators on the market, MOBILELOCK uses cellular assisted GPS which provides locates indoors and even in the most obstructed areas. Most other GPS locators and trackers require line of sight to the sky.

How well that will work with a metal walled or roofed building as a lot of storage places are is a guess. Probably not well. But it seems better than plain GPS.

[Sarah in SC]

Yes, that feature was what was so intriguing to me as well, that you could demonstrate to law enforcement probable cause.

For the musicians whose entire net worth and their means of earning income, that price point is comparatively cheap, and also means they don't have a huge initial purchase. Musicians not being known for having huge emergency fund accounts...
Also, since many don't have cash flow or inclination to get renter's insurance, these kinds of losses are tough to recoup.

I don't know about the signal strength. We have used a Spot GPS tracker device extensively in our travels, and we tried to keep it on top of the bus for best clearance, but I never thought about testing it inside. I think the signal would just be more intermittent rather than nonexistent under metal, but I honestly don't know.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 ... How well that will work with a metal walled or roofed building as a lot of storage places are is a guess. Probably not well. But it seems better than plain GPS.

One can use cell tower signals to do trilateration to obtain a position fix, but it is not going to be as precise as GPS. And any signals used for positioning, GPS or not, must be direct line-of-sight or you would have distance error due to the extra path that the signals take when bouncing between metal surfaces, not unlike light bouncing between mirrors.

Still, cell tower signal positioning can get you to the vicinity, which then allows you to turn on the siren to locate it. But you'd better be quick with the police following before the thief disarms the device. And I hope the siren is loud enough.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC I don't know about the signal strength. We have used a Spot GPS tracker device extensively in our travels, and we tried to keep it on top of the bus for best clearance, but I never thought about testing it inside. I think the signal would just be more intermittent rather than nonexistent under metal, but I honestly don't know.

Yes, GPS can work when you are inside the car, because the signal is bouncing off metal surfaces and entering the car interior through the windows. But this is iffy, hence intermittent when you are driving around. If you are stationary and happen to be in a dead spot, then it does not work at all.

The position fix using cell tower signals should still provide some help, however.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 According to their web site: How well that will work with a metal walled or roofed building as a lot of storage places are is a guess. Probably not well. But it seems better than plain GPS.

If you google assisted-GPS you'll probably find tons of detail, but from what I recall, it can get you roughly in the area, depending on whether it can 'see' more than one cell tower. If it can only see one tower, they can make some guesstimate on distance based on signal strength, delays and/or phase shift, but that will be a circumference, or maybe a 'donut', maybe ~ 1/3rd circumference, depending on the tower antenna layout.

If it can see two towers, it can provide a lot more info, and can triangulate with three. The cell devices search out towers from time to time to determine if they should switch to a better signal or not, so this info is available.

-ERD50

[NW-Bound]

What if they program the device to remember "last good GPS position"?

This should get you to the entrance of the enclosed space.

[Ronstar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound What if they program the device to remember "last good GPS position"? This should get you to the entrance of the enclosed space.

That would work. And there should be a way to recognize the precise spot where the signal degraded. We used to be able to do that with survey grade gps.

[Sarah in SC]

Just came across a cool story from a Texas musician who used this to recover $100k worth of equipment stolen while the band had lunch! Sad about the fiddle, though.
Musician turns detective, tracks down stolen trailer full of band equipment | abc13.com

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A Texas country music artist turned detective after thieves took off with his trailer full of his band equipment.
"When it happens, it's your whole livelihood going down the drain. It can put you out of business," said Zane Williams about the May incident.
Williams said he and his band mates were on the way to Galveston for a gig when they stopped to get some lunch at a north Houston restaurant.
"I kind of pulled around back and parked against the back fence," said Williams.
And when they finished eating, they walked towards their van, but noticed it was missing.
"Someone was like, 'Did someone move the van and trailer?' 'I didn't move it.' 'Did you move it?' 'What are you talking about?'" said Williams.
Williams said inside the trailer, nearly $100,000 worth of equipment including instruments, amplifiers and speakers were all gone.
"We don't have any equipment, we don't have any rides. We play in three hours," said tour manager Wes Butler.

Then, Williams said he remembered a very important device that he purchased months ago that he installed in the trailer, a Dwalt GPS tracking device. Using his phone, he was able to see the thieves on a map heading south on I-45 toward Houston.

[Exrook]

My DS is on a robotics team that had a similar experience:

Robot stolen in Tennessee turns up, but it’s found just too late for Loudoun team - The Washington Post

It took a bit longer though, as the GPS device was not anti-theft but rather a data collection device used by the school system. The team was able to get reports from home on where the SUV was. They tracked it to a lat/long that showed what looked to me like a chop shop in the satellite view on Google Maps, the police couldn't/didn't act on it in a timely manner, and the SUV itself and all their tools vanished. At least they got the robot back eventually, and the community rallying to get them to the competition was an amazing life lesson.

[Sarah in SC]

That's a good/bad story for sure.
Shame the cops didn't act fast enough on the info, though the site for the musician's lock says one of the features it offers is an audible alarm that gives cops probable cause, which is helpful.
Good that they got their robot back!