Small GPS trackers: Anyone use them?

I recently bought  "[Primal Canoe Trackers]" . It has great battery backup and the gps accuracy is also pinpoint. It's a great product. You Should [read more cave paintings] before purchasing so that the product suites your needs.

I take one of those off my car every week or so. I'd give you the brand, but its always written in Russian or Chinese. Should I be worried about this?

I think I would go the opposite direction. 
 

Rather than making the deterrent invisible, why not make it as obvious as possible??

Added bonus... it works on trailers too.

pinchvalve said:

I take one of those off my car every week or so. I'd give you the brand, but its always written in Russian or Chinese. Should I be worried about this?

I just pictured you talking to the Man in the Black Hat from XKCD when I read that post.

A friend of mine borrowed my Grand Vitara but I think he lied to me about what he was doing with it.  I'd like to get a GPS tracker for the next time.  I don't have a Smart Phone.  Does anyone know of an inexpensive tracker that interfaces with a laptop and not a phone?

stroker said:

A friend of mine borrowed my Grand Vitara but I think he lied to me about what he was doing with it.  I'd like to get a GPS tracker for the next time.  I don't have a Smart Phone.  Does anyone know of an inexpensive tracker that interfaces with a laptop and not a phone?

it has to have a cell chip to "phone home" if you want to see where your car is at a certain time , 

if all you want is a record after the fact you just need an old Android phone and an tracking app , then when your car gets returned you can grab the phone  and check the app, 

In reply to californiamilleghia :

I'd be looking for the latter.  Any particular version of an Android?  How do I download the app if I don't have a carrier contract?

stroker said:

In reply to californiamilleghia :

I'd be looking for the latter.  Any particular version of an Android?  How do I download the app if I don't have a carrier contract?

see if you can get a free hand me down android phone , otherwise you can buy one for $30 or so , Tracfones are normally pretty cheap as they hope to make money off you with the monthly fee , but it will work without Tracfone service , 

Strava seems to be what the hikers use.......but there are others......

you do not need a carrier , just a Google account , 

I know a guy that hunts with hounds. He has 8 or so collars that use a GPS for location that transmits the location to his hand held gps screen.  Each collar has its own number.  He rarely looses dogs wearing them.  It only works 10 to12 miles  in flat land. 

In reply to stroker :

Android phones will work like a tablet without a sim card or carrier. You can just connect them to wifi and download apps. There are tons of cheap and good options at this point, I'd go for something middle of the road and spend a hair more to get a decent device.

In reply to californiamilleghia :

I happen to already use a prepaid Tracfone as my primary phone.  Is there some sort of GPS that would be compatible with what I already have?

In reply to stroker :

go to settings  and there will be a "find my device "  

Check that out.......if you think your car will be someplace for a  long time , the Find my device will tell you where it is at that time , if you leave the phone in the car

it does not show you a route like some of the other Apps do.

also good if you forget your phone somewhere............

I'm surprised this feature isn't being touted by new car mfgs, since many of them are coming with embedded LTE and wifi.  

Tyler H (Forum Supporter) said:

I'm surprised this feature isn't being touted by new car mfgs, since many of them are coming with embedded LTE and wifi.  

Isn't that what OnStar basically was doing? Is OnStar still a thing, even?

It personally gives me the heebiejeebies, even though I realize the ship has long sailed especially as I typically am carrying 2 cell phones with me. Too easy for Big Brother. Yuck.

I am curious about this though, I would something similar for tracking my fishing spots while canoeing if I ever am allowed back in Canada. I'd like something that tracks where I am, and even how long I'm at each spot if possible. Does such a thing/App exist?

I am curious about this though, I would something similar for tracking my fishing spots while canoeing if I ever am allowed back in Canada. I'd like something that tracks where I am, and even how long I'm at each spot if possible. Does such a thing/App exist?

 

I would think with the right app the phone could record time and place even without a cell signal , 

The GPS chip is part of the phone  ,, 

I wonder if one of the running apps would do it....

californiamilleghia said:

I am curious about this though, I would something similar for tracking my fishing spots while canoeing if I ever am allowed back in Canada. I'd like something that tracks where I am, and even how long I'm at each spot if possible. Does such a thing/App exist?

 

I would think with the right app the phone could record time and place even without a cell signal , 

The GPS chip is part of the phone  ,, 

I wonder if one of the running apps would do it....

For me, I go to my Your timeline in Google Maps and see where I have bicycled, canoed, driven, and walked. I also have Location sharing enabled and shared with my wife and kids.

There are about a million ways to get your waypoints, but my personal favorite is my Garmin Fenix 5x Plus (but most other Garmin watches would work).  You can set locations on it to come back to, you can also pull up a screen and view your current GPS coordinates and record them elsewhere.  You can create a route, save it, and retrace it. All the features of a big ol GPS, on your wrist.  The newer ones like mine even have street maps and do turn by turn.  

Thought these sounded pretty good for a tracking device that doesn't appear to have a monthly fee (looks like $20/year):

https://www.rzrtracker.com/

I actually have a tracking system for my phone that could just as easily be used for a car - PhoneTrack for Android:

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.eneiluj.nextcloud.phonetrack/

You can send a secret command in a text message to the phone to enable tracking among other things. I actually have my current and previous phones hooked up already.

It's almost 2022. A great option is apple air tags.

edit: I see them mentioned a couple posts above. 

OHSCrifle said:

It's almost 2022. A great option is apple air tags.

 

edit: I see them mentioned a couple posts above. 

I like several things about the air tags, including size, price and battery life. My concern is that the air tag will notify someone else that the tag is present if they have an iPhone. 

I have been playing with Airtags since they came out in the spring , 

a couple of things , first it only works with Iphones and Ipads so far , 

the Airtag is not GPS , it is a bluetooth transmitter that says "Hi" to Apple phones and the Apple phone sends a message to the Apple "Mother ship"  cloud saying where the Apple phone saw the Airtag ......

So you need to have someone with an Apple phone walking , driving by to send that message  back to the Mother Ship ,  So this is not "real time" ,  you will get an update on your Apple "Find My" App where the Airtag was pinged , but it can be long gone by then.

I just checked 'Find my" on my Ipad   and 2 airtags have not been pinged for over 2 hours , one 6 minutes ago and the last one one minute ago.   All these are on cars I know are parked.

There are a few "features" to tell you are being stalked if you have an iPhone , they do not work yet on Androids , 

here is the Reddit Rabbit Hole if you want to go down it......

https://www.reddit.com/r/AirTags/new/

californiamilleghia said:

There are a few "features" to tell you are being stalked if you have an iPhone , they do not work yet on Androids ,

There is an official app for at least checking if you're being Airtag-stalked on Android now:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.apple.trackerdetect

You can also find the tags with generic Bluetooth scanner apps...if you see an odd Apple device that doesn't go away as you're traveling, that may be an unwanted Airtag.

Edit: There's also an open source option:

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.seemoo.at_tracking_detection/

In reply to benclear :

https://www.lonestartracking.com/tracking-devices/oyster3-waterproof-battery-powered-gps-tracking-device-5g-cat-m1/

I have this on my trailer. Yearly subscription service type thing, but you just register and slap/bolt the unit onto the trailer, mine looks like it's part of the charging system. I haven't had it put to the true test yet, but it always gives me updates so far. 

When I ordered it and it was being delivered I tracked the shipment/UPS truck as soon as it left the factory - kinda neat. 

Thanks for the update