Scruit Posted October 6, 2010 Report Share Posted October 6, 2010 GPS Tracking for free. I'm not associated with the website, but I *do* have it tracking my cellphone - works great.Just ordered a cheapie disposable phone from Boost Mobile (i290 for $29.99, but discontinued so VERY toought to find) because it works with the gps tracking and costs about $10 a month.Gonna hardwire the charger to the bike's battery and hide the phone int he lockable tool box. If my bike gets stolen then hopefully I have a good chance at tracking it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Butters Posted October 6, 2010 Report Share Posted October 6, 2010 how much does LoJack cost? that shit seems like too much hassle....$30 phone, plus $10 per month, and having to hide the thing on the bike...is LoJack that expensive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CattaniAFJ Posted October 6, 2010 Report Share Posted October 6, 2010 I think LoJack is like $300/yr maybe? I looked into it once and determined that the drop in insurance rate for me wasn't worth it. (I don't rock an 848 or anything.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Butters Posted October 6, 2010 Report Share Posted October 6, 2010 I think LoJack is like $300/yr maybe? I looked into it once and determined that the drop in insurance rate for me wasn't worth it. (I don't rock an 848 or anything.)looked it up....$595 one time fee for a bike, plus whatever it costs to have it installed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CattaniAFJ Posted October 6, 2010 Report Share Posted October 6, 2010 Eh, I crash mine too quickly to get my money's worth out of the drop in insurance at that price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Butters Posted October 6, 2010 Report Share Posted October 6, 2010 Eh, I crash mine too quickly to get my money's worth out of the drop in insurance at that price.if you have insurance, why do you need to worry about it being stolen? isnt that what insurance is for? lol....hell, in this economy, insurance is paying you more for your vehicles than theyre even worth if you tried to sell ... buy another and still have some money in your pocket afterwards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevysoldier Posted October 6, 2010 Report Share Posted October 6, 2010 Eh, I crash mine too quickly to get my money's worth out of the drop in insurance at that price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted October 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2010 Insurance will pay an amount of money for your bike that you may or may not be happy with, and then raise your rates. Nothing is free.Lojack requires the police cruiser to have the lojack receiver, and that just gives them a direction to follow. With this I can bring up a website and see the exact location of the bike (or the last successful GPS track, which could be outside of the building the bike is now in). I get a good GPS signal in the 3rd floor of a 4 story office building. That has advantages beyond theft recovery. My wife can use the website to check on me if I'm overdue on a bike ride. 60mph in the moddle of nowhere means I'm taking the scenic route. 0mph in the middle of nowhere means she needs to check on me. 0mph outside Columbus Gold means I'm sleeping on the sofa tonight.I also heard a rumor that Boost Mobile doesn't count *outbound* traffic against your data plan, so some folks claim to have used the service for 3 months for $5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted October 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2010 Another advantage: You can go back and look at breadcrumbs from previous trips: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReconRat Posted October 6, 2010 Report Share Posted October 6, 2010 (edited) GPS Tracking for free. I'm not associated with the website, but I *do* have it tracking my cellphone - works great.Just ordered a cheapie disposable phone from Boost Mobile (i290 for $29.99, but discontinued so VERY toought to find) because it works with the gps tracking and costs about $10 a month.Gonna hardwire the charger to the bike's battery and hide the phone int he lockable tool box. If my bike gets stolen then hopefully I have a good chance at tracking it.Very cool. I though about doing this, and wondered why no one had either thought of it or tried it. Sounds like a good idea to me. It wouldn't be too hard to build a transmitter either, to hide on the bike. That could be tracked as well. The GPS phone is a way better idea.edit: I hope the toolbox isn't metal, the signal would have trouble with that. Edited October 6, 2010 by ReconRat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted October 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2010 The toolbox is plastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RSparky Posted October 7, 2010 Report Share Posted October 7, 2010 Hm... I really want to do this. You have to find a phone that is GPS compatible, right? And just to make sure, it still has to be on a cell plan, and the instamapper is free? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted October 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2010 (edited) The instamapper service is free. There are a couple different competing free products (Google Latitude etc) and each one has it's list of compatible phones. You absolutely must have GPS and Java application support. The instamapper website lists most Blackberry and Motorola iDEN phones (The i290 is one and it' $29.99, however getting hold of one has been a pain being discontinued. I got one from an OH supplier through Amazon. The next cheapest phone is $59.99. )If you don't want to buy a disposable phone and your own phone is compatible (my Blackberry Storm is) then just use your existing phone and the entire thing is free. The problem with that is you don't get the theft tracking as you'd likely take your phone with you. I'm doing the disposable phone so that my bike is ALWAYS trackable (assuming GPS coverage)Think of the other possibilities... You want to sell your bike and the buyer demands a test ride? Along with your other precautions, have a GPS-transmitting phone on a 5-sec interval hidden in the bike. If they take off then you can track them live.The config changes needed on the phone as:- GPS set to "Location On" instead of "E911 only"- The application must be granted permission to access the GPSIt took me about 30 mins from scratch to get the thing running on my own cellphone. Edited October 7, 2010 by Scruit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RSparky Posted October 7, 2010 Report Share Posted October 7, 2010 well, for now i'm just tracking myself. it'll be interesting to see my commutes, speed-wise. could help with future trip planning as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted October 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2010 well, for now i'm just tracking myself. it'll be interesting to see my commutes, speed-wise. could help with future trip planning as well.What phone do you have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jporter12 Posted October 7, 2010 Report Share Posted October 7, 2010 The instamapper service is free. There are a couple different competing free products (Google Latitude etc) and each one has it's list of compatible phones. You absolutely must have GPS and Java application support. The instamapper website lists most Blackberry and Motorola iDEN phones (The i290 is one and it' $29.99, however getting hold of one has been a pain being discontinued. I got one from an OH supplier through Amazon. The next cheapest phone is $59.99. )If you don't want to buy a disposable phone and your own phone is compatible (my Blackberry Storm is) then just use your existing phone and the entire thing is free. The problem with that is you don't get the theft tracking as you'd likely take your phone with you. I'm doing the disposable phone so that my bike is ALWAYS trackable (assuming GPS coverage)Think of the other possibilities... You want to sell your bike and the buyer demands a test ride? Along with your other precautions, have a GPS-transmitting phone on a 5-sec interval hidden in the bike. If they take off then you can track them live.The config changes needed on the phone as:- GPS set to "Location On" instead of "E911 only"- The application must be granted permission to access the GPSIt took me about 30 mins from scratch to get the thing running on my own cellphone.It took me about 5 mins, with a couple minute break in the middle to get it going on Android. Most of the time was typing in the URL in the Android's browser, or I could have typed it into the Market to find it. I had to go outside to get a gps signal before it updated my location. It found me within about 50 ft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RSparky Posted October 7, 2010 Report Share Posted October 7, 2010 mytouch slide. it's on the android operating system. from their site, it looks like most phones will do. and it was easier for me to just download the app from the market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted October 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2010 Most of my time was troubleshooting an issue with the Verizon A-GPS features - I had to disable A-GPS to make it work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted October 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2010 (edited) I just got the disposable phone. It's an i290 with Boost mobile. I have to open it up, install the sim, charge and activate etc and make sure it's all working, then install the GPS tracking software. Edited October 9, 2010 by Scruit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikerBoy Posted October 9, 2010 Report Share Posted October 9, 2010 I just got the disposable phone. It's an i290 with Boost mobile. I have to open it up, install the sim, charge and activate etc and make sure it's all working, then install the GPS tracking software. Do you have to have Wireless signal for the GPS to work on the phone ? If yes , i don't know if Boost is the best choice .... just saying Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted October 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2010 You don't need wireless signal for the GPS to work, but you DO need signal to upload the data to the website.Boost is part of Sprint, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikerBoy Posted October 9, 2010 Report Share Posted October 9, 2010 You don't need wireless signal for the GPS to work, but you DO need signal to upload the data to the website.Boost is part of Sprint, I think.Yeah , i was told they use same towers , Anyway my experince with siprint signal wasn't the greatest , so just wanted to point that out .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted October 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2010 Fair enough. We'll see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted October 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2010 K, well it's tracking now. Just need to install it permanently on the bike. Ordered a car charger for $7. For now I'm going to experiment with putting the phone on the bike and making sure it can get both wireless and GPS signals.Good excuse to take a ride. Not that I need an excuse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted October 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2010 (edited) Well, the phone can still get a signal in the bike's lockable tool box. Cool.I'll see it run over a few days, and then I'll permanently mount it.Also, it gets both GPS and wireless signal while inside my workshop with the door closed. Hopefully this means if someone takes the bike and hides it in a garage then I'll still get a track. Edited October 9, 2010 by Scruit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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