GPS Tracking for Stolen Camper Trailer wanted?

[gary350]

Camper trailer theft is very popular people steal them out of your yard and from camp grounds too. I have 4 friends that had their camper trailers stolen they were never found. If mine is stolen I want a good GPS tracking system that will find it. I want the thieves arrested. TV News reported about 700 camper trailers were stolen last year 2015 most from local camp grounds in the middle Tennessee area. While your gone hiking and exploring someone hooks on to your camper and drives away with it.

I am getting very frustrated searching for a GPS trackers. The advertisements say things like, battery operated, solar powered, solar battery recharges, our system is best, easy to use, easy to install, lots of crap about how great the company is and how long they have been in business. SO WHAT!

NO ONE gets to the point! What is the range 2 miles, 50 miles 1000 mile?

How do I locate my stolen camper trailer? Where is it? Do I use my computer? Do I use my phone? How do I find my camper?

There are videos that tell you how accurate the system is. SO WHAT where is my stolen camper trailer?

I am getting tired of all the advertisements that tell me NOTHING.

I need some good information and I am not finding it.

I have decided I want a GPS tracker but don't know what to buy yet?

Low Jack is telling me nothing. I am tired of watching videos and reading novels why can people not get to the point.

Does anyone know anything about GPS tracking?

 

[MikeMl]

I do it every time I fly either airplane. However, I am using a system which is legal only for licensed Amateur Radio Operators to use called APRS. It is non-commercial, created by volunteers. The GPS-derived location packets are stored on several world-wide Internet servers for up to a couple of years.

Go to aprs.fi (yes, it is a Finnish web site), click on "stations currently moving", and then pick one at random, and click on it...

Alternatively, put Murfreesboro into the location box, zoom out a couple of clicks, and see who is moving in your area...

 

[tcmtech]

No hitch locks or lockable wheel chocks in your area?

No thoughts abut making a custom hitch assy that does not fit any standard vehicle but yours?

A 3 1/2" trailer ball or a kingpin that is 1/4" dia larger than what will fit in any standard 5th wheel plate are not a standard sizes anyone carries around with them.

Can't pull what you can't hook up to or move is what I am saying.

But yea stuff like that doesn't take batteries, won't beep and you cant go online with your cell phone to look at where you left it when you get lost at the 5000 acre mega RV park and you're sure you are camping in section B Row A7 sub lot 512 when in fact you are in section A Row B7 sub lot 521 3/4's of a mile away.

 

[gary350]

No hitch locks or lockable wheel chocks in your area?

No thoughts abut making a custom hitch assy that does not fit any standard vehicle but yours?

A 3 1/2" trailer ball or a kingpin that is 1/4" dia larger than what will fit in any standard 5th wheel plate are not a standard sizes anyone carries around with them.

Can't pull what you can't hook up to or move is what I am saying.

But yea stuff like that doesn't take batteries, won't beep and you cant go online with your cell phone to look at where you left it when you get lost at the 5000 acre mega RV park and you're sure you are camping in section B Row A7 sub lot 512 when in fact you are in section A Row B7 sub lot 521 3/4's of a mile away.

I have my trailer locked to my SUV it is not coming off easy. I have a heavy duty log chain attached to trailer frame and SUV frame with very large pad lock. I have a hole drilled through the hitch just behind the moving parts so if someone gets it unlocked it is attached to the ball like it is welded there with a grade 12 bolt and nylock nut. Hitch receiver is attached to SUV with 3/4" bolt and nylock nut. Hitch lease is locked too. It sets in the yard with 4 motion detector lights and 4 fire alarm buzzers. The biggest problem is having it stolen from a camp ground. I can lock the hitch with 2 locks so it can not be hitched to someone else 2" ball. I can attach the trailer with a big log chain to a tree. Many reports say thieves have a cutting torch so nothing much will stop that. I was thinking about attaching a large pipe bomb to a 2" ball leave that attached to the camper trailer hitch while we are gone wait until thieves cut that with a torch but I don't want to damage the trailer. I want to catch the thieves. I want to track them to where ever they go then have the police come and arrest them all.

 

[alec_t]

Could you just hide a phone in the trailer and use a GPS tracking app such as this? Any time the phone came within range of a cell-phone mast you could get an alert plus location data.

 

[picbits]

The range depends on the transmission technology. Many of them use the mobile phone network and will text the position of the tracker - usually referred to as GPS / GSM trackers. As long as there is a cellphone signal it will be able to transmit the location.

A lot of stolen to order cars and motorcycles are locked and transported in shipping containers which stop both the GPS and GSM element but there will always be a way around any system.

 

[gary350]

Could you just hide a phone in the trailer and use a GPS tracking app such as this? Any time the phone came within range of a cell-phone mast you could get an alert plus location data.

That might work but I don't know how it works? Do I have to pay phone service for the tracker in the camper trailer? Does the tracker need a battery? How do I receive the signal? How do I know the location of the stolen camper trailer?

Another problem is camp grounds are in the wilderness phone service at the ranger station or visitor center but if camp ground is 5 miles away phone service may not work and no phone service until you get to the next town 20 or 30 miles away.

 

[alec_t]

How do I receive the signal?

With another phone.

How do I know the location of the stolen camper trailer?

The hidden phone sends its GPS location data.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

NO ONE gets to the point! What is the range 2 miles, 50 miles 1000 mile?

No one gets the point because you're asking silly pointless questions

Trackers use GSM phone technology, essentially it's a GSM modem, a GPS module, and a processor connecting them together.

So 'range' is anywhere (in the world) a mobile phone works, and the module can get both phone signal and GPS signals - although if it loses GPS signal it will send the last position it had signal.

I've just bought one (to play with) from China - it cost £16 and a few pence.

You simply insert a SIM card in it, PAYG or Contract, then ring it - it hangs up and sends a txt back to the calling number, telling you it's location, actually embedded in a google maps link, so you can simply 'click' on the link and display it's location on google maps.

There are obvious drawbacks - for a start you need power, the supplied rechargeable batteries don't last a full day, although if you were going a walk you could turn it on when you go out, and recharge it when you get back. Better still, power it from the caravan battery - it has a 5V socket on the side. You also need the unit to be placed so it gets good reception, but that shouldn't be a problem in a caravan.

 

[gary350]

No one gets the point because you're asking silly pointless questions

Trackers use GSM phone technology, essentially it's a GSM modem, a GPS module, and a processor connecting them together.

So 'range' is anywhere (in the world) a mobile phone works, and the module can get both phone signal and GPS signals - although if it loses GPS signal it will send the last position it had signal.

I've just bought one (to play with) from China - it cost £16 and a few pence.

You simply insert a SIM card in it, PAYG or Contract, then ring it - it hangs up and sends a txt back to the calling number, telling you it's location, actually embedded in a google maps link, so you can simply 'click' on the link and display it's location on google maps.

There are obvious drawbacks - for a start you need power, the supplied rechargeable batteries don't last a full day, although if you were going a walk you could turn it on when you go out, and recharge it when you get back. Better still, power it from the caravan battery - it has a 5V socket on the side. You also need the unit to be placed so it gets good reception, but that shouldn't be a problem in a caravan.

Your talking about things I don't understand. I have 2 old pay as you go phones one is 4 years old sim car expired and the other is 1 year old. So your saying I do not have to pay the $40 a month phone service fee just hide a phone in the camper trailer and give that phone a call. Seems like the phone will ring and no one will answer. Even if the phone does send me its GPS location I will need to leave the camp ground and drive 120 miles home to use my computer to check GPS location on Google map it will take 2 hours to get home. If I call my Son or someone else and they don't answer it never tells me there GPS location?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Your talking about things I don't understand. I have 2 old pay as you go phones one is 4 years old sim car expired and the other is 1 year old. So your saying I do not have to pay the $40 a month phone service fee just hide a phone in the camper trailer and give that phone a call. Seems like the phone will ring and no one will answer. Even if the phone does send me its GPS location I will need to leave the camp ground and drive 120 miles home to use my computer to check GPS location on Google map it will take 2 hours to get home. If I call my Son or someone else and they don't answer it never tells me there GPS location?

No, I'm saying fit a GPS Tracker in the camper - here's the one I bought to 'play with'

https://www.banggood.com/Motorcycle...sonal-Pet-Spy-Real-Time-Tracker-p-980690.html

You obviously need a SMART phone in order to see the location on Google maps - or just a paper map, and manually plot the location.

 

[gary350]

Video says it needs a sim card but does not tell where to get a sim card. Can I use a sim card from a phone? What if my phone sim card is expired? I got a new free sim card for my other phone it took so long to arrive it expired before I received it. Video says nothing about a fee for the tracker service. My wife bought me a better phone but I have no clue how to use it. I can answer a call but if I miss a call or text I have no clue how to find it. Phone has 2 pages of icons I think those r called aps on the phone but I don't know what they do. I don't know how to find the aps they come up by accident sometimes when I am trying to answer the phone. Seems like it will be a pain in the butt to swap and recharge batteries in the tracker every 6 hours for the rest of your life. What is the stolen camper is not found before the battery goes dead.

 

[Dr_Doggy]

yes, you will need to think about power supply, maybe solar + battery + charger?

you need to pay per month for phone plan and be in cell tower range.. basic plan since there is no talk time, for this app "GPS Auto SMS" but:
you need at least text messages,
plus an android smartphone with capable version for software..
! never tested software so idk how custom features are.. if it only updates periodically or if you can set "motion alarm"

that is simplest, paying for data too will get you more hits for different software

with your new phone...... I recommend:
find settings and find calibration button to align your finger touches,
go through the apps and test what they do, alot are spam but also alot of usefulness...
text msgs usually look like a mail envelope
learn to custom desktop and edit features and use the different apps
learn the symbols for menus, settings and such, they popup everywhere
check playstore, there's an app for that, ie what would you like to see this phone do!
identify with the back button which will get you out of anything if you hit it enough!
commit a full day to messing around to figure these things out, Dont worry you CANT mess it up!

google how to do factory reset! if you do by chance mess it up, or just want to start over from factory default this will help, it will delete everything and go back to day 1 in under 15 minutes!
so mess with it now, before you start putting your stuff on it, cause you will loose that as well in a factory reset

 

[tcmtech]

Seems like a whole lot of concern over very little rational chances of something happening.

Unless you own some high end highly sought after model I have doubts that thieves will take any time to try and defeat a good multi-layer hitch lock system and locked wheel chock combo while at any well-traveled campground. It's too time-consuming and too obvious.
They want hook and go convenience for something they can get money for. Torching or chop sawing hitch locks and locked wheel chocks takes time and makes a whole lot of obvious attention that they don't want.

If you want to make it difficult use hardened stainless steel for everything. It won't cut with a torch and it won't saw easily with a hand saw or cut bolt cutters either. The only quick way to cut it is with a powered abrasive saw or plasma torch and those make a whole lot of questionable noise when in use.

Put a sawed off trailer ball in the hitch then lock the hitch with a good quality lock then put a boot cover made of solid 1/4" stainless steel plate over all of that with a second good quality lock then do the same with custom made wheel chock sets that use both heavy stainless steel chain and cables that loop through each of the wheels that all terminate in a lock that fits into an inner lockable chamber inside the wheel chocks themselves.

With that you effectively have two sets of double layer security that has to be physically cut off before the trailer can be hooked up to and moved simply making your trailer not worth the effort and time to try and take.

Sure you don't get to play hero and throw some low life's in jail but to be honest even if you had a way of tracking your stolen trailer the odds sare the guys who took it won't get caught or if they did you will be old and dead before they ever make it far enough through court system to do you any satisfaction.

 

[gary350]

Seems like a whole lot of concern over very little rational chances of something happening.

Unless you own some high end highly sought after model I have doubts that thieves will take any time to try and defeat a good multi-layer hitch lock system and locked wheel chock combo while at any well-traveled campground. It's too time-consuming and too obvious.
They want hook and go convenience for something they can get money for. Torching or chop sawing hitch locks and locked wheel chocks takes time and makes a whole lot of obvious attention that they don't want.

If you want to make it difficult use hardened stainless steel for everything. It won't cut with a torch and it won't saw easily with a hand saw or cut bolt cutters either. The only quick way to cut it is with a powered abrasive saw or plasma torch and those make a whole lot of questionable noise when in use.

Put a sawed off trailer ball in the hitch then lock the hitch with a good quality lock then put a boot cover made of solid 1/4" stainless steel plate over all of that with a second good quality lock then do the same with custom made wheel chock sets that use both heavy stainless steel chain and cables that loop through each of the wheels that all terminate in a lock that fits into an inner lockable chamber inside the wheel chocks themselves.

With that you effectively have two sets of double layer security that has to be physically cut off before the trailer can be hooked up to and moved simply making your trailer not worth the effort and time to try and take.

Sure you don't get to play hero and throw some low life's in jail but to be honest even if you had a way of tracking your stolen trailer the odds sare the guys who took it won't get caught or if they did you will be old and dead before they ever make it far enough through court system to do you any satisfaction.

Thieves are after the small vintage campers and the small new campers. New 15' campers are $20,000. we have a 1964 vintage restored probably worth $10,000. easy to hook up and drive away in 2 minutes. Camp ground said they have had 20 small campers stolen this season already. The camp ground should put up warning signs but they don't want to scare the campers away. About 95% of the campers don't know how bad camper thief is until they return form a hike to find their camper is gone. I keep our camper attached to the vehicle all the time until we go for a drive then I chain it to a very large tree. I have a hitch lock and a booby trap lock. We keep a look out for everyone in the camp ground. Since the camp ground will not advertise I made a portable sign I put up at our camp site warning all campers about camper theft. The sign gets a lot of interests and many people stop to talk.

I saw a camper get stolen last summer right after lunch about 1:30 pm. I was not aware at the time about camper theft. No one was at the camper parked about 200 feet away for 2 hours then a pickup truck backed right up to the camper. I thought nothing of it, it must be the owner. I saw some sparks like welding did not think much of that either I figure someone is trying to start a camp fire. 30 seconds later they drove away with the camper I thought nothing about that either. 10 minutes later I realized the camper was gone but all their stuff was still at the camp site so I figure they must be going some place maybe to dump the poop tank on the camper. Then over an hour or so later the owners returned to find the camper was gone. 30 minutes later the park ranger came. An hour later the state police came. By then the camper was long gone and never found. Thieves had about a 3 hour head start and no one had a clue which direction they went. I did not pay enough attention to what was going on to even remember what color pickup truck the thieves were driving.

 

[wilykat]

Have you looked into Lojack? They claim to have 90% recovery rate and it's operated directly by police.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Video says it needs a sim card but does not tell where to get a sim card. Can I use a sim card from a phone? What if my phone sim card is expired? I got a new free sim card for my other phone it took so long to arrive it expired before I received it. Video says nothing about a fee for the tracker service. My wife bought me a better phone but I have no clue how to use it. I can answer a call but if I miss a call or text I have no clue how to find it. Phone has 2 pages of icons I think those r called aps on the phone but I don't know what they do. I don't know how to find the aps they come up by accident sometimes when I am trying to answer the phone. Seems like it will be a pain in the butt to swap and recharge batteries in the tracker every 6 hours for the rest of your life. What is the stolen camper is not found before the battery goes dead.

Perhaps you should find a different forum, as you appear to have little or zero knowledge about anything electronics related?

We're well in the 21st century, how can anyone not know how to get SIM cards? - over here you can get them easily on-line, in phone shops, or simply pick them up in supermarkets or various corner shops.

A SIM card wouldn't expire before you received it, as it's never been registered it can't 'expire' - did you follow the instructions that came with it?.

As for SIM card expiry, it's a bit tricky to find out exactly when it takes place - but it's certainly more than a month - you don't need to make calls, merely let the phone/modem connect to the phone network during that period. For my GSM projects I have it power up and send a txt once a month (exact time configurable via txt), this keeps the SIM active, and also let's you know it's still alive and working. Obviously for something that regularly sends data, you wouldn't need to do that.

As for battery life, as I suggested above, feed it from the caravan battery - but if you haven't found it within the battery life, then you're unlikely to ever find it at all. But as the GPS Tracker is accurate to within a few metres, and tells you exactly where it is - and also it's speed if it's moving, then there shouldn't be any problem easily finding it. It's unlikely the caravan would be continually moving during the life of the battery, so it shouldn't be a problem to find.

 

[Diver300]

Vested interest here. Follow the link in my signature.

Most tracking units will work with any SIM that doesn't have a passcode. Some tracking units will even manage the passcode bit, but it's usually easier to unlock the SIM and leave it at that. The SIMs are phone SIMs, there is no difference.

SIMs in the USA generally cost quite a bit to keep going, I think around $10 a month. In the UK, and I think most of Europe, there is a low minimum usage requirement so it isn't expensive to keep a tracking unit going. The amount of data sent is tiny, around 1 Mbyte per month, but there is a wide range depending on how often data is sent. The tracking unit on my wife's car is running at around £0.60 ($1.00) each year, while others with more detailed data and more use can cost up to £1 per month on the UK data rates.

You can use a European SIM in the USA, but the data can be quite expensive. On a UK SIM it cost me about £3 for a couple of weeks tracking in the USA, but obviously I was driving around quite a lot. There is also a major problem in buying and topping one up from outside the originating company, as most phone companies will only post to their own country and will only accept bank/credit cards registered in the country as well.

Most tracking units can text back with their latitude and longitude. Also most will send data regularly to a server, and when they have been set up, it is possible to looks at the data from the server on any browser. Here is an example:- https://www.mtrak.co.uk/show/ZGzh2pJKyb

 

[gary350]

Perhaps you should find a different forum, as you appear to have little or zero knowledge about anything electronics related?

We're well in the 21st century, how can anyone not know how to get SIM cards? - over here you can get them easily on-line, in phone shops, or simply pick them up in supermarkets or various corner shops.

A SIM card wouldn't expire before you received it, as it's never been registered it can't 'expire' - did you follow the instructions that came with it?.

As for SIM card expiry, it's a bit tricky to find out exactly when it takes place - but it's certainly more than a month - you don't need to make calls, merely let the phone/modem connect to the phone network during that period. For my GSM projects I have it power up and send a txt once a month (exact time configurable via txt), this keeps the SIM active, and also let's you know it's still alive and working. Obviously for something that regularly sends data, you wouldn't need to do that.

As for battery life, as I suggested above, feed it from the caravan battery - but if you haven't found it within the battery life, then you're unlikely to ever find it at all. But as the GPS Tracker is accurate to within a few metres, and tells you exactly where it is - and also it's speed if it's moving, then there shouldn't be any problem easily finding it. It's unlikely the caravan would be continually moving during the life of the battery, so it shouldn't be a problem to find.

I took electronics in college and graduated 1970. I worked in the electronic field for 40 years. I use to repair all the circuit boards at work, design and build control systems at work, wrote programs for robots on the assembly line, and was plant engineer for 20 years. Your right I don't know @#$% about todays new technology. I use to build and sell computers but got tired of having to relearn how they work every 2 months so I quit about 15 years ago. I let my cell phone die for 6 months then it would no longer work the phone company said the SIM card expired so they sent me another one that took 2 months to arrive when I installed it, it did not work the phone company said the new SIM card is too old it expired too. That's all I know about SIM cards. I have been retired 12 years I don't keep up with technology anymore. I was happy with a 1 function cell phone that only made phone calls but now I have one that probably does about 10,000. things I don't need.

I checked into LoJack online it says nothing too. It does not even say if there is a month fee or how much the fee is. It says nothing about how it works, do I use a computer, do I need computer software, does it work on my phone, do I have to call someone to find out where the stolen item is located? I don't know if this is deceptive advertising or stupid advertising?

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

I checked into LoJack online it says nothing too. It does not even say if there is a month fee or how much the fee is. It says nothing about how it works, do I use a computer, do I need computer software, does it work on my phone, do I have to call someone to find out where the stolen item is located? I don't know if this is deceptive advertising or stupid advertising?

This is a generalization and a pretty darn good one. It's also annoying.

The communication giants use the x year price in their advertising and fail to tell you what the price will be after that expires. Drives me nuts. Lojack as far as I know is Police only and professional installation. The trick is hiding the transmitter.

Have an antenna system. Everyone else has "Cable". FIOS isn't available in my market. I'm on 3 Mbps/760kbps DSL. Can't up that either. Well, might be able too if I paid double and aggregated the lines internally. Can go cable, but without TV you pay a premium.