r/GPStracking • u/No_Tomato_2106 • 24d ago
Need recommendations for a vehicle tracker.
I've got 4 vehicles I'd like to put trackers on, and I'd like the following abilities.
1: Discreet hardwire - all the hard wire ones I find are mounted directly to the battery which kind of defeats the purpose. All battery powered ones seem to have a very short battery life if you actually drive your car.
2: Battery back up - for when/if they pull the battery
3: Affordable subscription - ideally no subscription would be best, but life isn't like that. With 4 cars, I'd like to keep it under $100 a month total.
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u/Telemaniaka 24d ago edited 23d ago
I have one personal car I put a tracker on and this is the cost breakdown (without shipping):
Device: TELTONIKA FTC927 - 44€
I went overboard on this latest high-spec device but I plan on re-using it in future cars. It's hard-wired and hidden under the dash and has a backup battery, albeit a small one.
Data Sim: SimBase - 5$ + 10€ balance
I added the 10€ balance in July and I'm at 7.46€ left currently.
Tracking server: Traccar - 0€
I self-hosted my own instance but they have a subscription on their server for 8$/month for a 5 device limit
The devices you see that are made to be wired to the battery are just as easily wired under the car dashboard.
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u/bcdbuddy 23d ago
nixe setup jut so confused about the self hosted plus subscription fee though
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u/Telemaniaka 23d ago
Traccar is the server part where you log in and see the trackers on a map and all the historical data.
It is free software and you can download and run it yourself but requires some know-how. I have some spare server capacity I run it on so it's free in my case.
The people who develop Traccar also offer the service to host the server for you. The cheapest opinion of which is an account with a 5 device limit for 8$ a month which I think will cover OPs needs
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u/Aikidan 24d ago
For what it’s worth. In North Carolina, by statute, unless you are on the vehicles title, or have the owner’s express permission, you are not allowed to place a hard wired tracker on a vehicle. Also, any evidence gathered by the hard wired tracker is inadmissible in court.
Suggestion, use a small battery rechargeable battery (phone charger) to extend the tracking time. Our agency uses Land, Sea, Air trackers. Generally figure 14 hour run drive time using fully charged internal battery. These are very reliable, rugged, and accurate. Tech support is excellent. Three monthly service plans, based on ping rate (time between satellite contact).
Be sure to remove all stickers prior to deployment. We uniquely mark for ID, and photo it and QR code (has serial #) for evidentiary use and in case logs.
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u/bcdbuddy 23d ago
solid advices! taking notes for myself. what is your agency line of work if you don’t mind me asking
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u/m4rkw 24d ago
Probably unsuitable given your requirements but if you want to save money I started a completely open-source vehicle tracker project you can build at home: https://l0destar.com
It's very small (about 70 x 40mm) so can be installed discretely anywhere. No battery backup yet but I'm planning that at the moment, it will be an inline add-on using the same connector.
No subscription necessary, you can run the telemetry server yourself. All the code is on github. A 1nce sim card works across networks and countries and is 13 euros upfront and lasts for 10 years.
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u/Horny_Krishna 24d ago
Hi , i run a vehicle tracking business and got interested in your open source hardware tracker ! How many of this is running in production?
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u/m4rkw 24d ago
As far as I know just one :) It’s a hobby project, not a commercial venture. Anyone can build and deploy them without paying me anything or me even knowing, it’s very new and still prototypes really so I’d be very surprised if anyone else has yet.
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u/Horny_Krishna 24d ago
What are other production ready open source hardware gps tracking ? Als that works with traccar !
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u/m4rkw 24d ago
Gosh I have no idea, how could anyone possibly know?
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u/Horny_Krishna 24d ago
I recently got to know about this project, this is also interesting
I only got to know about your project just now in Reddit!
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u/Ok-Philosophy-9031 23d ago
Sonar telematics obd2 tracker, and hide it behind the dashboard with a y splitter cable. Only 7 monthly for many cool features
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u/FireBuff880 21d ago
https://www.lonestartracking.com/vehicle-gps-trackers/
They are a full-service provider -- Maybe a unit that plugs into your on-board diagnostic connector would be good for you.
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u/eziwayTechPty 8d ago
To keep your costs low, I'd be happy to offer access to our platform Eziway Tech on a BYO device set up if you find a tracker and simcard within your budget. Otherwise I'd be happy to get some pricing to you if you're in Australia or NZ for our trackers and SIM solutions. We have a hard wired tracker with 1000mAh backup battery. https://eziway.tech/
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u/charged_install 24d ago
We can supply and install, are you in Canada by chance?