GPS Tracker from Taobao installed and tested

[Lao Jia Hou]

There have been a few threads on MCM about GPS trackers. It is always interesting to see which are the latest products that are hitting the market.

I've several GPS trackers of various shapes/sizes/features, acquired over the years, and here are my thoughts:

1) They are trickle drains on motorcycle batteries. You need to ride at least once a week to keep the battery charged;
2) Units with backup batteries are good, especially since they have some nice features (it will sms you if the power is cut, or even if your battery is getting drained to a low level);
3) They are all great for recording tracks of where you have ridden;
4) They are cheap, so if you believe that a pro thief will find/cut power to your Tracker, install two - one acting as an "obvious" sacrificial tracker (probably the one with direct power, wired to the battery), and one with a built-in back-up battery (oops, I am giving away one of my secrets on a public board!);
5) They are NOT theft-protection, or theft-deterrent, devices. They are hidden, after all, and only worthwhile for potential recovery;
6) If your bike doesn't have an ignition key chip, you may want to install the GPS tracker that includes an immobilizer. Several thefts (I don't know if it is "most") happen by cracking the ignition lock (which is surprisingly easy). I would guess that at least an equal number of thefts happen by van-hops (even easier, IMHO, and very fast); and,
7) Thefts can happen anywhere, any time, in the blink of an eye ... plan ahead as to what you will do if your bike is stolen and you are tracking it. Personally, I subscribe to the "call the cops" theory - taking matters into your own hands (although tremendously tempting) can have dire consequences, especially in China.

If you want theft-protection, or theft-deterrence, consider:

1) NOT BUYING ILLEGAL BIKES! You are supporting the thieves. Supply/demand equation;
2) Chain the bike to something secure or, if nothing is secure, chain it to another bike - lifting two bikes into a van, at the same time, is near impossible.
3) Use several methods - chain, disc locks, cover, alarm, etc;
4) Not very neighborly, but try to make your bike much less attractive/available than someone else's;
5) Park it in a way that requires the bike to be wiggled and shuffled through a 10 point turn, to get it out;
6) If you have the bucks, get an alarm that will play a recording. I saw a demo of an alarm that would continuously play, in a screaming female Chinese voice "Help, Help, I am being raped! HELP! HELP!" That really got people's attention - more than the typical alarm which everyone has become immune to and simply ignores. This particular alarm was large and meant for a car, but there are probably smaller ones that could probably be hooked up inside a bike; and,
7) Rare for this to be possible in largely-condo-living in China, but a big dog is ALWAYS the best security. As a consolation, however, there is that "mob-justice" inside China that is quickly inflicted on thieves caught in action.

[Lao Jia Hou]

The best part of this is that you're giving a company access to every place you have every gone, how you got there, and the speed you travel at. Thank god no corporation has ever been manipulated to release private data.

When you set up your online account for tracking, you can name the unit. I (and I bet most others) will put the bike's identifying features on (e.g., JH600, HD Ultra, Farmer Honda, etc). I've wondered how easy it would be to hack the site and/or bribe someone on the inside - tell ya what, I'll pay you 100 rmb for each request - I'm looking for a Monster 795.

[bikerdoc]

Here's a GPS tracker alarm that has a battery back up...

Motorcycle Rider - The new K18 Professional Motorcycle GPS positioning anti-theft device with universal application that can fit all models.

Key points:

- package contains the device, cables, SIM card, and the first year of SIM teleco service charge.

- data costs cny120/year (after the initial year), including all data traffic charges, no additional charges.

- data charge top ups or renewals can be made via the Taobao seller or the manufacturers website (Chinese skills needed).

- device connects via five wires, therefore a motorcycle mechanic is recommended for installation.

- if the motorcycle battery is disconnected then the devices backup battery can supply power for 10-12hrs.

- after parking motorcycle device will automatically enter power-saving sleep mode, which doesn't affect any alarm fortification functions. If the motorcycle is not used for at least two weeks without causing main motorcycle battery to become flat/dicharged. If parking motorcycle for one month or greater period then recommend disconnecting the battery or use trickle charger to keep motorcycle battery from discharging.

- one year warranty from device activation date.

Hope this helps...

[Serpentza]

This tracker does have a backup battery, also it warns you if the main battery is disconnected, so if a thief disconnects the battery, you'll know

[Serpentza]

Sooo many naysayers here on this fourm ;) Nooo you can't put a 250cc engine in a cg125 frame.. noo that will never work, no you can't do this or that or the next thing, you're wasting your time this you're never going to succeed that... Well actually, you're wrong, just about anything is possible if you just go out and do it..

Anyway, on with the report!

Before leaving on a little two day ride (it was awesome), I logged into the website www.gpsoo.net and went to the tracking page, I left it open before going on my ride, when I got back a day and a bit later it had accurately tracked my entire route:

map12.jpg

Unfortunately I could not find a way to export the map... so I just took a screenshot for now, I'm hoping there's a way to do it as the website does allow you to export statistics to excel, I'll get more in depth with the features later.

During this ride we went down to an awesome beach resort, went riding on the beach (rooster tails and donuts FTW!) parked the bikes in the parking lot outside (seemed safe, security guards etc)... proceeded to get incredibly drunk on my wife's uncle's home made hooch (I'd taken a bottle along) and all passed out in the hotel... I can't tell you just how much peace of mind the tracker gave me, at any point during the night I could just pull out my phone, open the app and be greeted by:

IMG_20131002_1.jpg

(this is zoomed out)... it updates every 10 seconds, knowing that the bike is exactly where you parked it is serious peace of mind, this is worth the 188 yuan 10 times over.

Also arming that movement circle thing gives you further piece of mind...

knowing that your bike is there, you have more time to worry less and focus more on drinking etc :P

IMG_20131002_2.jpg

I do think that the features are rather limited on this particular tracker, but maybe that's because I haven't figured it all out properly yet, there seem to be a whole set of SMS commands you can send to the unit to change settings, and I think the language can also be changed to English which would be awesome! (all the apps, software etc are in English anyway so no worries there, but when it sends you a message to tell you your bike's being moved, that's still in Chinese).

More updates as I find out more.

- SerpentZA

[Serpentza]

Okay, brilliant, you can download a KML file, just specify the dates :)

kmlexport.jpg

[ThePope]

I bought this same tracker (not installed yet) but no one seems interested in stealing my cheap Taobao bike

[ThePope]

Nice work with this, BTW...

[ThePope]

Also, I think if you sign up under the same group somehow you can track the other members of your group?

[Wittrup Sport]

GPSOO Manual - Chinese Version.pdfGPSOO Application guide for account.pdfGPS Manual - English Version.pdf
My Chinese stinks, so I had the manual translated into English. Don't kill me if you follow the instructions and your bike goes up in flames. OK!
Actually I wanted to upload them in WORD format, but that was not possible. You can get them from me directly if you want to improve the text.

Happy Trails