Hi All,

I imagine quite a few people on here have Trackers fitted.

Do any of you have any experience with actually using these ?

If so, based on having used it (unfortunately!) whoch one is better - or maybe friends.

By used, I mean having a car stolen and then tracked ?

The main ones in the market are
- Tracker Retrieve/Monitor/Horizon
- NavTrack
- RAC Trackstar
- Securicor Trakbak

ive got tracker monitor m8

not had to use it yet thank god :D

My understanding is that Tracker is the only one that gives a signal directly to the police car, whereas the other Companies guide the police from their reception of the signal. And if you get a monitor or a horizon, then you will be contacted if the car is moved without authorisation whereas a retrieve relies upon you letting Tracker know your car has gone. I think there was some discussion a while back where someone found their insurance co. wouldn't accept a retrieve as a valid tracking device because of this.

All AFAIK, and I am sure I will be corrected if wrong, especially after this thread has been moved.

:)

Most insurance companies want a 'Pro-Active' tracker where the call centre contatcs you in the event of the car being moved.

Having spoke to a few friends of mine who work in the Police they reccomend the Tracker as they are able to locate the vehicle themselves without the need of a call centre etc...

Ian

Edited as I didn't realise just how poor my spelling was until just now! :rolleyes:

[Edited by IanW - 12/14/2002 8:12:55 AM]

RAC Trackstar and 24hour Guardian gets my vote:D

Definately RAC Tracstar, I was called within minutes of my car be towed once.
Tracker isn't worth it without the Trackback, I know someone who had a £50k lorry stolen which they didn't know about til the following day. By then it was too late ! The Tracker unit had been removed from the Lorry!

i recomend Siemens(ex securicor) trakbak. had it four years, the best tracking unit on the market. uses its own naviagation system. this is used by all the main players in high value load movements and the police on their cars. it tracks via a map giving compass bearinginfo whichis useful to police helicopters and gives speed and direction of movement and can even tell if the vehicle is under cover. this will cost you about £800-£1000 and is moveable between cars. if you want peace of mind get this.

What Technology does the Siemens system use ?

Most are GPS based apart from Tracker whioch uses radio signals (apart from Horizon which uses both).

My understanding of GPS is that it needs line of sight, therefore if the car is in a container or locked up, the Tracking Cenhtre will not be able to see it as there will be no GPS signal !

Go for tracker monitor. Getting mine done with a guy called Dr Clifford in Birmingham on Tuesday. He has his own shop and definitely knows what he is talking about. Also was the cheapest i found :D

Siemens uses GPS to locate and track the vehicle but as i understand it rely on their network support to monitor the tracking. mine was fitted by Geoff from Electromobile who are based in suffolk. he does fit away from his premises as well and is a top bloke. siemens datatrak is about 30secs to 1 min historic with positioning of the vehicle which is pretty damn good. comparing to soemthing like tracker i have found this very weak as you can be tracking a car with an in car unit north of the river when in fact the car is south of the river. just depends on how much you want your car back i suppose!