P

Soon to be collecting my MY00 and considering some extra security in addition to the Cat 1 - especially in light of some recent posts.

Currently weighing up the pros & cons of the Barrier Deadlock and Tracker, does anyone have any comments or recomendations for either of these ??

Thanks

Matt

Stuart H

I would definately recommend Tracker. Receivers are fitted to nearly every Police Traffic car as well as the helicopter enabling us to pick most things up. With regards the deadlocks, I don't think you can have too much security, so if you can afford it, fit it.

Might save a bit on your insurance as well......

PhilH

I have a Barrier Deadlock and RACTrackstar ( i regularly have to leave my car in city centre locations).

The latter is not apparent unless the car is stolen, the former is excellent. Each device reduced my insurance by £60 per year each. In the case of the Deadlock this pays for its- self in 4 years and in the case of the Trackstar (which can be retro-fitted to other vehicles) this pays for 50% of the annual running cost. All-in-all relative peace of mind since if I've not received a call on my mobile then the car should be where I left it.

Fosters

I think trackers are an excellent concept and have the Telematrix eGuard Executive.

It's a constant monitor system and when I switch the ignition on I have to de arm the 'uh oh, we are being stolen signal' - if not, telematrix respond to the signal and call everyone in their 'who owns the car' list to see if it is being stolen.

if the thieves have got past that or loaded it onto a flatbed, you call them as soon as you realise it's gone and they take it from there.

the nice touch is that they give the chasing police a running commentary from their central monitoring area, as opposed to relying on police cars having monitoring equipment. I believe only about 1 in 8 police cars have the 'Tracker' equipment in them.

This system's come up very well in reviews and is a europe wide monitoring system.

salesman pitch: "...when gerry adams came over here, the scorpio he was going around in had an eGuard tracker in so MI5 could follow him round..." maybe b0ll0x, but sounds good!

bad news: Mine cost 500 installation + 14.99 a month for monitoring!

rjc

Whats the verdict on the barrier deadlock? My local dealer is selling this device and I'm very tempted. It has a very good review at the Which site?:

RESSE

iTrader: (1)

I believe you can never have to much security, but I had a BMW stolen when fitted with a tracker. The device wa activated once car is reported stolen, but I think the new trackers are much better. I have heard of barrier deadlocks being hammered off cars (do not know how) and that thieves are using blow torches to 'melt' door handles to gain entry. I have a steering wheel lock (completely covers wheel) and Thatcham 1. Rule is if they really want the car it will be taken. P.S. Good luck with the new car!

PeteC

I'm surprised that the barrier deadlock could be hammered off because, once activated, I didn't think there was anything sticking out inside the car to be hammered off.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Definately fit a tracking system, gps better than tracker, remember if the police dont have a helecopter or car in the area you are stuffed, as for scotland, only 2 stations to cover the entire area?? hmmmm stick to the gps!!
not sure on barrier deadlock, but if a pro wants your car, he'll have it (unfortunately)

Tony

blp

Tracker is better.
Those of you that were at a South M25 meet last year will remember the Armed Response Vehicle popping in for a chat. They said "Get Tracker". All helicopters have a unit. They have a 25 mile radius apparently in the air. All major motorway intersections have a stationry unit in the Cop Hut.

As for the previous post, I disagree that GPS is better. Any GPS/GSM system must be as strong as the weakest link...and that is the GSM signal. Now I dont get a telephone signal everywhere I go.....(underground carparks etc)

KRIS

....and if your car gets stolen at night time which is a pretty good chance then No helicopter, Very few cop cars. It is having said that a good system but it is not stopping the cars getting stolen in the first place. Only a large lock or something like that will prevent the car from physically being moved.
With tracker you have a much better chance of getting it back ( in what ever condition it has been left ). All they ( car thieves ) are doing now is stealing cars regardless of whether its got tracker or not and then parking them up in a quiet location for a couple of days. If its still there when they return then its theirs , so to speak. If they disconnect the battery the tracker signal WONT last forever....

KRIS

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Hi Guys n girls,

Ok the mith about gps/gsm,
Tracker is a base station based system, ie like gsm (global system for mobile communications) and is area efficient, ie not in the same area as one, tough!!!
Gps systems, ie RAC Trackstar, is satalite based, ie, dont need to be in the same area cos the satalite is up there looking down on you!!
pro's and cons:-

Tracker, good system, but dated, never improved and uses base stations, all you people in Scotland need to know this, there are only 2 base stations covering the entire mass of Scotland!!
leave you to think about that one!!!
police are fitted but not to every vehicle, helecopters too but helecopters are affected by the weather, the theives aint!!
Base stations are also affected by "radio dead areas" and no doubt all those with mobiles should agree....

Gps systems:-
the cons first, its damned exspensive! mine cost 933 quid with 24hr guardian, but no fees because i paid the lot off to start with.
The pro's:- there are 25 nice satalites up there looking down on the world, it takes 3 to triangulate where your at, it only takes 9 to cover the entire planet so there is one or two spare!! (3 telecomms satalites will give you communications over the entire surface of the planet!!)(c/o Arthur C Clark who figured this out in the late 40's/early 50's)
It can pin point you within 5 meters!
Its not affected by "radio dead areas" as it saturates areas from the sky (down and up rather than across)

The point is, is even though tracker is the one most used, its old and never been up dated, you have to go with the times, and gps is the way ahead.
Oh and if you think im talking rubbish, well for 3 years i worked mobile satalite equipment for the army including Bosnia and the pre pullout exercise from Hong Kong, i now work on gsm and static communications equipment so i do know what i'm talking about.
If you want a tracking system, dig deep to see which suits you best, and at the end of the day, its not my money, its yours!!

Regards
Tony

Stuart H

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by KRIS:
<B>....and if your car gets stolen at night time which is a pretty good chance then No helicopter, Very few cop cars.[/quote]

Erm......Police Helicopters do operate at night (they only go down for maintainance for a couple of hours) and at night there is less to do in the way of accidents etc, so if Tracker does pick up a stolen vehicle there are usually plenty of volunteers to deal with it.

blp

OK tony. Hear what you are saying. Question for you though... GPS system. Unit in the car. It can tell where the car is. It then has to transmit TO something telling it where the car is. It dont transmit to the satelite does it?? I thought it used GSM to transmit the data to an earth station. And now we have the same problem that I mentioned before. Comment?

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Hi BLP,
it uses the same tecnology as gps hand sets, they dont need a gsm station to work, ie in the middle of the desert!!
the microwave frequency is a lot higher than a normal hf/vhf freq (normally for satalite it uhf or shf), the down link freq saturates (foot print over an area) then the uplink transmits, it does not need to be very strong because its digital so it does not decay like an analog signal, its then amplified when it reaches the satalite, then sent down again but stronger to the ground station, but initially it needs no other type of transmitter to work thus more effective.
Just imagine it as a code, it works by sending its code, the code activates, transmits so the satalite picks it up (3 satalites for triangulation).
There is no need for ground base stations, totally eliminated!!!!

cheers
Tony

Rum*

P,

From an insurance point of view the bulk of the companies are now requesting either RAC Trackstar 24hr Guardian or Telematrix eGuard Executive in order to apply discounts.

As stated above the Tracker Unit is good, but is now a little dated, although I think they have various options with regard to Guard & Recover.

Looking at the 2 mentioned above the Telematrix eGuard Executive is a portable unit i.e. it can, for a small fee, be transferred to your new vehicle (if you sell the Scoob??!! ) where as I don't think the Trackstar unit can (I may be wrong here), however the Trackstar system is slightly cheaper.

With regard to Barrierlock, insurers will also give discounts, however not always in addition to discounts already given by Thatcham 1 alarm/immobiliser and/or Tracking system. It is again an excellent piece of kit. Installation is very neat, service by the comapny excellent and it works well. The only draw back I have found with it (I have one fitted to my motor) is that if you are parked on a slight incline/decline then the pin doesn't always slot into position...i.e you can't set it.

Also it seems to slot into either 1st or reverse. This isn't a problem in itself, until its the other half thats parked the car, then when returning to the motor, she forgets the barrier lock is activated oin 1st gear, gets in, starts engine and drives off......yup, you've guessed....then she can't change gear ??!!@@*@** ....DOH!..

Anyway all in all both Trackstar and Barrierlock brilliant pieces of kit...if you can afford both, then FIT them both!...

Hope you enjoy the new motor

Rum

COF139

I have Tracker and Barrier Deadlock, but it is the Tracker that I'd lose first if forced to choose. Mainly because I know how to suss the tracer is present - and if I do then so do the thieves.

ptholt

Can someone supply me wih a url for a gps tracking one please ?

I'd looked at tracker previously, but the gps ones sound the way to do.
I think part of the reason tracker did so well was because they were the first in the market to tie in with police and insurance companies, making it harder for newer companies to do the same.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Hi PT,

P

Thanks to everyone for their wisdom, who have contributed above. However I'm still undecided as each seems to have their good/bad points and are similar cost (basic Tracker option) just to make things difficult. Might just get a full SS system rather than just the back box instead

I'm also a little surprised at the number of insurance companies who don't give extra discounts for additional security over and above the Cat 1.

Having spent all afternoon on the phone getting insurance quotes (another story!!) I think I need a drink

Thanks again and any more thoughts much appreciated...

Matt

sunilp

See below, why cant we delete posts?

[This message has been edited by sunilp (edited 11 August 2000).]

sunilp

Subaru Privelege will give you 10% or 12.5% (cant remember exactly which amount but definetely one of the two)for approved tracking units!