gps trackers

Thearcher12

Pedelecer
Dec 20, 2017
36
7
78
Leek
Hi is anyone using a gps tracker, i am at the moment deciding which one to go for, leaning towards the vodafhone curve at the moment However no matter which one you go for they seem to be some what let down by poor apps ,any help or advice welcome thanks
 

Andy-Mat

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 26, 2018
2,214
561
77
Hi is anyone using a gps tracker, i am at the moment deciding which one to go for, leaning towards the vodafhone curve at the moment However no matter which one you go for they seem to be some what let down by poor apps ,any help or advice welcome thanks
The ones (2) that I bought some 4 years ago, are not now available and were relatively large in comparison to modern ones. But I just looked on ebay, and there are some quite small ones, also ones with strong magnets, for really very little money, when compared to the cost of a reasonable e-bike nowadays.
There are even bike rear lights available, with built in GPS on ebay, which should be easy to add to most bikes.
The only part that you need to watch out for is that some trackers that ONLY use the mobile phone towers for location data, which is fairly inaccurate in comparison to a true GPS tracker (especially outside of towns), that uses actual Satellite signals to fix the position of the unit. But are sadly still advertised as having GPS! So do make sure that you "ask" the seller, via the ebay email system, does the unit have a true GPS using Satellites, or just mobile phone cell towers. Then if they lie to you, ebay will make sure that you get your money back!!! It happened to me once.
There are also some true GPS trackers, with the extra ability to control a relay, for cars and motorbikes, which allows the owner to then switch off the power to a fuel pump or ignition system remotely, for example.
I myself have never used or bought one, as I did not want to change my bike's wiring while the guarantee was still active, so I cannot offer any thoughts on those for e-bikes, but an extra relay will need to be installed in some manner.....
regards
Andy
 
Sep 13, 2020
119
64
The only part that you need to watch out for is that some trackers that ONLY use the mobile phone towers for location data, which is fairly inaccurate in comparison to a true GPS tracker (especially outside of towns), that uses actual Satellite signals to fix the position of the unit. But are sadly still advertised as having GPS! So do make sure that you "ask" the seller, via the ebay email system, does the unit have a true GPS using Satellites, or just mobile phone cell towers. Then if they lie to you, ebay will make sure that you get your money back!!! It happened to me once.
Great point. Thanks for that.