Track my loco.

[Thomas ClarkeParticipant @thomasclarke78224]

I would like to know if any owners of 5in or 7 1/4in locomotives have put GPS trackers in their locos and if so which ones have they used. I have been looking at the Minimoto 9 but the instructions say that it should not me enclosed in a metal box and if this is the case installing it somewhere in a tender or loco would probably render it useless. I look forward to any replies.

 

Thomas

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

No self contained GPS tracker will work if you put it in a metal box! Why do you want to put it in a box anyway? Ideally mount on a flat surface with the GPS antenna facing the sky.

[Paul KempParticipant @paulkemp46892]

John,

I imagine Thomas wants to protect his loco against theft, in which case sticking a tracker on the outside in a visible position probably defeats the object.  If it is visible then the thief knows it is there and can remove or disable it rendering it useless.

Paul.

[Stuart Smith 5Participant @stuartsmith5]

I have watched videos on YouTube of this company based in Southampton – Automatrics mtrack.

Their equipment seems to work even if fitted inside construction/plant equipment, so it should work in a loco.

Here is a link to their website:

https://www.trackersecurity.co.uk/tablet/plant-security-systems.html

Here is a link to one of their videos showing recovery of a mini digger hidden inside a shipping container:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BTX8Y8vrSY&t=30s

I have not used their tracker and don’t know what the costs are, but it looks ok.

 

Stuart

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

It uses several systems to give good reliability for situations where for example a JCB is hidden in a shipping container.  Designed for high value plant it’s likely to be pretty expensive for a hobby loco.  We don’t know why the OP wants to track his loco, maybe it’s just to watch it tootling round the track.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

As the product the OP has been looking at is a security tracker, it’s reasonable to assume that is what he wants to do with the GPS.

What about 3D printing something for it to go in that looks like it is part of the loco, mount on the tender to keep it away from heat.

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

How will it get sustainable power without a big obvious battery?

[Stuart Smith 5Participant @stuartsmith5]

It has a built in battery.

It will have a sleep mode most of the time using only a very small current, only switching the GPS and radio on for brief periods unless it is in alarm mode.

Stuart

 

[mark costello 1Participant @markcostello1]

Why not disguise the antenna as something else, like a flag pole? Hide it in plain sight.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

A flag-pole on a loco. Ummm, not ever so subtle. 🙂 Disguised as a pipe or hand-rail perhaps.

An alternative if it needs no metallic covering, might be to make the top of the water-tank of a suitable rigid plastic with the aeriel under that. If the unit is small enough, could it hide inside a dummy tool-box or (appropriately!) AWS box?

[Stuart Smith 5Participant @stuartsmith5]

If you look at the one I linked to, you will see it is a small self contained box with its own battery and needs no external antenna.

In one of the videos, it was located even though it was fitted inside a pneumatic breaker and had been hidden in a storage container along with 100s of other stolen tools.

 

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

GPS trackers like an Apple Air-Tag work by sending a Bluetooth signal to any nearby Apple phone. (Signal will not go thru metal).  The phone then sends the location to your phone.  Battery life in the tracker lasts for more than a year.

They are the size of a large coin and could be disguised in a plastic cover as suggested.

Put one in your check in luggage when travelling and know if it has been transferred to correct location. I also have one in my backpack.

 

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

Keep your loco in a transport box and the tracker in the box. Provide easy handles on the box so that it would be taken along with the loco along with the tracker?

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