Inexpensive GPS Tracking

[jadebox]

I recently bought an inexpensive GPS-based tracker for use on my quadcopter which should work with rockets as well. It's a small device that's basically a cell phone without a display or keypad. You can send a text message to it and it'll reply by sending a text message back with its location. I used an AT&T "pay as you go plan" with no monthly fee.

For details, please see: Adding a GPS Tracker to the Phantom 2 Vision

-- Roger

 

[Mr Rocket]

Looks very exciting. Love the simple operation and your idea of using pay as you go plan makes it very cost effective. My only concern is size. Right now the size shown on Amazon would not allow it to be used in less than a 6" rocket. I am not planning on launching that size in the near future. Most rockets that I would want to use this on would be in the 2.6" - 4" range.

Item Weight 13.6 ounces
Product Dimensions 7.4 x 5.1 x 2.2 inches

 

[conman13]

There are some other ones as well that would fit in an 38mm tube that have good reviews.

 

[jadebox]

Looks very exciting. Love the simple operation and your idea of using pay as you go plan makes it very cost effective. My only concern is size. Right now the size shown on Amazon would not allow it to be used in less than a 6" rocket. I am not planning on launching that size in the near future. Most rockets that I would want to use this on would be in the 2.6" - 4" range.

Item Weight 13.6 ounces
Product Dimensions 7.4 x 5.1 x 2.2 inches

That's the size and weight of the shipped package. The device itself is 1.8" by 2.5" by 0.65” and weighs 1.75 ounces.

-- Roger

 

[Mr Rocket]

Thanks Jadebox.

I thought those dims seemed big, but the website product description is confusing (like a lot of products on Amazon / EBay)

 

[VonMises]

This looks promising. Thanks.

 

[les]

Have you tried putting it into a rocket yet to see if it gets a signal ok (through the tube) or interferes with an altimeter?

 

[chris m]

Very cool also saw 808 cameras as well . May need to order some stuff for thunderstruck

 

[Right Wing Wacko]

Even though I already have another tracker, I would be interested in trying this.

The article cites AT&T for service. Our launch site does not get decent coverage from AT&T, but gets decent 3G coverage from Verizon. Is it possible to use this with Verizon?

 

[jadebox]

Even though I already have another tracker, I would be interested in trying this.

The article cites AT&T for service. Our launch site does not get decent coverage from AT&T, but gets decent 3G coverage from Verizon. Is it possible to use this with Verizon?

Verizon doesn't sell a SIM card that you can use in the tracker.

-- Roger

 

[jadebox]

Have you tried putting it into a rocket yet to see if it gets a signal ok (through the tube) or interferes with an altimeter?

No, I haven't even tried on the 'copter yet.

I suspect that it will work fine in most rockets and I'll probably give it a test in a rocket the next time I launch a larger one.

-- Roger

 

[accpool]

specs for device might not work in rockets:
Specifications

* GPS Chip: SIRF III chip
* Network: GSM / GPRS
* GSM Frequency: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
* GSM/GPRS Module: Simcom Sim340
* GPS Sensitivity: -159 dBM
* GPS Accuracy: 5 M
* Time to First Fix: Cold status: 45s, Warm status: 35s, Hot status: 1s
* Working Temperature: -20 to 55 degree
* Humidity: 5% to 95% non-condensing
* Altitude Limit: 18,000 meters (60,000 feet) max
* Velocity Limit: 515 meters/second (1000 knots) max
* Acceleration Limit: Less than 4g
* Dimension: 64 (L) x 46 (W) x 17 (H) mm
* Weight: 50 g

But then again if it is only used to find it after you lost it might work great.

 

[conman13]

Verizon doesn't sell a SIM card that you can use in the tracker. -- Roger

No they don't but you could buy a cheap verizon prepaid phone and use the phones SIM card.

 

[jadebox]

But then again if it is only used to find it after you lost it might work great.

That's the purpose for which I'd like to use it. I'll attach it to my quadcopter just in case something happens and it wanders off. Most of my rockets fly rather low and slow, but I may use it to help find the rocket if it drifts away.

-- Roger

 

[jadebox]

No they don't but you could buy a cheap verizon prepaid phone and use the phones SIM card.

I don't think Verizon allows you to do that. I looked at Verizon first because I use them for my cell phones and am pleased with their coverage at our launch sites. But, I don't think there's any way to use the tracker with Verizon's service.

-- Roger

 

[conman13]

I don't think Verizon allows you to do that. I looked at Verizon first because I use them for my cell phones and am pleased with their coverage at our launch sites. But, I don't think there's any way to use the tracker with Verizon's service. -- Roger

I think it would work if you put the SIM card from your phone in but you would have to call to get the coordinates from a different phone. Maybe idk it would be cool if you could. I plan on getting one to use in some of my high flying kits.

 

[CarVac]

I think it would work if you put the SIM card from your phone in but you would have to call to get the coordinates from a different phone. Maybe idk it would be cool if you could. I plan on getting one to use in some of my high flying kits.

The tracker has to support Verizon's bands in order to work on Verizon's network. I find it unlikely that it'd be both CDMA and GSM capable.

 

[thomas]

The amazon offer is quite expensive, you can buy similar ones on ebay direct in china for under 20$.

 

[conman13]

The amazon offer is quite expensive, you can buy similar ones on ebay direct in china for under 20$.

Yes but you never know how good of product it is. Sometimes you don't get what is in the picture. Just what I've found from things on eBay compared to amazon where you have customer support of there is a problem they will fix it.

 

[cerving]

If you have Verizon coverage the Tagg pet tracker may be a better solution, although it's a bit more expensive. It's about $80 plus the minimal data-only service from Verizon (I think that runs about $100 per year), but it's a complete system that updates their location web site and will show you on a web map exactly where it is, within the resolution of the GPS. Since phones are all digital now, if your phone service works then your web service should as well. I know people who've flown the Tagg out at Lucerne Valley, it works fine there.

 

[TheSamurai]

Interesting. Anything that is cheap and effective is a great deal.

 

[bobkrech]

GSM is the universal cell phone standard. Each phone has a unique identifier call a SIM card. A SIM card is like a passport and uniquely identifies the phone. It was originally developed in Europe and mandated by most European countries so you could use 1 cell phone in most countries. Unfortunately the FCC did not consider compatibility to be an issue and did not mandate a single standard for the US, and 3 standards were used in the US that were incompatible with each other.

A cell phone device using a GSM network will not work without a SIM card. In the US, the principal carriers using GSM are AT&T and T-Mobile. Many US carriers can lock their GSM phones so they will not accept another American carrier's SIM Card.

Verizon uses CDMA. It is a totally different access standard than GSM and therefore incompatible. You can buy Verizon phones that can accept a SIM card to hook into a foreign GSM network if you travel a lot however AFAIK the domestic GSM is locked out so you can not use them in the US. My HTC Droid Incredible 2 is an example of a GSM/CDMA phone. The new I-Phones also are multicarrier phones however the carriers have locked out this capably in the US.

Most of the cell network based GPS trackers are GSM because you can use them anywhere provided the area you are in has access to a GSM carrier. 4G should be carrier independent however the various services in the US use different frequency channels (Thanks again to the FCC which has been totally commercialized) so you may or may not be able to access them depending on how your particular phone is programmed.

None of the inexpensive trackers are likely to maintain lock during boast, however most should regain lock under chute or on the ground. Provided you rocket lands in an open area where there is good cell phone strength, it should be able to call home so you can find it. Just remember that remote areas probably don't have (good) cell phone coverage, so using a cell based tracker in locations such as Black Rock or Potter, NY for example is not a good idea. Most trackers can be programmed to call home at period from 1 per second to 1 per hour. You only have so much battery life so it's best to have it call once every few minutes to provide the maximum battery life available.

Bob

 

[ksaves2]

As long as you have good service from the cellphone provider, it should be O.K. You call it to tell you where it is and then figure out how to input the
coordinates into a handheld GPS and go. If the tracker can't hit the tower where it's lying, you're out of luck. One could get a ham license and do the APRS thing
and a tracker could be cobbled together for for about $140.00 using a MicroFox, https://www.byonics.com/mf, flashed with the GPS firmware and attach a GPS unit to it. One then slaps Direwolf on a laptop, https://home.comcast.net/~wb2osz/site/ and take any receiver that can receive the 2 meter band. Take the audio signall out of the scanner/radio via the earphone jack to the microphone in on the laptop and can watch the rocket fly on a map via APRSIS32 or YAAC which are both free.
Some industrious folks out there do GPS tracking with 900Mhz no license required stuff but one needs to have the electronic where-with-all to emulate.

Kurt

 

[ArizonaSportsman]

This looks very cool. And this technology will just continue to get smaller and cheaper. This will be great.

 

[matthew]

So these things look to be TK102 based. There's a heap of Android apps that can talk to them. A quick look around finds them a bit cheaper than through the links Roger posted. I think I might get one and have a play. The 850 and 1900 bands should work here.

 

[Tetrahedron]

As long as you have good service from the cellphone provider, it should be O.K. You call it to tell you where it is and then figure out how to input the
coordinates into a handheld GPS and go. If the tracker can't hit the tower where it's lying, you're out of luck. One could get a ham license and do the APRS thing
and a tracker could be cobbled together for for about $140.00 using a MicroFox, https://www.byonics.com/mf, flashed with the GPS firmware and attach a GPS unit to it. One then slaps Direwolf on a laptop, https://home.comcast.net/~wb2osz/site/ and take any receiver that can receive the 2 meter band. Take the audio signall out of the scanner/radio via the earphone jack to the microphone in on the laptop and can watch the rocket fly on a map via APRSIS32 or YAAC which are both free.
Some industrious folks out there do GPS tracking with 900Mhz no license required stuff but one needs to have the electronic where-with-all to emulate.

Kurt

I kinda like the MT-400 using APRS. With a GPS-antenna and VHF-antenna it's about $220. I wonder what the best battery is for this?
I would probably use a 9V Ni-Cd or Ni-MH 1000mAh, would these work without damaging the unit? What about some Lipo batteries?

https://www.byonics.com/mt-400

-John

 

[Tetrahedron]

I recently bought an inexpensive GPS-based tracker for use on my quadcopter which should work with rockets as well. It's a small device that's basically a cell phone without a display or keypad. You can send a text message to it and it'll reply by sending a text message back with its location. I used an AT&T "pay as you go plan" with no monthly fee.

For details, please see: Adding a GPS Tracker to the Phantom 2 Vision

-- Roger

With the ATT pay as you go plan do you get a SIM card with X amount of Gb that never expires or expires within some time?
I'd like a plan where I pay, say $20-$30 and just need text with enough Gb (since that's what this tracker only uses) to last many flights
and one that never expires or at least has 180 days before expires (last a flying season)...

-John

 

[jadebox]

With the ATT pay as you go plan do you get a SIM card with X amount of Gb that never expires or expires within some time?
I'd like a plan where I pay, say $20-$30 and just need text with enough Gb (since that's what this tracker only uses) to last many flights
and one that never expires or at least has 180 days before expires (last a flying season)...

Under the "10 cents a minute plan" that I chose, you pay 10 cents a minute for calls and 20 cents each for text messages. You prepay using a credit card and can set it to refill the account automatically. It's a voice and text plan only, no data. You aren't charged for texts or minutes until you use them. so there's nothing to expire.

-- Roger

 

[cerving]

Have you had a chance to fly it yet?

At 5 updates every 30 seconds at 10 cents per text, that equates to 60 cents per minute of operation. That could get expensive if your rocket sits on the pad for awhile waiting for your launch slot, especially if you have a misfire and you have to do it all over again. I think most of us have had this happen to us... especially on a busy launch day like a ROCStock or DairyAire.

I think an unlimited text plan might work out better, but that may negate the "low cost" aspect of this system.

Under the "10 cents a minute plan" that I chose, you pay 10 cents a minute for calls and 20 cents each for text messages. You prepay using a credit card and can set it to refill the account automatically. It's a voice and text plan only, no data. You aren't charged for texts or minutes until you use them. so there's nothing to expire.

-- Roger

 

[les]

The literature states it does not start sending messages until you call it. Also you can program the frequency of the calls and since it looks like it is not usable for the launch phase you don't need calls that frequently. Perhaps set it to send an update only once per minute or even once every 5 minutes. Since the purpose is to find the rocket after it lands, the data should not be changing once it lands. So you shouldn't be racking up charges