Anyone ever looked into GPS tracking for their equipment?

[arcooke]

I'm really cautious about where my gear is at all times, as I'm sure all of you are too. I don't personally have that much yet, but I've already got about $1800 worth of stuff in one easy-to-steal backpack.

Have any of you ever looked into some kind of GPS tracking system or similar device to hide in your pack? I've been looking around for a while and I'm not seeing too terribly much out there.

 

[skieur]

GPS and for that matter Google are best for main highways and large streets. My house location is incorrect on Google Earth and so are some addresses that I have looked for. GPS does not deal well with back roads in general and particularly even secondary highways that have changed their name at any point in the past 10 years. Some addresses in Canada are Rural Route 2 for example and the nearest town which could have a population of less than 250 and be more than 10 minutes away by highway. That situation totally confuses GPS too.

The problem with GPS too, is the default. Many in Canada find that common names default to an American location rather than a Canadian location and for California and Canada they may default to either, but often the wrong one.

Even Microsoft Streets has got the location of resorts that I have been looking for incorrect, so I would suspect that GPS are equally not perfect.

skieur

 

[Destin]

Skieur, the OP is not talking about a gps navigation system, he's talking about a gps tracking system, which can be extremely accurate. It is a small device that sends out a signal of it's current location, so that the person with the correct software on their computer can always see where it is.

Many parents install them on their kids cars to see where they go, company's to track where their vehicles go, police to track subjects, etc)

To the OP: Here is the only one that I know of, im sure i could find more if I looked

Spark Nano PLUS! With 6 MONTH BATTERY CHARGE - Find a missing child with GPS Tracking

 

[skieur]

Well, if GPS cannot even track a car and Google Earth satelite can"t reliably find a location, then why should GPS equipment tracking be assumed to be any better?

skieur

 

[Buckster]

Well, if GPS cannot even track a car and Google Earth satelite can"t reliably find a location, then why should GPS equipment tracking be assumed to be any better?

skieur

I use lots of GPS gear for various things, including at work, and have found it to be very reliable.

I use GPS tagging devices to determine where I take my photos sometimes, and it seems to be accurate to within a few meters. The stuff we use at work is usually accurate to within a few feet.

I had all my employees using cell phones with GPS positioning while we were working in San Francisco that allowed them to find their way around and for me to pull up a map on my computer to see where each of them was currently, where they'd been, how fast they were going, and so forth. That's the closest thing I ever used to what you're looking for - something that shows a track of where it is remotely, without having to retrieve the device first and download that data - which is what most all the rest of what I use requires.

Strapping such a phone to your camera gear with a note that says, "please leave this on - thanx" probably isn't what you're looking for though. :lmao:

 

[skieur]

Well, if GPS cannot even track a car and Google Earth satelite can"t reliably find a location, then why should GPS equipment tracking be assumed to be any better?

skieur

I use lots of GPS gear for various things, including at work, and have found it to be very reliable.

I use GPS tagging devices to determine where I take my photos sometimes, and it seems to be accurate to within a few meters. The stuff we use at work is usually accurate to within a few feet.

I had all my employees using cell phones with GPS positioning while we were working in San Francisco that allowed them to find their way around and for me to pull up a map on my computer to see where each of them was currently, where they'd been, how fast they were going, and so forth. That's the closest thing I ever used to what you're looking for - something that shows a track of where it is remotely, without having to retrieve the device first and download that data - which is what most all the rest of what I use requires.

Strapping such a phone to your camera gear with a note that says, "please leave this on - thanx" probably isn't what you're looking for though. :lmao:

I think it depends on where you are working. Big American cities such as San Francisco sure or Chicago, New York, and several other large urban locations. In Canada: Toronto or Vancouver, would probably be pretty good, but northern Quebec, the Eastern Townships south of the St. Lawrence, northern Ontario, lake country in both Quebec and Ontario, The French areas of New Brunswick, Newfoundland etc. prove to be incorrect or sometimes not even on the GPS "map".

skieur

 

[Buckster]

Well, if GPS cannot even track a car and Google Earth satelite can"t reliably find a location, then why should GPS equipment tracking be assumed to be any better?

skieur

I use lots of GPS gear for various things, including at work, and have found it to be very reliable.

I use GPS tagging devices to determine where I take my photos sometimes, and it seems to be accurate to within a few meters. The stuff we use at work is usually accurate to within a few feet.

I had all my employees using cell phones with GPS positioning while we were working in San Francisco that allowed them to find their way around and for me to pull up a map on my computer to see where each of them was currently, where they'd been, how fast they were going, and so forth. That's the closest thing I ever used to what you're looking for - something that shows a track of where it is remotely, without having to retrieve the device first and download that data - which is what most all the rest of what I use requires.

Strapping such a phone to your camera gear with a note that says, "please leave this on - thanx" probably isn't what you're looking for though. :lmao:

I think it depends on where you are working. Big American cities such as San Francisco sure or Chicago, New York, and several other large urban locations. In Canada: Toronto or Vancouver, would probably be pretty good, but northern Quebec, the Eastern Townships south of the St. Lawrence, northern Ontario, lake country in both Quebec and Ontario, The French areas of New Brunswick, Newfoundland etc. prove to be incorrect or sometimes not even on the GPS "map".

skieur

It's satellite driven, so the more satellites your unit can see and use to triangulate, the more accurate it is. In the afternoons, the satellite flight patterns take most of them into the Southern hemisphere, so the further North you are in North America, the less accurate your devices will be.