Spaghetti888
New Member
- Region
- United Kingdom
Been experimenting with GPS tracking. Yes, could be futile. Even the police don't think they can do much with location info. But I've already had a bike stolen once in London this year so enough is enough.
I bought this car GPS unit (the slim thing on the right) last year as a side project to tinker with. I really only bought it for its relay-switching capabilities which I thought might could be useful. Plus it was small and was cheap enough that I could just hack into it without worrying about messing it up. It's sim-card and app-based - no subscription fees and the £10 of data I loaded on it months ago is nowhere near depleted. The relay can be switched via the app so could potentially be used to set off a really annoying alarm... The unit is designed for a 12v-48v (or something like that) input range on the external connector with a 50mAh onboard backup battery. The onboard battery was useless and lasted barely a few hours, even on standby mode. I modified the unit by removing the battery and wiring the external male connector directly to the board. The female connector now goes into a 3D-printed battery pack which powers the tracker. The battery pack comprises a micro-USB charging board (the powerbank is for testing) and a 3700mAh lithium polymer cell. The idea is that when the ebike is on, it will top up the battery pack when in use. I wanted the tracker to be able to run independently when the bike is off. I tested the setup on my window sill and it lasted, on standby mode, for over three and a half weeks. This is a bit overkill and I only chose the cell figuring I'd get a few days, not almost a month. Also, the battery pack is massive and would take up quite a lot of space in my triangle enclosure. It's a bit of a rat's nest in there anyway so it'd be difficult to locate! For now, I'm going to keep it as it is. It's a fun little project!
I bought this car GPS unit (the slim thing on the right) last year as a side project to tinker with. I really only bought it for its relay-switching capabilities which I thought might could be useful. Plus it was small and was cheap enough that I could just hack into it without worrying about messing it up. It's sim-card and app-based - no subscription fees and the £10 of data I loaded on it months ago is nowhere near depleted. The relay can be switched via the app so could potentially be used to set off a really annoying alarm... The unit is designed for a 12v-48v (or something like that) input range on the external connector with a 50mAh onboard backup battery. The onboard battery was useless and lasted barely a few hours, even on standby mode. I modified the unit by removing the battery and wiring the external male connector directly to the board. The female connector now goes into a 3D-printed battery pack which powers the tracker. The battery pack comprises a micro-USB charging board (the powerbank is for testing) and a 3700mAh lithium polymer cell. The idea is that when the ebike is on, it will top up the battery pack when in use. I wanted the tracker to be able to run independently when the bike is off. I tested the setup on my window sill and it lasted, on standby mode, for over three and a half weeks. This is a bit overkill and I only chose the cell figuring I'd get a few days, not almost a month. Also, the battery pack is massive and would take up quite a lot of space in my triangle enclosure. It's a bit of a rat's nest in there anyway so it'd be difficult to locate! For now, I'm going to keep it as it is. It's a fun little project!
