Remember the old James Bond film where they surreptitiously attached a tracking device to a car which allowed the good guys to tell where the car was via radar or something? I want one of those. Somebody keeps stealing stuff from a cabin in a rural location. I would love to attach such a tracking device to some kind of nice, tempting, decoy item like an outdated laptop or a chainsaw, sync it to my cell phone and then be able to zero in on its location once it’s stolen. Does such a thing exist? I’m aware if Tile and Tracker, but these seem to work by beeping when you get close, or by having other users of the product join in the hunt. That wouldn’t work for this.
Sure, such things exist, but they aren’t very small.
They consist of a GPS receiver and a cellular modem - think of a smartphone without a screen. They also have limited battery life.
Yeah, I think those devices use Bluetooth to communicate with your phone. Bluetooth range is a couple hundred feet at most.
To track something further away, you need a device that determines its own position using GPS, and transmit it to you through some kind of long-range communication, like a 3G cellular network. Google for “3G tracker” or “3G GPS tracker” and you should get many hits. They aren’t cheap though, e.g. the trackimo is $139 and you also need to get a 3G SIM card & service.
Spot Devices has a couple of options including one designed for tracking cars ($99+the service plan). They only broadcast every few minutes to maximize battery life, etc. but you can pay for quicker updates. As a hiker/backpacker they are becoming very common off the beaten trail.
You might do better and pick up a few wildlife cameras. They are motion-activated. If placed correctly, you might be able to capture someone entering/leaving the cabin, maybe a vehicle description and license plate. Besides, photographic evidence of the culprit(s), along with photos and serial numbers (taken before the fact) of possible stolen items, might just carry more weight than a tracking signal.
Leave a laptop, and maybe an old phone, with this app loaded. You could check daily to see where it is.
Funny you should mention that. They stole the wildlife cameras in their last visit.
The RFID devices are like credit cards with the “tap” feature, or the security tags in stores that set off alarms at the exit. they have to be near a source with a magnetic field that induces a current as the device moves through it, then a nearby receiver hears the signal. As others mention, a range of a few feet. The induction loop is a substitute for a battery as power source, since a battery would be a lot clunkier and only last a few days. Devices small enough to remain hidden but able to broadcast to a satellite or someone several hundred yards away? Good old Hollywood fiction.