Dozens of cases of car theft are registered in the country every day. Stolen cars are challenging to find since malefactors change license plates on stolen vehicles, repaint them, drive them to other cities and countries, and send them to auto dismantling points.
Such situations cannot be predicted and prevented since experienced hijackers are not stopped even by the presence of an alarm in the car or witnesses’ presence.
Today, there is a way to find a stolen vehicle and determine its exact location quickly.
For this, special devices are used – GPS beacons. In the presence of such a device, you can find out where and in what state (moving or stationary) the vehicle is now.
What Is A GPS Beacon?
GPS tracker is a compact device, the design of which consists of the following elements:
- sealed housing with high dust and moisture resistance.
- sensitive microphone for remote listening to what is happening in the car.
- antenna operating in the ranges of GSM, GPRS, GLONASS, and GPS.
- an accelerometer, the sensor of which reacts to accelerations (during acceleration and braking, impacts, body rollovers) and automatically switches the tracker into activity mode.
- built-in recorder, which stores information about the vehicle’s trajectory.
- battery source of autonomous power supply for uninterrupted operation of the sensor even in the absence of connection to the on-board power supply.
- LED indicator designed to notify about the current operating mode of the device.
- technological connector for connecting external power (to the standard power supply).
Device Functions
- Determination of coordinates: The car beacon receives signals from satellites located in several orbits around the Earth and determines the current coordinates with an accuracy of 1 meter. Information about the tracker’s location is transmitted to the user device – a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or PC with the corresponding software installed.
- They are fixing the route: When the car is moving, the tracker creates markers and builds the trajectory traversed on the map. Information about the course is recorded in the internal memory. It will be needed in the future when investigating the circumstances of the car theft and tracking the actions of other people (for example, relatives) who use the car.
- Listening: Most GPS beacons are equipped with microphones that can be used to listen to conversations in the car. Please note that installing the tracker in a hard-to-reach place (for example, under a layer of noise-insulating material in the cabin) affects the quality of the sound received.
Requirements For GPS Trackers
Before you buy a car tracking beacon, make sure that the device meets several requirements.
- Compact dimensions: The tracker should be small to be safely hidden in the car, for example, in the passenger compartment, luggage compartment, engine compartment, etc.
- High-quality body assembly: For stable operation of the device, the GPS beacon body must be protected from external influences. This characteristic is indicated in the device’s technical description in the IP-XX format, where the first numerical index X means the dust resistance class and the second – the moisture resistance level.
- Support for multiple geolocation systems: Modern models of jeeps beacons provide support not only for GPS but also for other communication standards: GLONASS, LBS, GSM, etc. – for obstacles (for example, if the vehicle is in an underground car park).
- High level of secrecy: Under normal conditions, GPS trackers do not work continuously but for short “sessions.” The device spends most of the time in an inactive state, consumes little power, and does not emit radio waves, through which attackers detect the beacon and turn it off.
Criteria Of Choice
- Accuracy: The error in determining the coordinates depends on what technologies (GPS, GLONASS, etc.) are used in the vehicle tracker. Devices provide the highest accuracy with GPS support (1-3 meters). When using the GLONASS system, the error reaches 3–6 meters.
- Battery life: The indicator depends on two factors – the operating mode and the lithium batteries’ capacity with which the beacon is equipped. In sleep mode, when signals from the tracker are transmitted with a frequency of 1 time per day, the device works up to 3–6 years. If the device is used for continuous monitoring in continuous operation mode, the battery charge is sufficient for 1-2 days.
- SIM card type: GPS trackers that use built-in SIM chips are considered reliable and practical. These devices are resistant to mechanical stress, changes in humidity and temperature.
- Temperature range: When buying, consider where the hidden beacon will be installed. If the device is located in the engine compartment, under the bumper, or in other places outside the passenger compartment, select a model with an extended operating temperature range. In this case, the tracker will work appropriately without failing due to severe frosts or intense heat exposure from a running engine.
What Determines The Cost
Several factors determine the cost of GPS vehicle beacons. First of all, pricing is influenced by the range of functions of a particular device model.
The presence of a motion sensor, GLONASS module, support for GSM networks, and other options increase the efficiency of trackers, but at the same time, the price of the beacon also increases.
Also, the cost of equipment directly depends on its size. With the same technical characteristics and functionality, smaller devices will be more expensive since such trackers are more challenging to find and disable, which complicates car thieves’ work.
Another factor affecting pricing is the protection class of the device. Inexpensive models of GPS beacons, sealed housings are used with maximum dust and moisture resistance.
Such devices work flawlessly, even in difficult operating conditions.
Features Of GPS-Beacons “AvtoFon”
- GPS beacons of the AvtoFon trademark are in particular demand among Russian car owners. The devices produced under this brand are distinguished by their reliability, compact size, unpretentiousness to operating conditions, and comprehensive functionality. AutoZone GPS trackers use durable lithium batteries for continuous operation of equipment for several years. Beacons are sold with prepaid traffic, while the funds on balance, as a rule, are enough for 3000 communication sessions with the tracker. In the future, the balance is replenished by the subscriber number.
- Equipment TM “AvtoFon” can be purchased cheaply in our company. To get detailed information and find out how much a GPS beacon with the required characteristics will cost, consult a specialist by calling the contact phone number. The manager will answer your questions, help you choose the suitable device model, and clarify Moscow’s goods’ delivery time.
