Tracker Nano

[PTA]

I need a new tracker for my 2020 Elddis Crusader.
I am considering the Tracker Nano ( 2 year subscription of £139 including unit).
Has anyone any experience of its usefulness and effectiveness?
I should add that we tour Europe with our caravan and so it will need to be active there as well as UK.
Many thanks in anticipation of helpful responses.

 

[Buckman]

I need a new tracker for my 2020 Elddis Crusader.
I am considering the Tracker Nano ( 2 year subscription of £139 including unit).
Has anyone any experience of its usefulness and effectiveness?
I should add that we tour Europe with our caravan and so it will need to be active there as well as UK.
Many thanks in anticipation of helpful responses.

In the event someone interferes with the caravan are you notified immediately or do you have to notify them if the caravan goes missing?

 

[Jcloughie]

I need a new tracker for my 2020 Elddis Crusader.
I am considering the Tracker Nano ( 2 year subscription of £139 including unit).
Has anyone any experience of its usefulness and effectiveness?
I should add that we tour Europe with our caravan and so it will need to be active there as well as UK.
Many thanks in anticipation of helpful responses.

I could only find basic info. eg, daily gps positioning. Some trackers go down to minutes or seconds. No mention of geo location. Also, a £3.00 /month subscription needed for police response. I worry that a full specification is not readily available.

John

 

[DeauxChevaux]

I use a Tracker from TruTrak of Ipswich. I have the older FMT 100 on one car and the newer FMT2004G on the other. Both are subscription but at the moment the 200 is free if you take up some form of subscription at purchase from their web site. Being 4G it will be compatible with european systems. Both basically give 1 minute updates while being driven and occasional updates when parked which includes battery voltage. You can replay routes on google (I think) maps. You can Geofence either and you can program various push alerts with both but more on the 100 at the moment (aggresive cornering, braking, acceleration.) Both can be set to send alerts for overspeeding. Cost varies but reduces with the length of time you pay for in advance, about £5 / month or less. I bought the first to put on the caravan but decided to try it out on the car, now both cars have them and not yet got round to the caravan! There are others but these are a simple DIY fit and can be as hidden as you want to make them. And if you want to give anyone else access (Police?) you can with no extra cost and you can limit the time someone has access.

 

[Buckman]

I use a Tracker from TruTrak of Ipswich. I have the older FMT 100 on one car and the newer FMT2004G on the other. Both are subscription but at the moment the 200 is free if you take up some form of subscription at purchase from their web site. Being 4G it will be compatible with european sytems. Both basically give 1 minute updates while being driven and occasional updates when parked which includes battery voltage. You can replay routes on google (I think) maps. You can Geofence either and you can program various push alerts with both but more on the 100 at the moment (aggresive cornering, braking, acceleration.) Both can be set to send alerts for overspeeding. Cost varies but reduces with the length of time you pay for in advance, about £5 / month or less. I bought the first to put on the caravan but decided to try it out on the car, now both cars have them and not yet got round to the caravan! There are others but these are a simple DIY fit and can be as hidden as you want to make them.

If you are made aware that someone is interfering with the caravan or even stolen it, do they alert the police and track the caravan?

 

[DeauxChevaux]

No they don't but you get a push email about it then its up to you. Tracking is always live and does not need to be initiated

 

[Buckman]

No they don't but you get a push email about it then its up to you. Tracking is always live and does not need to be initiated

Guess there is nothing you could do then except phone the police? I certainly would not like to tackle these thieves. With our Phantom tracker they do everything for you also advising police of location of caravan etc if it is being towed. Costs more but gives us peace of mind!

 

[Dustydog]

I need a new tracker for my 2020 Elddis Crusader.
I am considering the Tracker Nano ( 2 year subscription of £139 including unit).
Has anyone any experience of its usefulness and effectiveness?
I should add that we tour Europe with our caravan and so it will need to be active there as well as UK.
Many thanks in anticipation of helpful responses.

Is a Tracker device a requirement of your caravan insurer?

 

[DeauxChevaux]

Guess there is nothing you could do then except phone the police? I certainly would not like to tackle these thieves. With our Phantom tracker they do everything for you also advising police of location of caravan etc if it is being towed. Costs more but gives us peace of mind!

Now thats the difference between us - I would like to tackle anyone doing wrong to my property - and its simple to let the Police know and give them the track of a stolen item - a simple phone call!

 

[otherclive]

Now thats the difference between us - I would like to tackle anyone doing wrong to my property - and its simple to let the Police know and give them the track of a stolen item - a simple phone call!

Setting out to tackle caravan thieves on your own strikes me as incredibly stupid. I recall the death of the young just married PC who on his own tried to stop the theft of a quad bike.

 

[DeauxChevaux]

Setting out to tackle caravan thieves on your own strikes me as incredibly stupid. I recall the death of the young just married PC who on his own tried to stop the theft of a quad bike.

Oh dear - what have we come to that we don't stop people doing what we don't want them to do like theft. I would always do a dynamic risk assesment first but there is no way any pond life doing wrong will get me to back of. Hasn't stopped me in the past and will not stop me in the future. If more people stood up for what was right the pond life would not be able to win. No way would I take the easy route - lets leave it to the Police - understaffed and stretched - yes lets do nothing

 

[Buckman]

Oh dear - what have we come to that we don't stop people doing what we don't want them to do like theft. I would always do a dynamic risk assesment first but there is no way any pond life doing wrong will get me to back of. Hasn't stopped me in the past and will not stop me in the future. If more people stood up for what was right the pond life would not be able to win. No way would I take the easy route - lets leave it to the Police - understaffed and stretched - yes lets do nothing

Most seem to carry knives or machetes and there are normally more than one of them so it would be very foolish to even think of trying to tackle them. Even if you were allowed to be armed with a weapon like a gun, it is still not a good move and I am talking from experience. It is always best to leave it to the police.

 

[PTA]

Is a Tracker device a requirement of your caravan insurer?

Yes. Therefore I want a quality one.

 

[Dustydog]

This will help. They were the OEM suppliers to Bailey Caravans on a number of models. Fully accepted by the Caravan Club Insurance. Their recovery is excellent . Hope it helps you.

 

[Buckman]

This will help. They were the OEM suppliers to Bailey Caravans on a number of models. Fully accepted by the Caravan Club Insurance. Their recovery is excellent . Hope it helps you.

Where the Tracker Retrieve falls down massively is that you have to notify Tracker that the caravan is missing and by that time the caravan could have been missing for more than a week. As much good as a chocolate fireguard!

The Tracker Monitor or Phantom Tracker are better options.

 

[Jcloughie]

Where the Tracker Retrieve falls down massively is that you have to notify Tracker that the caravan is missing and by that time the caravan could have been missing for more than a week. As much good as a chocolate fireguard!

The Tracker Monitor or Phantom Tracker are better options.

In what circumstances would you not receive important notifications for 1 week?

The tracker sends you a text. We all look at our notifications. If in a poor phone area that might be a problem. phantom are supposed to have a good relationship with the police which is possibly advantageous. The 24 hour monitoring is clearly advantageous.

If, as you do, you have poor mobile reception. It would clearly be a poor option.

The OP’s option also has a police connection, perhaps it is similar. But I failed to see all the specifications which I found disapointing. But it is Thatcham approval which is what the insurance companies look for.

I find it disappointing that Phantom do not provide a travel history. They do for their commercial clients.

The OP can get theirs for £139 for two years and says it is a subscription. But I don’t think that factors in the £72 monthly enhanced subscription. (I may well be wrong). A lot cheaper than Phantom. But more info needed for a true comparison.

John

 

[Buckman]

In what circumstances would you not receive important notifications for 1 week?

The tracker sends you a text. We all look at our notifications. If in a poor phone area that might be a problem. phantom are supposed to have a good relationship with the police which is possibly advantageous. The 24 hour monitoring is clearly advantageous.

If, as you do, you have poor mobile reception. It would clearly be a poor option.

The OP’s option also has a police connection, perhaps it is similar. But I failed to see all the specifications which I found disapointing. But it is Thatcham approval which is what the insurance companies look for.

I find it disappointing that Phantom do not provide a travel history. They do for their commercial clients.

The OP can get theirs for £139 for two years and says it is a subscription. But I don’t think that factors in the £72 monthly enhanced subscription. (I may well be wrong). A lot cheaper than Phantom. But more info needed for a true comparison.

John

I think that part of your statement is incorrect? Firstly with Tracker Retrieve you need to notify them that the caravan has been stolen and if the caravan is in storage this may be days, a week or even months depending on how often you check on the caravan.

Phantom do supply a travel history and I can tell you exactly now many miles the caravan did last year. I can also see the battery status and location of the caravan.

We do have a Tracker Retrieve fitted in our caravan as standard, but never activated it preferring to have a Phantom tracker installed.

 

[PTA]

Thanks folks. Looks like Phantom Tracker could be the way forward.

 

[Jcloughie]

I think that part of your statement is incorrect? Firstly with Tracker Retrieve you need to notify them that the caravan has been stolen and if the caravan is in storage this may be days, a week or even months depending on how often you check on the caravan.

Phantom do supply a travel history and I can tell you exactly now many miles the caravan did last year. I can also see the battery status and location of the caravan.

We do have a Tracker Retrieve fitted in our caravan as standard, but never activated it preferring to have a Phantom tracker installed.

Why would you need to visit your storage if the tracker is clearly showing you van is on the move. I really do not understand. Please explain.

The procedure is very similar to Phantom except it is not necessarily monitored by a dedicated office. Instead, if the van moves out of the pre set geofenced zone, you, or/and other nominated people get a text. Also, the OP’s option may be monitored with the £3/m subscription. But trying to find such details is not easy.

Yes, Phantom does show very very limited history, just distance per day, and battery voltage if memory serves. With other trackers you can show complete and detailed journeys with dates and time displayed on a map. Totally different. And it is downloadable. As I said, Phantom do this for their commercial clients. White van companies like to know where there staff are by the second.

If I still holidayed in a caravan. I would love to have been able to download and save my journey. Looking back now on our past holidays it would make a great reference.

I am not decrying Phantom. But there are other offers that compare and that provide a more versatile service.

Phantom do have the advantage of being integrated with the alarm. I think others can aswell.

I feel your info may be out of date. This is a quote from Tracker Retrieve.

Introducing TRACKER Retrieve is a battery-operated Thatcham S7 With VHF Technology. TRACKER is the only Thatcham-approved security service that offers revolutionary VHF technology. Price includes your S7 tracker and full mobile installation by one of our Thatcham-approved engineers. The Retrieve has a 5-year battery life. If your vehicle is stolen, the tracker is activated by the control room to commence full real-time tracking. Our mobile Thatcham-approved engineers cover every mainland UK postcode and will visit your vehicle at a location, time, and date convenient to you. This can be at your home, work, or even the dealership. Fast installation service (average within 1-3 working days of placing ...

John

 

[RogerL]

Thanks folks. Looks like Phantom Tracker could be the way forward.

I've got a Phantom Tracker you can have - you'd need to arrange the subscription with Phantom - I took it out of our Lunar as it would flatten the leisure battery within 14 days - it's probably only 3G though.

 

[Buckman]

Here is the link to Tracker Retrieve and nowhere is it mentioned that should the caravan be stolen, the tracker will automatically contact the call centre. The Tracker Retrieve is only activated once the owner of the unit advises them that the unit is missing.

 

[GUMPY]

The control panel for my Solar battery system is based on an old Huawei tablet, this has location enabled within Google maps. It gives me live data as to where the caravan is and notifies me if the van moves from it's set location. I also have a second remote access system (still under development) based on a Raspberry Pi that, as well as battery/solar data, also sends location data to me and is geofenced to the same area as the tablet.
Probably not good enough for insurance but works for me.

 

[PTA]

I've got a Phantom Tracker you can have - you'd need to arrange the subscription with Phantom - I took it out of our Lunar as it would flatten the leisure battery within 14 days - it's probably only 3G though.

Many thanks Roger for your kind offer. I think I need to have system with a separate battery or I would have the same problem with leisure battery drain.
Much appreciated though.

 

[Jcloughie]

Here is the link to Tracker Retrieve and nowhere is it mentioned that should the caravan be stolen, the tracker will automatically contact the call centre. The Tracker Retrieve is only activated once the owner of the unit advises them that the unit is missing.

It probably does not. This is where the subscription comes in. But, as I have mentioned a couple of times. Trying to find exactly what is included in that subscription is very difficult. I have tried and given up.

John

 

[Dustydog]

It probably does not. This is where the subscription comes in. But, as I have mentioned a couple of times. Trying to find exactly what is included in that subscription is very difficult. I have tried and given up.

John

My long disused original Tracker , for then a substantial annual fee, sent a signal to their Central Control advising my caravan was on the move. Next they would ring me on my brick sized company mobile😎
Surely that’s how they are supposed to work today or have we moved to a more DIY method🤔