GPS tracking devices

[Dust]

I couldnt find any threads about these specifically, and have been trying to find some sort of viable solution to a worst case scenario that i know many here have encountered. Losing your ship. Its something I would like to somehow take care of before hand.
Now, it doesnt have to be GPS specifically, just some form of beacon that can be put on the craft that could be "tapped" into via distance reading. Ive seen the paths and data uploaded into programs to show the flight's path, but thats after retrieval. Case in point, the video of world record 111km fpv flight. He shows the stuff im talking about. But if that plane went down a distance away, and you had no DVR to show the last bit of video that could be used to aid in retrieval, what could be used? Directional antennae and your cam's feed? not likely in a crash that itll all be still hooked up and transmitting proper.

So some form of tracking device is what i desire. Ive found some place online that have some things that COULD work, or are close to what im looking for, but so far, nothing seems optimum. Here is the closest thing ive found so far. . .
TAGG pet tracking systems
http://www.pettracker.com/
about $100 for basic, Plus a small monthly fee to access info and services. $8 i think a month. Not bad, but not quite great. looks a bit heavy and clunky, but is waterproof.

Here is something that got me really thinking. Its a personal locator for when your hiking, or whatever. You can set the location of the car, then go for your walk, hike, shop mega malls, what ever, and then when your ready, click the button, and it will tell you how far away you are from the set location, as well as the arrow pointing in the right direction.
http://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-Backt...ef=pd_sim_sg_4
This one locks on to a static location, but what if we could find, or make something just like this, but instead of a location that cannot move, put the "point" it locks into onto something mobile, like our planes. Then when they go down, we just follow the arrow to our baby.

Thoughts?

[swillhide]

There is a Indiegogo (kickstarter knock off) program to have a bluetooth tracker which is weather proof and long battery life with a 2500ft range for $65. If I lose a rig and dont know where its at within 2500ft then I am doing something wrong. Just my 2cent

[SecretSpy711]

check out fmkit's UHF beacon. All you need is a handheld radio and you can zero-in on the pulses from miles away.

[chicken sashimi]

I use one of these and it's been good for me. Thankfully so far I've never had to use it in a "lost plane" scenario, but a buddy of mine did and it worked out great for him.. The only caveat about this particular type of tracker is that because it communicates via GSM (cellphone network) your plane has to have crashed within a cellphone signal. If you crash out in the countryside where your cell gets no signal, then the GPS tracker has no way of telling you where it is.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Realtime-GPS...81068376947%26


In a similar fashion, I found this device recently which is cheaper and looks even smaller than the aforementioned pager-style tracker.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-GSM-GPR...item2a28842b73
Looks like it might be a contender?

[blueprint]

great thread!! i recently lost a plane that went down 3 miles away. i logged the GPS coordinates from my recording into my iphone google maps. it went down in a huge field with lots of trees. i watched the video many times and took note of landmarks etc. i walked over to the last gps coordinates (took almost an hour hiking through tall brush, weeds and mud) that were recorded and looked for a solid 2 hours and still could not find it. i had my transmitter and played with throttle and nothing.

i uploaded the video and observed more closely... wrote down notes and this time brought 4 friends with me to help look. we head out and arrive at the GPS coordinates my OSD last transmitted before going down. We spread out and found the plane a good 120 feet from the coordinates in some large bushes close to some trees. pretty extensive damage as she nose dived hard into the ground. found out the servo horn holding the rod to the hinge slipped off which in turn caused me to lose the elevator.

i found a good DVR and a good OSD that transmits GPS coordinates are very important for recovering aircraft. I also added a low voltage alarm in my plane.

[Dust]

swillhide
There is a Indiegogo (kickstarter knock off) program to have a bluetooth tracker which is weather proof and long battery life with a 2500ft range

What does the bluetooth "track" with? what reads its signal? I do not have or use "smartphones"

SecretSpy711
check out fmkit's UHF beacon. All you need is a handheld radio and you can zero-in on the pulses from miles away.

Im looking into this. I dont know anything about that (yet) but sounds good, cause it doesnt have monthly fees.

chicken sashimi
. . .If you crash out in the countryside where your cell gets no signal, then the GPS tracker has no way of telling you where it is.

Well im in the Ozarks, and some cell phones get great range, and others are neglected. Which one does it work by? Verizon? AT&T? they differ wildly here.


One thing im trying to avoid is abhorrent price gouging for "monthly fees" or "subscription dues" like one i found is almost 200 for the year, and must be at least a year or you get charged even more! F that. Thats why i didnt even link the others ive found.

blueprint
i found a good DVR and a good OSD that transmits GPS coordinates are very important for recovering aircraft. I also added a low voltage alarm in my plane.

And those are 2 items missing in my arsenal thus far. The low voltage alarm i have looked at, but my system isnt transmitting audio, so that wouldnt help, but i was thinking about using this (http://www.commonsenserc.com/product...roducts_id=755) on my canopy's outside, within easy view of my camera, while i procure my OSD of choice. That way, ill always be able to see my voltage in the meantime.

[chicken sashimi]

The GPS tracker i posted uses a sim card that you buy from whatever cellphone service provider you want. I simply bought a pay as you go card from my local 7-11. $20/year set me up with their most basic plan that features unlimited texting. Since i'm not talking to the sim card, the amount of minutes on the plan makes no difference to me.

So the cost of the tracker + ~$20/year for the pay as you go simcard and i'm good to go.

All in, i'm less than $100 invested and it's one more tool in my arsenal of airplane recovery solutions.

[Vintabilly_NS]

I'm with sashimi on this and I have the exact same tracker. I have yet to need it tho', I keep crashing within 300m.

[chicken sashimi]

I keep crashing within 300m.

Lol.. yeah.. that sounds familiar, me too.

Next time I'll spend $40 on a hard hat instead of a GPS tracker. lol

[Dust]

The GPS tracker i posted uses a sim card that you buy from whatever cellphone service provider you want. I simply bought a pay as you go card from my local 7-11. $20/year set me up with their most basic plan that features unlimited texting. Since i'm not talking to the sim card, the amount of minutes on the plan makes no difference to me.

So the cost of the tracker + ~$20/year for the pay as you go simcard and i'm good to go.

All in, i'm less than $100 invested and it's one more tool in my arsenal of airplane recovery solutions.

Perfect!! CS, thanks for that. Ill continue to research more, but this is looking to be quite tasty. since, the phone i do have and use, can text no problem. so in essence, the plane will be texting me?
That needs to be on a shirt.
"my plane sends me texts"