TRIM TRAC GPS Tracking & Recovery System Review
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
TrimTrac (ex Motomonitor) GPS Tracking & Recovery System Product Review
When we first looked at GPS Tracking Systems for motorcycles and ATVs back in January 2003, we were understandably excited about finding a product that could help to recover stolen Motorcycles and ATVs. The system that we found was based on the technology that had been around for years and used by the trucking industry for fleet tracking. Over time the technology advanced to the point where miniaturization was possible. So when that system became small enough, the idea to adapt it for use with motorcycles and ATVs seemed like a good one. However, we quickly discovered that it had some serious problems.
One of the problems was with the size of the GPS antenna, it measured 130mm x 60mm x 5mm. This is relative small but hardly inconspicuous. The fact that it had to be mounted on the vehicle facing the sky and unobstructed by metal was another problem. Obviously on motorcycles there are very few places where you can mount anything that large and concealed and still face the sky unobstructed. For this reason, sport bikes and cruisers, the bikes that are most often stolen, was the most challenging to install this system on. Sport bikes are narrow and space for anything other than a Scorpio Alarm System was almost non existent. Cruisers on the other hand are mostly engine, frame, seat and gas tank. This meant that only large luxury touring bikes such as Gold Wings, BMW K1200LTs, and Harley Road Kings, etc., could accommodate this system.
The second major problem with the old system was there was never a way to make it function like a traditional alarm system. If the bike was moved or tampered with there was no mechanism to notify the owner that the alarm had been triggered. The only way you could be made aware that your bike has been moved, was to set the geo-fencing feature. However, this was rather impractical if you did not have easy access to the Internet to set this up.
Installation of the old system was also a pain in the rear end as well. Installation was not only difficult, but also costly. Even after going through all the hassle you could expect mixed results at best. Some dealers were charging upwards of $2,000.00 for a system with installation.
Component parts of the old system The old system consisted of a GPS antenna, the size referenced above, with 15 feet of cable, a wiring harness with an additional 15 feet of cable, a battery that weighed 1.5 pounds and measured 43mm x 64mm x 97mm. The MLU measured 49mm x 122mm x 26mm.The MLU was the brains of the system. There was also a tilt sensor that my BMW Master Tech with 30 years of experience could not figure out how to install. The entire system weighed in a rather portly 3.75 pounds.
Maintenance costs and tracking ability of the old system The next booger bat was the cost of the air time and the complexity of the contract. Depending on the number of messages you received, the cost per month could be sky high. You were charged for two messages at a time, one sent and one received by the unit.
If you still had to have one of these babies, you had better hope that your stolen bike was not transported in a van or cargo trailer and then finally ending up in a warehouse or garage. Remember, if the GPS antenna did not have a clear view of the sky, it could not be tracked.
We decided early on that this system could not deliver what was advertised. Although, we showed the system we refused to sell to a customer without making them aware of all of the problems and limitations of the system. In other words, we did not recommend it. That system was marketed under the brand name of "Lockdown" from one company and CycleTrak from another company
The similarity of the old system and the new begins and ends with the name. It is almost a shame that they have similar names.
The new system is a high-performance micro GPS receiver with a GSM cellular transmitter. The new system measures only 133mm x 63mm x 23mm This includes the battery compartment, which accounts for more than 50% of the size! In other words, the foot print of the old system's GPS antenna is only slightly smaller than the foot print of the entire new GPS system.
The unit can be installed and setup in a matter of minutes. All you do is install the batteries and shake the unit to activate the motion sensor. If you hardwire the system it takes only as long as it takes to connect the unit's power harness to your vehicle's battery. Since the system is not required to have a clear view of the sky, you can mount it almost any where it can be concealed on the bike. One test driver even attached a unit to the center section of the bottom of his SUV and the unit still worked perfectly!
Our road test originated in Atlanta . Our destination was Indianapolis , Indiana , a 12 hour trip. The system was setup to track every 10 minutes. We traveled through the mountains of Tennessee and there appeared to be no drop offs or dead spots as you sometime experience with cell phones.
Tracking your vehicle on the web is simple, fast and includes some amazing information. After you go to the tracking web site, you follow the easy steps to login to track your vehicle (or vehicles). You can assign your name to the vehicle or any that you select. (Follow the easy steps at the end of this article to see the actual tracking of my system).
Once you select your vehicle, then you have several options. You can select:
Option number 4 allows you to view the past history of the vehicle's travels. This is a handy option for those of you who have teen drivers, or company vehicles that you need to review a record for.
The tracking data that appears first is a chart that displays the Vehicle, Date, Time, Speed and Course. The system records the time right down to the second. It also gives a street address, city and zip code or if you are traveling on an Interstate with no address it gives the distance you are from the Interstate (such as when you stop at a rest stop). These locations also include the city and zip codes. It also gives you the speed and direction of travel for the vehicle. All of this information is contained in a chart form. If you would like to see the same information on a map, no problem, just select the size map you want displayed. The map is then displayed at the top and the chart is below it.
On the map are small icons that look like little clocks. When you pass your mouse over these icons a small window appears with the date, time, location (city, state, and zip, name of highway or address) direction of travel and your speed)!
You Iron Butt guys ought to love this thing!
The website is also where you control the system's other features, such as setting up the telephone number(s) or e-mail where you want to be notified after the system detects movement of your vehicle. To setup this feature, you simple go to: "Settings" then "My notifications". Then select e-mail or call me (you can do both). You then just type in your e-mail address or phone number(s). You also type in the message you would like the system to tell you when it calls or sends an e-mail. The message can be simply "motion detected". When you receive the call, a pleasant female voice will tell you "motion detected" You will have several options available to you, including information spoken in a computer generated voice telling you the general location of the vehicle and the speed it is traveling!
You can also, create a report, do an address look up etc. and there are many other features that this system will have available in the near future.
This is one of the most exciting new products that we have ever come across. It is small, easy to install, inexpensive and easy to operate. Air time packages are also very reasonable. It is offers much more features than Lojack and is not as limited.
In regards to some of Lojack's limitations first you have to understand the technology. Lojack bases its tracking device off of WWII triangulation techniques, which produces a smaller footprint than cellular based tracking devices.
Lojack is also limited to roughly 26 markets nationally. This means that if you are traveling to locations outside of those markets you have no service. Lojack is also limited to whichever municipality within those markets that have their devices operational on the police vehicles. For example in the Houston market of the 3200 police cruisers in their fleet only 27 are equipped with Lojack transponders. In the Dallas market at any one time there are only 12-15 police cruisers on the street that have the ability to track with Lojack.
To buy or learn more about TrimTrac product click here
|
Cycletrak 
|
©2002-8 Prospect Enterprise & Development Co., LLC. - All rights reserved. Webmaster: webmatters AT bikebone.com - The best place to find Motorcycle Security
