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Is there a small gps tracker that isn't an air tag or tile that also doesn't cost a thousand dollars or require a subscription? (lemmy.zip)

submitted 2 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

49 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Before anyone gets the wrong idea I am one of those peoples who's mantra is "I would rather have it and not need it than the other way around".

In that vein I daily a backpack that has thousands of dollars in tools, electronics and survival stuff in it at all times. I'm talking I could survive a complete collapse of society for quite some time with what I keep in that bag every day kinda deal.

The one thing that concerns me is the bag getting grabbed one day. I could replace everything in there but I would prefer to avoid spending all that money and time setting it all up again. I keep it with me as much as I reasonably can, but obviously I can't take it with me into places like concerts or events. During those times I have it stashed in a hidden compartment in my trunk so it's unlikely it would get taken in a smash and grab, but I would feel much better if I was able to keep track of the bags location at all times.

It seems like the small gps tracker market is basically small tags like the tile or air tag and then it immediately jumps to like thousands of dollars and subscriptions.

I am aware that this mythical tracker might not exist at all, but if anyone would know of one it's you nerds (I call yall nerds lovingly).

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The comparably low battery life of phones could become a problem.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 days ago (3 children)

I can install a barebones OS and basically disable everything except GPS. Im sure I can get at least a day or 2 out of it. Worst case I just add another solar battery pack and wire it up to that.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

If you are going the phone way and care to make the battery last longer, you can also install an app that keeps waiting to receive a keyword by SMS, upon receiving which it turns the GPS on, locates itself and sends the location back by SMS. It has dual benefit of not needing a data pack and making the battery last longer since the GPS or data is not on constantly. On the down side it'll be tough to do live tracking by this approach.

https://www.theonespy.com/features/track-location-with-sms

https://youtu.be/FknRti6n_F8

These are just two links that came up using a basic search to do this. There are multiple listings on f-droid to help you not just get location but control the phone remotely over SMS.

Find My Device (FMD) (Locate and control your device remotely) https://f-droid.org/packages/de.nulide.findmydevice/

Simple sms remote (Control your device by sending text messages) https://f-droid.org/packages/tranquvis.simplesmsremote/

Finder (Remote mobile phone searching via SMS requests.) https://f-droid.org/packages/ru.seva.finder/ Cheers!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

You might want to keep WiFi on, it might help you get a location fix with less battery use than just GPS;

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago

So Lineage on an old phone will easily go 5 days without charging.

If I were to disable a bunch of stuff, and force low battery mode (or lowest possible with location sharing still working) it would probably go longer, closer to 8.