GPS Tracking and Installation Advice for Private Investigators

A few tidbits about GPS Tracking...

We tested Nextel's gps tracking feature. hopefully this will save someone the $113 it cost us for R&D....

It would work to a point if the user had the phone on their hip, or in a position with a clear view of the sky, with absolutely no obstructions. It is useless in vehicles. The only good thing is that Nextel allows a user to see the closest cell tower that the phone hit while in use via polling. This can be useful to verify the vicinity of an individual, but not the precise location, only the location of the tower. The unit we tested would show it being close to a tower almost a mile away from our office. This would not be too bad for highway tracking but is pretty much useless in an urban environment. Having a unit show up intermittently on a screen may be better than nothing, I'd rather have nothing knowing there are devices that work better.

The biggest hurdle most covert gps installers/user's face is proper gps antenna placement. The antenna must be placed so it will be able to receive the gps signals. This is where the installer must get creative as antenna placement is important for any gps tracking device.

The second hurdle is power. With a temp install, a battery pack will typically last for 2 weeks. Longer monitoring periods may require hardwiring, (which is illegal on a unwilling subjects vehicle), which also requires preliminary research to run a fast install.

We tested several other manufacturers' devices while conducting corporate investigations. The "tracking products" line worked well, and seemed to deliver good bang for the buck. Some of the least expensive devices did not fair well, as the antennas were integral and required more installation trickery to obtain an unobstructed view of the sky to collect gps data. There are a handful of high ends units that do work extremely well, (non government models) but again you get what you pay for and some of these units cost well over $2k plus monthly fees.

Something else one may consider is looking closely at a vehicle similar, or identical to the target vehicle before attempting installation. This will help allow one to avoid any potential installation problems when arriving on site. Internet car sites and car dealers are an excellent resource to help make this happen.

This site offers some photos that may instill creativity with regard to antenna placement http://gps-applications.com/gps%20placement.htm

Basically they say that its challenging to conceal a tracking system on a truck.. Cars on the other hand are simpler since they typically have a rubber or fiberglass bumper cover. The systems can be placed under the bumper skin which is transparent to a GPS antenna. Metal that blocks the sky view will block the GPS signals.

Its best to place the antenna at the rear of the vehicle since most shopping mall parking spaces are nose to nose or nose to the building side of angled parking. The rear of the vehicle offers better satellite views.

It is your responsibility to obey the laws governing placement of a tracking system on any vehicle.

The primary purpose of a GPS tracking system is for theft recovery, navigation, tracking and recording travel information for personal records, Taxes. etc.