GPS locator

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Should I invest in a GPS locator for m y Phantom? I see a lot of people use them but do they do something that the Phantom finder cant? If so what kind do you recommend?
 
ccase39 said:
Should I invest in a GPS locator for m y Phantom? I see a lot of people use them but do they do something that the Phantom finder cant? If so what kind do you recommend?

If i'm not mistaken, the DJI "find my phantom" only works with a phone thru its LTE/GSM carrier signal... So wifi only tablets cannot use the feature. I also am interested in a GPS locator, however it seems none have a very good range or have a service contract to use.

The cell phone companies could make a sim card system, speciffically for drone tracking with a purchase of a module/chip and small monthly fee,( 5$ or so) and many pliots would use it, if the technology met their needs.

All of the ones I've seen are bulky affairs with limited range.... Maybe the technology just isnt quite there yet.

"Tagg" Pet tracker, seems to be one of the popular models, but has a limited range, and some poor reviews.
 
There are a number of different solutions, depending upon your flying site.

A GPS / GSM tracker uses GPS to find its own location, then a cell phone network to send a text or data stream to the tracking device. These are fine where you have good cell phone coverage and can get Pay as You Go type sims, where you just pay a minimal top up fee to use. This is what I have, as all my flying sites have good coverage and the sim card is only £8 per month. Mine will zero in on an area of less than 2M square. It cost £15 to buy and weighs 45g. An app\on my smart phone shows the location on Google maps and allows me to control the tracker. I can even listen to it's on board microphone!

Radio Locator "Pingers" are used by Birds of Prey owners to track their birds. They use directional receiving antennae with a special receiver to find the pinger. It takes practice to use the kit and it is quite expensive - about £500 for a good system and £200 for even an entry level system. The good points are that they do not require GPS or GSM coverage and the transmitters are very light and small - 5g of so. Range is in excess of 10Km on the high end equipment.

Bluetooth trackers like Tile require close proximity to a mobile device, so are only of use in high density areas, with good cell coverage and plenty of smart phone users. Not really suitable for quadcopters!

Avoid basic pet finders and radio pingers, as they really do not work well. another option would be an audible sounder which can be heard over a few hundred yards, enabling you do find the quad, even if hidden in dense undergrowth.
 
I don't know how "Find my Phantom" works because I have a Phantom 2.

I have a tracker RF-V16 purchased off of ebay.
It weighs 28 grams on my scale with velcro attached
I use H2O Wireless. Refills cost $10 every three months. I use the 10 cents a minute plan, so I never have to use it UNLESS I lose my quad.
I live in a fairly rural area and it picks up well.
 
Find my phantom in the vision app can only find it if its got a signal to your phantom and will only show the last place it was before it shut off or lost the fpv connection. So really only useful if its close by and just fell out of the sky or auto landed with in range for the app to off had the phantoms gps data and course info.

For a tracker I have a trackimo gps tracker. which seems to work very well Tho to see were the tracker is you need to go on the internet and tell it to locate or use the web app on a phone. You can also set it up to give text alerts if you go over a set speed limit or if the tracker ever starts moving. Or goes out side a geo fence area you can set up in the ap.
and the cool part about it is it works any place that has any cell phone reception and not stuck to only one carrier.
and it even comes with its own sim card thats prepaid for the first 12 months of servis. the trackimo retails for $89-99 and so its a pretty good deal that its got a free year of service. Then its $5 per month after the first year of free service is up.
I lucked out and bought mine when it was on sale for $49 which was even more awesome that it still came with $60 of service.

one other cool thing is the trackimo has a sos button on it. If the sos button is pressed it sends an SOS alert to a text and emails you to. So if some one ever finds your lost phantom and starts pressing buttons to try and turn off the tiny box on the bottom with a red led on it. it will send an alert with its exact location. It also some times works to locate its self in side a house. Tho some times you have to hit the locate button in the app a few times before it locates. But if some one picks your phantom and walks off with it there is still a good chance you will find it even if they bring it in side there house.
 
......And it makes a difference on where you are located. Your profile does not state so.......?
 

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