TK102 Tracker Setup Help

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Anyone setup a TK102 GPS Tracker that might have some suggestions for me? This "inexpensive" little $30 device seemed like a good idea, but it's giving me headaches. I went down to the local store and picked up a TracFone sim card kit for use in the TK102 for about $10. I then did a one-month service plan for another $7 just to give it a try. If I understand correctly, the TK102 instructions say to put the sim card in a phone temporarily and send a text message to another phone to find out what the phone number for calling the TK102 will be. Unfortunately the only phone I have to use it in is CDMA based, and any attempt to retrieve the phone number has been unsuccessful. I'm nearly $50 in now, and getting nowhere. Any suggestions? Thanks!
 
Here in the UK when purchasing a SIM card it comes in a package which has the number to dial printed on it. I'm using the TK102 to great effect no issues.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots
 
First text
gprs123456

When you get a message back then you reply with

fix120s***n123456

It should then be all set up ready to go [emoji4]

Neon Euc
 
So this story continues. I'll chronicle it here for anyone thinking about the TK102 as a tracking device for their drone. So far, it's been a very unsuccessful journey for me:

This morning I went in search of the elusive SIM card with associated phone number:

Since my cell phone carrier (Sprint) uses a CDMA network rather than a GSM network, they told me that the TK102 wouln't work with their system. However, the associate there was savvy enough to steer me toward pre-paid phones that use the AT&T or T-Mobile networks. He said that I should be able to activate a pre-paid phone and then open it up and retrieve the SIM card. Unfortunately, the pre-paid phone plans for GSM network carriers seem to be in the $30 to $40 per month range, unlike the TracFone card that I tried initially (without success because there was no phone number associated with it) which can be as low as $19 for three months. So now, assuming this GSM network pre-paid plan were to work, I'd be looking at a minimum of another $30 for the phone and at least $30/month for service. No thanks! I might as well be using the drone-proven Trackimo device/service for $139 + $5 per month. As I understand it, another option is Flytrex at $152, but then I'm back to needing a SIM card. Am I missing something here? Any other tracking suggestions greatly appreciated! By the way, I already have a TrackR device for short range Bluetooth tracking.
 
Did the tracker not come with a Sim as I believe that was the universal code you had to type in that I mentioned above

Neon Euc
 
Update: Just got off the phone with AT&T Technical Support. They said that using the SIM card from an activated pre-paid phone may or may not work, as it may not support the data functions necessary. This is looking like a real non-starter project. Unfortunately I already started :eek: Anybody need a TK102 without a SIM card?:D
 
Last edited:
I have the same situation. I bought a TK102 last year. Set it up with a H2O SIM card, pay as you go plan, and it worked well. I let the plan lapse after 3 months. ( no drone )
Now I have a drone, so I tried to get it working again. I bought another H2O SIM card, activated it with a dealers phone. Website and customer reps say I am "good to go!" AND yes, it does work in dealers phone.
Problem is, my TK102 tracker will not respond. H2o says tracker needs a 2G network. H20 is 3G & 4G as of Jan'17. No 2G anymore. So my tracker will not respond.

I have been researching this and have been told......"AT&T will end their GSM/GPRS Band (2G) service at the end of 2016. This includes H2O and Puretalk. This tracker, and virtually all others currently sold will no longer work. Eventually, all cell phone companies will follow suit. They are doing this to reclaim those frequencies for faster services."

We will need a device that handles 3G and I don't know of any currently being sold that are under $50. I hear users in the UK can still use 2G.

Anyone who is in the USA and this tracker works, tell us Where you got the sim card, the cell company you are using and what plan you chose.

I am still looking into all of this. Will update when I find an answer. We KNOW what we want... a simple device to squawk back its GPS coordinates when we call it, once a week or so. No big deal, right?
 
Hi,

Cant we just program the GPS to log the data to the SD card and then read the SD card on the computer ?

I have been trying to do that but with no luck

Any of you managed to do that ?

Thanks
 
What we're trying to do here is use this inexpensive device, "TK102 GPS tracker", that we can attach to our drones, and if we lose it, we call the tracker and it responds with it's GPS coordinates. Drone found!
I spoke to T-mobile the other day as I heard they are still using GSM systems until 2020. So I bought a t-mobile SIM and will "activate" it on the T-mobile network. Hopefully it will work. Will know in a few days when I get it. Will let you know.
 
yes, but these TK102 trackers use 2G network. Have you had any luck with anything like these?
 
I picked up a TK102B off of eBay for under $12 and also ran into headaches setting it up but with help from the forum I'm up and running real time tracking.

I use Ting wireless for my cell phone provider and got a GSM card from them to add to my account. I pay $5/month to keep the card active then just whatever data/texts I use. Ting GSM runs on T-mobile so from what's been said above I should be good until 2020.

The instructions that came with the tracker aren't the best but were sufficient to set up getting location via SMS.

Here is a post on this forum for setting up real-time tracking:
Cheap GPS tracking device TK-102 real time tracking setup

I tried getting live tracking to work with gps-trace.com but the site doesn't seem to like this tracker (note: you have to set it up as a TK103 tracker). When setting up live tracking a helpful site to see if your tracker is connecting is Device Unique ID Checker . I finally got Traccar showing my device on one of it's free demo servers www.traccar.org/demo-server/ I have the tracker update it's position every 15 seconds during flight.

With everything working I 3D printed a holder for the tracker (DJI Phantom 2/3 Tracker Holder by dipicorg) and life is good.

tracker.jpg
 

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