Don't leave anything of value, or anything that looks like it may have value, in plain view in your car. Even an empty backpack will be inviting to a thief. They don’t know that it’s empty. Don't leave anything in your car with your name and address on it. Carry your registration and insurance card in your wallet. Keep you car keys on a separate key ring from your house keys. Park only in well-lit, busy areas. Do not put items of value in your trunk while shopping. Your trunk is easy to break into and thieves watch for people placing items in their trunks. If you have to leave something in your car, pull over and place it in your trunk before you get to where you are going. Install motion sensor flood lights on the front of your house. This will not only help protect vehicles parked in front of your house but will also help protect your home and your family. Vehicle alarms can be a deterrent to amateur car thieves and car burglars. Some alarms disable the vehicle's starter or fuel pump until reset by the vehicle owner while others merely make noise and are usually ignored.

The alarms with the disable feature are the most effective. Keep in mind that even the best alarms can be bypassed. As with car alarms, steering wheel locks or the "Club" may deter inexperienced car thieves. These devices are easy to circumvent and should not be counted on to protect your car, especially if you drive a popular model that is often stolen for parts. Thieves can very easily cut the steering wheel or remove the lock from the bar itself.backpack program dickinson nd There are several types of vehicle recovery systems available, although not all are available in all areas. ender backpack ftbSome systems use electronic radio transmitting devices such as the VectorTrac and LoJack sytems. izak backpackGM’s OnStar is a well-known GPS/Cellular based tracking product that can also recover a vehicle under the right circumstances.

Tracking systems, especially the RF Tracking systems, are very good at getting your vehicle back after it has been stolen and when combined with a vehicle alarm, offer the best protection you can get. LoJack utilizes a small radio transceiver hidden within the vehicle. Because LoJack doesn't have automatic activation capability, the vehicle owner must report the theft to police before tracking can begin. LoJack has been around longer than any other system and is well established in the US, the UK, and many other countries. Like LoJack, the VectorTrac system utilizes a small radio transceiver that is hidden within the vehicle. Unlike LoJack, however, VectorTrac Locator Unit also has a GPS receiver which can give the control center a good initial fix on the vehicle before trackers are even dispatched. The vehicle may then be tracked from a computer as Tracking Receiver equipped vehicles move in for the apprehension and recovery. The control center can remotely kill the vehicle’s engine at anytime to avoid dangerous pursuits and allow easy and safe recovery of the vehicle.

The VectorTrac Locator Unit has several inputs and outputs that may be configured by the system integrator to enable features such as tamper detection, automatic activation, horn honk etc. Due to FCC regulations, VectorTrac is not available in the U.S.Do you own a four-wheeler, a snowmobile, a motorcycle, a golf cart, or any vehicle that doesn’t have LoJack, OnStar, or some other form of real-time GPS tracking? If so, then you’ll be interested in the SPOT Trace GPS Tracker. It will even work in backpacks, luggage, or other moveable objects that you need to track. The SPOT Trace offers advanced theft-alert tracking for anything. Instantly receive a text or email when your most valuable assets move, or follow them on Google Maps anytime on your phone or computer. Custom tracking options allow you to select the rate at which updates are sent – every 2½, 5, 10, 30 or 60 minutes. The SPOT Trace is a little black plastic box that measures approximately 2.5″ long by 2″ wide by 0.75″ thick.

When activated with service, it: Included in the box are: There’s also an option for buying a waterproof DC power cable if you need a “secure power connection between your SPOT Trace and a DC power source,” perfect for permanent installs in vehicles. Before using the Trace, you need to set up an account at the SPOT site. There are two subscriptions available: Basic is $99/ year and Extreme is an additional $99/year. Here’s the difference between the two services: Basic: SPOT Trace automatically sends an SMS text/email with your asset’s GPS coordinates once movement has been detected. View the asset’s GPS coordinates anytime online or via our app. Basic service allows you to customize your Trace to track every 5, 10, 30 or 60 minutes. Also, customize your device’s dock mode, movement alert, status, low battery and power off settings. Extreme: Enjoy even greater assurance with Extreme Tracking . Enjoy all the features of Basic Service, with the added benefit of being able to track your asset’s GPS coordinates every 2½ minutes.

Why would you want to go for the Extreme subscription? Well, if you think about it, 5 minutes is a lot of time when something is on the move. Speeding pings up to 2.5 minutes means better tracking ability. Once your account is set up, you will likely need to do a quick update to your device, depending upon the services that you want it to perform; this is done by tethering the Trace to your computer with its microUSB cable, downloading the Mac or PC update, and then running it. Because the Trace is waterproof, accessing the charging port on its bottom is done by unscrewing two screws to expose the microUSB port. The top of the device has a power button flanked by two LEDs. The LED on the left tells you that it is working, the one on the right shows that GPS is engaged.When you first turn the Trace on, the two lights will flash green back and forth excitedly. After 20 minutes the lights will stop flashing; don’t worry, the device is working, it’s just entered stealth mode.

The first time you turn the Trace on, you need to leave it outside for the initial 20 minutes so that it can acquire a solid GPS position. account (and/or on the SPOT app), you’re in business. Here’s what’s amazing: not only will you get the location of your SPOT Trace, you’ll also get a VISUAL of its exact location (and in this instance, a lovely aerial view of the mounds of dirt that I still need to spread with our tractor to complete our side yard). That’s pretty freaking cool right? You can also follow the location tracking on your computer. But since we don’t want to track the landscaping rock that I set the Trace on so it could acquire a signal, we need to consider mounting possibilities. The tracker comes with a plastic mount that can be screwed in for mounting, or you can use the included velcro strips if screwing something in is not an option. The biggest thing to consider when mounting your Trace is that you don’t want to lose your signal, so …

For the best reception, you’ll want to mount the Trace “with the SPOT logo pointed towards the sky (the satellite antenna is located under the logo).” You might want to read the manual (.pdf file) for any other mounting caveats. My trace is mounted in my Jeep, which has a fiberglass roof (I used the velcro mount). I don’t have to worry about any interference in this location, so it’s perfect. Bear in mind that if this is to be mounted on a regular all-metal vehicle, finding a place to mount it might be a little bit tricky. Remember that putting it under metal can wreak havoc with the GPS signal; think about what happens if you pull your vehicle under a metal carport when listening to satellite radio; it’s the same principle. Since the Trace is waterproof and includes mounting screws, you can get creative with where you place it. Although I mention that the Trace can be thrown in a bag, you should know that it wasn’t made for personal wear. If you are going to use it on someone’s person, it needs to be kept “at least 20 cm (7.9 inches) away from the human body” so in the bottom of a backpack or duffel bag should be fine.

When the Trace is mounted and properly transmitting, if it moves, you’ll know it via email You can select how long the Trace needs to be stationary before you start getting movement alerts via email, text message, or both. Depending upon which of the Trace’s tracking interval options you’ve selected, tracking updates will be posted to the map every 2 ½, 5, 10, 30, or 60 minutes — for as long as your Trace is powered on or until the batteries run out. Be advised that any time you change the tracking frequency, you will need to do a firmware update; this is no big deal, as the process is simple and quick to do. You should also be aware that any time you do an update, you’ll need your Trace’s Authorization number; it’s best to keep that handy. On the SPOT site, you’ll see the Trace’s current location any time you want to see it, as well as your history. You can see the same information using the iPhone or Android app. Battery life is dependent upon many variables, but here is a chart of what you might expect.

When the battery is low, you’ll get either an email or text message — or both — depending upon what you’ve selected in preferences. At that time, you just remove the Trace from its holster (or pull it from the other side of the velcro), and plug it back into your computer overnight. While text message notifications seemed to be iffy, I did receive email notifications regularly when my jeep was moved after being idle for 30 minutes or more. The scenario I have in my head, though, is that if my Jeep (or anything else I had this attached to) was to be stolen I might not get an immediate notification, but I would be able to track where it was, once I realized it was missing. The SPOT Trace would be the perfect device to put on a teen driver’s vehicle; you could use the app to make sure that they were where they said they were when they said they were there or for general peace of mind. It’s also a great way to share your location with family members when you are traveling;

you can do this by setting up a shared page. , click on the Shared Page tab and follow the instructions. start sharing your adventures today! Since SPOT uses GPS rather than cellular, it should work basically everywhere — including the most remote locations that have no cellular service whatsoever. I don’t have any dramatic stories about how having the SPOT TRACE installed in my Jeep got it found after being stolen, and honestly, I hope that I won’t ever. But I do have two things now that I didn’t have before: peace of mind, and an easy way to find my Jeep when I park outdoors. I’ve used it in grocery store parking lots, and it showed me exactly where my Jeep was; I am certain it will be handy when I visit Fredericksburg again and have to park on some side street (I always have trouble remembering where I parked when I do that). The bottom line is that if my Jeep ever disappears, I’ll be able to find it, and that is a pretty awesome thing. Special: the SPOT Trace is FREE after rebate through 12/31 when purchased through one of their retailers and activated with Extreme Tracking.