What is Reddit's opinion of Traccar?

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He says this is the GPS tracker: Xexun TK201-2. The -2 at the end is the waterproof version. And this is the GPS software: Traccar. The harness was the Trixie cat harness from Amazon.

It was originally developed for tracking cars, but this is far more interesting :D

You can buy a tracking device that connects via battery and stays in the engine compartment. No need to use OBD2. It will work on any old car too.

Look for these in AliExpress and you can use them. There are open source applications that you can setup on the cloud for $10 a month with phone apps that can show you location of your car.

One such is TracCar.

Another is OpenGTS. There are potentially others that don’t use the OBD2 port.

OpenGTS and TracCar support a variety of cheap hardware.

You may also use LoJack.

You can use an open source GPS tracker solution like Traccar.

https://www.traccar.org

You can install an app on Android or IPhone that sends the location info to the server every x seconds (where x is between 1 and millions).

For server you can use your own server or rented with Traccar server. You can also use the server of a friend that can open you an account.

For viewing in real time you can use any web browser or Traccar Manager as an app for Android or Iphone.

I use it already for 3 years for family and friends, including GPS tracking for ebikes, moto, cars, pets, e.t.c. Actually this is an open source software for GPS tracking.

You can configure the device through SMS so it can send the information to a server IP. If I remember correctly, each device has a specific port they send the data to. So you would need to find out what device you have and find the port. I spent like $10 just trying to figure out the right commands to configure the device.

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Next set up a server to listen to that port so you can receive the incoming requests. Once you receive the data you will likely need to decode it. You can use this link https://www.traccar.org/hex-decoder/ to decode your data.

You've got the connection down. SERVER_HOST is my dynamic DNS address. I did port forwarding on 5170 (UDP) to my NUC.

Traccar is entirely locally hosted. You can choose which ports you want open - I actually only have 5055 (OsmAnd) and 5170 (Freematics) plus the web interface. They have a list of supported devices/protocols and ports. Storage is all in my local MySQL database.

Thanks for your advice. I got it working relatively easily.

For anyone else reading this, here's what you need to do:

• Create a new database instance and name it whatever you like.
• Grant permissions to the account that accesses the database to the newly created instance. Ensure it has the ability to do more than read as it will need to create tables.
• Modify the file /config/traccar.xml in your Hassio instance with the instructions found here: https://www.traccar.org/mysql/. Use the account/password for which you granted to the newly created database.
• Restart your traccar add-on. You should see the add-on create 38 (I think this is the correct number) tables in the instance.

For whatever reason, when I did this initially, I ran into an issue where the Traccar add-on created the tables but couldn't start properly. It was trying to obtain a lock and couldn't. To resolve the issue, I stopped gre Traccar add-on and dropped all of the tables. You have to experiment with the order in which you drop tables as there are dependencies that may require you to drop certain tables before others may be dropped. Conversely, you could delete the new instance and recreate it.

After having a clean database instance, I restarted tee Traccar add-on and everything worked add expected.

Thanks again mbonani for pointing out the traccar.xml file to me.

Esse tipo de aparelho normalmente tem o GPRS configurável, não precisa enviar para um site chinês. Existe o excelente http://orange.gps-trace.com (russo) ou opções opensource como o https://www.traccar.org/ (pode até instalar em um server local)

E a precisão dos que tenho é excelente. Erro de poucos metros.

Traccar works pretty well and is open source. There's an Android and iphone app that the kids can install to automatically report their position. There is a demo server you can use without any limits but I would set up your own. https://www.traccar.org/

I use selfhosted https://www.traccar.org

You run your own server ( can be in the docker) then you install client app on iPhone. Works great and has much more options than life360

Traccar

I used it with 15x Teltonika RUT955s in our fleet of trucks during an internal pilot.

Bonus: it's open source and works with hundreds of devices from dozens of manufacturers.

Traccar. It is a pretty good system. Probably your most user friendly option.

https://www.traccar.org/download/

Also official Docker image.

https://github.com/traccar/traccar-docker

They have mobile applications to make tracking easy. My suggestion is assign a phone (company phone) to each vehicle (company vehicle). That should get you vehicle tracking/employee tracking.

Thieves are increasingly aware of those too, and I believe they often shove the bikes into the van which has been modified to act as a faraday cage. This gives them time to remove the tracker without it being able to call home. GPS trackers are not valueless, and you can even DIY pretty easily - for instance, put a pre-paid SIM in an old phone you've replaced, hide the phone somewhere on the bike wired to the battery with a charger, and either install your own https://www.traccar.org/ server somewhere like a cheap cloud virtual server provider or just pay them a monthly fee to use one of their hosted instances. They have an Android client that makes it possible to track any phone you install it on. Literally the only cost if you do it this way is the pre-paid SIM card, and whatever you pay to run the Traccar server.

http://www.opengts.org/ https://www.traccar.org/

Check these before you build your own. But yes, Django will work well. You'll probably only need a single API for the buses to hit. Depending on what client the bus uses, that could be custom or could receive a standard format.

https://www.traccar.org/ can also be used to give you complete map tracking for free. Though you do have to have a server to run it on if you go for the free variant, it's open source but if you want them to host it it costs a few bucks.

They make a client for mobile phones too, so if you have some used up old Android phone, you can install the app and use it as your tracker, hide it somewhere on the vehicle and wire it to 12 volt power.

Check out Traccar.

It's an app that runs on phone, and it can be set to be hidden.

You can log in to traccar on any device with a browser, and it will give you a live position, as well as historical data.

It works from cell towers, so that phone has to be turned on, with a sim card in, but does not need wifi or data connection.

https://www.traccar.org/

It really depends on what you expect from the tracker.

You can buy a cheap and simple Bluetooth diagnostic OBD device (elm327 clone off aliexpress) and combine it with a mobile app. The app will track your journey's using your phone's built in location services, you will get some insights into your car's performance (via Bluetooth dongle). This is the cheapest option, but it does not give you a flexibility - you can only view the data using that app on that particular phone. What happens if you lend your car to a partner? Etc.

Alternatively, you can purchase (slightly more expensive) an OBD GPS tracker. These also have different features, some can only send you SMS, some can be used with self hosting solutions such as Traccar which can run on cheap Raspberry Pi clones. If you are more tech savvy, you can set this up, but it also brings the maintenance (updating software, possible security issues, possible network breach...) and you usually need your own SIM card. This can be really fun and enjoyable, but as said, you will need to invest some time every now and then.

If you don't feel confident setting that up, or just don't have time, then you will need a full fledged solution, with a company behind it, who provides support and constant updates, to keep the product stable and secure. These usually come with subscription fee, which covers the development, SIM card and server fees, so you don't have to worry about that yourself. It usually comes with mobile app and web interface, so you can check the data from all your devices simultaneously.

There are also other, non OBD alternatives, which usually require professional installation.

Which one is the right for you? Only you should be able to decide on that.

I suggest to check CarLock and maybe read some of the blog posts as well, there are some more in-depth suggestions.

Disclaimer: I am a developer at CarLock.

I endorse this, and also Traccar ( https://www.traccar.org/ ) has an open source server to receive data from pre-existing tracking devices. By looking at the devices traccar is compatible with you can see lots of examples of what's out there, and it can be a basis of comparison for more inclusive paid services.

I'll also add, if you're looking at cellular data plans, search for "m2m sim" you might find providers and options that are more relevant for your needs than plans oriented toward people's phones.

https://www.traccar.org/ + an old Android phone you install the Traccar client on. I tried setting that up for myself just for fun; granted I work with computers, but it took maybe 20 minutes to spin up a virtual server with Traccar and start tracking the phone. With a live map and everything. Put a pre-paid sim in the phone, perhaps, and wire it to the car's battery and hide it somewhere in the van.

Traccar works well for this kind of things: it's a server that can record gps data from many kind of devices, set polylines and polygons for doing geofencing with notifications. I made a client for Dart.

The advantage of this approach vs an existing api is that you own your data and it is very flexible. The downside is that you have to setup a server.

OK, so I've found the solution - the certificate file you put in the config for traccar in Hass.io needs to have the full chain. It's an Android limitation can't cope with just the server certificate.

Same issue on Traccar forums

Simple. Get a GPS unit, and walk into a valley. You'll still have a signal. On top of a mountain, signal. But in a place with no open sky? Suddenly no signal.

If it was ground based towers, a valley would lose connection. Much like a cellphone. Same with atmospheric signal bouncing. Ground based GPS is not only to costly, but would easily be noticed.

We know what frequency the GPS signals work on. You can make a home made GPS receiver

http://www.aholme.co.uk/GPS/Main.htm

Based off of the information we know.

There's even open source software.

https://www.traccar.org

So what do we not know? We know the signals come into, and out of focus from a stationary position like the satellites that orbit us. We know the frequency, and the raw data. We know the hardware to decipherer the data. And we know the software that puts it all together.

So again. What do you think is the lie?

This dedicated open-source project might be a more appropriate and complete solution, depending on your skillset, resources, and how transparent you want this to be for the device user.

• https://www.traccar.org

This, though I would use the old phone and load up Traccar on the phone and setup your own server. Their mysql instructions are here. I do this for myself on road trips

Don't forget also that you can use traccar for actual tracking. It uses Openstreetmaps as it templates and you can set up a OSM server to point to with all sort of custom information including routing, POI, real time traffic analysis etc etc.

You do not need a GPS watch you just need a GPS tracker. Use something like this and fit it into their jacket or trousers. Insert a SIM card and have it either txt you are using GPRS give you map data on something like Traccar