Not being a particularly common device, you may be wondering how a car GPS locator works. In reality, its use is straightforward. It allows you to find the position of the vehicle wherever it is, just like a satellite navigator would.
The advantages that a locator guarantees are manifold, moreover some models offer the user a series of useful functions. These products can also be found in extremely compact dimensions.
Ideal for tying them to the collar of your pet or giving them to children and older people to keep an eye on their movements. These are useful items sold at low prices. Let’s see how to use them at best.
Here we had selected some fo the best and advanced models of car Gps that are given below.
Car Gps Buying Guide
Motorists are increasingly installing a GPS locator on their car, to be able to find the car in the event of theft. In truth, the GPS tracker also has other functions.
For example, it can be used to know where a person is, and it can be applied to a dog’s collar to find it immediately in case it gets lost.
Battery
The car GPS locator is a device that can come in very handy for several reasons; for example, you could use it to find your vehicle immediately after parking it in an unfamiliar place.
Much more important, however, is the protection of the car from any theft, since you can monitor the position directly from your smartphone or tablet and check that everything is fine.
Being a device powered by a battery, it must have a good autonomy so that you have to recharge it only a few times in the space of two weeks or even a month.
A 5,000 or 6,000 mAh battery allows almost two months of use, so you can safely leave the GPS in your car without having to recharge it too often.
Count that this feature raises the price slightly, but if you are used to traveling often by car for business trips, it will be better to opt for one of these models.
Dimensions
Car thieves, good ones, are not unwary and usually know how to recognize a GPS tracker very well, so they can disable it, destroy it, or simply throw it away.
It is a good idea to opt for a product of not too large dimensions so that you can hide it inside the vehicle in the least visible places. For example, hidden under one of the seats or well hid in the trunk.
Moreover, the smaller the GPS, the more you will have the opportunity to choose a location where to place it without cluttering too much. The reception will still be excellent, so you can opt for a small product without worrying about the fact that this may adversely affect the signal.
Functions
The main function of modern car GPS trackers is to report the position of your vehicle on smartphones and tablets with iOS or Android operating systems. This is done through a dedicated app that can be downloaded for free, usually made by the locator’s manufacturer.
Some GPS are also able to show you the latest routes made in the various movements of the last few months, or maybe warn you if the battery is about to discharge so you can intervene in advance.
A very useful function and present in the best car GPS locator are that of the ‘engine block,’ which allows you to stop the vehicle remotely in case of theft.
To activate it, it will be necessary to install the device in the engine compartment, connecting it to the electrical system, an operation that is often best done by an electrician.
Small parenthesis: working on your car or garage, did you notice that you are missing an extremely precise instrument to measure very small objects? Then take a look at some of the best digital calipers.
Installation
The extremely compact size of the GPS locator allows you to position it in any position of the car. Thanks to the handy magnet on the back, it will be possible to place it in the most unthinkable places.
To hide it so as not to let it find any thieves who could deactivate or destroy it. It will be possible to install it both inside the car and outside.
Ideal, therefore, to place it under the passenger seat or perhaps in the trunk or a storage compartment inside. As for the external installation, it is advisable to install it on the lower sheet of the vehicle, a place that is not easily accessible.
The compact sizes also allow you to carry it in your pocket without any problem, in case you want to carry it in the house to recharge it or maybe use it on another vehicle.
Functions
Although this model does not have the useful function of the engine block, it is forgiven with a series of interesting options that can be activated via the dedicated app.
This can be downloaded for free on Android and iOS smartphones to immediately identify the position of the vehicle, wherever it is. The response time, however, is not perfect, at least according to what users have declared.
The possibility of memorizing the various routes taken over three months is very useful to monitor the activity of your vehicle. Useful when you lend the car to your children or perhaps to check the movements of your partner.
By inserting a SIM (not included in the price), you can activate the function of SMS alerts and vibration that will notify you if the car is moved. It will also be possible to use the Geofence function, delimiting an area of action within which the car can turn.
How to Use the Gps Tracker?
Gps: What It Is?
Before talking about the tracker, it seems appropriate to illustrate to those who are not aware of it, what a GPS is, an acronym for Global Position System.
In essence, it is a terrestrial positioning system that originally had to have only military purposes, so much so that the United States Department of Defense developed it.
The civil uses, as said at the beginning, are manifold, and anyone can buy a GPS receiver and know where it is thanks to the more than 20 satellites located in the Earth’s orbit.
How Gps Works?
But how does GPS work? How does it detect our position or that of the car? The operation is based on a two-module structure: there is a satellite receiver that can acquire the position using the location of at least four satellites.
Through a series of calculations about the distance between the satellites themselves, using the so-called method of trilateration of the data obtained performs a calculation to provide an exact point. The second module is the transmitter that sends, precisely, the coordinates of where it is located.
Find the Car
Let’s see one of the cases in which the GPS tracker is useful. You have a nice car, new and above all, expensive—stuff to tempt thieves. By mounting a GPS tracker, you will always know where your car is.
The device does a very simple thing (at least in words): it determines the position of the car via satellites and transmits data, using servers, using the GSM / UMTS network. Therefore a SIM card is needed.
You can also take advantage of the data connection and receive an SMS that warns you if the car is started.
For Sport
Those who practice sports such as running, cycling and all other disciplines that take place on a course often rely on a GPS tracker. In this case, the device can be used to calculate the distance traveled, to keep track of the distance traveled.
Not everyone has cartography, a feature that we think is very important, also in order not to get lost and therefore we suggest to prefer the trackers who are equipped with it.
