I work for a residential home builder and we lose thousands of dollars
every year due to theft, especially appliances. I would like a way to
tag / track the appliances for better "inventory" control.
My guidelines when evaluating a solution would be:
1) Cost. If I can buy a new cooktop / refridgerator / dishwasher for
less than the cost of the tracking device and monitoring service it's
not worth it to me.
2) Size / permanance of the tracker. If the device is a bulky box
that inhibts installation of the appliance, or is easily identified as
a tracking device and removed by the thieves, it doesn't help.
Somewhat conflicting though is my desire to re-use the devices, if
possible, to reduce per-asset costs.
3) Range. I'll need something with a range of around 100 miles, maybe
a few hundred, because if an appliance does "walk" I often won't know
for a day or more. Although, I believe most are transported only a
few miles to a safe area so if the first two criteria are met and the
range is less, that is ok. |
Request for Question Clarification by
pafalafa-ga
on
19 Jun 2005 19:33 PDT
John,
You might want to consider something like the unit described here:
http://www.vehicle-tracking.com/products/3100_ext.html
It's a stand-alone GPS system that is battery operated and magnet
mounted. It costs about $300 a pop, but since it's reuseable pretty
much indefinitely, it shouldn't add much to overall costs.
There are no monthly fees or other charges associated with the unit.
Have a look, and let me know what you think.
pafalafa-ga
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Request for Question Clarification by
pafalafa-ga
on
19 Jun 2005 19:34 PDT
Ooops...on closer inspection, this won't do, since it doesn't appear
to transmit its data. Sorry!
paf
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Clarification of Question by
john_schulz-ga
on
20 Jun 2005 05:36 PDT
I've got an email in to these guys (http://www.aarttrack.com/). No
idea what their pricing structure is like.
Thanks,
John
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Request for Question Clarification by
czh-ga
on
01 Jul 2005 00:56 PDT
Hello john_schulz-ga,
Have you already checked this out?
http://gps.engadget.com/entry/1234000830031304/
QinetiQ announces smallest GPS tracking unit
Good luck.
~ czh ~
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Clarification of Question by
john_schulz-ga
on
05 Jul 2005 05:39 PDT
czh,
No, I hadn't seen that before.
I went to QinetiQ's site, but couldn't find any pricing info; only
the press release.
Thanks,
John
|
Request for Question Clarification by
czh-ga
on
05 Jul 2005 08:41 PDT
Hello john_schulz-ga,
Here is some more information about the QinetiQ product. I'm not sure
whether it is already on the market or not. I suggest that you contact
them and get the additional information you need.
http://www.qinetiq.com/home/commercial/information_communication_and_electronics/asset_man_solutions/gps/high_sensitivity_gps.html
High Sensitivity GPS
http://www.qinetiq.com/home/contact.html
How to contact us
However you wish to contact us, we welcome your enquiry. Even if you
have not found the answer to your question within the site, please
take the time to ask us and we will try to help.
You can contact us by the following methods (see website)
Good luck.
~ czh ~
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