blonky
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Posts posted by blonky
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Bombay/Pukekohe, Auckland
Well it came back but took another load a fuel so boss has logged it already :-\
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If anyone knows the owner of this vehicle that they owe $80 to a certain gas station for filling without paying and driving off, don\'t want to have to let it slip through to the debt collectors
Thanks all
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Yeah it does seem like you\'re achieving much but it\'s a free discount...just gotta maximise it
And of course if you were to accumulate heaps then use it on a $40 fill then you might as well not accumulate at all; it works out saving you 6c/L no matter how many times you saved up! As long as the you fill you tank from as empty as possibly when you redeem you will get a better return
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Haven\'t calculated it recently but when it was 6c/L discounts ideally you would do between 2 and 6 $40 fills and accumulate, then do a full tank and redeem. Any more than 6 accumulated fills (36c/L total) and there were diminishing returns.
6 fills * 6c/L = 36c/L accumulated
6 fills * $40 of 98 (17.7L) = 106.2L
7th fill of 50L, using your 36c + 6c from this visit: 67
50L * 42c = $21 saved
Total gas purchased: 156.2L
21/156.2 = effective 13.44c/L, which is greater than 6c/L haha
So basically if you redeem instantly you get 6c/L. If you accumulated once then filled you save 8.9c/L overall. Accumulate 6 times and fill you save 13.4c/L overall
Clear as mud? Since you are giving up you discount on your earlier $40 fills, the final discount needs to take this into account. So even if you got 36c/L saved up, it isn\'t really worth 36c/L when you remember the times you paid full price.
From what I understand now you score 4c/L then register your receipt online for another 4c. Which is fine if you accumulate but if you redeem then you only get to use 4c and the other 4c is loaded on your card for next time.
Same principle applies I guess
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Not sure, I think they\'re lime flavoured?
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Hey I have 20 cans of the silver limited edition red bull I\'m up for selling,
$20 for 20 cans which is pretty cheap
Pick up in Auckland (Penrose/Ellerslie working hours or One Tree Hill/Royal Oak area after) and the proceeds go entirely to the Auckland City Mission
Anyone keen?
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Isn\'t that noise caused by turbo flutter? As in no BOV causes the compressed air for be forced back against the turbo\'s turbine when the throttle is shut
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Promo was pulled at BP Connect (company owned) stations as of last night due to suppliers unable to meet demand. BP 2go (private owners) will be running until end of the week until further notice.
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So here's my first product review on this site, hope it's in the right area as it didn't seem right to post in the 'for sale' section
So anyway today I'm reviewing one of the cheapest, and most common on eBay/Alibaba, GPS vehicle trackers on the market at the moment. It comes under different names, GT06, TK106, TKV06 and the chipset is also used in different physical cases and renamed TK103. The model I picked up is the GT06 v3.2 from a supplier on Alibaba.com, at $41USD + shipping. This equates to around $83NZD all up if customs don't pick it up and charge you import duties and GST.
Features:
Chipset: SirF Star 3 - used the be the standard but #4 has been out for a while now
Form: Compact all-in-on, internal antennas
Inputs: -VE on, used for the SOS button, sends and alert when grounded for >3s
Outputs: -VE, grounds when activated, used to trigger the relay
Power input: 9-36V DC
Consumption: 160mA
Network: GSM
Built in shock sensor
Serial port
Microphone input
Unboxing:
Comes well packaged, accessories includes power wiring loom, 3M yellow wiring for the relay trigger, microphone+wiring, sos button+wiring, relay and relay socket+wiring, 3M adhesive pad, cable tie
GT06 Smart Vehicle Tracker:
The unit itself it quite heavy for how it looks, but everything is internal including the battery and antennas, and the manufacturer claims the unit is waterproof. The casing is made from a rubbery material and it encloses the sim card and power switch which ensures a water tight seal.
On one end all the wiring protrudes, and although many people do not require all the wires, you cannot detach them with cutting. The serial interface I found annoying as the plug is quite large yet is almost never used unless you wish to utilise the serial interface.
On the other end is the 3 status LED's which indicate: GSM signal, GPS signal, Battery status.
On the side is the slot for the sim card.
Installation:
This will differ depending on the situation, but I installed in my motorcycle. Quite simple as I didn't need the microphone, relay, sos button or the serial interface. Red wire to battery positive, black to ground, and I tapped into the driving light line for the ACC detect. I set up my sim card online using 2 Degrees' website which allows me to top up and purchase data if required without having to put the sim back into a normal mobile. Being waterproof I was able to hide the unit in the lower rear fairing which is sometimes exposed to water which was good. Secured with the supplied 3M backing and I was away.
Usage:
Very simple to use, simply txt the unit the command "POSITION#" and it would promptly respond with it's location:
Unfortunately it only shows the address and not the coordinates for pinpoint accuracy.
There is a second command I found useful "URL#" which responds with a Googlemap link you can click on your smartphone/iPhone to load the position directly on Googlemaps.
In addition there is no option to protect the device with a password/pin so anyone that figures out the sim card number in the tracker can find the coordinates and/or disable the unit remotely. This isn't really ideal for security.
1 week of use:
Apparently the battery life in my bike is not sufficient; the tracker drains the entire bike battery in a couple of days. My solution was to ensure to start the bike every morning to let it run for a bit. In addition there is no 'standby' mode or low power mode on the unit as advertised. In the end this wasn't working out for me so I transferred it to my car.
Usage (2):
Installed in my car tucked away under the passenger side of the dashboard, and tapped into the headunit wiring for the power and ACC supplies. I wasn't afraid if someone finds it while trying to steal my headunit as the would alert me that the power is cut and give me a phone call.
1 week of use:
After 5 days the device failed completely. I swapped it for my second sample unit and tested the power sources to ensure it wasn't fried from short circuit or anything.
3 weeks of use (since the replacement):
For the two weeks, brilliant! But then on the third, the unit no longer detected if the car was on (ACC line) so the tow/shock sensor was always active. This meant when ever I hopped into the car for a drive, it would alert me that my car was being towed by txting and ringing my phone.
There wasn't even an option to disable the calling and force it to txt instead. I also discovered that this unit (and most of them online) are locked to an operator in China, so I couldn't set it up to work with 2 Degrees GPRS for online tracking. But this wasn't really an issue for me as I only wanted passive tracking and am not into live online monitoring.
Pros: Good value; waterproof, cheap, fully featured and includes a relay
Cons: 1st unit failed, inability to disable calling, operator locked, battery drain issue
Verdict:
Ideal for vehicle owners on a budget, not after anything special from their unit just the ability to know where their vehicle is using a simple txt message. Make sure yours comes with a warranty!
Rating:
5/10
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wht sorta prices is it for the gtv01? how about availibility..
seems you have done some good testing..
just to confirm, it can trigger a relay to cut fuel etc if you txt it
and has input when alarm triggers or door opens?
/quote]
Don't mean to rain on your parade Blonky, but I have a few of these winging their way over here now. Price is $105, plus I think $5.50 for those tracking bags.
You have the exact same model? At the forum price I'm only making a couple of dollars out of them so I am intrigued how you managed to get them so cheap?
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wht sorta prices is it for the gtv01?
Hey, they are $134, see my thread in the parts for sale section:
http://www.clubsub.org.nz/forum/index.php/topic,30983.0.html
A few have been picked up already
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Hi Brad,
I have a 3010 installed at the moment, would it be simple to upgrade to the S4/S5 or would I need to pay the full installation price?
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Hey Heylin,
Regarding the GT06 units, these are the issues I've encountered so if you do import them, make sure yours don't have these:
1) Most GT06 you buy are locked to an operator, i.e. CMNET, so you cannot track them online using GPRS. Neither of my samples can be changed to work in NZ. SMS tracking works fine though
2) One of my samples died within 1 month - no reason - just no longer works
3) The other sample no longer detects ACC ignition - this means it always thinks the car is off so everytime you drive it, it alerts you that it is being towed/moved illegally
4) You cannot disable calling, so when it is triggered even if I bump the car, it will txt and also call me - very annoying when I'm in a meeting
5) There are different variations of the GT06, most of which do not have pin code protection
Again as I stated before, you are welcome to test out one of my GT06 units before you import but you may be disappointed with its lack of features, locked operator and poor quality. They can be bought for $50USD on eBay, a lot less on Alibaba, but there is a reason for this. Hence why I recommend the GTV01 as the absolute minimum;I'm not saying it is the best, but rather the very cheapest one you should be looking at (around $70USD + shipping, Alibaba). I don't mean to impose on your thread, I just don't want you or anyone else to get burned with an inferior device
Frank.
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What sort of plan does the sim need to be on for it to all work nicely? With 3s/update it must chew at least a bit of data.
/quote]
By my calcs based on 120 bytes per location sent using GPRS thats 436906 positions from a 50MB Mi2Go pre pay data plan on Vodaphone
There are 2592000 seconds in a 30 day month.
so 50Mb gets you around 10-12 second interval ??????? for 24\7 tracking ($6 per month)
Someone correct me if Im wrong
That calculation is too simplistic; unless you are going to be driving 24/7 you will not use anywhere near this much data as the coordinate update is longer when the vehicle is off. Refer to my above post, the data usage is very efficient from what I have observed so far, but I would need to monitor over a longer period before I can be completely sure.
The status is what updates every 3s, so if the door sensor is triggered or if you disable the fuel pump, the action occurs within 3 seconds (and I have confirmed using a multimeter). The data used for this is very minimal.
The coordinate updates every 30s but you could set to 10s if you wanted - this is what would potentially consume the majority of the data.
The data usage of the GTV01 however which I have had running in my bike has consumed 1.42MB over 4 days, with coordinate updates every 20s if this helps give a better idea.
I have a spare GT06 tracker here if you would like to test out the power consumption and data usage for me? They retailed for around $50USD but in my opinion were unsuitable, but fine if you use your vehicle regularly (atleast once a week). The Tk106 series were mostly clones of a consumer device, not designed for vehicles and need an external power adapter to run them.
A bit off topic - Regarding Alibaba pricing people need to consider that a) You will never get the quoted price unless you order >100 units, b) Shipping is by DHL courier or similar (not economy) which is usually about $20USD per unit, and c) Customs are likely to snap you with GST as they did with me unless you get a dodgy seller willing to write down the customs value - but that brings potential insurance and fraud issues.
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What sort of plan does the sim need to be on for it to all work nicely? With 3s/update it must chew at least a bit of data.
The status updates every 3s which relates to the event triggers, but the location coordinates update every 30s (10s is the minimum for any GPS device). I've had it running since 6pm last night, has used 11kb of data according to 2 Degrees including 4 hours of driving
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I checked with the supplier, the M528 includes a free permanent subscription to their own fully featured online tracker website which is much better than the gps-trace.com one; it shows live data such as current voltage, alerts, if any of the inputs are triggered (such as if a door is open), if the vehicle is on, and allows you to change all the settings from the website instead of by txt, and can disable/enable ignition/starter:
I did a bit more testing, it seems pretty solid and the inputs work as they should; the site updates every 3s so it's pretty much real time
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I'd be pretty interested in a M528. Would you sell one of the ones you have?
I guess I could sell one of them to you at what I paid; $159 (customs hit me with GST), comes with external aerials and even a relay. It's primarily for online tracking though as most of the features are through the online platform (it will work with the free gps-trace.com site) but you can still request the coordinates via txt
As I stated, it is the same as the GTV01 but with the digital inputs to monitor if doors have been opened, but not the fuel level/temp sensor and only one relay output. I have one hooked up to a 12v power supply in my living room at the moment to test it out properly before I install it in my car and potentially bring in more of them
If you're interested send me a pm
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Do they have an immobilisation circuit and an in or output circuit? It would be nice if I could use my main alarm to trigger the GPS module to send me a text, and if I could text the module to immobilise the vehicle or activate the horn or similar.
This particular one has the immobilisation circuit, which basically triggers a relay that you could set up to cut the fuel pump, ignition, or run your horn for example. So you could run 2+ relays to trigger multiple events but they would all still activate at the same time
The Gator M5X8S I mentioned is similar to this unit but has the extra inputs; 2 high voltage 5V+ and one low voltage 0.3V+. You would then wire them to you door open sensor, central locking, and depending on the spec it would also have the ability to control multiple relays and peripherals such as an in car camera that uploads images of inside your vehicle, in car monitor
I still have a couple of M528s with me at the moment, I haven't tested out that feature of it yet but I can see that it would be easy to link it to detect when your alarm goes off by connecting an input to the siren output. This one has 3 inputs but only one output, but the next model up M508s which was $20USD more has an extra 2 outputs, and also the ability to monitor fuel tank levels and air temperature.
I'm thinking that the M508s might be a good group buy option if there are enough people in the same boat as you
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Hi all, I'm reasonably new here but I was a member on the old site with my BF5 subbie, I saw there is a thread on GPS tracking devices but thought it would be better to start a new thread on this.
My story is over the past couple of years I had my bike stolen a few times, and my car almost stolen once (door locks hacked) but the bastards were unsuccessful that time. Even though they were alarmed I guess no passers by seemed to think anything was wrong with a bunch of crims wheeling my bike down the road.
So anyway I began to look into passive GPS tracking devices, including paid subscriptions (Snitch) and DIY installs and managing. I did hours of my own research, discussing with various suppliers on eBay, Alibaba and the like and brought in a handle of 'samples'; a few different brand/models of tracking devices to find which would be suitable for me. After performing weeks of testing, I came to the conclusion that the DS-GTV01 and the Gator M5X8s are the two ideal trackers, with the later being the more featured version which includes fuel level monitoring and having multiple inputs to monitor doors opening and such.
TL;DR?
Well in summary the GTV01 is the best value and cheapest GPS tracker you want/need:
1) These use the JRC chipset which has lower power consumption and is more accurate than the old SirF Star III which all other trackers on Trademe and all cheap trackers use
2) This model is in the top 5 vehicle trackers used worldwide, having the same features but being reliable and compatible with most online tracking platforms
3) Being popular, there is an Android app available for free that can be used to setup and manage the device easily (not required to operate, but makes it simpler and user friendly)
4) Has all the same features as the others: motion/shock sensor, fuel cut relay control, sleep mode, GPRS tracking and SMS tracking, power cut alert, internal backup battery, SOS button
I have one of these units installed in my bike and one in my car, and I track them online using a free platform gps-trace.com, so I know a lot about them and would be able to help with the installation and setup.
They are actually pretty simple to install; if you've ever done a headunit then you can install it - 3 wires +12V, ground and ACC
I had to post this quick before someone ends up ordering a batch of rubbish GPS devices from China without actually knowing anything about them - the GT06 model is among the samples which I tested, and I was not impressed.
I brought in a number of these units and posted them on the NZ Silvia forum where they were picked up pretty quickly; would there be many people interested in them here on Clubsub?
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Unpaid fuel - 2001 Impreza GFB313 Silver AKL
in Stolen Vehicle Register
Posted
Yep, two different days so they probably live in the area