believer

I have four vehicles, soon to be five, and am thinking about getting vehicle tracking systems on at least 3 of them to keep tabs on where they are at anytime.


Whats the best system out there as far as price of GPS unit and the web based service that will give me current position of vehicle.

It would also be helpful if the unit could download its log when it returns to base once or twice a week.

I have looked on Google but would like some first hand advice from the forum if possible.

Cheers,

mitaux8030

Well there's three parts to consider there:
the mobile GPS hardware
the display application
and the method of getting the GPS data from the vehicle to your application PC.

Commercial fleets often use something called AVL (automatic vehicle location) where they use a GPS receiver, an interface box and a two way radio to transmit the location back to a base radio receiver, and the transmitted data (possibly along with other vehicle specific data) is displayed typically on a custom written PC application. Taxis, ambulances etc are good examples of this.

Amateur 'ham' radio operators do this with a system called APRS. Just about any GPS that can output NMEA frames can be fed into a APRS TNC like a 'tinytrak' device - this then feeds data into a radio for transmitting. Any station on that frequency can then receive that information, and display it with freely available APRS software - and even overlay a map on the display.

A third option is replacing the radio to transmit the data with a mobile phone connection. Far more expensive due to call costs, but not dependant on radio range or special radio knowledge or licences.

As far as GPS units, pretty much any unit that spits out NMEA frames will do. As for interface boxes or 'tinytrak' devices - anywhere between $100 up to many thousands of dollars depending on level of customisation and logging required etc (tinytrak has no logging and minimal intelligence, other boxes will probably have more features and functions, possibly custom designed to the application).
Two way radio: if you're patient $200 should do for everything per radio. Licencing and other aspects of setting them up is a complete new kettle of fish. You'd have to research that seperately its a subject in its own right.
If you use mobile phones, the costs here should be well known. But consider that every speed change, every direction change will transmit a packet of data that the mobile phone will transmit back to you - and each will cost you something.
As for software: free to the sky-is-the-limit for custom designed

trash

Have a look at the Telstra cars in your local area. All of them have tracking these days.

They are GPS based, and have a 3G connection. (and WiFi) but you can use GSM instead of 3G if required.
There are several different makes available on the market, I don't know if Telstra themselves offer the equipment. I've seen them adverstised in "Radiocomms" industry magazine.

They keep a constant track of where the vehicle is and they log position and speed. They do not need to be in constant contact with a 3G cell and they will report in when they are back in range or polled.

CoopsOz

It is very easy for the people you are trying to track to block the signal, maybe it will have to be kept on the low down.

DealExtreme: $37.97 High Power GPS Blocker with AC Adapter and Car Charger (110V-220V)