Rocky Mountain Tracking

Daily GPS News

Rhino Horns & GPS Trackers

March 12th, 2013

The rhinoceros is one of the most endangered animals in Africa, but GPS trackers may help to save it. The reason for the animal’s critical status is the value of its horn, which in its powdered form now rivals the price of gold. This powder is used in several traditional Asian medicines. The desire to obtain this valuable commodity has driven poachers to kill more than 500 rhinos in the past year alone.

The Rhino and Nature Preserve in South Africa has launched a new effort, called the Rhino Rescue Project, to combat this problem. Rather than try to prevent the poaching or even catch the poachers, their plan is to eliminate the demand for the rhino horn and thus remove the reason for the poaching. In order for their method to work, however, they must first catch the rhino. That task achieved, they then inject the horn of the rhino with a bright, indelible dye (like that used by banks in robberies), a GPS microchip, and a non-lethal poison (harmful to humans not the rhino). Each of these items plays its own unique role in discouraging further poaching. The dye turns the rhino’s horn pink, thus destroying its value and making it difficult to transport since the color remains even after the horn is ground to powder. The poison makes the powder of the horn useless as a medicine since it will cause nausea and vomiting in any human that ingests it. The GPS trackers enable conservationists to track the locations of the treated rhinos. Some of these trackers are programmed to send out an alarm if the rhino begins to move rapidly, as would occur if it was being pursued by poachers. This information can enable the poachers to be caught red-handed, hopefully before they successfully kill the rhino. If they do manage to get away with their prize, the GPS device contained in the horn will reveal their location to law enforcement officials.

The Rhino Rescue Project has been busy spreading the news through signage and word of mouth that rhinos have been treated in this way and are thus useless to poachers. They report that their efforts have paid off as no treated rhinos have been killed in the Preserve since they began the project. Dye, poison, and GPS trackers seem to be doing a good job of protecting the rhinos.

Track Your Cat, Dog, or Even Horse With Tractive

February 26th, 2013

Move over, Tagg. There’s a new GPS tracker on the block for pet owners looking for an easy way to know where they are at all times. Tractive, an Austrian company, unveiled its GPS tracking device at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) which gives pet owners peace of mind with real-time tracking and location information.

Yes, Tagg has been around for a while. However, it is very limited in its application. The Tagg GPS tracking device is quite large, and this means it is only suitable for medium to large sized dogs. The location tracking itself is far from real-time: the Tagg device will not display the route your dog has taken. Instead, the hardware pings the system on the Web every 10 minutes.

Tractive felt a GPS device could do so much more for pet owners, who are oftentimes just as worried about their precious furry friends as a mother would be about her children. Their solution: a GPS tracking device small enough to be worn by cats and small dogs. This allows more pet owners to keep an eye on their pets, even farm animals such as cows, horses, sheep, and donkeys. The company has conducted successful testing on these animals.

Tractive also relies on a SIM card, which is the key to its real-time tracking. Simply download an app or log on to a website to view your animal’s whereabouts on a map. The hardware and app communicate constantly rather than relying on pings every so often. You can set a “Safe Zone,” and each time your pet leaves this zone, you will be notified instantly.

If you install the app on your smartphone (iOS only, $4.49), you are able to store vital information in one place, such as vaccination records and appointments, vet information, and chip ID number to name a few. The tracking service itself will cost about $6.50 each month.

Tractive is expected to be available to US customers by the end of the month. An Android version of the app is expected to follow at some point in March.

GPS Dating Apps: Helpful Tracked Facts?

February 10th, 2013

As GPS tracker services have expanded to include location-specific dating services and up-to-the-moment activity updates, many legitimate concerns have been expressed. With the emotional instability of many singles that turn to technology to find an ideal soul mate, the apps using a GPS tracker can create potentially dangerous or hurtful circumstances. Feelings of loneliness and isolation in a crowded café could lead to foolish, spur-of-the-moment decisions that a dating service GPS tracker could facilitate.

This tendency for immediate gratification, however, is not new to our current culture. While the GPS tracker method may provide an easy, let-me-introduce-myself route for the introverts of society, there are always venues for desperate, lonely singles to seek companionship. When compared to some of these or when employed carefully, GPS tracker services may even end up protecting some savvy, sober-minded singles instead.

What You See Is What You Get

In face-to-face conversations or even in electronic communications, each person has the ability to adjust his or her image in ways that seem to be more pleasing to the person he or she is trying to impress. With information collected, recorded, and shared by a GPS tracker, an image is established before much interaction takes place. Although there is always the possibility that the information used to create this image may be false, an astute analyzer will still be able to perceive a general impression of what individual users are initially intending to communicate about themselves merely by what they have recorded and shared. Clearly conflicting or even subtly suspicious responses or different personalities and image-creating statements that emerge during the time when specific communication begins could provide sufficient warning and revelation of concerning characters. Face-to-face interaction is always important in establishing and maintaining a relationship, but may not always be the best way to start one.

Can’t Cover Your Tracks

As GPS tracking data on any dating service profile builds up, users will have a harder time of covering their tracks. Even the information on social networking sites can be easily forgotten by users, but successfully uncovered by anyone really intent on fully exploring a profile. When users are communicating with multiple people at one time, which is common for those involved in dating services, the ability and time to edit their profile information for specific designs becomes even less of a possibility. While the ever-present threat of con artists infiltrates every aspect of society, including GPS tracker dating service apps, many deceivers or simply undesirable suitors could actually be easily identified through the wise use of GPS apps.

GPS Tracking Aids Employers and Families

January 8th, 2013

Businesses incorporating GPS tracking are shown as some of the fastest growing in the market today; its diversity makes it a flexible tool. For instance ArgoTrak—a locally based Naples, FL, business working closely alongside software corporation Position Logic—is one of an ever-growing list of companies that utilize GPS tracking. The software has been used in everything from tracking data for long distance transportation to monitoring client company equipment to individual purposes. Just about anything you want followed—ArgoTrak can keep an eye on it.

What does ArgoTrak do?

Service providers like Position Logic use their proprietary software to work with existing client hardware, almost every known kind, in keeping employees and equipment accounted for. For instance ArgoTrak utilizes the program mainly in conjunction with fleet management (like long-haul truck and taxi transportation or rental companies) but can also provide surveillance assistance to individuals: senior citizens, small children, personal cars and bikes, and family pets. A GPS tracker is placed on each vehicle or individual and monitored 24-7 from ArgoTrak. When needed, ArgoTrak can arrange a pre-determined periphery that when the item or person crosses the line, ArgoTrak’s client receives a message about the violation. Other data gathered from the installed tracking device includes start or stop time, time spent sitting still, and speed or location of the vehicle at any point of the day.

What are the benefits?

This kind of GPS tracking accountability can greatly economize a company’s resources. Employees are monitored whenever the company vehicle is in their care and allows managers to find out whether it’s being used solely for business purposes. No longer can workers use their company’s gas or time for personal or possibly unlawful reasons. Managers will know if they’ve been speeding past legal limits, making unauthorized side stops, or sitting anywhere for too long without a good excuse. If time is of utmost importance as is often the case with emergency service companies like plumbing or electrical, management can dispatch—thanks to GPS tracking—the specialist closest to the area of the service call.

In addition, ArgoTrak’s GPS tracking provides safety for individuals who require constant supervision for both medical reasons (Alzheimer’s, dementia, mentally impaired) and family reasons (young children and teenagers).

Bagging the Bear with GPS Tracking

January 6th, 2013

Thanks to GPS tracking, hunting has become easier than ever but with considerable expense. Basic hunting dog tracking systems require two (or more) components—a handheld GPS device for the owner to track his hunting dogs and a GPS-monitored collar for each dog. For instance, systems by Garmin start at around $500 for both components with an additional cost for each collar needed for multiple dogs (up to about ten on one handheld GPS tracker).

How does GPS tracking aid bear hunting?

With the GPS-monitored collars securely in place, hunting dogs can run ahead to scout out the woods for bears with their owners following, tracking the dogs’ every move on one topographical map screen, relaying whether the dogs are hunting or waiting with the bear for their owner). Some GPS hunting systems even report back whether the dog has his head tilted upward, indicating he has trapped the bear in a tree. Besides aiding in the hunt, GPS tracking software can also indicate to the hunter the occurrence and/or location of his injured dog.

Is a GPS tracking system worth the investment?

It might be, depending on where you live. In some states, like South Carolina, bear hunting in season is a fairly popular activity, their hunts allowing a maximum value of multiple bears (for instance, in some counties around five). They encourage records for heaviest bear poundage per season and record number of kills from year to year (based on the yearly bear population and whether its impact is an annoyance to the region). In Maine, huntsmen and even whole families can plan limited-number guided trips and tours to learn first-hand how to hunt a bear.

But, for instance, in southern California, some counties have enforced strict guidelines in regard to black bear hunting and, in addition to illegalizing bear traps, limit hunters to one bear every season (between October and late December). These laws, of course, could ease up at any time since the California black bear population in that region has almost quadrupled in the last twenty-some years. Whether GPS-tracked hunting equipment is worth the investment depends mainly on the owner’s regional hunting laws and sport frequency.

How Do I Use Thee? – Let Me Count the Ways

December 20th, 2012

You may be considering a purchase of (or already have) a Brickhouse Security Spark Nano 3:0 Real-Time GPS Tracker…but then what? Well, you may have a particular purpose in mind for your GPS tracker, but did you know there a lot of things you can use your tracker for – both personally and professionally?

You may already know that a GPS tracking device can help you keep tabs on and monitor the safety of your family members. A GPS tracker can give parents of both teens and tots the peace of mind of knowing their loved ones are safe and protected.

The folks at Brickhouse have gathered information about people and organizations that use GPS trackers and why they use them. Here is a list of the top 10 most popular uses of GPS trackers:

To keep tabs on others – For personal use to keep tabs on family members and professionally to keep tabs on deliveries and drivers.

For others to track you – you may be planning a long drive or vacation alone, and having a GPS tracker can give your loved ones the peace of mind to know that you’ve arrived safely.

Monitoring the new driver in your house – GPS tracking not only monitors the safety of the teen driver in your home, you can also receive GPS speed alerts via text or e-mail. While your teenager may groan, this will give you the peace of mind that they are being responsible when driving.

Monitor your child’s walk to school – no longer do parents have to be anxious about their children walking to school and back safely – and you have the additional advantage of monitoring their progress right from your phone or computer.

Monitor aging parents and relatives or those with special needs – using a GPS tracker can remove some of the pressure on families trying to protect elderly relatives from wandering away from home or from getting lost when out for an appointment.

Protecting your property and assets - GPS tracking can also be used to protect your property and assets such as additional cars or boats, and can even alert you if they’ve been tampered with. A GPS tracker also can pinpoint the location of stolen items. On a professional note, a GPS allows you to monitor jewelry, fine art, equipment, or anything else in your place of business.

Keeping those pets close to home – dogs and cats tend to want to wander, especially if they are puppies or kittens. You can install a geo-fence that alerts you the moment your pet gets wanderlust.

Here’s a new one – finding contest winners – this is what Nestlé did recently to locate their contest winners!

Find out the road conditions ahead of you – now you can find out where the plows have been during inclement weather and be able to find the safest way home.

Security for churches – you might find this one hard to believe, but there is a shockingly number of thefts of churches’ nativity scenes. Though were not exactly sure why this is, you might want to protectors today!

GPS Tracking Keeps Pets Safe and Healthy

December 19th, 2012

Any fitness buff who has incorporated the FitBit tracker or Nike + iPod sports kit will tell you how indispensable the technology is to his or her routine. GPS tracking has revolutionized the fitness world by allowing users to record their pace, total time (and individual lap) length, personal bests, and similar statistics. Now thanks to companies like Snaptracs, with their invention of the Tagg collar attachment device, pet owners can now have the same type of data recorded about their furry family members.

GPS Tracking Finds Furry Escape Artists

GPS tracking enables owners to follow their pet’s every move. With devices like Tagg attached to the dog’s or cat’s collar, there’s no way a pet can leave or be taken from a pre-determined area—a yard, fence, or similar boundary—without the owner’s being notified of the great escape.

By checking your pet’s GPS tracking account on the company website or, for more immediate response, alerts sent via text message and smart phone app, Tagg will not only tell you where your pet is right now but can also give driving directions to his exact location.

GPS Tracking Aids Pudgy Pets

GPS tracking technology enables owners to monitor their pet’s health. Breed specifics, personal temperament (some animals can be just plain lazy), and individual pet size determine how much poundage is considered unhealthy and how much exercise each cat or dog needs. GPS trackers like Tagg can measure the pet’s normal physical behavior—the smallest movement is detected—so owners (and consulting veterinarians) can make sure it’s enough to maintain their animal’s good health. Whether the cat or dog naps, roams the yard, chases the ball (or cars!), or engages in any other activity, the collar-attached GPS tracker records all data including speed, duration, and overall daily habits for up to 90 days.

The tracker then stores the information and consolidates it into easy-to-read charts transmitted onto the pet owner’s online account (viewable by computer and mobile app). The activity charts give owners a clearer idea of their animal’s long-term health. Pet parents can better judge whether Fido’s daily walk is sufficient in helping him reach tip-top shape and, along with vets, recognize developing mobility problems.

GPS tracking, thanks to Tagg and like technology, might just render those “Have you seen my pet?” posters obsolete and will help pets enjoy a long, happy, healthy life with their beloved humans.

GPS Tracking: A Use for Everyone

December 7th, 2012

With all of the privacy concerns GPS devices bring to the table, it’s making those who use them feel a little bit guilty. Whether tracking a spouse or monitoring the whereabouts of a child, it seems the user can always talk themselves out of a guilty moment by reminding themselves of the GPS device’s necessity.

Amber Alert GPS tailors their devices towards those with children, typically between the ages of 2 and 10. The child can press a button to send a message, carry on a voice call with the parent, or the parent can call the tracker and hear what is happening where their child is. It will also send out an alert anytime the child comes within 150 meters of a known sex offender. This GPS tracking device retails for $200, and is $14.99 a month for basic features and $24.99 a month including the voice call and sex offender alert options.

For the outdoorsman, there is the the SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger, discussed in a recent RMT article where it saved a hunter’s life after a fall from his horse. This GPS device is $119.99 plus $99 per year for service.

Everyone can agree that the SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger is a useful tracking tool. However, when it comes to tracking your spouse or child, there are mixed feelings. Some say using a tracker on your child is a sign of an overprotective parent. However, executives at Amber Alert GPS disagree, saying that GPS tracking makes the children feel more independent because it allows the parent to appear less protective than the parent who doesn’t allow their child to walk to school alone at all. The GPS tracking device gives the parents peace of mind, allowing them to virtually walk with their child every second they are away.

The company recommends that parents be forthcoming about the tracker’s use and purpose with their children, especially instructing them how to use the device in an emergency. As the child gets older, privacy will become more and more important. “If the parents have a deal – ‘You can use my car if we put a locator on it, and if you ever get in a bind, I’ll know exactly where you are.’ – most teenagers won’t mind that,” said Chris Newton, chief executive of Securus, manufacturers of the eZoom GPS tracker which is similar in function to the Amber Alert GPS device.

Most of these companies, however, do not sell a GPS device that will only track for a short period of time. They require a minimum yearlong service contract. For the customer looking to conduct an investigation for a month or two, turn to Rocky Mountain Tracking. Yes, the majority of our business is for companies to track their fleet, but we’re now offering a monthly rental of our personal tracking device, Ghost Rider. The device and a contract-less service plan will set you back $99.95 each month you use it, provided you are obeying current laws regarding its use.

“We probably rent out 10 to 12 devices a month, and we don’t ask questions,” said our own Gary Whitney. “Occasionally, I’ll get a person – usually it’s the wife – who feels guilty about doing it. But not so guilty that they don’t go ahead and get the device.”

PIs With GPS

November 16th, 2012

If you follow the news about GPS monitoring in the field of law enforcement, you already know that the Supreme Court recently put a big roadblock in the way of investigators who would like to track suspected criminals. As it turns out, the government views a GPS device secretly attached to a suspect’s vehicle to be a search, just like looking through the suspect’s house. Without a warrant, police can’t track someone via GPS.

Police aren’t the only people interested in finding out just what suspicious activity a person might be up to. Spouses that suspect their husband or wife of sneaking out and fooling around often become interested in the possibility of secretly tracking their cars. Sensing this new opportunity, private investigators all over the country now include GPS tracking in their list of services (for a fee, of course). But how can PIs use GPS to keep an eye on a suspected cheater when the police can’t?

In most cases, the legal loophole is centered in the fact that a couple usually owns a car jointly. If it came down to a court case, a husband could argue that he was tracking his own car, since he had joint ownership of it. If the PI was tracking the car for him, the same defense could apply. The only actual legal decision on this type of situation so far occurred in Minnesota, where the court supported this argument.

Of course, if the client of a PI asked him to track someone else’s car—a suspected mistress, for example—the law is pretty clear. A civilian is not allowed to track another person’s vehicle without ownership.

How are these laws actually being followed in the private investigation industry? It’s hard to tell without doing some creative research. PIs are understandably hesitant to volunteer lots of information to researchers about how they do their job and whether or not they’re breaking the law. Reporters posing as potential clients, however, have gathered some interesting data on what PIs will offer to do with a GPS tracker. If they’re not careful, these less-than-careful investigators could end up in a lot of trouble and find themselves on the wrong side of the law.

Think Twice Before Swiping that iPad

November 9th, 2012

GPS locating technology has gotten very, very accurate on many personal electronic devices. So accurate that, in at least one case, police were able to pinpoint the very apartment unit that was the current location of a stolen iPad. The thieves never saw the bust coming.

Before you start feeling nostalgic for the good old days, when police had to search for clues at the scene of a theft and rely on witnesses for physical descriptions of the thieves, consider the other items that officers found in this particular apartment. Boxes of stolen credit cards had the potential to defraud innocent victims out of millions of dollars. Stolen electronics such as computers were worth thousands of dollars on their own, not to mention sensitive information stored on them. Perhaps worst of all, large quantities of a date-rape drug, presumably for sale, were in the apartment as well. The GPS locating app on the iPad probably played an important part in keeping that dangerous drug from hurting many innocent victims.

The bust was thanks to a traveler from Alberta who was spending time with friends in Vancouver, British Columbia. Returning to her friend’s house to find her iPad and other possessions stolen, she wasn’t content to leave the search to the police. Having installed a GPS application on the iPad, she looked up the location and saw that the signal was apparently coming from an apartment building in Vancouver.

When the police saw the data, they had good reason to believe that it was accurate: the apartment building, and even the specific unit marked by the GPS locating signal, was rented by suspected thieves that had acted before in the area. In just a short amount of time, four people were in police custody, accused of multiple breaking and entering incidents and thefts. Efforts to return the other stolen goods to their owners are underway via claims made by victims and by posting the items online for victims to view.

It’s hard to imagine a more effective theft deterrent than a device that can broadcast a signal from its current location. Police around the world may have a little extra time on their hands as these helpful GPS trackers find their way onto more pieces of electronic equipment.