You are out for a ride, and stop for a coffee. You park your bike outside, lock it up, and head in. After you finish your latte, you leave the shop to find your lock was cut, and bike is gone.
Let’s try this over again.
You are out for a ride, and stop for a coffee. You park your bike outside, lock it up, discretely hold down the power button on your rear light for three seconds, watch it flash rapidly for a few seconds, and head in. While enjoying your latte, you get a text or email saying your bike is on the move. You run out of the shop to find your lock cut, and bike gone. That’s when you start tracking your bike on your smart phone.
What the thief doesn’t know is that you have a SpyLamp2 from Integrated Trackers mounted on your seat post. On the outside, it is your standard red rear light, nothing fancy. It has one setting where the three LED’s are constantly lit. On the inside is a GPS tracker and a quad band GSM unit with SIM card that is used to track the unit. All of this is covered by the red plastic lens, and is virtually undetectable.
To arm and disarm the unit, just hold the power button down for about 3 seconds. The unit will flash rapidly when armed, and slowly when disarmed. When the unit is armed and detects movement through vibrations, the GPS begins tracking. A small amount of data is sent to Integrated Trackers’ website and allows you to follow the movement through their tracking page. Updates come about every 20 seconds. When the bike stops for five minutes or more, the tracker goes to sleep until the bike starts moving again. If the bike is moved inside and loses the GPS signal, the SpyLamp2 falls back to the GSM tracking. It’s not as accurate, but fills in until you it regains GPS signal.
Installation is fairly straight forward. The lens is held on by two security screws which are removed with smaller of the two included tools. Charge the unit up overnight using the included micro-USB cable. You will also need a prepaid SIM card from a local mobile provider. A GSM compatible card is recommended, and can be obtained at your local mobile store or an electronics shop. Make sure it is activated, and slip it into the SpyLamp2. Press the power button to turn on the light and let it sit for 30 seconds. Send a text to the phone number associated with the SIM card with the message “Settings”. You should receive a text or two back with a list of commands, which means that the tracker is connected to the cellular networks and ready to go. You can set the tracker to text you notifications when the unit armed and moving by texting “setphone1 5551234567″, just make sure to include your mobile number. Keep the SpyLamp2’s number handy though, as you can use it to arm, disarm, and many other functions from your phone. Once it is working correctly, attach the lens and fasten it with the screws.
Setting up your account on Integrated Trackers’ website is also pretty easy and tracking is provided for free. Go to http://www.integratedtrackers.com, and click on the tracking link. It will pull up a map where you can track without setting up an account, or click on register. Enter in the requested info to set up your account, and it is created. From there, you can add the tracker’s ID number, which is the IMEI number from the text message the tracker sent back to you when you set it up. You can give it a nickname, and it also asks you to add timezone info. From there, it will be saved for you when you log into the tracking page.
When you are ready to mount the SpyLamp2, it is just one safety bolt and nut to undo with the larger of the enclosed tool. The unit comes with two different mounting loops to fit 27.2” posts and another to fit larger round seat posts. Swapping them is as easy as unscrewing the mounting bolt on the back. Install the plastic loop around the post, and then use the bolt and nut to tighten everything up. There are positives and negatives to all of this. The security bolt and screws used make it harder for someone to remove the light or take it apart. It also makes it a little bit of a pain to charge the unit, as you will need to take it completely off the bike to remove the lens and get to the micro-USB port. As long as you remember to disarm the unit before you ride, the battery should last for months, depending on how much you use the GPS and the light.
This might seem complicated to set up, but honestly, it is pretty easy. Once it is all set up, there is not much you need to do, besides charge it when needed, and make sure that the SIM card is topped off every so often, depending on your service providers specs.
In testing, the SpyLamp2 has been very accurate in tracking movements. I’ve armed the unit before leaving home for work, and as I walked outside, I received an email letting me know it has detected movement. When I logged in, it clearly showed the path I had driven with excellent accuracy, which can be adjusted in the settings by text message. I’ve even tracked my movement as I went and the updates were almost immediate. Even after a week of having it armed and in my car, the unit was still working and providing updates. As for using the light at night, it might not be the brightest light out there, but it is plenty bright to keep you safe on a night time ride. One change I would make to the SpyLamp2 would be to offer it as a blinking light, as it could catch driver’s attention better than a solid light. Besides that, it is pretty straight forward and easy to use once set up.
All of this technology does come at a price though. At GBP £92.50 (edit: price recently revised to GPB on the website), it might seem like a lot to pay for what appears to be a basic rear light, but when you consider the extra protection that you will get with GPS tracking abilities hidden inside, the SpyLamp2 is much cheaper than buying a new bike. If live in an area where your bike could be stolen, or just want the extra security of being able to track your bike if it is, look to Integrate Trackers to provide a solution that will not attract attention.
http://www.integratedtrackers.com
GBP £92.50 plus prepaid SIM card
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This kind of technology is a must and a long time coming. It’s a shame the price is so high. I don’t think there will be an overwhelming market at that price. We need something affordable so everyone would buy it and once the news got out maybe then thieves would have second thoughts.
I ordered this device from them in July, now it is December, and I never received it or got refunded. I tried all of the contact methods described on their site but none of them is active and/or answers. It seems like a start-up company that went bankrupt.
They are still going. I ordered one and it arrived in few days.
What I’m worries about is thiefs finding out about this product. If they do it’s quite easy to get rid of it…
I placed an order over a month and half ago. I still have not received the product. Whenever I call they don’t answer and put me onto answer phone (which states they will get back in touch as soon as possible) well I’ve left many messages with no response. I have also left emails also with no response. I finally spoke to somebody on their online chat on the website. who told me I was not even on their system so after sending copies of my receipts they told me they would look into it and made me Priority one. Well it’s over a week ago now and I still have no product, refund or and response from them at all. Even though it sounds like a great product. I would recommend that you should look for another company.
Bought one of these after my bike was stolen. Didn’t want the same thing to happen to my new one or at least so I could find the culprits. First one worked for three months perfectly then it just died and would not charge or turn on. Sent it back. Month after month after month I waited for a replacement constantly trying to contact their “customer services” – dire. Never answer the phone, barely ever answer e-mails. Even contacted the local trading standards but apparently they are only interested in dodgy vodka these days. If anyone needed the proof of black holes then this company can provide it in the form of their customer dis-service.
Then out of the blue a replacement arrived. No paperwork, no letter with it, no apology for keeping me waiting for months.
I’d actually given up and written off the £100 by then but hey great at least a replacement.
Now three months later this one appears to have died the same sad death so my advice would be to stay well clear and spend the money on a better lock or a security guard.
Ok, after using this tracker for 2 months, I’m giving it a D- rating………here’s why:
1. to charge the tracker, one must remove it from the bike AND open the device …..this’ the dumbest course of action for charging and extremely discouraging for prompt recharging.
2. “they” provide a special tool to remove the device,,,,a torx bit with a small post inside the torx hole. WTH? this will do no good against a thief…he’ll just snap it off….for us, it’s a huge hassle if we fail to carry this tool…..R&R is about five minutes!
3. This’ is crucial: when I wanted to track my bike, it sends me to some mail tracking site! I am not able to track anything but packages from there. When I wrote for tech help on this, there was no answer….twice. Up until then, they had been corresponding with me.
4. you have to pay a monthly fee of 3-4 bucks for the continuous use of the SIM card.
5. the charging port doesn’t connect well and one always has to watch that it doesn’t remove itself from the charging port! This is unacceptable.
6. when the bike is moved, you don’t get a text (and I’ve asked for this feature from tech….no reply)…..you get an email….now, for me, this’ a disaster because I’m only tuned into the sound of texts on my phone…I’m not accustomed to answering emails as they come in.
Neil…..farwellp@yahoo.com….ask me anything about this product
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