Kamis, 23 Juli 2009

Plant Tracking by GPS

by: Paul Burke

Plant equipment tracking is now in greater demand than ever before as theft from building sites, quarries, road works and farms is now greater than ever before. Theft of plant in 2007 was reported by the Home Office to be in excess of one million pounds per week in the UK alone. The equipment invariably finds its way to continental Europe and often onto former Eastern block countries, equipment originally from the UK has even been reported as far a field as China.

It is always advisable that the tracking units are concealed to prevent them from being disabled or they may draw unwanted attention. It is extremely important that a tracking system installed on plant equipment should have its own independent power supply, and not be reliant of the Plant equipments own power. It is also advisable that the battery of the tracking unit is not a rechargeable battery that again requires power from the plant equipment to keep the tracking unit's battery charged. The main reason for this apart from the obvious weakness of letting the tracking unit rely on the plant equipment for power, the thief can trace the unit by following the power cables that the unit uses to recharge its battery.

The most effective type of tracking unit has its own self contained battery that can power the unit for a number of years while being able to send frequent daily reports. The unit should be able to operate globally as we know stolen plant and farm equipment can be transported almost anywhere.

Pear Track Systems Ltd manufactures a covert plant and farm equipment tracking system with a 5 year battery life, specifically designed for plant and farm equipment. This system uses The Global Positioning System GPS to locate the plant equipment and then transmits the location information using the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM). Battery life of the PT- 500 has been optimized so it is able to send multiple position reports every day for up to 5 years. The unit can also be fitted with a movement sensor so if the plant equipment is placed on a trailer or moved off site, the device will wake up and give alert and then send more frequent position reports. The system also has a capability to send an alert message when the Equipment is moved out of its geo fence that could be set around its base or the building site it has been left.

The alerts can be sent by the web-based system via e-mail and Short Messaging Service (SMS) to the user's mobile phone. The user can then view the position of the equipment and the nature of the alert. The system allows users to find the position of the Pear Track tracking devices to within a few meters anywhere in the world by using a multiple mapping solutions via our web-based tracking portal. The each user has unique user name and password to access the advanced tracking system; this allows you to find both real-time and historic locations of the unit.

In as little as few minutes, the PT - 500 tacking system can be covertly fitted inside the plant or farm equipment, and can be easily transferred if the equipment sold or replaced. The reporting intervals can also be remotely configured from the Pear Track web portal and an activity report can either be viewed on maps or downloaded in text form giving time, date and location of the asset along with any alerts that were active at that time.

Pear Track offers a complete range of battery powered GPS tracking products, from the 10 year PT-1000 to a small personal match box size product called the MiniTrack. The MiniTrack has a 30 day rechargeable battery and can be carried by lone workers or security personnel; it can even be fitted to search and rescue dogs. The Pear Track range also included compact pallet tracking devices with a 1 to 2 year battery life and both 5 and 7 year products that are typically used for tracking a variety of non-powered and powered assets, including trailers, portable buildings and plant.

Although Pear Track Systems Ltd is a new company it has a long history in GPS tracking and communication systems. Pear Track was formed by Paul Burke and John Macey the originators of Minorplanet Ltd that went on to become one of the principle GPS tracking companies in the World, and to this day is regarded by many as the market leader in Vehicle tracking systems with many thousands of units operating globally. The GPS vehicle tracking industry grew rapidly in the early nineties and the Pear Track team was indeed pioneers, being instrumental in the development of the techniques and systems from which many modern GPS tracking systems are still based.

The Pear Track products are designed and manufactured in the UK to exacting standards using state of the art production and quality control facilities. Pear Track products are rigorously tested before leaving the factory, ensuring the highest quality and trouble free service 'out of the box'. As a world leader in long-life battery powered GPS and GSM tracking products, we are continually developing our product base, our R & D team have been developing and producing 'best of class' GPS, communication and security products for over 20 years.


About The Author

Paul Burke spent 20 years working in the security industry before forming Minorplanet in 1996.

The author invites you to visit:
http://www.peartrack.com

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/gadgets_and_gizmos/article_1411.shtml