A good hiding place does two jobs: it keeps the tracker out of sight, and it still lets the tracker see the sky and reach the 4G network. Here is where to put one on a trailer, caravan, horsebox, tractor, quad, van or piece of kit. A SatTrack tracker runs on its own batteries with no wiring, so the choice of spot is yours.
Not sure where yours should go? WhatsApp us or call 03300 532 181, Mon to Fri 9 to 5, and we will talk you through it.
GPS needs some view of the sky. Plastic, wood, glass, fibreglass or open air above the tracker is fine, with steel around the sides. Fully boxed in steel on all sides will weaken it, so do not bury it under a steel deck plate.
A thief checks the obvious places first, such as behind the dashboard or the fuse board. A SatTrack tracker has no wires or lights, so it can go almost anywhere else. Keep it out of sight rather than out of reach.
The trackers are rated -30 to +60 °C, so keep them out of the engine bay and away from the exhaust. Screw, bolt, rivet or cable-tie it in place so it stays put.
Inside a box-section chassis rail, under the bed on a chassis rail, in the A-frame drawbar cover, behind a light cluster or under a plastic mudguard.
Inside a bed box or front locker, behind a seat base or under a bunk. The Barra is slim enough for the gap behind a drawer. Keep it away from the thickest metal.
Inside the front tack locker, under a seat in the living area, behind an interior panel, or under the floor of a horse trailer. Keep it out of reach of the horses.
Inside the cab, where it sees the sky through glass or plastic: behind a plastic trim panel, in the roof liner, under the seat or inside the armrest.
An Oyster3 under the load bed or in the bulkhead, with no wired install.
A Barra on ploughs, drills, sprayers, generators, pumps and bowsers that sit between jobs, with an alert the moment they move.
Small, valuable and easy to lose. The Barra fits inside the housing.
Weatherproof to IP68, so rain, mud and the odd dunking are fine. Fit it under the bed and forget it over winter.
Top-down photos drawn to scale next to a phone and a bank card, lying the way they are fitted, with each tracker's true depth underneath. The Barra slips into a chassis rail or behind a bumper. The Oyster3 is the size of a bar of soap, and the extra room is battery.
Somewhere out of sight that still has plastic, wood, glass or open air above it, away from the engine and the exhaust, and away from the obvious places a thief would check first, such as behind the dashboard. On a trailer that is often inside a chassis rail or the A-frame cover; in a caravan, a locker or bed box; on a tractor, behind a trim panel in the cab.
Yes, as long as it has some view of the sky. The trackers use LTE-M and NB-IoT, the long-range 4G networks built for devices like this, on a SIM that roams across the UK operators, so the mobile side reaches well beyond phone signal. Under a trailer bed or behind a plastic bumper is fine; fully enclosed in steel is not. If you have a known dead spot, tell us the postcode and we will check before you buy.
No. It runs on its own lithium batteries and never connects to the vehicle’s electrics, so there is no loom to follow and it moves to another asset in minutes. The 2-year battery guarantee applies on the recommended tracking profile: if the batteries run out inside 2 years, we send replacements free.
The Barra comes with an external magnet that raises an alert if the tracker is pulled off. Any movement also sends an alert within minutes, often before a thief has left the street, and you can select Recovery Mode in the app to follow it near enough live.
The Barra GPS is 149 by 51 mm and 21 mm deep, slim enough to slip into a chassis rail or behind a bumper. The Oyster3 4G is 108 by 86 mm and 30 mm deep, about the size of a bar of soap, and the extra room is battery. If you are not sure which fits, call us and we will talk you through it.
It carries on. Inside a steel building it may not get a GPS fix or a phone signal, so it shows its last known position and catches up as soon as it comes out. It only wakes to report when the tracker moves, so sitting still uses almost no battery. The guarantee is not affected.
You get a movement alert within minutes in any profile. Open the app and select Recovery Mode on that tracker. It then reports every 30 seconds, near enough live, for up to 24 hours at a time, and you can switch it on again, so you or the police can follow it. Share a live link from the app and the police can watch it move without needing your login. Recovery Mode is something you select; it does not switch on by itself, so keep notifications turned on.
Both trackers arrive ready to use, batteries and SIM in, from £139 + £99 a year, inc VAT.