MyTracking Affordable Vehicle Tracking for small business and personal use. Demo

Use your pocketPC with GPS receiver, cellphone, or other device for your own tracking solution

The server is YOURS. Located in YOUR home or office. Total control.

No expensive webservices or monthly fees. (cellphone with data plan is the only monthly expense)

Follow vehicles or assets and view breadCrumb maps in real-time.

Zoom out and see current locations of all server users on a map.

View  maps from any web browser. Virtual Earth maps, Google Maps, or Google Earth maps are all supported.

Archive tracking data for annual mileage tax reports, speed/location verification, etc.

Need tracking in a remote area without commercial maps?  No problem. The server software easily accomodates custom gif or jpg raster maps, as well as ESRI shape file maps.

Breadcrumb tracks using Virtual Earth

The web pages for tracking the mobile devices are simple, yet full-featured. For fleet tracking, the page can display historical data using the calendar to view tracks from previous days. Data is stored in simple csv files allowing administrators to build any kind of report using Excel, and there are built-in driving and parking reports with addresses.There is a "find address" function that a dispatcher can use to direct a lost driver.The pages are also simple enough for the first time user who just needs to see where a child is. The server uses several different sources for maps including mapping for cellphones. See the various web-based tracking page samples below.

What is needed to send a GPS report?

There are two broad categories of tracking devices: single-purpose dedicated GPS tracking devices, and multi-purpose devices like a cellphone with GPS. Having played around with most of the current devices on the market, I have an opinion on all of them. But this is a fast-changing landscape and I am reluctant to recommend or not recommend one. Too often I have had negative opinions on a device, and a fast firmware upgrade from the manufacturer changes everything. I WILL say that I have had consistantly good experience with Enfora devices in the dedicated hardware catagory, and with HTC PDA's in the multi-use category.  Here is a brief (but incomplete)  survey of some of the hardware I have confirmed will work with the server software.

Dedicated GPS hardware. I included both portable devices (personal tracking) and hard-wired devices (fleet-tracking) in this group.

TrimTrac

GlobalSat TR101

Enfora MiniMT

Enfora GSM2218

Portman

Sanav GC-101

StarsNav PT-33 and Rover

Wonde Proud SPT100

Multi-Purpose devices. I only included the current generation of PDA's, smartPhones, and cellPhones with built-in GPS receivers. The last generation of phones and PDA's required a seperate BlueTooth GPS receiver and worked fine but were  less convenient. We have software for Windows Mobile 2003, Windows Mobile 2005, and Java software for Nextel/Boost iDen phones as well as Nokia and most other GPS-enabled phones. Click here to see some screen shots of the PDA software. The Windows Mobile software is very robust and has features like messaging, way points, upload images/audio/video to the map pages, and route maps. It can run in invisible mode where it can only be controlled remotely via SMS. Some possible applications for this might be stolen PDA recovery,  keeping track of employees, and many other uses.

HW6900

Nokia N95

Boost Mobile i425

HTC P3600

Where do the GPS reports go?

...to a Preston Systems, LLC MyTracking server, of course! You get a robust, stable server application that allows you to view maps showing where your family, friends, or employees are located  (and I make some money!). You buy the software once and never pay anyone a monthly fee for tracking services. The server software runs on Windows Vista Business, Windows XP Pro, or  Windows Server 2003.TrackingTheWorld is the re-seller for the server software and if you need the unlimited account version, you must contact them. I can sell the 10 account account version directly at a discount. But unless you are good with server/network setups, I suggest you contact TrackingTheWorld. They are a real company with full-time support staff and cute secretaries. They are also the best source for dedicated GPS tracking hardware. For those techies who want to set up their own server on a tight budget and dont mind my intermittant tech-support, I can sell the 10 account version directly and save you a bit of money. I am  happy to provide an evaluation account on the test server. It's free. This will let you confirm that your pocketpc/gps/cellphone will work as a mobile tracking device BEFORE you go to the time and expense of setting up your own server.  Email me  at jpreston12 (at) yahoo.com for an evaluation account, let me know the size of your company or if this is for home/personal use.

How do you see where family, friends, or employees are located?

Once you have the server installed (or you are using my test server for free), you simply use the web browser on your desktop PC, pocket PC, smartPhone, or WAP cellphone to view the map page. The server supports a wide variety of map choices including Virtual Earth, Google Maps, ESRI shapefiles, Google earth, and even custom maps in gif or jpg format. The ability to track with your cellphone or PDA is priceless. I drop a Sanav GC-101 device in my 7-year old's pocket when he goes snow skiing. When I drive to the ski area to pick him up, I can sit in my car and see his tracks in real-time as he skis down the mountain to the parking lot. And when my dog runs off (which is often), I get an SMS alert on my phone. I hop in the car, follow her tracks using my PDA, and quickly find her. I've even tracked our turtle when we let him wander around outside in the summer. Lots of possibilites!

Tracking map samples for desktop, PDA, cell phone, and Google Earth

Google Maps is often the best choice for places with poor street maps. The example above is Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and the satellite view works quite well.

View maps on a WAP phone

Google Earth . Great for remote areas

PDA/smartPhone map

View detailed driving reports:

Some Thoughts on Disposable Phones for Tracking After programming, using, and generally playing around with a Boost Mobile i415 and i425, I wanted to share my experiences. There is no doubt that this is THE cheapest way to implement mobile real-time tracking. Go to Target and buy a $39 Boost Mobile  i425 handset, fork up $10 to keep the account alive for 3 months, and you've got a viable tracking solution. Price is the good news. The not-so-good news is that these low-end disposable phones have very limited resources. The GPS chip needs a clear view of the sky or it "drifts" and battery life is not great. The Java application can run in the background (allowing the user to make/receive calls or use the walkie-talkie while still sending GPS reports) but it will  not run invisibly.  So this is not the perfect solution for low-level employees that will not want to be tracked as they can simply turn the Java application off. However, for a family that just wants to keep track of a kid driving the family car, or perhaps a high level employee that can be trusted to not turn the Java progam off,  a Boost i425 will work fine. In my experience, employers with low-level employees do best with dedicated tracking devices installed in the vehicles.

View the pdf docs for the iDen java application here.

i425 screenshot using the  optional waypoint function. Useful for geocachers, finding your parked car, etc

An interesting possibility would be to use a Boost Mobile phone as a dedicated tracking device and NOT try to use the phone or walkie-talkie functions. Find a secure place in the vehicle to keep it (velcro?), connect it to 12V power with a cigarette-lighter adapter, and you have a very inexpensive AVL/vehicle tracking system! I have to hand it to Motorola...these iDen phones are incredibly stable. And my J2ME java application is actualy very robust. It will send reports by either time or distance. In by-distance mode, it sends 1 addtional report after the car parks for 2 minutes. If you loose the data connection, it will log the GPS reports and upload them to the server when the phone reconnects. In the few weeks I have been testing an i425 phone and my Java application, it has NEVER stopped working and I have not had to re-boot the phone once! As a long-time Windows Mobile programmer, this is quite amazing to me. I dont know if anyone has actualy tried to use these disposable phones in a commercial fleet-tracking environment, but I would love to see it happen. It would make the fat-cat AVL companies cringe. Any small companies out there want to try this? I will gladly donate my test server to the cause. The maximun risk for this experiment is about $40 per phone plus $10 for the car-charger.

Need to track your dog?                Or your turtle?

Wheaton Terrier with a collar tracker....and her tracks as she runs around the neighborhood looking for squirrels.

Other quality crafted software by Preston Systems DMMdaq -  data aquisition for PocketPC and the Radio Shack DMM 22-812. CamPlayer -  lets you control and see real-time video of your IP network camera using a Windows Mobile device.

Contact Preston Systems, LLC for pricing and details: jpreston12@yahoo.com MYTRACKING SOFTWARE AND ALL RIGHTS ARE THE SOLE  PROPERTY OF PRESTON SYSTEMS, LLC. DISASSEMBLY, REVERSE ENGINEERING, ALTERING, OR ADDING FEATURES ARE EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED. THIS SOFTWARE IS OFFERED WITHOUT WARRANTY,  EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED.  THIS SOFTWARE IS NOT SUITABLE FOR LAND, MARINE, AERONAUTICAL, OR ANY OTHER NAVIGATION PURPOSE.