Everyone is using GPS units now and hunters are no exception. They are great for marking game sign, waterholes, potential hunting spots, and marking a blood trail. But before you go in the field with your GPS unit make sure you are not making these 3 mistakes.

1. Not Marking Your Truck or ATV position – This is the biggest mistake most hunters make when using a GPS. They are so excited to get starting on their hunting or scouting trip that they left their vehicle without marking it in their GPS unit. Before they know it they are a mile from the truck and remember that they didn’t make a mark of their vehicle location. Don’t let this happen to you. Make a habit of marking your vehicle position in your GPS unit before you put your pack on or pick up your gun/bow.

2. Not Carrying Extra Batteries – It is extremely important to always carry extra batteries for your GPS in your hunting backpack. Even though most GPS units can be used for more than 25 hours on one set of batteries, who knows how many hours you have used your GPS for before your hunt and how long you may need it after you are in the field.

3. Not Looking Around at Their Surrounding – GPS technology is very good for marking the location of your vehicle or hunting spots but it is very important that you do not rely on it as your only directional device. Always look around at your surrounding and make mental notes of landmarks of your vehicle location and hunting area. A compass is also a great device to have in your pack. When tracking with a GPS make sure to look up and notice the sights around you. Technology can fail. The GPS could stop working or you could drop and break it. Always use common sense when on your hunting trips and don’t rely solely on your GPS for your direction.

By avoiding these mistakes when using your GPS on your next hunting trip you will get more out of your GPS as well as having a safer hunt.

Tracking systems are taking the market by storm. First it was cellular phone tracking; now vehicle tracking is all the rage. The global positioning systems available today allows one to navigate to anywhere in the world to the accuracy of a step! So combine the idea of tracking and finding a location and we have gps tracking systems.

Tracking a vehicle is as easy as putting a chip on it, the driver doesn’t even have to know, and then activate it and the location will appear on the computer screen that has been connected to it. These connections are done via satellites that orbit the earth the space. When a gps device is activated, signals in the form of waves are sent to the satellite, all the coordinates of the vehicle is mapped and sent back to the computer screen in seconds, you can even get a live feed of the car if your gps device is that advanced.

Think of all the possibilities, law enforcement bodies have found this to be great boon as now suspect criminal activities can be tracked, in the two variations of attaching the device one is a magnetic strip that can be put near the engine and the other has to be installed in the vehicle at a time prior to driving, this has been used to monitor many suspects and has also resulted in capturing without the police actually having to tail the suspect and waste fuel, time and energy.

All one has to do is download the particular software required, initially downloads and softwares were expensive but now these are also available to download for free on certain websites so you can pick and choose and fine tune your software to suit your tracking needs. Note also that tracking without permission unless in the case of law enforcement bodies is a crime. It is simply an electronic means of stalking.

Parents who have teenagers new to driving find this tracking system a boon to them, they can now worry a lot less and know the child’s whereabouts at any particular time. Now in addition to tracking something, the gps device does all the usual things like noting your points of interest and giving you coordinates and instructions to any destination in the world.

There are many options to select from when it has to do with tracking devices, you can choose to monitor whatever is being tracked from your cell phone and subscribe accordingly to a package that suits you or use your laptop if you intend to gain more details. All cellular phones these days require the providers to enable the ability of tracking at minimum of 100 meters, before long vehicles will also have to come preinstalled with a tracking device.

One of the worst feelings in the world is walking back to where you parked your car and finding it gone. If you have a really nice car that is your pride and joy or just a very expensive vehicle, then you should consider using a WorldTracker GPRS Extreme or another type of GPS device. If you use a GPS real-time locating device you can protect your car with a good probability of reducing damage by being immediately notified of the theft by an automatic alarm, real time tracking, and a GPS is very reliable.

When you use a GPS real time tracking system with your car then you have the ability to know where your car is at all times. They work in real time. This means that they are updated every 15 seconds or so as the vehicle is moving down the road. If someone steals your car they won’t make it very far before you have located your vehicle and can have the police go retrieve it. A WorldTracker GPRS Extreme is an excellent GPS that has an integrated alarm system in it. You can receive an alarm signal from the moment the car begins to move out of the parking spot. This means that the thief may not get too far because you will know the moment they begin to move. If you suspect your children are sneaking the car out at night when you go to bed a GPS is the best thing you can use to prevent that from happening.

One of the best ways you can protect your car is with a GPS device like a WorldTracker GPRS Extreme. If you drive a vehicle that is on the high theft list then you really want one of these. Even if your car makes it across the border and into Mexico or Canada you will know exactly where it is. Knowing where the thief is with your car allows you to retrieve it quicker. This means they have your car for less of an amount of time which means that you can expect less damage to occur also. Most thieves completely trash a vehicle when they have a long period of time with it.

The best way to protect your vehicle is to use a GPS tracking device on your car. They are small and can be placed virtually anywhere on the inside or the outside of the vehicle. You can retrieve your vehicle much quicker than you can if you don’t have a device. Now you can find out exactly where your car is and have the police be right on top of a thief with your car. That means less damage and less of a chance the thieves make it to another country.

It also gets you your pride and joy back home where it belongs!

The supply and maintenance of vehicle tracking systems for fleet management has become big business in the last few years. With the advent of more up to date GPS tracking and smaller, vehicle mounted GPS devices, it is now easier than ever for a fleet manager to keep an accurate log of the whereabouts of all of the vehicles on their fleet. However, choosing a reputable dealer has become increasingly hard because of the inevitable attraction of a fast buck to some less than honest vehicle tracking system suppliers.

To make sure that the dealer you choose is the right one for your business, there are a few questions you can ask first before selecting your provider.

Are they here for the long haul?

Ask your potential vehicle tracking system supplier for a list of other customers. Recommendations from existing customers are gold in any business, and it’s just as important in modern GPS network supply as in any other field. From talking to other customers you can find out what their after-care service is like, whether the company is flexible and has an established research and development programme (making sure that they’re not going to use your fleet as a ‘guinea pig’ to try out a new system) and that they’re reputable.

Show me the money…

Ask to see their accounts. This is a sure way of knowing if a company is reputable or not. Just looking at their advertising literature isn’t enough – anyone can have a glossy brochure printed up – is the company behind the blurb reliable?

TrustMark

The major players in vehicle tracking and GPS tracking devices are currently lobbying the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to introduce a ‘TrustMark’ initiative for the industry. The TrustMark initiative has been used successfully in other industries such as building, raising standards and marking out companies that take on the initiative as reliable and dependable. The vehicle tracking industry has attracted some unscrupulous businesses, all looking to make a quick profit from customers who are ill-informed and perhaps a little over-eager to join a technological revolution they know little about. Approved operators would have to meet strict criteria concerning hardware quality and after-care service standards. Although not yet inforced, questioning your supplier on their opinion of the scheme may give you a little insight into their commitment to provide a comprehensive and quality service.

Where’s the warranty?

Both hardware and software should be covered by a warranty that includes generic updates and continuing after-sales servicing. If the warranty has ‘escape’ clauses, the provider (and the equipment) may prove to be unreliable, which can be costly.

At the next junction, turn left…

Don’t get mesmerised by a wonderful collection of onboard maps, moving location dots on a screen and fancy software. That’s only a small part of the capabilities of good vehicle tracking devices. A good system should be able to provide you with a wealth of additional data including such features as unauthorised mileage reports, out-of-hours activity, speed of vehicles, programmable route planning and even silent alarms that are activated when the vehicle is supposed to be stationary (indicating possible theft).

Is it right for your business?

It is essential that you stay in control of the solution offered to you. Fleet management is a complex business, and you know the requirements and needs of your fleet far better than the GPS vehicle tracking supplier. An off-the-shelf system may seem like a cheaper option, but it could tie you in with a supplier who cannot grow with your business and cannot provide you with the information you want. Know exactly what you want from your system before you begin the search for a supplier.

The emphasis is on the fleet manager to research carefully beforehand and draw up a business plan indicating exactly what they expect a GPS system to achieve for your business, how much you are prepared to invest and a list of potential suppliers. Only then can you make an informed choice as to which is the best supplier to choose.