Your Mom was lucky to have a son like you to do all this for her. Even though she may not get what you are doing - you were there for her and that's what counts.
Fascinating. The interesting thing about the "SOS" button is if I found this up on a shelf somewhere and was trying to figure out what it was, the first thing I would do is press the button. If someone were using it as a listening device, in call only mode, getting a call from the device would be their way of knowing it had been discovered.
I worked in a car dealership outside of Chicago. People would buy a car without any intention of making payments. Whenever we would find them and repossess the car they would always be amazed how we always found them. I personally installed about 500 GPS trackers in those cars... The customers would sometimes catch on so I had to start installing diversion trackers.... fake blinky trackers that are easy to find so the customer sees it and removes it and thinks they've gotten rid of it... but they were just a diversion. The real tracker of course wouldn't be blinky and in plain sight.
+Valentin Meneses Normally, yes. Its illegal. Knowing this, we of course have a clause in each contract where they have to sign acknowledging that the vehicle might or might not have GPS. As most of you probably do, the customers didn't read this... they just blindly signed the paperwork. Just goes to show that you should read what you sign, especially when it comes to a shady car dealership that offers in-house financing to people with no credit or bad credit with low down payments.
+BachikoiBabi It's actually become quite common for car dealers that offer pay here type payment plans to lower income areas to install hardwired trackers that are also capable of shutting the car down (actually I think it just disables the starter). They get shoved pretty far into the wiring too. I bought a car from a junkyard that had one set off & since it was so damaged they sent it to the junkyard it was hard to turn back on. Never did manage to tear it out I got a wire from the foot well to bridge with a hot wire and then it started from the ignition, then you had to shut off the ignition and unbridge the wires to drive. Annoying little task for my little topaz. Great car, other than that and the giant car shaped dent in the side.
+BachikoiBabi Firstly, I don't believe your story which is almost certainly a lie. Secondly, if a dealership unknowingly installed a GPS in a car I purchased, I would never do business with them again.
I looked into these a while ago, and though fun (For geo-caching games etc) they're not solid enough for applications where they are depended on. Due to the audio bug feature, they're also illegal in Germany. There are a few variants on this theme now, too. One being a USB charging cable with the basic bits of this (Sans battery) concealed in the USB connector, allowing spying on anyone you can give a USB cable to! :-o The "GPS" is actually "A-GPS" which is, basically, GSM triangulation. It works well, but only in areas where there's good GSM coverage. Finally: A lot of these trackers are suspected to also send their tracking output to unknown parties as well as the user operating it, so these should never be relied upon for confidential applications. :-)
Clive, I like your videos. As an M.S. Electronic Engineer, I sometimes have problems conversing at a level laymen and novices can understand. You're teaching me how to speak on a different level than what I am accustomed with so many other professionals I work with on a daily basis. Keep up the good work, my friend.
Keep in mind that "Tracker" might just be an inaccurate translation from the Chinese "Voice Tracker", which obviously is not a GPS tracker. I've learned to be a bit leery when reading product descriptions especially on poorly translated Chinese products. ;)
Lloyd Marriott You really shouldn't be fucking Alzheimer's sufferers. There's quite a substantial grey area (not just pubic) when it comes to the ability to competently grant consent.
I remember the early cell phones that I had if I wanted to use the navigation app for turn-by-turn directions it didn't use actual GPS it used triangulation from cell towers which had known GPS positions. if I was driving in the mountains and lost signal, God forbid I missed my turn or encountered a detour because the software would just dump the current route and try to query the server to build a new route and if I didn't remember how to get back to where there was signal I would be screwed.
Hey Clive! Love your channel, first of all! And second, could you perhaps do a review/in-depth analysis of the actual GPS tracker you wound up using?That'd be awesome because I'm contemplating putting one of those in my car as a way of tracking it if it ever got stolen.
Depending on how many nearby towers, cell phone tower triangulation can be extremely accurate. If the device can ping 3 towers, then the device can be tracked within a meter. That is a lot of if's tho.
Plus it's got really small low gain antennas which makes it pretty inaccurate. Nowadays they've got plenty of cheap ($20) models with real GPS built in, just check on AliExpress.com ;)
Why? It's literally just a mobile phone? Think about it, a mobile you can use to covertly listen to people, covertly record video or take pictures, you can also use it to track people via the GPS function. There are also apps that copy all keystrokes and send them to you, take remote screenshots, copy + remotely send their texts, emails, time call placed etc etc. Nearly any everyday consumer electronics can be used for covert surveillance, webcams, CCTV, phones, tvs, laptops and there's nothing illegal about such devices even if advertised for surveillance. You might run into problems if you got caught using them somewhere that wasnt your property, but that's completely different from making the devices illegal
I think the difference with this piece of electronic is that it is made purposefully to be a bugging device. If someone finds a cellphone in a drawer which, theoretically, has bugging abilities, you will less likely be prosecuted. If someone found this A8 device in a drawer somewhere, your intent of bugging someone is crystalclear and your defence will be a hard one. Your logic can be easily turned around completely, making everyone who carries one of the electrical devices you mentioned a suspect. The law isn't just logic, it has to be reasonable and fair too in it's decisions.
IT IS a proper tracker... your device doesn't have the antenna strip inside the case. You need to register your personal number using an SQ code so the device will recognize your phone number as the controller. Then a "DW" text will correctly send you GPS coordinates provided you loaded or topped up some credits into the account. But in your case, your antenna is missing. It's like a small strip of metal tape that goes around the top inside the case and touches that small spring-like metal at the corner of the circuit board.
LOL what a sneaky thing! First the bogus GPS false advertising then the really sneaky stuff starts when you get it to work as intended! I love it! It reminds me of the old infinity bugs xD
I've a few of both the tracker and listener, when used together they are a powerful surveillance system. The listener works well alone in a room with a power pack, I found the early single 18650 battery ones quite good before they were all recalled. It's a shame they don't take a BL-2 battery. Do you have the instructions for the tracker/a review as I've lost my instructions.
that unit is great for hacking pull off the arm micro chip wire power ground and tx rx from the pcb to an arduino and you can build a mini gsm with power supply
in my firsth post i explained it take the prosessor out connect a arduino to the rx and tx pins of the gsm chip and then you have an arduino controlled gsm with build in power supply
Just recently subbed to your channel. Good stuff, and informative. Also, your voice is like silk blowing in the warm breeze of a fresh spring morning. Ok... A little creepy... Sorry.
Although not close to the battery leads, I suspect that 8 pin chip is a battery management/charge controller chip. It's rare that a modern cell phone controller chip needs an op-amp for a microphone (that's usually built in an only needs a resistor/capacitor for signal). Also, the controller is not the cell phone module itself - pretty much guaranteed the GSM stuff is under the tin covered area. A GPS tracker could use a processor with far fewer capabilities and the android OS would be overkill because the GSM module does most of the computational work. As an audio bug, I bet the CPU is doing DSP functions to trigger audio spy mode, hence the reason the manufacturer selected that processor and/or they are storing a lot of data on that flash module. As far as the electronics on the LiPo battery, that is typical with most LiPo's (charge protection circuits) - no charge management lead otherwise. Just some thoughts, I could be wrong about some of this - I am no way an expert.
From my understanding cell phone towers need to have very accurate timing so they can manage many phone signals at once by knowing the time delays between phone signals incoming / outgoing. And this rubidium clocks timing lets the tower as well as the phone calculate the distances. When the phone is able to ping two or more towers it can get a good fix on its calculated location, which is what 911 emergency services can use to triangulate the calling cell phone's location to just a few meters knowing nothing more than the location of the cell towers. Your device must be able to tap into or use that servers just like I can with my iPhone. I can click a button in my Apple account on any PC and it will show me where my iPhone is within just a few meters.
***** 2 for any tracking, 3 for near perfect triangulation. With only 2 towers, you have to guess within 2 possible locations, which USUALLY is obvious, if one is a lake and the other is a building for instance.
iPhones have GPS chips built into them, which is why you're seeing such a perfectly accurate location when you log into Find My iPhone. That being said, modern cellular devices use what they call A-GPS, which uses the distance from cell towers to get an approximate location which drastically cuts down the amount of time it takes the real GPS module to get a lock on the satellites. A standalone GPS without this assistance can take several minutes to get a lock, especially if it's been moved far away from its last location where it was previously powered on. With A-GPS, a device can get a lock in seconds, even after being moved across the world.
gadgetboyj Good to know. I once had an old phone which for sure didn't have GPS. It only had a text screen and I had to call 911. The operator asked if I was on the corner of x and y and I was at that exact spot, so they must be able to get a good fix using just the cell tower distance calcs too. At least in a big city with lots of towers.
***** Cell towers know where the device is, but the device does not necessarily know the distance from the towers, it simply keeps to its time slots assigned by the tower. There's currently a protocol, MSA, where the towers and the device share sufficient information to allow the device to usually triangulate itself, but at least in my area, i haven't seen it actually work. Smartphones generally use following information to determine their position: * IDs of connected towers. It can get locations of towers from an Internet service. * IDs of local WLAN base stations which broadcast their name, together with their signal strengths. There's an Internet service (operated by your smartphone's system provider) which returns location based on this list, and it's often scaringly accurate. Where does this service know the location from? Because another smartphone was nearby with its GPS turned on, and determined accurate location corresponding to the WLAN footprint, and sent it to that service. It's easy enough to keep WLAN chipset running in listening mode even when WLAN is not engaged, doesn't consume too much power. * And finally as mentioned by others, GPS. It's not even turned on that often, as it consumes quite a bit of power, unless the phone has no other accurate way to determine the location, or if it wants to know travel direction and travel speed, because GPS is really good at measuring those.
+Chris Roller It should be able to do so, but I'd suggest using an over-rated panel to make sure that it didn't run flat after several dull days. If the voltage falls too low it it might crash or lock-up and not reboot.
+bigclivedotcom That's an excellent idea. I was just pondering ideas for increasing it's longevity. I'm a big fan of charging my devices with solar cells.
That looks like "A8" on the front, not A2. They show up as A8 on eBay. ~$11.50 shipped for something that would have cost government spies thousands of dollars not that long ago. Wonderful, as if government spying isn't enough, any amateur snoop can massively violate privacy for $11.50. Here's the text from one of the eBay ads about this "GPS" device. Notice the mention of "surveillance operation" as the primary intended use of this device: How does it work: It's simple. Your surveillance operation will be underway in 4 simple steps: 1. Insert a mobile phone SIM card in the device (E.G. free PAYG SIM card from O2 etc) 2. Conceal the device where it cant be seen... 3. Dial the pay as you go number from your phone..... 4. Listen - now you can hear what they are really talking about...
Not true. I can build these from scratch. If one has the materials in bulk, it should cost next to nothing compared to the retail price (which includes packaging, labelling, shipping etc) What is considered the latest technology to consumers is pre-approved and is considered almost ancient technology to the government. Much of it is never revealed to the average joe because the average joe can also be a no-good SOB.
Ahhh BigClive we finally saw *you* (as in your head) at 10:00 :D @TQ < It's really not worth wasting your time building one of these out of parts. Assembly along with fine microsoldering will cost you more in time (at least an hour) than it's worth just buying it ready made for only $12usd. Don't get me wrong I'm a huge hobby electronics fan and still built some gadgets by hand, but nowadays mass production has rendered the self-build model a moot point in most cases such as this, therefore due to the Time/Cost/Benefit ratio, it's just not worth building it yourself. ;)
No. The one in this video is missing the antenna. My Mini A8 has an antenna strip that goes all around the case and touches directly with that little spring at the corner. Without the antenna, the device won't be able to give you accurate location data.
I wonder if that extra pin is for controlling an external load, like a relay or something. You send a text it turns on, you send a different text it turns off type of thing?
I bought one of these 6 months ago and gave up on it when I had to pay for the chip as well. I bought a very cheap sim chip but didnt want to activate it not knowing if it could work or what it would do since there is like NO help from manufacturer and the website seemed weird. I threw it into a drawer. Now I see this and might dig it out and throw a few dollars onto that chip.
Pretty neat little device still even though it isn't a GPS tracker. I need something like this for my Grandmother. Since pagers aren't a thing anymore, at least to my knowledge....
+TheWizechatmgr Generically called TK102. I recommend getting a suitable charger for the batteries it takes (usually a generic Nokia cell) and getting at least one spare cell so you can swap in a freshly charged one every morning.
+TheWizechatmgr I know I'm a bit late on this but I'd recommend the tkstar look it up on ebay! it costs a bit more than the TK102 usually priced at about £25 but the battery lasts up to I think about 5 days I use to charge mine every 3 days or so. (Used it for my car) Comes with a app for your phone and everything :D Has live tracking on the app with a decent refresh rate (15 seconds adjustable to your requirement but 15sec is the lowest)
9:25 Actually i'm fairly certain the ARM processor uses the other chip you referred to as the "phone" chip as RAM. It should be a memory module. The "phone" part of this device is just software and we've only got a GSM radio underneath the EM shielding.
I know it was a while. How much time does the real GPS locator(on the right) works on battery while in live tracking mode? Will it make it for 24hrs while refreshing it's position like once per 5 minutes?
Things will have changed since I used the TK102 units about 8 years ago. They could log their position in internal memory or send it, but I doubt the internal battery would have lasted long doing that. You could add an external battery though.
@@bigclivedotcom Big thanks for the reply. I'm looking for something not to pricy that would sent me it's coords live every 3-10 mins (supposedly via GPRS) for at least 24hrs. Is there anything you'd recommend?
Hello big Clive! I sadly brought a mini A8 to track my grandad when he goes walk about and gets lost. Glad it only cost £10! I've now brought the TK102 as you sold it to me when reading your website! I was wondering if you knew how much data you used? I've brought a giffgaff sim and brought a £10 goodie bag which comes with 1gb of Internet and the messages and minutes. Or does it just use top up like mentioned in your post?
In the USA cell sites have the X Y Z receive inputs split to allow a device with the name True Position added, I think the information then sent back other sites, which by using triangulation gives a location, I have only seen these as I do 2-way radio, but we collocate with cell carriers, it is not GPS but it does work.
Gonna make this into a anti theft device for my moped, just bought 2 for experimenting with. When I'm flying my fpv quad, I usually have to walk a few miles/ km to get to quiet spots, and by doing so- I've almost had my moped stolen 2 times now. When I get called, I can hurry back to my moped, with at least a little chance of catching the thieves in person. That, combined with a pinhole camera in my buddyseat, should make attempt of theft a lot less painfull. As I also have a A3 sized printer and laminator- and the sheer willpower of hanging up hundreds of photos xD
You know, you could wire a relay to it to cut power or even wire an inline fuel cock switch to turn off the fuel. I suppose they can lift it up into a truck but they aren't going to ride off on it.
The red LED light is it always supposed to be on? mine seems to be. not matter how insignificant it consumes power and does not help the whole "covert" thing
would it be possible to program a gsm sim to work with a service like lookout mobile so you can locate the device? or would it need another microchip on the arm to locate the sim this way? Im gonna try to figure out if this can be done with a freedom pop chip. thanks if you save me some research.
Technically you could narrow down the location of the device using only cell towers, But you need to have a few of the cell towers listed to triangulate against them. While its not GPS which can average around 5 meters, If you can get 4 or more towers (when it reconnects / cycles / moves) then you can some times get around 100 to 500 meters accuracy.. But all this requires processing, eg checking the signal strength vs the towers location and so on.. This is a common fall back when the GPS module itself can not obtain a sat fix, common when in a shed/house/some where that the sky is not visible to the device.. As usual, love the video's clive
when I watch your videos I feel like I'm back in 5th grade science class, that's a good thing. Can you do a video on a cheap 18650 battery charger because I know they are disasters waiting to happen
If you call this in the uk and listen remotely then your committing a criminal offence if you leave it in a private residence or workplace. Not so sure about public places. Use with caution or your going to jail.
it is a fully capable tracker but the feature may have been disabled. if you get the signal strengths of more than 1 tower you can triangulate the position but there might be laws prohibiting this feature so it may have been gimped to only allow access to a single tower
Excuse me so the one who has the android logo don´t works? and What about the other?, it is possible to monitoring the device by an app in my phone. I'm asking this because I dont speak English as well. and Finally Wich device do you recommen?
Maybe the unknown "contact" at the corner is a switch, for detecting tampering with the device. When the case is open, the switch is activated and all memory on the device/SIM card is erased? Or maybe (if not a switch), some kind of connection for an external antenna?
I bought several of those known as A GF07 ALSO THERES A GF 09 THAT RETURNS A LOCATION OF THE NEAREST TOWER .. neither works as a GPS. A few of the 07s came in pieces electrically they worked but only would call or could be call but never returned a position.
Purchased one of these recently. Charged it up, then inserted an activated, tested, SIM card. After a couple of seconds the led starts flashing on and off and never stops. It doesn't seem to be working, but I have no clue what a blinking red led indicates. Any thoughts?
bigclivedotcom Thanks for the reply. The SIM I'm trying is a ptel brand that is freshly activated and works fine in my phone. I also tried my tmobile sim card. Same results with both. I may just have to try some other brands I guess. Thanks again for the reply. BTW, I thoroughly enjoy you channel and always look forward to new videos. Cheers.
I have been looking for something to attach to my drone, Just incase i loose it or something, this was the perfect size when i saw it, but you killed my dreams after seeing your review lol. That would be the perfect size to attach small light.
so there isn't any sign of GPS circuitry? but it does function as a GSM bug... disappointing, but a great find. ** 2 stars for the device ***** 5 stars for the video
I also removed the button. I connected the button contacts to a relay controlled by a pir for making a small handheld anti-theft and so I wanted to know if there was a system to turn on and off SOS via sms.
They should implement a "circuit fryer" circuit that has a high-capacity capacitor which would fry the SIM whenever the cover is opened if "stealth mode" was activated.
He means PAYG as they don't norm require any personal information to activate (unless your county requires by law that they are tied to your Identity, I know only 3 that do it)
That's interesting. We're looking for the video version of that to send up to near space in a balloon. We figure we can get back the images through gsm when it gets close enough to a tower...
Cool video. I bought one of these a while ago and your right they are not a true tracker buy the nature of how it works. Are you an electronics specialist by trade? I work for the RAF as an electronics tech, Radar is my speciality but able in electronics with model railways etc.
The MT chip is a CPU mostly used for chinese/junk android phones . MT= Mediatek ## . This is probably a Android running "tablet" without a screen. There are many small android computers with a HDMI port, then you have a android computer.
Hey clive, I just can not get my tracker to call my cell at all. I am refering to the bigger one. These Japanese converted instructions are hare to follow. Can you help me to set it up? It is telling me to call the tracker 10 times to set it up then dial it up with admin123456,space,cell#. But I just cant get it up and going, your help would save me head from banging it against the bloody wall. Thanks
+Jtm McCallum Make sure that your SIM card doesn't have a PIN code enabled. If it's a TK102 you can find info on my website at:- www.bigclive.com/gps.htm
Technically speaking you could add a connector and an external battery. There's a GPS tracker that you can call called a TK102. But it doesn't act like an alarm like this one.
I really like the idea,sadly belgium just put up a law every sim card subscription and prepaid needs to be registerd with a eID before it can be used...
3:02 - Regarding non-registered sim, you might still be identified (by say authorities if it came to that) if you are calling it from your own cell phone...even if you use a non-registered sim in your own cell. I could be wrong but I thought your phone's unique IMEI number is transmitted to the cell network each time you make a call from it. You'd have to be careful about that.
MJ D it wasn't like that whrn phones first came out as you know, but people misused throw away phones. I think you gotta register even for a pre paid simcard
+Immortal Depends where you live. In Czech Republic you can buy SIMs even in grocery stores with cash (no registration) and cheap (~$20) cellphones in every electronics store (again, cash, no registration).
will do, another user said his took all morning before it suddenly started to work, will leave sim in all night and try it in the morning, Thankyou for your advice, :-)
Your Mom was lucky to have a son like you to do all this for her. Even though she may not get what you are doing - you were there for her and that's what counts.
Fascinating. The interesting thing about the "SOS" button is if I found this up on a shelf somewhere and was trying to figure out what it was, the first thing I would do is press the button. If someone were using it as a listening device, in call only mode, getting a call from the device would be their way of knowing it had been discovered.
Sammie1053 haha lol 😂
I said “I wonder if NSA is listening. I wonder if China is listening too?” Then I laughed, NSA laughed, and China laughed.
how he know? his speakers
Well then now the US president controlled by china
*Then Russia came over the radio and laughed
@@gamingforlive2150 speakers can be used as microphones.
who laughed longest?
I worked in a car dealership outside of Chicago. People would buy a car without any intention of making payments. Whenever we would find them and repossess the car they would always be amazed how we always found them. I personally installed about 500 GPS trackers in those cars... The customers would sometimes catch on so I had to start installing diversion trackers.... fake blinky trackers that are easy to find so the customer sees it and removes it and thinks they've gotten rid of it... but they were just a diversion. The real tracker of course wouldn't be blinky and in plain sight.
Isn't that... Illegal?
+Valentin Meneses Normally, yes. Its illegal. Knowing this, we of course have a clause in each contract where they have to sign acknowledging that the vehicle might or might not have GPS. As most of you probably do, the customers didn't read this... they just blindly signed the paperwork. Just goes to show that you should read what you sign, especially when it comes to a shady car dealership that offers in-house financing to people with no credit or bad credit with low down payments.
+BachikoiBabi It's actually become quite common for car dealers that offer pay here type payment plans to lower income areas to install hardwired trackers that are also capable of shutting the car down (actually I think it just disables the starter). They get shoved pretty far into the wiring too. I bought a car from a junkyard that had one set off & since it was so damaged they sent it to the junkyard it was hard to turn back on. Never did manage to tear it out I got a wire from the foot well to bridge with a hot wire and then it started from the ignition, then you had to shut off the ignition and unbridge the wires to drive. Annoying little task for my little topaz. Great car, other than that and the giant car shaped dent in the side.
+BachikoiBabi
I'd be careful with that, it's unlikely to actually stand up in court.
+BachikoiBabi Firstly, I don't believe your story which is almost certainly a lie. Secondly, if a dealership unknowingly installed a GPS in a car I purchased, I would never do business with them again.
I looked into these a while ago, and though fun (For geo-caching games etc) they're not solid enough for applications where they are depended on. Due to the audio bug feature, they're also illegal in Germany.
There are a few variants on this theme now, too. One being a USB charging cable with the basic bits of this (Sans battery) concealed in the USB connector, allowing spying on anyone you can give a USB cable to! :-o
The "GPS" is actually "A-GPS" which is, basically, GSM triangulation. It works well, but only in areas where there's good GSM coverage.
Finally: A lot of these trackers are suspected to also send their tracking output to unknown parties as well as the user operating it, so these should never be relied upon for confidential applications. :-)
Clive, I like your videos. As an M.S. Electronic Engineer, I sometimes have problems conversing at a level laymen and novices can understand. You're teaching me how to speak on a different level than what I am accustomed with so many other professionals I work with on a daily basis. Keep up the good work, my friend.
thanks for keeping me from buying the wrong thing.
Carl Bradley I want to know the name of the tracker which he shown at very first
Keep in mind that "Tracker" might just be an inaccurate translation from the Chinese "Voice Tracker", which obviously is not a GPS tracker. I've learned to be a bit leery when reading product descriptions especially on poorly translated Chinese products. ;)
Nothing wrong with spare parts and batteries lol
I checked my ISO tables for "modest amount", but it doesn't appear to be an international standard for battery operating duration.
I believe if you try the Internal Scottish Organisation tables it'll be right there in the middle.
Must be one of those wired imperial units... ;)
I can confirm this is on the Imperial & Scotsman Organization table for things and lengths of stuff.
Clive just to say that I loved watching these videos - you'd make a great teacher at a university!
Lol modern alternative to 'lets put a bell on her'
I once put a bell in her.....
Lloyd Marriott You really shouldn't be fucking Alzheimer's sufferers. There's quite a substantial grey area (not just pubic) when it comes to the ability to competently grant consent.
@@comanchio1976 jeez chill, its a joke dont be over dramatic
d'edsi Wife or cat?
@@comanchio1976 Your extreme arrogance and plain lack of respect say otherwise.
Jesus Christ I thought your channel was "Big C Live" for months, until I watched this
Same man.
lol big c
that kinda works too tbh
I remember the early cell phones that I had if I wanted to use the navigation app for turn-by-turn directions it didn't use actual GPS it used triangulation from cell towers which had known GPS positions. if I was driving in the mountains and lost signal, God forbid I missed my turn or encountered a detour because the software would just dump the current route and try to query the server to build a new route and if I didn't remember how to get back to where there was signal I would be screwed.
don't forget to ring that thing with a burner phone too
Facts
That module seems like it would fit nicely into a full-sized power bank and run from its battery. Not that anyone would ever do such a thing.
MAN that seems so scary. Imagine an X gettin uspet and hunting you down with this device. "AH HAH! I KNEW IT! YOU DO DISHES FOR EVERYONE ELSE BUT ME!"
Hey Clive! Love your channel, first of all! And second, could you perhaps do a review/in-depth analysis of the actual GPS tracker you wound up using?That'd be awesome because I'm contemplating putting one of those in my car as a way of tracking it if it ever got stolen.
"find your car! find your kids!''
Depending on how many nearby towers, cell phone tower triangulation can be extremely accurate. If the device can ping 3 towers, then the device can be tracked within a meter. That is a lot of if's tho.
Only if it can give a bearing to each, which it can't.
Plus it's got really small low gain antennas which makes it pretty inaccurate. Nowadays they've got plenty of cheap ($20) models with real GPS built in, just check on AliExpress.com ;)
I wasn't even aware of devices like these being sold to the public.
Same
that's why is listed as a GPS tracker ..... it wouldn't be listed a bugging device as that would probably cause legal problems
Why? It's literally just a mobile phone? Think about it, a mobile you can use to covertly listen to people, covertly record video or take pictures, you can also use it to track people via the GPS function. There are also apps that copy all keystrokes and send them to you, take remote screenshots, copy + remotely send their texts, emails, time call placed etc etc. Nearly any everyday consumer electronics can be used for covert surveillance, webcams, CCTV, phones, tvs, laptops and there's nothing illegal about such devices even if advertised for surveillance. You might run into problems if you got caught using them somewhere that wasnt your property, but that's completely different from making the devices illegal
I think the difference with this piece of electronic is that it is made purposefully to be a bugging device. If someone finds a cellphone in a drawer which, theoretically, has bugging abilities, you will less likely be prosecuted. If someone found this A8 device in a drawer somewhere, your intent of bugging someone is crystalclear and your defence will be a hard one. Your logic can be easily turned around completely, making everyone who carries one of the electrical devices you mentioned a suspect.
The law isn't just logic, it has to be reasonable and fair too in it's decisions.
dralenvan Wait... why is this a reply to my comment?
IT IS a proper tracker... your device doesn't have the antenna strip inside the case. You need to register your personal number using an SQ code so the device will recognize your phone number as the controller. Then a "DW" text will correctly send you GPS coordinates provided you loaded or topped up some credits into the account. But in your case, your antenna is missing. It's like a small strip of metal tape that goes around the top inside the case and touches that small spring-like metal at the corner of the circuit board.
You think we could solder a bigger 2 pin mic on there for better audio capture?
Nice GSM spy bug, good to leave in the conference room (cabinet room) or the bosses office.
LOL what a sneaky thing! First the bogus GPS false advertising then the really sneaky stuff starts when you get it to work as intended! I love it! It reminds me of the old infinity bugs xD
I've a few of both the tracker and listener, when used together they are a powerful surveillance system. The listener works well alone in a room with a power pack, I found the early single 18650 battery ones quite good before they were all recalled. It's a shame they don't take a BL-2 battery.
Do you have the instructions for the tracker/a review as I've lost my instructions.
You have a website too! Oh Lord, now I will never get any sleep ;) Love your contributions to RUclips.
that unit is great for hacking
pull off the arm micro chip
wire power ground and tx rx from the pcb to an arduino
and you can build a mini gsm with power supply
+robot797 Explain
didnt i explain it already?
You said you can hack it. Hack it how?
in my firsth post i explained it
take the prosessor out
connect a arduino to the rx and tx pins of the gsm chip
and then you have an arduino controlled gsm with build in power supply
+robot797 I think they want to know what that will do.
10:15 could be the ESD protection for the SIM card, I have them on my GPS modules from China and they are indicated as such in the schematic.
This Video was in the german news today.. lol
Just recently subbed to your channel. Good stuff, and informative. Also, your voice is like silk blowing in the warm breeze of a fresh spring morning. Ok... A little creepy... Sorry.
I've compared his voice to Valium.
Robert Breeden lol
"Mellifluent" I think is the word you are seeking, Robert.
Me, I thought it was just his pan-loafy Edinburgh-esque accent. :-)
Although not close to the battery leads, I suspect that 8 pin chip is a battery management/charge controller chip. It's rare that a modern cell phone controller chip needs an op-amp for a microphone (that's usually built in an only needs a resistor/capacitor for signal). Also, the controller is not the cell phone module itself - pretty much guaranteed the GSM stuff is under the tin covered area. A GPS tracker could use a processor with far fewer capabilities and the android OS would be overkill because the GSM module does most of the computational work. As an audio bug, I bet the CPU is doing DSP functions to trigger audio spy mode, hence the reason the manufacturer selected that processor and/or they are storing a lot of data on that flash module. As far as the electronics on the LiPo battery, that is typical with most LiPo's (charge protection circuits) - no charge management lead otherwise. Just some thoughts, I could be wrong about some of this - I am no way an expert.
From my understanding cell phone towers need to have very accurate timing so they can manage many phone signals at once by knowing the time delays between phone signals incoming / outgoing. And this rubidium clocks timing lets the tower as well as the phone calculate the distances. When the phone is able to ping two or more towers it can get a good fix on its calculated location, which is what 911 emergency services can use to triangulate the calling cell phone's location to just a few meters knowing nothing more than the location of the cell towers. Your device must be able to tap into or use that servers just like I can with my iPhone. I can click a button in my Apple account on any PC and it will show me where my iPhone is within just a few meters.
***** 2 for any tracking, 3 for near perfect triangulation. With only 2 towers, you have to guess within 2 possible locations, which USUALLY is obvious, if one is a lake and the other is a building for instance.
iPhones have GPS chips built into them, which is why you're seeing such a perfectly accurate location when you log into Find My iPhone. That being said, modern cellular devices use what they call A-GPS, which uses the distance from cell towers to get an approximate location which drastically cuts down the amount of time it takes the real GPS module to get a lock on the satellites. A standalone GPS without this assistance can take several minutes to get a lock, especially if it's been moved far away from its last location where it was previously powered on. With A-GPS, a device can get a lock in seconds, even after being moved across the world.
gadgetboyj Good to know. I once had an old phone which for sure didn't have GPS. It only had a text screen and I had to call 911. The operator asked if I was on the corner of x and y and I was at that exact spot, so they must be able to get a good fix using just the cell tower distance calcs too. At least in a big city with lots of towers.
***** It might have had a-gps just for that purpose. AT&T used triangulation for a little while but a-gps is significantly cheaper and more accurate.
***** Cell towers know where the device is, but the device does not necessarily know the distance from the towers, it simply keeps to its time slots assigned by the tower. There's currently a protocol, MSA, where the towers and the device share sufficient information to allow the device to usually triangulate itself, but at least in my area, i haven't seen it actually work.
Smartphones generally use following information to determine their position:
* IDs of connected towers. It can get locations of towers from an Internet service.
* IDs of local WLAN base stations which broadcast their name, together with their signal strengths. There's an Internet service (operated by your smartphone's system provider) which returns location based on this list, and it's often scaringly accurate. Where does this service know the location from? Because another smartphone was nearby with its GPS turned on, and determined accurate location corresponding to the WLAN footprint, and sent it to that service. It's easy enough to keep WLAN chipset running in listening mode even when WLAN is not engaged, doesn't consume too much power.
* And finally as mentioned by others, GPS. It's not even turned on that often, as it consumes quite a bit of power, unless the phone has no other accurate way to determine the location, or if it wants to know travel direction and travel speed, because GPS is really good at measuring those.
Do you think that device would be able to power/charge itself off of a similarly sized solar membrane?
+Chris Roller It should be able to do so, but I'd suggest using an over-rated panel to make sure that it didn't run flat after several dull days. If the voltage falls too low it it might crash or lock-up and not reboot.
+bigclivedotcom That's an excellent idea. I was just pondering ideas for increasing it's longevity. I'm a big fan of charging my devices with solar cells.
+Gadgetboy This guy calls for green.
That looks like "A8" on the front, not A2. They show up as A8 on eBay. ~$11.50 shipped for something that would have cost government spies thousands of dollars not that long ago. Wonderful, as if government spying isn't enough, any amateur snoop can massively violate privacy for $11.50. Here's the text from one of the eBay ads about this "GPS" device. Notice the mention of "surveillance operation" as the primary intended use of this device:
How does it work:
It's simple. Your surveillance operation will be underway in 4 simple steps:
1. Insert a mobile phone SIM card in the device (E.G. free PAYG SIM card from O2 etc)
2. Conceal the device where it cant be seen...
3. Dial the pay as you go number from your phone.....
4. Listen - now you can hear what they are really talking about...
Winston Smith Oops! You're right. I've changed the video title to A8.
Not true. I can build these from scratch. If one has the materials in bulk, it should cost next to nothing compared to the retail price (which includes packaging, labelling, shipping etc) What is considered the latest technology to consumers is pre-approved and is considered almost ancient technology to the government. Much of it is never revealed to the average joe because the average joe can also be a no-good SOB.
Ahhh BigClive we finally saw *you* (as in your head) at 10:00 :D
@TQ < It's really not worth wasting your time building one of these out of parts. Assembly along with fine microsoldering will cost you more in time (at least an hour) than it's worth just buying it ready made for only $12usd. Don't get me wrong I'm a huge hobby electronics fan and still built some gadgets by hand, but nowadays mass production has rendered the self-build model a moot point in most cases such as this, therefore due to the Time/Cost/Benefit ratio, it's just not worth building it yourself. ;)
Could the little spring pin be a tamper protection feature? Like maybe it erases its memory if the case is opened?
Had the exact same thought, or maybe it's a cheap/available component repurposed as an antenna.
At the end he mentions the chip next to the ARM is a flash memory chip.
might be a power switch, which kills the power to the unit. or the aforementioned tamperswitch, where it floods the flash memory with 0's
No. The one in this video is missing the antenna. My Mini A8 has an antenna strip that goes all around the case and touches directly with that little spring at the corner. Without the antenna, the device won't be able to give you accurate location data.
I wonder if that extra pin is for controlling an external load, like a relay or something. You send a text it turns on, you send a different text it turns off type of thing?
I bought one of these 6 months ago and gave up on it when I had to pay for the chip as well. I bought a very cheap sim chip but didnt want to activate it not knowing if it could work or what it would do since there is like NO help from manufacturer and the website seemed weird. I threw it into a drawer. Now I see this and might dig it out and throw a few dollars onto that chip.
Nice video - may i ask what is the monocular/spyglass device you are using?
If it's the illuminated magnifier then it's a random one from eBay that is usually quite hard to find in a sea of other types.
I would love to see one of these available which is self charging, similarly to a self wound watch, and which provides kid's bags with anti-kidnap gps
I found this out about my A8, pointed out to the seller that it is not a GPS tracker and got my money back no problem!
Pretty neat little device still even though it isn't a GPS tracker. I need something like this for my Grandmother. Since pagers aren't a thing anymore, at least to my knowledge....
Really interesting device. Could use this in my house security - but then again I prefer implementing things like those myself. :P
What model is the larger/better "awesome" one?
Thinking of tossing one in my 6 year old's backpack.
+TheWizechatmgr Generically called TK102. I recommend getting a suitable charger for the batteries it takes (usually a generic Nokia cell) and getting at least one spare cell so you can swap in a freshly charged one every morning.
Cool, thanks!
+TheWizechatmgr I know I'm a bit late on this but I'd recommend the tkstar look it up on ebay! it costs a bit more than the TK102 usually priced at about £25 but the battery lasts up to I think about 5 days I use to charge mine every 3 days or so. (Used it for my car) Comes with a app for your phone and everything :D Has live tracking on the app with a decent refresh rate (15 seconds adjustable to your requirement but 15sec is the lowest)
+Maissy Kay thanks!
9:25 Actually i'm fairly certain the ARM processor uses the other chip you referred to as the "phone" chip as RAM. It should be a memory module. The "phone" part of this device is just software and we've only got a GSM radio underneath the EM shielding.
I know it was a while. How much time does the real GPS locator(on the right) works on battery while in live tracking mode? Will it make it for 24hrs while refreshing it's position like once per 5 minutes?
Things will have changed since I used the TK102 units about 8 years ago. They could log their position in internal memory or send it, but I doubt the internal battery would have lasted long doing that. You could add an external battery though.
@@bigclivedotcom Big thanks for the reply. I'm looking for something not to pricy that would sent me it's coords live every 3-10 mins (supposedly via GPRS) for at least 24hrs. Is there anything you'd recommend?
@@IntruderPL2 You can get a lot of different GPS trackers on eBay now. It might be worth experimenting.
@@bigclivedotcom Well, that's some solution I don't have time for. I'm looking for an already tested device. :) Thank you for your time again :)
Great video. I'm sorry to hear about your mother.
Hello big Clive! I sadly brought a mini A8 to track my grandad when he goes walk about and gets lost. Glad it only cost £10!
I've now brought the TK102 as you sold it to me when reading your website! I was wondering if you knew how much data you used? I've brought a giffgaff sim and brought a £10 goodie bag which comes with 1gb of Internet and the messages and minutes. Or does it just use top up like mentioned in your post?
Awesome Video Clive. Very Cool Teardown. Keep up the great work. Nick.
Hi clive can i modify this to use it as a switch ?
For example put a switching transistor to the mic output ?
In the USA cell sites have the X Y Z receive inputs split to allow a device with the name True Position added, I think the information then sent back other sites, which by using triangulation gives a location, I have only seen these as I do 2-way radio, but we collocate with cell carriers, it is not GPS but it does work.
Gonna make this into a anti theft device for my moped, just bought 2 for experimenting with. When I'm flying my fpv quad, I usually have to walk a few miles/ km to get to quiet spots, and by doing so- I've almost had my moped stolen 2 times now. When I get called, I can hurry back to my moped, with at least a little chance of catching the thieves in person. That, combined with a pinhole camera in my buddyseat, should make attempt of theft a lot less painfull. As I also have a A3 sized printer and laminator- and the sheer willpower of hanging up hundreds of photos xD
You know, you could wire a relay to it to cut power or even wire an inline fuel cock switch to turn off the fuel. I suppose they can lift it up into a truck but they aren't going to ride off on it.
The red LED light is it always supposed to be on? mine seems to be. not matter how insignificant it consumes power and does not help the whole "covert" thing
would it be possible to program a gsm sim to work with a service like lookout mobile so you can locate the device? or would it need another microchip on the arm to locate the sim this way? Im gonna try to figure out if this can be done with a freedom pop chip. thanks if you save me some research.
Technically you could narrow down the location of the device using only cell towers, But you need to have a few of the cell towers listed to triangulate against them.
While its not GPS which can average around 5 meters, If you can get 4 or more towers (when it reconnects / cycles / moves) then you can some times get around 100 to 500 meters accuracy.. But all this requires processing, eg checking the signal strength vs the towers location and so on..
This is a common fall back when the GPS module itself can not obtain a sat fix, common when in a shed/house/some where that the sky is not visible to the device..
As usual, love the video's clive
when I watch your videos I feel like I'm back in 5th grade science class, that's a good thing.
Can you do a video on a cheap 18650 battery charger because I know they are disasters waiting to happen
Hank Waffles Love the name Hank :)
I just checked that unit out yesterday. It said its one of the most used devices in the uk.
If you call this in the uk and listen remotely then your committing a criminal offence if you leave it in a private residence or workplace. Not so sure about public places. Use with caution or your going to jail.
Any chance of revisiting these devices? Looks like there have been a lot of new models released!
it is a fully capable tracker but the feature may have been disabled. if you get the signal strengths of more than 1 tower you can triangulate the position but there might be laws prohibiting this feature so it may have been gimped to only allow access to a single tower
Excuse me so the one who has the android logo don´t works? and What about the other?, it is possible to monitoring the device by an app in my phone. I'm asking this because I dont speak English as well. and Finally Wich device do you recommen?
The TK102 trackers are very good. These devices in this video are just really listening devices.
thank you so much
Maybe the unknown "contact" at the corner is a switch, for detecting tampering with the device. When the case is open, the switch is activated and all memory on the device/SIM card is erased? Or maybe (if not a switch), some kind of connection for an external antenna?
Thanks almost bought it thinking it's a GPS as sellers claim
I've been looking for a inexpensive GPS logger that doesn't use a SIM card, have any recommendations?
I bought several of those known as A GF07 ALSO THERES A GF 09 THAT RETURNS A LOCATION OF THE NEAREST TOWER .. neither works as a GPS. A few of the 07s came in pieces electrically they worked but only would call or could be call but never returned a position.
Very interesting, as you say not what it says it is, but useful none the less
is there (at least) a 3g version now 2g is shutting down in places?
This should be in the next Hitman game to find out when people go in the room.
Purchased one of these recently. Charged it up, then inserted an activated, tested, SIM card. After a couple of seconds the led starts flashing on and off and never stops. It doesn't seem to be working, but I have no clue what a blinking red led indicates. Any thoughts?
Tony Perkins Is the SIMs password function disabled? Make sure the holders contacts look clean and in position. Some networks SIMs don't work.
bigclivedotcom Thanks for the reply. The SIM I'm trying is a ptel brand that is freshly activated and works fine in my phone. I also tried my tmobile sim card. Same results with both. I may just have to try some other brands I guess. Thanks again for the reply. BTW, I thoroughly enjoy you channel and always look forward to new videos. Cheers.
I have been looking for something to attach to my drone, Just incase i loose it or something, this was the perfect size when i saw it, but you killed my dreams after seeing your review lol. That would be the perfect size to attach small light.
I am pleased I watched this good video - was all set to buy one.
so there isn't any sign of GPS circuitry? but it does function as a GSM bug...
disappointing, but a great find.
** 2 stars for the device
***** 5 stars for the video
Nowadays they've got plenty of cheap ($20) models with real GPS built in, just check on AliExpress.com ;)
could the springloaded pin be an anti-tamper device so it would know if its been opened & call/text to tell you you've been found out??
One of the listings said you need to send SMS with GPS if you are outside China. Have you tried that?
What is the brand of the GPS tracker that you said is very good? thanks.
It's called a TK102. Just search "TK102" on eBay and you will usually find one under $15.
I love your channel so much.
Lol Clive I has watched quite a few of your videos, I has no idea why, you are addictive in your mundane endeavors XD
Can you post a link to the device you use to look at the chips please.
Its a magnifying glass
I know that but his was different.
Stuart Carson www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Illuminated-15x-Hand-Hold-Jewelers-Eye-Loupe-Magnifier-Magnifying-glass-W-LED-/251655497897
Thanks Clive.
bigclivedotcom You sound similar to Scott Manley...
Very interesting as always Clive.
Clive: "Theres an 8 pin chip"
Me: IT'S A 555
***** FYI, They do make other 8-pin chips that aren't 555s.
King Koopa Yeah, quite a few, actually.
mckryall Yup, my favourite is the ATtiny85.
there are hundreds of ics that use the dip8 smd package
Opsætning af gps alarm
I also removed the button. I
connected the button contacts to a relay controlled by a pir for making
a small handheld anti-theft and so I wanted to know if there was a
system to turn on and off SOS via sms.
In a8 model audio can listen but when we write DW it Shaw error address not Shaw GPS link.... How to slove it..sim is active n recharge fully
They should implement a "circuit fryer" circuit that has a high-capacity capacitor which would fry the SIM whenever the cover is opened if "stealth mode" was activated.
Achmed interesting idea :)
Could be a good cheap security system. Leave it in your car and it'll call you if it hears a loud noise like someone breaking the glass
Unregistered SIM cards in the USA don’t get any activation at all, no calls in nor out, and no phone number to even test a text.
He means PAYG as they don't norm require any personal information to activate (unless your county requires by law that they are tied to your Identity, I know only 3 that do it)
That's interesting. We're looking for the video version of that to send up to near space in a balloon. We figure we can get back the images through gsm when it gets close enough to a tower...
Cool video. I bought one of these a while ago and your right they are not a true tracker buy the nature of how it works. Are you an electronics specialist by trade? I work for the RAF as an electronics tech, Radar is my speciality but able in electronics with model railways etc.
The MT chip is a CPU mostly used for chinese/junk android phones
. MT= Mediatek ## . This is probably a Android running "tablet" without a screen. There are many small android computers with a HDMI port, then you have a android computer.
SSFproductions1 Sorry, didnt see the video all the way lol.
SSFproductions1 Mediatek is not junk... it one of the largest chip fabricators and the most successful CPU manufacturers ...
SSFproductions1 It's for sure not running Android with a clock of 26/52MHz & 320K SRAM...
SSFproductions1 most Chinese phones are better than big brands like apple, Samsung, Motorola etc
hi, how do you program your own number in it for it to call you ? had one of these at home for years and never used it, lost the instructions, regards
When you call it, it returns the calls to the same number.
so? is it a tracking devise or not? I'm looking for a good tracker/locator devise. thanks
Hey clive, I just can not get my tracker to call my cell at all. I am refering to the bigger one. These Japanese converted instructions are hare to follow. Can you help me to set it up? It is telling me to call the tracker 10 times to set it up then dial it up with admin123456,space,cell#. But I just cant get it up and going, your help would save me head from banging it against the bloody wall. Thanks
+Jtm McCallum Make sure that your SIM card doesn't have a PIN code enabled. If it's a TK102 you can find info on my website at:- www.bigclive.com/gps.htm
What are the specs on that battery? How long does it last? What is a "modest time?"
Is there a device that does both?
Technically speaking you could add a connector and an external battery. There's a GPS tracker that you can call called a TK102. But it doesn't act like an alarm like this one.
So how many has Murdoch bought for his reporters?
Probably bought in bulk from manufacturer. lol
I really like the idea,sadly belgium just put up a law every sim card subscription and prepaid needs to be registerd with a eID before it can be used...
3:02 - Regarding non-registered sim, you might still be identified (by say authorities if it came to that) if you are calling it from your own cell phone...even if you use a non-registered sim in your own cell. I could be wrong but I thought your phone's unique IMEI number is transmitted to the cell network each time you make a call from it. You'd have to be careful about that.
Buy a burner phone for $15.
Not every country have phones you can buy where you don't need to register.
MJ D yeah in my country you gotta register it on purchase even if its a 50 dolla pre paid phone from a supermarket.
MJ D it wasn't like that whrn phones first came out as you know, but people misused throw away phones. I think you gotta register even for a pre paid simcard
+Immortal Depends where you live. In Czech Republic you can buy SIMs even in grocery stores with cash (no registration) and cheap (~$20) cellphones in every electronics store (again, cash, no registration).
hey. what affordable gps tracker do you recommend? thanks
TK102 trackers have been round for a long time and seem to be a standard.
will do, another user said his took all morning before it suddenly started to work, will leave sim in all night and try it in the morning, Thankyou for your advice, :-)
I always get you confused with "Great Scott"
Would this device work through a pocket, do you think?
i saw you on banggood, thats how i got here. thanks for the information :P
Is there one of my videos on Banggood?
bigclivedotcom haha, i thought poeple sent those videos in. guess not
bigclivedotcom no, someone commented about this device saying it doesnt do GPS.
aha, that explains it
A "Tile" in the purse is something that won't run down the battery every day. I keep a Tile in the glovebox of my car.
Please tell the first tracker's name or brand the one which was bigger, he showed it in beginning
Please anyone tell me
@@kowsalya.g8493
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/392591269974