For clarity we’re going to break the electronics down into two parts.

We have the BEACON which is the part of the system that moves around and relays its’ position to the RECEIVER which shows the user the positional data or whereabouts of the beacon.

There are two basic approaches to relaying the beacon positional data back to the receiver and each of them have their own unique drawbacks.

The first method is to use the cellular network to send messages to the receiver device. Using the cellular network allows the system to be used pretty much anywhere that you have a cellular network but it might not work in the back-country where people would normally go hiking, boating, fishing or camping. If you intend to use the tracking system outdoors in those back-country places to track your dog if he gets lost then you’d better hope your dog has some good survival instincts and tracking ability of his own.

The Zoombak “Advanced GPS Car and Family Locator” is one product that uses a cellular network to relay the data back to the receiver. The receiver in this case is a web site on the Internet so you’ll need internet access to be able to use it.

Although Zoombak doesn’t charge a setup fee for the device; you’re going to have to pay a minimum $9.99 a month for the service and about $175.00 for the electronic beacon that you attach to the object you’d like to track.

The real drawbacks to the Zoombak is that you need internet access because it doesn’t come with a handheld receiver and that you’ll have a monthly service fee for as long as you’re going to use the device.

The second method is to use publicly accessible, free radio signals to send messages to the receiver device. Since the device is using public radio signals you can expect that there will be no monthly service fees which is a real bonus since paying a service fee for every electronic device that you own starts to add up to some real coin very quickly.

RoamEO is one manufacturer that makes these types of GPS tracking system devices that is made specifically for dogs. They give you a handheld receiver that tracks the position of the beacon in real-time so you can even use it in the back-country where there’s no cellular systems.

Since this device works on radio waves there’s some pretty strict regulations that they have to adhere to and one of them is the power level that they’re allowed to transmit. The handheld receiver will handle up to 3 beacons and the beacon device transmits at 2 watts on 154.6Mhz so the beacon isn’t going to be in Juneau, Alaska and transmit to you California.

The biggest drawback is that the device is only going to transmit about 1 mile and you’re going to foot about $400.00 for 1 beacon and the handheld receiver.

I really like the Zoombak device and if I didn’t have so many projects on the go I’d like to get ahold of a Zoombak to see if it could be hacked to be used off of their system and used independently of their service fees.

The guys over at MAKE Magazine put together a little video on how to do it from easily available parts.

Pretty awesome hey? You can buy all the parts that you need to make one of these beautiful, ergonomic wonders from the Parallax Online Store.

You’ll need the following:

 
That give you a grand total of $211.85! WOW!!! Makes you want to go out there and build one of these low function, unfinished devices doesn’t it?

If you want a functional GPS unit building one is not for you. You can get them pretty cheap these days and you’ll get a lot more functionality out of it - but if you’re just looking to play and explore your love for electronic gadgets then this might be for you.

It’s a great project if you’re into that sort of stuff. I’m 103.5% geek so I already have my own Board of Education from Parallax. I also have a couple of projects that are in continuous development stage too. Don’t forget that if you buy in bulk Parallax will give you a couple dollar break on the bucks you’re going to fork over for parts - what a great Christmas or Birthday present for all those you love!

Todays technology makes all this possible and in fact really easy to do. Bur keep in mind that these devices are still quite large so it would be pretty obvious if someone were to put one in your gym bag or purse.

So far the hardware that is ‘dedicated‘ to GPS tracking is designed to be easily attached to a shipping container, tool box or even a vehicle. Sometimes they incorporate a secure braided wire that is used to attach the device to the object the owner wants to track.

There’s nothing small enough yet to be really inconspicuous because the technology doesn’t rely on just the GPS System to do the tracking. The GPS system is composed of satellites orbiting the earth and sending out a broadcast of their positions. The user end of the system has only a receiver of these signals. It’s a communications system that works much like your common radio - RECEIVE ONLY.

You’re going to need 2-way communication for a tracking device to function. The receiver part of it gets the signal from the satellites and then the transmitter part of it relays it’s position to another system that would be the front end for the user who is doing the tracking. In many cases the user front end is a secure Internet site accessible from any Internet connection.

There are a few ways of accomplishing the transmitter part that relays the positional data. The transmitting system can make use of WiFi to upload the position directly to internet, of course you’d need to have to be within reach of a WiFi signal for this to happen. The system can make use of the cellular communications network to relay position to the cellular network that would process the signal and then send it to the user front end. The cellular system is more reliable than the WiFi system because of area coverage but as we all know the whole world isn’t wireless just yet so this is great for cities but it probably won’t work in the Australian Outback. The most reliable transmitter system is to use a satellite communications network to relay the data to the user front end because of the extensive coverage area. Keep in mind though that the GPS System does not receive signals so it is a whole other service provider that the data will be relayed too.

So all of you with a little bit too much paranoia on this subject can now put away your tin foil hats - these systems are still too expensive for a jealous lover or overbearing parent to utilize just yet!

Here are my favorites:

For those of us that have a nice white Macbook the white Rosepoint is the sweetest little addition to an arsenal that’s already full of power.

Warning: include(http://www.sourcegps.com/amazon/amazon.php?mode=electronics&search=rose+point+usb+gps&maxads=1&showbuttons=no) [function.include]: failed to open stream: HTTP request failed! HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found
in /home/cactii/public_html/sourcegps/wp-content/plugins/phpexec.php(61) : eval()’d code on line 1

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening ‘http://www.sourcegps.com/amazon/amazon.php?mode=electronics&search=rose+point+usb+gps&maxads=1&showbuttons=no’ for inclusion (include_path=’.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php’) in /home/cactii/public_html/sourcegps/wp-content/plugins/phpexec.php(61) : eval()’d code on line 1

Garmin is one of the best brands in GPS devices so their reasonably priced USB GPS Receiver that also comes with nRoute software is also a great choice.

Warning: include(http://www.sourcegps.com/amazon/amazon.php?mode=electronics&search=garmin+usb+gps+nroute&maxads=1&showbuttons=no) [function.include]: failed to open stream: HTTP request failed! HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found
in /home/cactii/public_html/sourcegps/wp-content/plugins/phpexec.php(61) : eval()’d code on line 1

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening ‘http://www.sourcegps.com/amazon/amazon.php?mode=electronics&search=garmin+usb+gps+nroute&maxads=1&showbuttons=no’ for inclusion (include_path=’.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php’) in /home/cactii/public_html/sourcegps/wp-content/plugins/phpexec.php(61) : eval()’d code on line 1

DeluoGPS seems to be pushing their way into the market with some really fierce pricing and they too offer a USB GPS Receiver at an almost unbelievable price.

Warning: include(http://www.sourcegps.com/amazon/amazon.php?mode=electronics&search=deluo+gps+autoroute&maxads=1&showbuttons=no) [function.include]: failed to open stream: HTTP request failed! HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found
in /home/cactii/public_html/sourcegps/wp-content/plugins/phpexec.php(61) : eval()’d code on line 1

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening ‘http://www.sourcegps.com/amazon/amazon.php?mode=electronics&search=deluo+gps+autoroute&maxads=1&showbuttons=no’ for inclusion (include_path=’.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php’) in /home/cactii/public_html/sourcegps/wp-content/plugins/phpexec.php(61) : eval()’d code on line 1

Is there anything better than a 17″ GPS Navigational System in your car that has all the functionality of a computer too? Hurry because these offers probably won’t last very long?