Many people think that it is necessary to hire a private investigator (costing thousands of dollars) when you want to know where someone is spending
their time. However, if you are willing to put modern technology to work for
you can find out the same information without the huge expense of hiring a P.I.
It is now possible to track someone using a small device that uses military
satellites to find someone's location to within feet of their actual position.
There are basically two types of GPS Units.
GPS Logger (historical GPS)
Think of a logging device as a sort of video recorder
that records the locations, speed traveled, and time spent at locations and
so on. So if you want to know where your partner is spending his/her time this device can be very helpful. It is also a great tool for verifying that your partner is being truthful as to his/her whereabouts. For example your partner is spending time at someone’s house or meeting him or her at a motel, with the logger you will know exactly where he/she has been and for how long. This device is very small and totally self-contained.
I have used many different models and the most reliable and easiest to use is the Professional Mini Tracker..
Simply place the tracker in or on the target vehicle. When you are ready to get the information off of the unit you take it off or out of the vehicle and plug it into a USB port on your computer and download it. You can then view the route of the vehicle on a satellite image, on a map or in a text format. You
can also save the information on your computer or burn it to a compact disk to present as evidence later.
Real Time GPS
With real time GPS you can get all the same information that a GPS logger will provide but through the use of website based software accessed via the internet or even a cell phone you will be
able to see where the unit is right now in real time. For example your
partner calls you and says he/she has to work late. You could simply log
onto the website and see where his/her car is right now. This can come in
very useful when you want to catch your partner red handed.
There are may models of real time GPS on the market. One of the main
things that you want to be aware of is the monthly subscription fees. When you purchase the unit you will have to subscribe to a website to access the software to get locations and history reports. The monthly fee can range
from $19 per month to $159 per month depending on the company used
and the amount of usage.
Some units can text the current location to a cell phone without having a
subscription. The only problem with this is that the global coordinates are all that you get in most cases. If you are near a computer you can go to
Google Earth and enter the coordinates to view on a map, but if you are not the info on the text will probably not be useful.
One of the best and most cost effective GPS units on the market is the WorlTracker PLD
. It has a unique feature that most other units do not have. It has a listen in feature that enables you to access the unit
allowing you to listen in on whatever is going on around the tracker. For
example you had this unit inside of a vehicle and wanted to know what was being said inside the vehicle you could simply call the unit. It would never
ring or make any sound, but it would turn on the built in microphone allowing you to hear inside the vehicle in real time.
Where to place a GPS unit on a vehicle
All GPS devices must be able to communicate with the satellites to work
properly. Therefore proper placement is crucial. Below is a diagram showing ideas on where to place the tracker. Most Tracking devices also come with detailed instructions where to place them and proper operation.