Mobile Phone tracking

[Mike777]

Hi all

I wondered if anyone could help on this issue.

I often go off road on my mountain bike or my route takes me off the beaten track from my intended route.......

I do get a bit concerned about having an accident and ending up in a ditch unconscious !

Has anyone tried a tracking service via a mobile phone so is this was to happen I could be located.

Many thanks for your time and kind regards

Mike

[random37]

There is a website that lets you "ping" a mobile to work out its location, can't remember its name, though. Costs about £2 per search, but the location is not necessarily very accurate.

[patricktaylor]

If you search Google for mobile phone tracking service you'll see there are several, including http://www.traceamobile.co.uk/

But if you're out on a ride and you get knocked out, how long will it be before someone raises the alarm, and what level of alarm? Will they track your position and come and search? Of course if they call the police, your phone can be tracked. All this assumes it's on and you have a signal (I think).

Really, the best thing is not to get knocked out.

[Mick F]

I half-heard a news report a week or two ago.

I woman ran her car into a ditch and phoned 999. The trouble is, her battery ran out almost immediately, so they couldn't trace where she was. Passing cars didn't see her because of her position deep in a ditch.

She walked into a nearby village four days later!

Moral of the story:
Keep your battery charged!

[thirdcrank]

I waited to buy a mobile until they were small enough to slip in a pocket (they seemed to start getting bigger again, just after I bought mine.) I got pay-as-you go and I've still not used up the initial fiver. It was just for emergencies and I don't have many. The first thing I noticed was that as soon as you get into places like the Yorkshire Dales there's no signal. I think coverage is improving all the time and other networks may be better than mine - Virgin. When there's no signal, mine uses the battery a lot quicker so I always ride with it switched off. So, it would probably work in some circumstances, with decreasing reliability the more you were likely to need it.

[stewartpratt]

Mike, try Instamapper.

[jgurney]

I think it is possible to get a satellite tracking device (not affected by gaps in mobile 'phone coverage) which can be accessed by anyone to whom you give a password, but they are expensive. Try a firm selling yachting equipment - I think they are the main non-commercial users of this sort of equipment.

[gbnz]

I for emergencies and I don't have many. The first thing I noticed was that as soon as you get into places like the Yorkshire Dales there's no signal. I think coverage is improving all the time and other networks may be better than mine - Virgin.

If you're using a Virgin mobile for emergencies only, you may be out of luck when you need it Work takes me virtually everywhere in the UK (Though never North of Aberdeen, to Wales (Except South Wales), or South West of St Austell). o2, vodafone,orange have fantastic signal coverage virtually everywhere, though in the midst of the Lakes, Yorkshire Dales, Outer Hebrides it can be a bit sparse.

In contrast I had a third mobile, for discreet personal calls on Virgin in 2005/2006. Wherever I went, coverage was notable by it's absence. Particularly notable was the fact that whenever coverage was available, it only took a phone call to ensure coverage would vanish - even in the heart of the flat midlands, 100's of metres away from mobile hone masts!

I'd replace the Sim card with a O2/Vodafone/Orange pay as you go sim card. Replaced mine for £1.00, retaining the same mobile number. Technically call's are twice as expensive, but that's hardly an issue if your expenditure is £0.00

[Alastair K]

Depending on what sort of phone you have you could try this http://www.google.co.uk/latitude/intro.html
and it's free.

[thirdcrank]

If you're using a Virgin mobile for emergencies only, you may be out of luck when you need it ...

That's what I was getting at in my post. I think the biggest emergency I've had so far in the 10 years or so that I've had it is to let my wife know I was struggling home into the wind and I'd be a bit late for my tea. I do know that others make a lot more use of theirs and I'd be the last to criticise. If my next-door neighbour gets home and finds one of his daughter's cars in his parking space on their drive he rings for somebody to come out and move it; a lot more civilised than people who announce their arrival with repeated tooting of their motor horn. I could have used mine last week if it had not been at home. I went shopping with my wife and had a scoot around Tesco - their wheelchairs have the big wheels for-self propulsion. When she had finished shopping she decided she had no time to find me so she went off to load the car. In the meantime, I obviously could not find her. Eventually she had me summoned on the tannoy and I had the humiliation of the lost little boy treatment. (I doubt if she'd have bothered with some sort of husband tracking device. especially one intended for a boat. Probably some comment about being all at sea.)

Anyway, thanks for the info about changing the simcard - I think mine is made of slate. Calls are something like 3/-* plus the cost of any food consumed by the pigeon.

* 15p in new money

[yakdiver]

http://www.active-gps.com/spot-satellit ... racker.htm
you can get them cheaper do a search

[PW]

Orange is good for coverage in England but beware if you go up the Scottish west coast. It's worth remembering that a text message will often get through where the signal is too weak for a normal voice call. (I used that in a couple of places on my recent J O'GHome jaunt, notably Dumphries & Galloway). Applecross is a no-no, you have to find a phonebox or climb up the Bealach to get a signal.

[De Sisti]

Unless the battery is taken out of your mobile phone it's always trying to say "hello" to the nearest mobile
phone mast. So in the event of someone getting lost in the wilderness the police and mobile phone provider
could theoretically find the area where the phone was last located.

(Isn't this how police connect some murderers to crime scenes by finding out which phones masts the killers' phones have been close to?)

[hugo67]

I have a Nokia 5800 (music Express) the mapping facility via Google and Nokia is superb though I believe there's a purpose-built one that can be loaded on the mobile. I'm on Vodafone and it works pretty well without being charged a piece of my soul. I prefer to stop and look at my mobile rather than glance at it as I cycle - you could fall off a cliff (if your on a mountainside - we have the Cheviots and Simonside Hills not far from where I live, and they can be quite treacherous when its inclement weather and the peat is soaked through with rain... Hugo67

[PC Frank]

If you search Google for mobile phone tracking service you'll see there are several, including http://www.traceamobile.co.uk/

But if you're out on a ride and you get knocked out, how long will it be before someone raises the alarm, and what level of alarm? Will they track your position and come and search? Of course if they call the police, your phone can be tracked. All this assumes it's on and you have a signal (I think).

Really, the best thing is not to get knocked out.

It is true that the police can track mobile phone signals, but most forces do not have facilities to pin point a specific location and may have to search a large area.

My recommendation would be if possible that you let someone know your route, so that if you don't return and the police are contacted, they know where to search. I realise this is not so much fun if you improvise your route, but it is safer.