Digital security for your car and/or motorbike
We all love our classic and performance cars and would be heartbroken if it was lost or stolen. As well as the standard arrangements of immobilisers and car alarms that can be tricky to fit to classic wiring there are a couple of new techniques for protecting your classic car or motorbike. Some initial technology is required as both these techniques work in combination with an Android or Apple iPhone.
Active CCTV
CCTV for your house and garage has come a long way in the last 10 years. The cameras are much more intelligent about recognising when cars or people move within the area of view. If you have house fed power to your garage, you can almost certainly fit CCTV cameras that will constantly monitor the garage inside and out. Cameras can be configured to alert your phone when there is a movement within your garage. Unlike traditional alarm systems an ongoing subscription is not required as monitoring and alerting is done directly to your mobile phone.
For garages beyond the reach of power and Wi-Fi self sufficient cameras are available that will send the pictures using a mobile phone signal. Some charges would apply in this case. Separate boxes for recording are also redundant as cameras can store recordings of interest on an included memory chip. The modern camera types are no longer just a passive recording or scanning devices and are available with two way audio and siren trigger. Typically, the price for a powered network enabled camera is about £70.
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| Reolink battery powered camera with two way audio and siren trigger |
Tracking Tags
The second most interesting development to keep your car safe and located is the small tracking AirTags. A small tag about the size of a £2 coin is secreted somewhere on the car. When the car moves beyond defined limits alerts are sent to your phone. The tags provide occasional updates as to the location of the car that can then be tracked and located. These AirTags have a replaceable battery that lasts about a year. The tags work by using the same technology that is used to find lost phones. Whilst they do not have specific GPS receivers, they send their location back to base using any available phone that comes into the range. As there are over 1 billion mobile phones on the planet these days you're never that far away from a mobile phone.
These tags are great for knowing the last known time and location of a car. There are a couple of little wrinkles when using air tags that are separated from the phone for longer periods of time, however, this type of device can provide an extra layer of security and a recovery for a classic car. The cost for an apple AirTag is about £35 each or £120 for a four pack with no on going subscription apart from what's needed to keep your mobile phone going.
The dangers of thieves and stalkers planting these tracking tags has been mitigated within the “Find My” tracking system but everyone should be aware of their existence.
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| Apple AirTag, about 1 inch / 25mm in Diameter |
Other more active trackers with live GPS locations are available but come with an ongoing service subscription cost.
SuperToy waits for the summer driving fun to begin.
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