Tracker One - Installation

Hardware
1

Hi All,

I’ve ordered a couple of Tracker One devices and am working on a plan to deploy them in a fleet of vehicles. There is very little documentation that I can find about the requirements for installation or any suggestions for the physical part of the installation. Im assuming this may be by choice but im wondering if anyone has actually deployed this device and how you went about it physically. So here are some specific questions.

  1. When installing in a vehicle I’d be inclined to pull power from the battery for instance. I’ve purchased some of the m8 cables and im guessing this is the best way to go about making those connections for power. Does anyone have any experience that would be helpful?

  2. The current device is in an enclosure that is remarkable poorly designed for actual installation. This may again be on purpose with the goal being that we design our own enclosure. There are now tabs with holes in them to use for screws, there are now tabs that could be used for zip ties. Does anyone have any suggestions besides or in addition to industrial velcro?

  3. GPS - Im assuming the device would be best situated so it can “see” the sky. To do this would be to NOT bury it under the hood or somewhere out of the way which would otherwise be my preference. Im not seeing any mention of an external antennae so im just curious how best to install in a way that meets all the basic requirements which I would say are a) Secure (won’t fall off) b) Out of site so it doesn’t get "messed with. c) Proximate to power source for simpler wiring.

I appreciate any and all thoughts or simply advice that I need to figure this out on my own.

Thanks

Wes

2

The Tracker One might not be the best device for your application, as it does not support an external GNSS antenna or mounting brackets.

The GNSS antenna does need to face the sky, so aside from sitting on the dashboard it won’t work well in many vehicles as-is. The cellular antenna probably wouldn’t work well under a dashboard either.

The Tracker One is based on the Tracker SoM, however, and that supports external GNSS, cellular, and Wi-Fi antennas, so you can design a system that will work better in a hidden location.

We do not recommend powering the Tracker by ignition switched 12V only. You can use switched 12V + unswitched 12V (no LiPo battery), or switched 12V + LiPo battery, but frequently and abruptly removing the power from the device could corrupt the cellular modem flash memory.

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