Stolen solar panels?

[ArthurEld]

Are you kidding me? I left a tile protected device in a hotel 5 hours from my home. tracking showed that it was still at the hotel. One phone call and it was shipped back to me.

What does the 400 ft range mean?

 

[Mike Jordan]

What does the 400 ft range mean?

Tile does not transmit to the internet directly. It is a crowd source Blue Tooth transmitter. When you down load the Tile app on your phone, your phone constantly searches for Tile signals. As you walk by a Tile, your phone transmits its location. If you loose (or get stolen) a Tile protected device, you must depend upon a random person with Tile, randomly being in the vicinity of your protected item to know where it is. If your item is stolen by someone that does not have tile. And they take it to a location where no one has Tile. You will never know where it is.

 

[grizzzman]

According to my tile app there are 2503 tile apps in current range in this town.

 

[curiouscarbon]

What does the 400 ft range mean?

The tile device is just a bluetooth beacon.

Phones hear the bluetooth beacon broadcast, activate the phone’s GPS to acquire a location fix, and then associate the bluetooth beacon information with the phone’s GPS lock. Uploading this data to the internet allows for community search and rescue operations.

The tile itself does not contain a GPS receiver; the phone connecting to it does. Hopefully the thief would also have tile app installed on their phone and uploading to the internet ?

 

[ArthurEld]

That's not as bad as I thought. I assumed it had to be in range of wifi it was registered to.

 

[curiouscarbon]

I need to learn more about the network aspect; it seems much better than nothing, that’s for sure.

It’s no spy movie global satellite tracker, but I’m still glad to know about it.

Incidentally ios device also operate a similar thing for find without direct internet access.

 

[Mike Jordan]

According to my tile app there are 2503 tile apps in current range in this town.

so... I would bet most towns have a whole lot more than 2,503 acres. But if there was one Tile phone per acre, your tile would not show up. The reality is, dozens or hundreds are probably scattered within the same small high population area. But there will be VERY VAST areas with no tiles.

Kinda like where folks camp. So if another boondocker stole my panels, I would never see them again if I was depending on Tile

 

[curiouscarbon]

so... I would bet most towns have a whole lot more than 2,503 acres. But if there was one Tile phone per acre, your tile would not show up. The reality is, dozens or hundreds are probably scattered within the same small high population area. But there will be VERY VAST areas with no tiles.

Kinda like where folks camp. So if another boondocker stole my panels, I would never see them again if I was depending on Tile

Yes in my honest appraisal of the system you would have absolutely no hope of ever getting your panels back.

The person taking the panels could simply remove the tile and then the phone one acre away will find some mud.

 

[3d0g]

Campground theft is pretty rare but you could slap a vibration alarm on them like one of these: https://www.amazon.com/KCMYTONER-Anti-Theft-Vibration-Waterproof-Motorcycle/dp/B07TZTG5JY

Whole campground will be looking at the thief.

 

[Supervstech]

Yes in my honest appraisal of the system you would have absolutely no hope of ever getting your panels back.

The person taking the panels could simply remove the tile and then the phone one acre away will find some mud.

The diode case may have enough room to place hidden the tile fob... it doesn’t have to be easy to find... heck, epoxy them to a corner of the panel, and it would be unlikely any dumb criminal would know what it is...

 

[Supervstech]

That oughta do it

Back in the 50’s, my dad had his pride and joy model A pissed on repeatedly by a dog, the walker would bring the dog to the car, and wait for the dog to pee on it, then keep walking... dad kept washing the tires, cleaning the wood spokes, and repainting them. He tried putting signs up, and no matter what, the walker would ALWAYS stop at the car, and wait for the dog to pee.
Eventually, my dad set a steel plate under the car, grounded it to a zapper, and the car... isolated by the tires until a, um... completed circuit was made... and, well... the dog refuses to go to that car anymore... the walker tried DRAGGING the dog over there, and the dog refused to get close...

something similar to the panels might discourage attempts...

 

[A.Justice]

I have one of these on my trailer. It's disturbingly loud. Anything more than a breeze and the whole neighborhood will know that it's on the move.

One stuck on the side or back of a panel would absolutely deter theft.

Wsdcam 113dB Bike Alarm Wireless Vibration Motion Sensor Waterproof Motorcycle Alarm with Remote https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0734QN8K...abc_265BJGB4E3ECF0FWN806?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1