I am wanting to add some type of GPS tracking to my enclosed trailer. I know there are companies that make them but they are either designed for fleets or very cost prohibitive. The main reason is I am going on a long trip soon and will have to leave the trailer disconnected for a short period of time. I do plan to use all the normal anti-theft devices for trailers but I want a way to find my stuff if something bad were to happen.
I have thought of using one of the dozens of android phones I have laying around, get a prepay plan for a month, and set it up in the trailer hidden somewhere. My issue with this is the battery life. I just need it to do the "find my phone" but even standby time is not that great on the older phones I have laying around. I'd need something like a battery pack that could be charged and power a device at the same time. So once I disconnect from the trailer and it loses power the battery pack can power the phone until it is depleted and then the phones battery kicks in. Any thoughts on this? Also I'm concerned about the heat. I'm not sure how hot it will be in the trailer.
Another option I have thought about was using this spare Automatic Pro odb2 gps thingy I have. If I read right I should be able to apply +12v to pin 16 and ground to pin4/5 and it power up. It has a 3g connection built in and GPS. I'm just not sure if it would work without all the other ODB2 signals.
I have thought of using one of the dozens of android phones I have laying around, get a prepay plan for a month, and set it up in the trailer hidden somewhere. My issue with this is the battery life. I just need it to do the "find my phone" but even standby time is not that great on the older phones I have laying around. I'd need something like a battery pack that could be charged and power a device at the same time. So once I disconnect from the trailer and it loses power the battery pack can power the phone until it is depleted and then the phones battery kicks in. Any thoughts on this? Also I'm concerned about the heat. I'm not sure how hot it will be in the trailer.
Another option I have thought about was using this spare Automatic Pro odb2 gps thingy I have. If I read right I should be able to apply +12v to pin 16 and ground to pin4/5 and it power up. It has a 3g connection built in and GPS. I'm just not sure if it would work without all the other ODB2 signals.
