One question we often get at this time of year is how do you change the settings on the GPS tracker and what do all the options mean. We've put together a quick How To video on our YouTube Channel and written up a bit about each setting. We hope you find it useful!
Tracker settings can be found under the Tracker tab of the Vehicle page on the website, this tab provides an little bit of information about the tracker as well as a section for fine tuning how the tracker works. Most users will never need to change any of the settings here, but if you have a 24V vehicle or use a Battery Optimizer or charger, you may need to update the tracker for optimal usage.
24V Vehicles
Most modern vehicles run on 12V systems, but larger vehicles and specialist vehicles often need a more powerful setup and operate at 24V, the usual sign of this type of setup would be that you'll have 2 or more large vehicle batteries linked together rather than just a single battery. The 24V option sets the tracker to 24V mode and updates a few settings on the tracker including the voltage used to determine if the engine is running.
Ignition On Voltage and Ignition Detection
By default, the tracker will start recording a trip if it detects the voltage rise above 13.6V, this happens when the engine is turning and the vehicle battery is being recharged by the engine, additionally, the track uses an accelerometer to detect if the engine is running and either event will wake the tracker up and start recording a trip.
Particularly at this time of year, many people use a Battery Optimizer, Solar Panel or Trickle Charger to ensure their Camper, Motorcycle or Car battery stays charged whilst it is not being driven so much, but these devices can trigger a false trip to be recorded by the tracker, this can, in turn, result in lots of Idling notifications being generated which is very annoying!!
We provide 2 options to combat this, you can adjust the voltage used to determine if the engine is running and you can also switch off the use of voltage level to determine if the vehicle is being used, if you do have a charger connected, we highly recommend unticking the 'Use Voltage for Ignition Detect' option. Trips will still be recorded but the accelerometer will be used to detect when the vehicle is in motion.
Idling Alerts
Finally, you can change the length of time we wait before generating an Idling alert for the vehicle. Idling is the event we generate if we detect the engine is running but the vehicle is not moving, Idling can be a waste of fuel and costs fleet owners money as well as having an impact on the environment, so we encourage Fleet Managers to set Idling alerts appropriate to normal vehicle usage.
As always, leave us a comment on the Video or drop us a line on the Online Chat of you have any questions.