Covert TC-20 GPS Tracker

Once your tracker is in place and you wish to follow it using either the Tac-Com desktop dashboard or the Tac-Com App, most users choose the Normal Tracking Mode (NTM) within this Mode you can choose from a sub-menu and select the reporting time that you want the tracker to transmit for, it can be every second, with incremental steps up to every 60 minutes.

Once the vehicle or artefact being tracked comes to a stop the tracker will simply go to sleep, the GSM module is kept on, it’s only the GPS module that is turned off.

A biproduct of this means that the tracker saves power. A motion detection sensor inside the tracker detects any movement and the tracker will turn on the GPS and track live to your chosen command once movement has begun again.

If you are worried about battery life, then you can use the Eco Mode to enhance the battery life of your tracker. Once Eco Mode has been selected from the Tac-Com desktop dashboard or the Tac-Com App the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) will be completely switched off for the selected period that you choose, for example in ECO 4 hours, the PCB will send a report of its GPS location every 4 hours.

However, you only have a small window to command the tracker back into Normal Tracking Mode using the just before the scheduled reporting time occurs, if this window is missed then you have to wait until the next window and in the case of Eco 4 it would be another 4 hours.

Whilst the tracker is in Eco Mode it cannot be commanded out of this Mode until the correct window of opportunity, it does, however, immensely increases battery life. Depending on the power of the battery it could potentially make the battery last for many weeks. There are several choices in the Eco Mode menu enabling you to select from 1-24 hours in this Mode.

The Flight Mode is ideal when you want your tracker to be turned off completely, obviously designed to be used when the product you are tracking goes onto an aircraft, this mode improves the safety of the tracker whilst in the aircraft and at the same time saving battery life.

This mode is obviously not restricted to being used solely on aircraft; it can be used at any time that you know that you do not need information from the tracker.

This mode can also be used if you knew that the vehicle or artefact that you are tracking was going to be checked by a TSCM sweep team, therefore negating detection of any transmissions from your tracker.

An important fact to take into consideration with Flight Mode is that the tracker is completely turned off for the time period that you have chosen, for example Flight Mode 12 hours, will mean that for the next 12 hours you cannot communicate with your tracker.

In some areas where the signal strength is poor and you need to have constant sight of your subject Pursuit Mode will help as once selected from the Tac-Com desktop dashboard or the Tac-Com App forces the tracker to operate every second for 60 seconds, ensuring that its location is constantly updated, negating whether or not it is mobile or static.

If you have a requirement to just log the GPS locations of your subject and you do not need live monitoring, then the Log Mode is ideal. Once in Log Mode the tracker switches off the GSM Module and operates purely on the GPS Module.

If for example Log Mode 2 hours is selected when the tracker moves during the selected period of time it will log all the movements and every 2 hours it will send all those logged co-ordinates back to the server, where you can review them on your Tac-Com desktop dashboard or the Tac-Com App.

Once you have selected Park Mode the tracker will only switch on the GSM & GPS Modules when it detects movement, until the tracker is actually on you cannot update any commands to the tracker, once awake and moving you can send the tracker new commands.

If you keep your tracker in Park Mode after a serial the tracker will close down and turn off the GSM & GPS Modules, however if this is a prolonged stop then every 5 hours the tracker will send a handshake to the server acknowledging that it is still operational, only a very modest amount of power is used to carry out the handshake.