Tile tracker saved the day!

[hawkhawkhawk]

Just had my first spark crash in the middle of the woods. About 0.5 miles away from where i took off. Completely my fault, went a little too low and hit some branches somewhere.
I have a little tile tracker on it.
Even though it's short range, it was a LIFE SAVER.
find my drone got me to the general area but since there are trees and leaves everywhere, and the fact that I was able to eventually find it 5 ft off the ground stuck in a tree, I highly doubt it would have been easy to find.

The tile beeped the path and I was able to find it in 5 mins.
$20 bucks more than paid for itself right there.

 

[Spark 317]

I have a Loc8tor on my Spark.

I haven't had to use it other than testing it out with a game of hide and seek with my copilot.

Glad to hear yours worked.

 

[James Patrick Rice]

Brilliant, thank you.

 

[Mantis20]

Just had my first spark crash in the middle of the woods. About 0.5 miles away from where i took off. Completely my fault, went a little too low and hit some branches somewhere.
I have a little tile tracker on it.
Even though it's short range, it was a LIFE SAVER.
find my drone got me to the general area but since there are trees and leaves everywhere, and the fact that I was able to eventually find it 5 ft off the ground stuck in a tree, I highly doubt it would have been easy to find.

The tile beeped the path and I was able to find it in 5 mins.
$20 bucks more than paid for itself right there.

What brand was the tracker?

 

[Vanuchi]

Hi spark 317 notice that you mention the loc8tor and when I went to the link saw it was 80 dollars ..hawk hawk hawk you mention a tile that cost 20 dollars ...could you put a link to what you have ..thanks

 

[Spark 317]

The Loc8tor cost more than regular Bluetooth tiles as the Loc8tor has a range of 400' with its RF vs. the limited range of Bluetooth.

They also make a GPS version but most of the GPS trackers require a monthly fee for service.

 

[SarrFox]

Tile Pro, way to go!

LINK

 

[raskey]

I velcroed a tile on the back of my sparky. The tile loves 2 ride on sparky's back wherever it goes. Luckily I have not had to actually use the tile but if I ever do, hopefully it will lead me to my friend sparky.

 

[Larry Woodruff]

I've got 2 extra tiles and I was wondering what I was gonna put them on and now I know... Spark is gonna get one of them

 

[Northwood Mediaworks]

I fly with a TileSport... it has yet to be used for any emergency, reading this makes me feel good about my investment.

 

[Northwood Mediaworks]

I've got 2 extra tiles and I was wondering what I was gonna put them on and now I know... Spark is gonna get one of them

Velcro it to the bottom of the battery... best place for no interference with the other radios on the drone.

 

[hawkhawkhawk]

tile

this is the exact one I got. I put the extra ones on my keys. It seems like you can get 1 for $25

 

[Northwood Mediaworks]

Glad it worked for you. The original "Mate" was not as far ranging. There are some good YT videos on how effective the range is per model.

 

[Virtual1]

I see the loc8tor has a replaceable battery. The last time I looked, the Tiles don't have a battery that's meant to be replaced. That alone is a big benefit. Costs more though?

 

[Spark 317]

I assume the tiles need to be charged on a regular basis to be in working order.

I replace the batteries (remote and transmitter) maybe once a year just to be safe.

The transmitter is OFF until activated by the remote and then beeps on the transmitter as well as the remote with directional lights to help find it. Plus you can add 3 more transmitters to the remote.

I do like the looks of the tile PRO as mentioned above with its 300 foot range and replaceable battery.

It probably wasn't available at the time and the Bluetooth range of others were less than a 100'.

 

[Virtual1]

The transmitter is OFF until activated by the remote and then beeps on the transmitter as well as the remote with directional lights to help find it.

Well, that's the battery problem. It's not completely "off". The receiver in the drone end has to be on and running to be able to receive and respond to the signal from the transmitter, then it turns on its own transmitter. That transmitter of course uses a lot more power than the receiver in it does, but it's enough to drain the battery over time. You could say it's "asleep" while waiting for you to turn it on, but just like your body, it still uses a little energy to function while asleep. That's why I was never a big fan of the original Tile, as it did not have a "user-replaceable" battery. IIRC, they had an exchange program where you could send in a dead Tile and they'd replace the battery for less than the price of a new unit, but it still cost a lot more for the repair PLUS shipping two ways, than a coin battery is going to cost you at the dollar store.

 

[Brojon]

I use the tiles with my Spark and with my FPV quads. Cheap insurance.
I have Loc8tor on my Christmas list so I hope Santa is listening.
The new Tile Pro's have a replaceable battery which is a good thing.
The Tiles really do work - I got a Thank You notice the other day because I happened to walk by something someone lost with a tile on it. The App will send anonymous location info to help someone recover. Has real potential to extend teh recovery range in populated areas.

 

[CLAY347]

I use the tiles with my Spark and with my FPV quads. Cheap insurance.
I have Loc8tor on my Christmas list so I hope Santa is listening.
The new Tile Pro's have a replaceable battery which is a good thing.
The Tiles really do work - I got a Thank You notice the other day because I happened to walk by something someone lost with a tile on it. The App will send anonymous location info to help someone recover. Has real potential to extend teh recovery range in populated areas.

Great idea man! Simple and Sound. God Bless!

 

[Virtual1]

the new Tile "mate" model has a replaceable battery, and is on sale right now. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/tile-mate-2018-item-tracker-white-gray/6287752.p?skuId=6287752

 

[Northwood Mediaworks]

Ya, my sport was pre-replaceable battery model, when its time to renew I think I will get an update to the pro.