Security tracking device

Is anyone familiar with a tracking device called XY Find It?

I’m wondering about burying it in the soil of valuable bonsai so that stolen trees can be located quickly.

Here is a tagging system specifically designed for Bonsai. www.bon-tag.com

Thank you - I recall hearing about this system but not looking into it in detail.
On first read I missed information on the distance over which the tags can be read and monitored. Do you know what that distance is?

Bontag looks to be passive, so the reader has to be pretty close I would imagine (like within a foot perhaps).

Something like XY Find it is Bluetooth based, so you can probably read it from about 100 meters or so in optimal conditions.

I would be worried about having something with a battery buried in the soil personally. I imagine it’s not meant to be kept in a moist environment like soil all the time.

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Been thinking on this for years.
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Just FYI:
Bontag is passive RFID. Like a pet chip.The ID reader must be right next to it to ping and read. Totally useless if you dont know where your tree is. Would be usefull if hooked to a Bonsai program for keeping track of individual tree info on a BUNCH on trees.
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XY Find It is a battery powered satellite GPS driven. It, supposedly, will follow and find the tree anywhere. Just like your cellphone…The program involved, the AP (presumably the AP company involved) locates it by using satelite GPS pinging.
The XY module is a hang tag. It is too large to hide, and cannot be hidden under the soil. The signal would be obsured. Also, it is NOT completely waterproof.
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There are PASSIVE (no battery) pinging GPS chips out there. They work by the power from the signal FROM the satellite.
I have NOT had any luck acquiring any.
Years ago, I gave the idea to an acquaintance. (With the expressed idea to us it on bonasi…) His son designed and sold a finding system to the US military. They tag EVERYTHING. Can find it anywhwre in the world. Supposedly. The chip was about the size of a little finger. Have not hooked up with the young man yet,… WAS a cheep chip, quite pricy ID number program spreadsheet, and PAY time to access the GPS satellite system to find it.
Waiting and hoping. Everything uses GPS now. Things change quickly. I would think this system would be publicly availble by now. Hence the plethora of devices available now. None of which easily works for me in bonsai.
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I want this. WE need this. Yesterday…

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I’ve never really thought about anybody stealing my trees, especially when (mine never being good enough to steal) there are so many far superior ones out there.
While we wait for a tracking device to be set up, perhaps a website where people could upload photos of their stolen trees so other enthusiasts don’t inadvertently buy a stolen one.
I suppose it must happen but I’ve never heard that anyone has had trees stolen - in the UK at least.

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Until a GPS solution comes along I guess buy a BIG dog! :wink:

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Keith stolen trees in the UK has been a big thing. One late friend of mine had his entire garden cleared some years ago and they were high quality. There are plenty of examples sadly.

I don’t have anything to worry about as regards quality right now either - I was thinking more about down the road. I am partially responding to neighbourhood concerns regarding a local tent city for the homeless where thefts in adjacent areas have gone up by 50% in the last 6 months. I am more likely to have something taken by someone who doesn’t know what they are doing as opposed to someone who does.
As I was renewing house insurance, I asked my agent about insurance for bonsai and was told they could be insured “if I kept them in the house”! Anyone else run into this?

This is fake. And if it is true somehow again you need some way to send GPS coordinations to the internet to be enabled to find trees. Passive GPS also has a battery but store data locally so you need to obtain GPS devices and read data from them. There is a solution for a motorbike but again thief needs to use a special application to scan the barcode that is tied with GPS. Passive GPS System - Passive GPS System
There is no GPS receiver without some kind of battery, it is possible to build GPS receiver with low-power networks like LoRa radio but you need to change the battery every couple of months (depend on the frequency of acquiring and sending GPS data thru the network).
Big dog is a better option for saving trees :slight_smile:

Just FYI…
The ‘GPS’ comes from the coordinates assigned by the satellite, not the device. The battery devices constantly send out a signal with it’s ID number. The receiving satellite assigns coordinates and send it to the AP doing the (authorized) querry. The AP program on your phone translates that coordinates onto a whizywhig map… tracking with respect to time.
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A dog chip doesn’t have a battery. Just a transponder, returning the assigned number when signaled by the reader’s powered signal.
Same way your credit card works. Proximity chip.
Same way the fancy proximity chip on the current enhanced DRIVERS license and passports works. The readers will pick it up several feet away… anytime you walk by a reader… Keep it in the aluminum folder…:unamused:
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The satellites use a high gain signal. Enough power to trigger the transponder chips I mentioned. They use the signal power to send back the assigned number to the satellite. Low power line of sight.
Ten year old technology. Just not OUT there for our use. Cheaper access for powered radio tramsmitters.
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Bluetooth driven fobs WOULD have to be in the phones signal distance…probably 20 feet.

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I guess I’ve been pretty lucky then during the thirty or so years I’ve been a practitioner. I haven’t heard of anyone having had trees stolen, but I daresay it happens. If it is that common why doesn’t FOBBS send a notice to all clubs informing them to watch out for them? Perhaps my suggestion for a website would be a good thing?

Some big names suffered. Craig Cousins, John Trott, the late Stuart Griffin. I’m surprised you never heard. Somebody did time not too long ago for some thefts. There are many more including various dealers. The UK Bonsai Association does have a stolen trees page and also puts them in their members newsletter… https://www.ukbonsaiassoc.org/lost-and-found.html

Twenty plus years ago, I was visiting the bonsai exhibit at the National Arboretum, and watched the team there put security wires through the drainage holes to connect them to a traditional security system. This would address the actual theft but not provide tracking. With newer technology, motion sensitive cameras might also help and these are readily available and effective if wifi is available (ring doorbells).

Interesting, if you have some link or documentation please send me in private message i would like to know little bit more about this.

Nothing applicable yet. Except black market… don’t go there.
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Like I said, these are NOT in the public domain yet.
The best RFID I could find available was still just proximity readers at 1000 meters, Not satellite GPS, just proximity UHF RFID chips. The readers are pushing $20k.
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Battery RFID GPS is available now.The do work, kind of.
The downside to any tracking device is to remove it. If the device is a battery hang fob it will be seen, identified, and disposed. And, the battery needs changing frequently.
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I have quarries out for current info. Will keep you appraised.
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I’m actually amazed on the amount of tracking devices out there. Phones, cars, drivers licences, credit cards, Starbuck late cups… Its as if someone wants to know where you are…:fearful::rofl::joy::grin:

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