Installation

Choose a mounting spot

Where the unit goes decides how well it hears satellites and how long it stays hidden.

4 min read

Two goals pull against each other: the tracker wants sky, and you want it out of sight. The good news is that they conflict less than people assume — GPS reads happily through fibreglass, plastic, canvas, and upholstery. It is metal that stops it.

What blocks a GPS fix and what does notGPS signals pass through fibreglass, plastic, canvas and upholstery, so a tracker hidden under a console or a seat still gets a fix. Metal directly above the unit blocks it. The tracker should be mounted label side up.satellitesfibreglass · plastic · canvastracker✓ Gets a fixunder a console or seatsteel / aluminium platetracker✗ Blockedmetal directly overheadlabel ↑label ↓Antenna is on toppointing it down costs signal
Fibreglass, plastic, canvas and upholstery are all transparent to GPS. Metal directly overhead is not.

The rules that matter

  • Label side up. The antenna is in the top face; pointing it at the ground costs you signal for nothing.
  • Nothing metal directly above it. A steel plate, an aluminium deck, or an engine block overhead is the one thing that genuinely blocks a fix.
  • Away from the engine bay heat and away from standing water. Splash is fine; sitting in a bilge is not.
  • Somewhere a thief would have to work to reach. Under a console, behind a panel, inside a seat base — anywhere that needs a screwdriver and a minute.
  • Not so hidden that YOU cannot get to it. You will want to check the connector eventually.

Good spots by asset

AssetWhere it usually goesAvoid
Boat / pontoonUnder the console dash, behind the switch panel, inside a seat baseUnder the engine cowl, in the bilge
ATV / side-by-sideBehind the front fender liner, under the seat, inside the airbox cavityOn the frame under the skid plate
Vehicle / truckBehind the glovebox, under the dash near the fuse panelEngine bay, wheel well
TrailerInside the tongue box, under the deck near the front, inside a sealed frame rail with a plastic capBolted to the underside in the open
The two-spot trick

On a fleet, put the tracker in a different place on a few of the assets. A thief who finds one on the first boat expects the second one in the same place.

NextNext: install on a boat
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