Security

[Darrylle]

Firstly, may I state that this site MUST be updated. THIS topic is entirely in the wrong place, due to the fact that the options to place it in the RIGHT place, were hard-coded 10 years ago. A topic subject 'search' MUST show all available topics, BUT.. with an option to add a new one. 😉 (Tidied up by admin, if not useful). 
I can only hope that my title gets people here (who are serious about REAL narrowboat security).

As with bricks and mortar - nothing, but NOTHING can stop a thief getting in.
Sometimes, they disable your security features BEFORE they get in (the systems are publicised so much - it's amazing that ANY stop ANY burglars).
At this date (July 2026), narrowboat theft seems to have taken an upward curve (we're not seeing marinas being emptied, but I'm seeing monthly, if not weekly requests to 'look out for my boat  X').

I've owned lot's of vehicles, including expensive motorcycles (last one: Honda CrossTourer 1300cc - roughly £26k).
I fit a 'tracker' to it. It never did get nicked. Waste of tracker TBH. I was almost hoping they tried it. (That's the Harry Enfield 'Old Gits' in me - p'raps).

The tracker is a 'cheap' GT06N Chinese model. 20-30 quid (you can get 'em now).
Surprisingly good. The features are top...

1) It needs a SIM. Cheapest NOW (on this date): £40 per year - tops - 1pmobile. Data uses 1% of that £40, but - 3 month minimum spend data model.

    Find better - let me know. 😉
2) It has geo-fencing (it moves outside your defined physical range - it texts / emails, whatever - YOU define).
3) It has a microphone, so; you can listen-in to the thieving scrotes.
4) It has a speaker, so; you can tell the thieving scrotes what you are intending to do with them, as you are 1 minute away from getting there, with a baseball bat.
5) It has a fuel 'cut-off' feature. Wire it to your diesel pump.
    So: call the Police. You can see on it's Google maps (that it sends you when you request it) - exactly where it is, and which direction it's going.
    Police get close.
    You are talking to the police on a mobile, and they tell you they've spotted it and it's approaching a bridge. 
    You tell them: "It's travelling at 4mph max; tell me when it's 3 boat lengths away from the bridge".
    They say "NOW!"
    You send this GPS tracker an SMS, and it cuts the fuel pump.
    It slows / stops under the bridge - close distance - easy enough to jump on board (mebbe), but not easy enough to jump OFF - opposite, and if the scrotes DO jump, you've already talked to the cops - they have one both sides.
6) Your boat has not been stripped out, hidden and sprayed. So easy (it is NOT as difficult as you think with compliant repair sites with 'sail-in' buildings).
7) This IS for the GT06N specifically. 
8 ) This IS a P.S..... As this CAN communicate with Home Assistant (and all things auto) - it COULD be linked to Home Assistant automation, and COULD effectively stop ANY engine start BEFORE the theft. (It's an option, but now, you need onboard security to notify intrusion - BEFORE). Just sayin' 😉

I'll attach physical images of the tracker, and will add a full list of all SMS message commands required to admin / get responses from it (if ANYONE shows interest).
It comes with mic, speaker, emergency 'push' button (automated messaging to relatives etc), all extended wiring etc. (my image shows only the key unit).
It was (and still is) a very well thought out 'solution'.

I've recently bought my £120k diesel / electric hybrid. I'm Northern, so my IMMEDIATE requirement was a) make it optimally cheaper (5 solar panels), and, I'm going to constant cruise so: SECURITY. They can take it, but I'm going to stop the thieving, bone-idle scum from succeeding.
THIS, is how to do it, optimally, for me. 
Will I STOP it dead? I'm not an idiot - persistent thievery continues, but can I track the chavs, and at 6mph max?
Oh yeah; I'll get the scum - thieving my life's work from me? No Socialist councillor will stop me.

You know IMMEDIATELY when it is taken. You know EXACTLY where it is, whenever you SMS the GPS tracker. You're likely not that far away and can DRIVE there. 
You can stand alongside the Police (who I would imagine would be forced to attend for a £120k theft).
In THIS boat case - it has remote control, and I am looking at producing an Android app that can take control of it's remote control system (which is already in place)  so, I could take control - if I was there, and simply steer it it to us. (This would be totally 'locked down' - single-use Android - no hacking possible - hopefully).
I'm looking at developing an Android app specifically for my boat (no others - 'wired-in' ONLY for my boat).

However - regardless of that 'remote control' - they're pretty much 'becalmed'. Nowhere to go - nowhere to swim-to, apart from the 'law'.

EDIT*: I was aware that the GPS signal MUST be open to unshielded sky (as most people). No problem on my bikes (hidden under plastic fairings).
With my 6mm steel narrowboat roof; THAT means that this unit MUST be under the canvas cratch area.
Not great, but good enough for now.
I'm looking at cracking open my other GT06N to work out how to extend it's GPS signal receiver - wired externally. (Not difficult, by all accounts).
It does NOT have a port to do this, by default.
I suppose some of us expect too much from 30 quid. (But, I'm absolutely convinced by this units capability; it has proven itself to me over YEARS.
I gain nothing personally for this review - I'm happy to say - if it's £20-£30 - grab it - it WORKS so well! It really does.

EDIT*: Size of unit = 4" X 2"
 

Edited July 23 by Darrylle
Latter research - GPS unit size

[Russ T]

Good write up.

 

Can you confirm if this unit uses something other than the soon to be obsolete (2029 for EE) 2g network?

 

Thanks 

[robtheplod]

Some routers come with GPS built in these days. combined with an aerial with GPS also makes the signal very reliable... unless of course they rip out the router....     Teltonika do a great range with a good app showing GPS tracking/geofencing etc.....

[David Mack]

7 hours ago, Darrylle said:

Firstly, may I state that this site MUST be updated. THIS topic is entirely in the wrong place, due to the fact that the options to place it in the RIGHT place, were hard-coded 10 years ago. A topic subject 'search' MUST show all available topics, BUT.. with an option to add a new one. 😉 (Tidied up by admin, if not useful). 

I am confused by this! A 'topic' in the forum parlance, is what is generally referred to as a 'thread' by users. Anyone is free to create a new topic/thread title of their own choosing, as indeed you have done with your post.

If you mean that the list of 'Forums' is inappropriate, then why not suggest what new 'forum' headings should be added in the https://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?/forum/4-suggestions-feedback/ section?

And finally, please be aware that most regular forum users view the forum via the 'View New Content' function, which lists new and updated threads across all Forum areas (politics apart), and are therefore not overly concerned about which Forum a subject is listed under. Personally I think it would would be easier if we didn't have the individual Forums at all, then every user would get the VNC view!

 

[LadyG]

Dear me, I gave up after a page or two of this tirade.

 

[Chris John]

If you have a Victron Cerbo just purchase a GPS plug in from Amazon for £20 and you can see your boat location on VRM and can also add virtual fences.

Works fine in cupboard near hatch 

Edited July 23 by Chris John

[Arthur Marshall]

2 hours ago, LadyG said:

Dear me, I gave up after a page or two of this tirade.

 

I gave up after the first line. As soon as I see a new member kicking off by criticising a well functioning forum I assume the rest is drivel.

[IanD]

3 minutes ago, Chris John said:

If you have a Victron Cerbo just purchase a GPS plug in from Amazon for £20 and you can see your boat location on VRM and can also add virtual fences.

Works fine in cupboard near hatch 

Just be careful where you put the antenna, if it's inside a closed steel box (the hull) it may not pick up enough signal level to get a fix.

 

Mine is behind the wood side panel just inside the hatch; when the hatch and/or rear doors (all steel) are open (when cruising) it locks on fine, but not when they're closed up when the boat is moored in the marina, it fails to get a GPS fix.

 

So you can track the boat when cruising, but it loses fix when moored and locked up which triggers a geofence/no-fix warning... 😞 

[Chris John]

Been working fine for 6 years with hatch open or closed but good info for others if they are thinking of getting one 

[blackrose]

11 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I gave up after the first line. As soon as I see a new member kicking off by criticising a well functioning forum I assume the rest is drivel.

 

Yes, I thought it was odd.

 

Reminds me of those people who nervously enter a room full of strangers and over-compensates for their nervousness by acting like a d*ck.

[IanD]

15 minutes ago, Chris John said:

Been working fine for 6 years with hatch open or closed but good info for others if they are thinking of getting one 

Are your hatch and doors all steel, and is there a porthole or window or roof light anywhere near the cupboard the antenna is in?

To let GPS signals in through steel needs a hole maybe 10cm or so across (half a wavelength), smaller than this will reduce the signal, less than 2cm and it'll be almost gone. Wood and glass are fine, signals go straight through.

[Chris John]

Yep all steel. Window about 3ft away 

[IanD]

14 minutes ago, Chris John said:

Yep all steel. Window about 3ft away 

That's probably how the signal is getting in then. I'm going to try moving the antenna on mine to see if that helps. If that doesn't work (easier!) then the router has a GPS receiver inside it (using the external cellular antenna), but needs some non-trivial software hacks to make it visible to the Cerbo...

[StephenA]

I'm just totally confused. Though he was talking about security of the site.

[Tony Brooks]

3 minutes ago, StephenA said:

I'm just totally confused. Though he was talking about security of the site.

 

So did I at first, then when I saw the bit about wanting the site to be restructured to suit him, it was clear he is another new..................... (insert your own choice of descriptor).

[LadyG]

1 hour ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I gave up after the first line. As soon as I see a new member kicking off by criticising a well functioning forum I assume the rest is drivel.

No worries I didn't actually read it, after the first few lines I just scrolled on ...

I expect mods will provide first aid

Edited July 23 by LadyG

[StephenA]

"Wire it to your diesel pump" Surely you mean stop solenoid, if you have one. And of course the electrical functioning of a stop solenoid are the opposite of an electric fuel pump. Get it wrong and you cook your solenoid.

Edited July 23 by StephenA

[LadyG]

4 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

So did I at first, then when I saw the bit about wanting the site to be restructured to suit him, it was clear he is another new..................... (insert your own choice of descriptor).

Is it Banker?

[mrsmelly]

Just now, LadyG said:

No worries I didn't actually read it, after the first few lines I just scrolled on ...

I expect mods will provide first aid

Lol, lifes too short to read a drivel post that long 🤣 

[Tony Brooks]

Just now, LadyG said:

Is it Banker?

 

I was thinking more of craniums and Richard.

[StephenA]

10 hours ago, Russ T said:

Good write up.

 

Can you confirm if this unit uses something other than the soon to be obsolete (2029 for EE) 2g network?

 

Thanks 

 

 

It uses the 2G network.

[MtB]

40 minutes ago, StephenA said:

"Wire it to your diesel pump" Surely you mean stop solenoid, if you have one.

 

That bit amused me too. My Kelvin injector pump doesn't have any wires. One stops the engine by loosening the injector bypass valves. 

 

 

Nor does it have a "diesel pump" per se. Its gravity fed. 

 

 

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, MtB said:

 

That bit amused me too. My Kelvin injector pump doesn't have any wires. One stops the engine by loosening the injector bypass valves. 

 

 

Nor does it have a "diesel pump" per se. Its gravity fed. 

 

 

My National does have a "diesel pump". But neither the lift pump nor the injector pump has any wires, just a mechanical drive. The stop control is just a lever that pulls the fuel rack to the zero fuel position. It too has no wires, but I have fitted a chain to it, so I can stop the engine from the steering position.

[The History Man]

All went a bit AI. 

[GUMPY]

I have three trackers in the caravan

One: factory fitted costs a fortune every year so I don't use it.

Two: an Icar GPS  GT06N which is OK but has lost signal in the wilds of Paracombe so it doesn't know where it is. Yes it is on 02 4g not 2g

Three: a cheap puck connected to my Victron RPI using the router on 3  that still works even in the wilds of Nth Devon.

 

Would I want the van back if it was stolen? Not sure I can answer that.