In my last article, I came up with the idea of creating a covert Diy Tracker for my car on the cheap. Now I need to get my finger out now and deliver on my promise!

Here is how it went. It probably took me 30 minutes from start to finish to install the Diy Tracker.

Step 1:

First, head over to https://payasyoutrack.com and create yourself an account. This takes approximately 1 minute and just requires an email address. Make sure you click the link in the validation email.

Step 2:

Next. download the Pay as you Track App from the Android play store. You can find that here.

Step 3:

Open the app and register the phone to work with your account. Simply tap in your account name and whatever vehicle registration you want to use.

Register your phone

Step 4: (optional)

You might want to change the default tracking hours to cover 00:00  until 23:59

Set your tracking hours

Step 5:

Locate a constant 12v supply in your vehicle. You need a constant supply as the phone will go flat in about 24 hours if it isn’t being charged.  I’ve got a Volvo XC90 I had to do a bit of research but finally found one connected to the 12v cigarette lighter socket in the cargo bay. Once I’d found it getting to it was actually very easy. These guys helped me out a lot!

12v Cigarette lighter in cargo bay

Step 6:

I unplugged the feed to the 12v socket and tapped into the wires using a couple of T-Tap connectors. I’ve never used these before and I found them a little fiddly, they needed properly crimping with a pair of pliers rather than just pressing together. If I do it again I would use a different type.

The phone, USB power and 12v feed are all wired up

Step 7:

Put it all back together! I actually put the phone and 12v -> 5v USB power in a box and dropped them into the space under the trim. Don’t forget to plug the socket back into your cigarette lighter.

Take a look at my next article to see if my tracker actually worked!