Using the Tile or other GPS tracker in case

[Jesse Kinman]

Howdy all, hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!
I’ve recently gotten some of the “Tile” tracker thingys, and am considering sticking them in each of my instrument cases, has anyone ever done this with Tiles or any other gps tracker? If you have, have you ever had to locate them, and did it work out?
I’m gonna be doing it anyway, just curious if any has had the same idea.
Thanks, Jesse

[Toni Schula]

Howdy all, hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!
I’ve recently gotten some of the “Tile” tracker thingys, and am considering sticking them in each of my instrument cases, has anyone ever done this with Tiles or any other gps tracker? If you have, have you ever had to locate them, and did it work out?
I’m gonna be doing it anyway, just curious if any has had the same idea.
Thanks, Jesse

As the Tile tracker does not have its own GPS and cellular radio, it relies on the smartphones of the Tile community. If your Mandolin is lost and you are out of reach of the Tile's bluetooth, you can only find it, if a community member is close enough.

So the question should be, how many of us are Tile community members and have their bluetooth and GPS always on? Or, how large and well distributed is the Tile community?

By the way, I would prefer a Thile tracker: where is the next Punch Brothers gig?

[Astro]

I have a tile on my key chain because I loose my keys a lot (several offices, storage units, and a big wad of keys means I put them down in various places and get caught up in work and forget where). I have another on a piece of equipment I hand carry with me at work and I was always putting it down and loosing it. I am amazed at how well these work. In any urban area there are apparently enough tile users with cell phones to track these things pretty well. Sometimes they take awhile to get a ping but they do work better than you'd think in an urban area.

I don't think there is any point in putting one in each mando case. How often to you misplace your mandolin? As for theft, anyone who steals your mando is likely going to throw out the tile. Sure you can bury it in the lining and maybe its worth it to you but its not likly enough to happen to me to make me do that and I have several tiles sitting unused..

Maybe if you gig out a lot and leave the mando un attended it could be good. I gig out just a little but never leave it out of sight.

[Zach Wilson]

This is why you want a mandolin with not only "bark" but a little "bite" too

Ok, I'll go back to my corner now.

[sonic]

If you are really bothered about loosing your Mandolin. One of the powered gps trackers would probably be a better choice. As long as there’s phone reception you can find it.

[Br1ck]

As the Tile tracker does not have its own GPS and cellular radio, it relies on the smartphones of the Tile community. If your Mandolin is lost and you are out of reach of the Tile's bluetooth, you can only find it, if a community member is close enough.

So the question should be, how many of us are Tile community members and have their bluetooth and GPS always on? Or, how large and well distributed is the Tile community?

By the way, I would prefer a Thile tracker: where is the next Punch Brothers gig?

I could use Thile's frequent flyer miles. That guy gets around.

[Jesse Kinman]

Now that I am home, I looked on my Tile app to see how many people use them in my immediate area, and apparently there are over 1,200 Tile users in my area, so I reckon it should work well. I didn’t buy the Tiles for this purpose, but I bought them as Christmas gifts for family and got more for myself in general. I know I’m not likely to lose my mandolin or one of my other instruments, but I’m also not likely to have to file a claim on insurance, but its a good idear to have it anyway. I haven’t looked into other actual gps units tho, I should check them out. A Thile tracker would be cool too!

[Astro]

I wish I could glue a Tile on my Blue Chip pick...hmm, now there's an idea. I wonder what a tile would sound like? Will they make a 3 point with a speed bevel? I loose the picks way more often than the mandolins.

[ellellie]

I have a tile tracker on wallet/key chain because I loose my keys a lot (several offices, storage units, and a big wad of keys means I put them down in various places and get caught up in work and forget where). I have another on a piece of equipment I hand carry with me at work and I was always putting it down and loosing it. I am amazed at how well these work. In any urban area there are apparently enough tile users with cell phones to track these things pretty well. Sometimes they take awhile to get a ping but they do work better than you'd think in an urban area.

I don't think there is any point in putting one in each mando case. How often to you misplace your mandolin? As for theft, anyone who steals your mando is likely going to throw out the tile. Sure you can bury it in the lining and maybe its worth it to you but its not likly enough to happen to me to make me do that and I have several tiles sitting unused..

Maybe if you gig out a lot and leave the mando un attended it could be good. I gig out just a little but never leave it out of sight.

Yes, tile is only suitable for tracking wallets, keychains and luggage. It cannot track items over long distances. If you want to track the case, you should choose a GPS tracker. It has a larger tracking range and more complete functions.