has anyone gotten Topin ZX808 or ZX810 to work at all?
Hi,
These devices are quite different than other chinese gps/gsm trackers.
They are virtually miniaturized android devices but without screen.
So you need to use a software from a computer to setup the device
You can try scrcpy but that need to have adb enabled on the device (i cannot remember if it's the case at startup)
You can also use Total Control (the free version is enough) which is recommended by Topin
You will get access to a classic android system and you can control the screen with your mouse and keyboard
Then you need to configure APN (network parameter) to cope with your GSM network provider settings (like you will with any gps tracker but this time you'll do it like it's an android smartphone)
If you want to use it with the default platform (365gps) you're good to go, if you want to use a traccar plateform you need to install the android traccar client or another software capable of interfacing with the osmand protocol (GPSlogger is another open source alternative).
Led are controled by an android software and dedicated to a connection to the 365GPS plateform, so sadly it won't be usefull if you want to use the device to connect to your own plateform.
If you want , you can remove the software from topin to spare battery.
Xavier, nice infos thanks !
Would you recommend this device as a lightweight 2G/3G solution ?
Ty
Dear Xavier and Aurélien
I have bought many trackers from topin factory and particulary ZX808 and ZX810. I am using total control to update traccar client but it doesn't work. traccar client is correctly launched but nothing is send to my traccar server. In the log it says "newtwork connected".
Are you able to use traccar client with those devices ? Is it necessary to uninstall apps from topin to make it work ? Which version of traccar client are you using ?
Thanks in advance .
Regards
Loic
Hi Loïc,
I have not bought this device as no one seems to be able to make it work. Here is the response from the manufacturer:
ME : Hello I am interested in you ZX 810 3G GPS tracker my question is: can it run TRACCAR android client ? It is a an open source client/server GPS solution - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.traccar.client - Thank merry XMas
TOPIN: Dear friend, It's not open source, sorry. Please just use our platform which is free use lifetime. Thanks.
I cant say more as I dont have and dont plan to get that device. I'm still looking for a lightweight (for drone) 3G GPS tracker ...
Happy New Year all,
Aurélien
Hi, sorry for the delay
Yes i would recommend the device for a lightweight solution, the main drawback (but i didn't do any serious study) would be the power consumption.
Instinctively, i would think that a full android device will drain more power than a dedicated microchip.
The main advantage is the customization, which is virtually limitless (for example i use a device to do some Wifi wardriving with the software Wiggle installed).
Regarding the installing of Traccar on it, i must admit i mainly use GPSlogger on it. With this software it's possible to upload the data to Traccar Server and send it simultaneously by other mean (like email or simple ftp server).
On my device, i removed the Topin software which was sending data to the 365gps platform (and sadly also controlled the LED). The device is already rooted so you can remove any system software.
To make Traccar work, you need to be sure that the location permission is allowed for the software, and setup the correct time and timezone to get a correct GPS fix (which can take some time at the first startup).
Try to install another sofware to check that you can get a GPS fix (like this one)
Thank you both for your replies
@xavier
thank you so much for your precious help. I will try that as quickly as possible and come back to you because at this moment everything i tried is unsuccefull.
regards
Loic
i do not recommend either of them, they sound too good to be true because they arent, they are a total POS in my opinion, I struggled with both of them for months using TC to setup android properly and same issue, never sent a single message to Traccar, even receiving SMS was a chaLLenge on and off, very unreliable.....tried better antennas, different carriers (2g, 3g) and never worked.....and the android version is really old and not very usable anyways
stay away if i were you
I must admit IvanR that you're quite right.
I won't call them totally unusable, but these are not user friendly. If you need a simple GPS tracker to connect to a Traccar server, this won't work straight out of the box and the system is too complex for this user case.
For the same size i would suggest other device from Topin (like ZX303 and ZX612), they work correctly with Traccar. The only thing that bother me is the SMS command to get a GPS location which doesn't send the grids directly but a link to the Chinese platform.
And these are 2G devices which can cause problem in the future when some network will only keep 3G and 4G connectivity.
Loic, do you need your device to be able to report the drone position at regular interval or just in case of emergency on demand?
For the last us, i will recommend the smallest tracker possibly without any data connection and just a SMS interrogation.
Xavier,
The 2G consideration will surely matter in the future.
For my drone need, it is a backup solution in case of emergency (fly away), so I just ordered a ZX303 as it seems to do the job and work with Traccar (nice !)
Thanks both for the feedback !
i use a 3G for my medium/large drones and planes, its the ST-901, it looks big because is for bikes, but i simply remove the bulky casing, take out everything and just keep the board itself with a small battery and its about the size of a ZX808 by then.....it uses 3G and its 100% reliable with Traccar.....
for my smaller race quads I use the ZX612, very small but the only drawback is 2G and its pegged to chinese 365GPS platform, no traccar....(but thats sometimes what you get from dealing with a communist country, lol)
Thnks ! So you use that ST-901 , 3G version, stripped from casing and it works with traccar ?
https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/32639620194.html?spm=a2g0o.search0302.0.0.1f9fd3cesKeWgQ&algo_pvid=2e261ff1-2996-42ae-8f4f-5a7960f2f0e3&algo_exp_id=2e261ff1-2996-42ae-8f4f-5a7960f2f0e3-9
correct.....remove from plastic bulky case and unneeded thick wire harness.....just leave small battery connected, charge via USB port....works like a charm
IvanR, you can use the zx612 with Traccar
You need to use the SMS commands to setup a new ip to a traccar server (the port is 5199 for topin protocol)
DOMAIN#domain-name-to-your-server#5199#
IP#ip-to-your-server#5199#
If you use the DOMAIN command, and your server happens to be offline for any reason, the tracker set itself back to the 365gps server
With the IP command, this won't happen
And these commands won't work for the ZX808 tracker
i have both of these, and i mean is not even a traccar issue really, i cant even get them to connect to cell network, using speedtalkmobile sim cards 2G/3G and all i get on both is the blinking yellow light (searching for GSM service)....the SIM are good because they work just fine on GT06 and other trackers...but i dont know whats the deal with these two
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33000654198.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32963286807.html