So Tucson has a serious theft problem...in the last 3 years I've had 4 bikes stolen, all of them locked and secured and right off my various porches or yard tools buildings...the last 2 in the last 4 months...granted I live nearer to downtown which is always a haven for homeless and down-on-luck-desperados...and within a block of the University which is the same...
I ride "fixies" single speeds and have a particular style of handlebars I prefer, the "bullhorn" style and I'm tall so the bikes need to be larger frames...there are over 100 miles of continuous secure/safe/paved bike paths here so riding is my primary cardio-mind-clear-get-outside activity.
My Big Star bike was stolen in Oct. right off my porch so I bought a State single speed on CL for $150...right size, nice bike and I immediately bought an Apple Airtag and hide it on the bike in such a way as it looks like it is part of the seat post, camouflaged, etc...
Paired it with my iphone...last week someone broke into the maintenance shed and cut the lock off and a neighbor texted me to say she saw a guy hanging a bike on my wall...at around 12:30 PM...I immediately went out to look bike was gone.
At 10:30 I got a ping on the iPhone saying the bike was nearby about a block away...went to the location house was dark no one home...bike tag would not "sound" and phone could not find it.
Next day get another ping at 5:30 PM saying it was nearby this time about 800 feet closer at a church...I went and once again no bike...next day another ping at 6:30 same location...again no bike and tag could not be located...
Since then a pattern has developed: everytime the pastor of the church shows up I get a ping on the phone saying the bike is nearby and it gives the church as the location.
I actually met the pastor and explained the situation, he let me in the church and we looked everywhere for the airtag/bike to no success...he is genuinely interested in the mystery as well now...he's a 77 year old pastor really nice guy with an older iphone...he lives about 13 miles away and takes a specific route to the church every-time because of the "loop" making it faster...
At this point its no longer about the bike...its about why I get a message saying my bike is nearby anytime he's at the church...its like clockwork now...within 20-30 minutes after he arrives I get a notice...I've actually stood right next to him with my phone looking at his phone to see if it could locate the tag but it simply says "try moving around airtag unreachable"
Today is church services so I'm sure there's more than 1 iphone, but so far it was last seen when he got to the church at 8:49 am...
I've actually driven the same route he takes and gone to his house (13 miles away) to see if the tag is somehow in his neighborhood to no avail.
So I've been reading up on the technology behind these tags...they do NOT have any gps capabilities...they depend on Apples own "Find my" network of devices using ultra-wideband-technology...as I understand it the tag sends out a signal to local bluetooth devices (primarily Apple)...then the device sends that encrypted information upwards to the cloud where the location is pinned.
But here's the mystery...it appears that ONLY the pastors iphone is sending location information for the itag...when I go there with my newer iphone (using the U1 chip, his is older so no U1 chip...which means I can get a precise location but he cannot, he can only get a general location, estimated to be around 300-800 feet) I can see the location pinned, it is generally a few feet from his office (which is where the internet connection is)...but when I try to make it sound or try to get an exact location I've had no success, and like I said, its not his phone itself because when trying to find the item standing right next to him my phone says "move around to try and locate marks Bike"...
I've driven the entire neighborhood and walked it as well with my iphone trying to locate the tag...no luck.
In the past when I've gone on bike rides and stopped at a grocery store on the way home I get a message from INSIDE the store every-time saying "Marks bike has been left behind" because its on the bike rack on my car...so I know the technology works up to around 800 feet or so...
It has me wondering about how FAST is the technology? Suppose the pastor is driving by a location where my airtag is at...and his phone only updates when he connects to the internet once he gets to the church...how fast is a bluetooth handshake? The majority of his drive is an expressway going around 50 mph...there are a handful of stop lights once his route takes him to the church, but they pass the University and I'm pretty sure there are a TON of iphones in that area so his would not be the only one getting a ping.
Also why does it seem it is only HIS iphone that is getting my airtags message?
Kind of a mystery...at this point its no longer about the stolen bike, thats just the tax I pay for living in Tucson...but the techn ology mystery is certainly got me wondering...
I ride "fixies" single speeds and have a particular style of handlebars I prefer, the "bullhorn" style and I'm tall so the bikes need to be larger frames...there are over 100 miles of continuous secure/safe/paved bike paths here so riding is my primary cardio-mind-clear-get-outside activity.
My Big Star bike was stolen in Oct. right off my porch so I bought a State single speed on CL for $150...right size, nice bike and I immediately bought an Apple Airtag and hide it on the bike in such a way as it looks like it is part of the seat post, camouflaged, etc...
Paired it with my iphone...last week someone broke into the maintenance shed and cut the lock off and a neighbor texted me to say she saw a guy hanging a bike on my wall...at around 12:30 PM...I immediately went out to look bike was gone.
At 10:30 I got a ping on the iPhone saying the bike was nearby about a block away...went to the location house was dark no one home...bike tag would not "sound" and phone could not find it.
Next day get another ping at 5:30 PM saying it was nearby this time about 800 feet closer at a church...I went and once again no bike...next day another ping at 6:30 same location...again no bike and tag could not be located...
Since then a pattern has developed: everytime the pastor of the church shows up I get a ping on the phone saying the bike is nearby and it gives the church as the location.
I actually met the pastor and explained the situation, he let me in the church and we looked everywhere for the airtag/bike to no success...he is genuinely interested in the mystery as well now...he's a 77 year old pastor really nice guy with an older iphone...he lives about 13 miles away and takes a specific route to the church every-time because of the "loop" making it faster...
At this point its no longer about the bike...its about why I get a message saying my bike is nearby anytime he's at the church...its like clockwork now...within 20-30 minutes after he arrives I get a notice...I've actually stood right next to him with my phone looking at his phone to see if it could locate the tag but it simply says "try moving around airtag unreachable"
Today is church services so I'm sure there's more than 1 iphone, but so far it was last seen when he got to the church at 8:49 am...
I've actually driven the same route he takes and gone to his house (13 miles away) to see if the tag is somehow in his neighborhood to no avail.
So I've been reading up on the technology behind these tags...they do NOT have any gps capabilities...they depend on Apples own "Find my" network of devices using ultra-wideband-technology...as I understand it the tag sends out a signal to local bluetooth devices (primarily Apple)...then the device sends that encrypted information upwards to the cloud where the location is pinned.
But here's the mystery...it appears that ONLY the pastors iphone is sending location information for the itag...when I go there with my newer iphone (using the U1 chip, his is older so no U1 chip...which means I can get a precise location but he cannot, he can only get a general location, estimated to be around 300-800 feet) I can see the location pinned, it is generally a few feet from his office (which is where the internet connection is)...but when I try to make it sound or try to get an exact location I've had no success, and like I said, its not his phone itself because when trying to find the item standing right next to him my phone says "move around to try and locate marks Bike"...
I've driven the entire neighborhood and walked it as well with my iphone trying to locate the tag...no luck.
In the past when I've gone on bike rides and stopped at a grocery store on the way home I get a message from INSIDE the store every-time saying "Marks bike has been left behind" because its on the bike rack on my car...so I know the technology works up to around 800 feet or so...
It has me wondering about how FAST is the technology? Suppose the pastor is driving by a location where my airtag is at...and his phone only updates when he connects to the internet once he gets to the church...how fast is a bluetooth handshake? The majority of his drive is an expressway going around 50 mph...there are a handful of stop lights once his route takes him to the church, but they pass the University and I'm pretty sure there are a TON of iphones in that area so his would not be the only one getting a ping.
Also why does it seem it is only HIS iphone that is getting my airtags message?
Kind of a mystery...at this point its no longer about the stolen bike, thats just the tax I pay for living in Tucson...but the techn ology mystery is certainly got me wondering...