New Beer Kegs Equipped With GPS Units

[rad14701]

I don't recall if it was CNN or NBC news that aired a segment about how beer distributors are installing GPS tracking units on beer kegs in an effort to thwart thieves... If memory serves me correctly they quoted an annual loss of 100 - 300 million dollars per year due to stolen kegs here in the US alone... Sounds like there will be more at risk than simply forfeiting a security deposit as this practice expands throughout the industry... Food for thought...

EDIT: I just Googled "gps on beer kegs" and got a bunch of related hits...

[HookLine]

Glad I already got enough for my needs.

[absinthe]

hehehe well i wonder if they have something to record where they where when the unit went off line? i think it would cost more for the unit than the keg

[Dnderhead]

Got a hammer? just do not take it home until its " finished" if you could git it off intact put it on a wild cat.

[carlos castenada]

hahaha,

there will be a big spike in the number of kegs going missing now. As 'people' stock up.


sounds abit iffy GPS is quite power hungry.

[BW Redneck]

Got a hammer? just do not take it home until its " finished" if you could git it off intact put it on a wild cat.

Or on the car of somebody you don't like.

[Husker]

if you could git it off intact put it on a wild cat.

Or even better, a pole cat. Let'm go find that one.

H.

[punkin]

if you could git it off intact put it on a wild cat.

Or even better, a pole cat. Let'm go find that one.

H.

I'll see you're polecat and raise you a Taxicab......

[BW Redneck]

if you could git it off intact put it on a wild cat.

Or even better, a pole cat. Let'm go find that one.

H.

I'll see you're polecat and raise you a Taxicab......

One more: tie a bunch of helium balloons to it during a wind storm.

I've just thought for a minute, what if they've designed them to have a mechanism that activates when the GPS unit is taken off? If they're really serious, they'd do something like that, instead of just sticking them on with scotch tape.

[DestructoMutt]

what if it's not on the outside?.....!

we have small tools (roto-hammers, worm drive saws, etc) that are equipped with these gps devices and they seem to work reasonably well....some tools have stickers that say they have gps device emedded, but others don't....lots of tools being found and the "second hand" stores now.

[Dnderhead]

Most tools have plastic somewhere to in bed in I do not thank GPS would work in closed in mettle (it would be shielded)

[HookLine]

Most tools have plastic somewhere to in bed in I do not thank GPS would work in closed in mettle (it would be shielded)

Yup, a keg would be a very good Faraday cage.

[Dnderhead]

If you happen across one rap it in one of thrones aluminumized survival blankets until you can check it out and I have a broadband FSM some ware
there would also have to be some way to replace/recharge batteries( probabely induction )

[rad14701]

I think part of the issue to be considered here is that although we all pretty much disagree with current laws regarding distillation of spirits, most of us are otherwise law abiding citizens... Buying almost all components and ingredients, and then "stealing" a keg just isn't part of my hobby practice... I'm sure I could find an old retired keg if I really wanted one as I know enough bar owners who would have several collecting dust in storage... I can wholeheartedly understand the beer distributors frustrations...

[Hawke]

The picture I saw on the news showed the unit placed on the bottom, tucked in under the rim. Lots of places on the web to buy used kegs, with or without the tops cut out.

[junkyard dawg]

Makes me wonder how many of the hundreds I've seen at the scrapper were stolen? I've always paid for them... Seems like it would be pretty expensive to track down single kegs... I'm pretty sure I don't want our police doing that... They have bigger fish to fry.

[trimpy]

They could use these for some sort of sting operation, but as a whole, I call total BS on this. Sure you can have the keg know where it is without a huge amount of power, but tracking involves more than a passive system. You either have some sort of RF signal they can track, like with wildlife, or a cell based system, like onstar. Despite the power requirements, common sense tells me that my hand-held GPS unit sucks inside, so good luck tracking my keg from in my basement. Lastly, any 2 way system involving satellite signals, and some sort of radio broadcast is likely to be close to or exceeding a kegs cost as they are only worth a few hundred dollars ea when new.

[bigal2286]

I dont know that much about GPS but would it even work after 4 hours of cooking?