The Oyster3 4G is a locating device for things that have no power supply: trailers, containers, construction machinery, swap bodies. It runs for several years on three off-the-shelf batteries, reports over the mobile network and needs neither installation nor wiring for it — screwing it down or fixing it with cable ties is enough. What separates it from cheaper trackers is not the locating itself but what happens around it: it only transmits when something moves, works out for itself whether the device is under way or parked, and still finds satellites through a low-noise preamplifier where others give up.

• 7 yearswith movement-based reporting
• 3 × AAuser-replaceable
• LTE-M · NB-IoTwith roaming between networks
• −147 dBmsensitivity at cold start

What sets the Oyster3 apart

• It thinks instead of transmitting blindly: adaptive tracking detects movement and then raises the reporting rate — when the device stands still, it goes quiet. That is exactly where the years of runtime come from: a trailer standing in the yard for two weeks does not report its unchanged position every ten minutes.
• Batteries off the shelf: three AA cells, replaceable by the user. No return shipping, no special rechargeable pack, no device swap at end of life — across a fleet of a hundred devices that is the largest item in the operating account.
• Four satellite systems at once: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou and QZSS together. In urban canyons and between containers, the number of visible satellites decides whether there is a position at all.
• A fallback without satellites: if nothing works, the position can be estimated from the mobile cell. Less precise, but better than a blind spot.
• Built for outdoors: a sealed housing that withstands dust, jets of water and brief immersion, plus −30 to +60 °C. A tracker under a trailer sees both.
• Inconspicuous to mount: flat, black, fixed with screws, rivets or cable ties — including where it is not meant to be found straight away.

Where it is used

• Trailers and semi-trailers: the classic case — no on-board power, long idle periods, high value.
• Construction machinery and equipment: where is the compactor, and how long has it been there?
• Containers and swap bodies: stock management across several sites.
• Rental fleets: return control and proof of use without calling the customer.
• Theft protection: together with geofences the system reports when a device leaves an area.
• Agriculture and forestry: finding equipment again across wide areas.

That settles the selection. What follows is the depth for sizing.

How the runtime comes about

The manufacturer gives three worked examples with the same set of batteries, and they show exactly where the adjusting screw sits:

The middle row is the normal case and at the same time the most interesting: it supplies dense data when something happens and costs nothing when nothing happens. The question when sizing is therefore not “how often should it report” but “how quickly do I have to notice that something has moved”. For a rental machine that is minutes; for a container in a port, a day will do.

On radio coverage: LTE-M and NB-IoT are built for exactly this purpose — little data, deep building penetration, frugal. NB-IoT reaches further into basements and underground car parks but is more sluggish when the location changes; LTE-M behaves better on the move. The device handles both and switches according to the network. In cross-border use it is the SIM that decides whether this also works — not the device.

Technical data

The general product data — dimensions, weight, protection rating, battery format, origin — is in the detail table further down this page.

Help with sizing

Tell us what you are tracking and how quickly you have to notice a movement — we will work through the reporting interval and the expected runtime and settle the SIM question with you before you order a fleet. For larger quantities the device can be pre-configured at the factory. For sizing, pre-configuration and commissioning we will gladly put together a quote.