CT-V06 Installation Guide: Simple Two-Wire Install
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The CT-V06 is a slim hardwired 4G tracker that runs on anything from 10 to 90 volts: 12 V cars and utes, 24 V trucks and buses, motorbikes, and the higher-voltage batteries in e-bikes and e-scooters. It has five wires, but it only needs two to work: power and ground. This guide covers that simple two-wire install. If you also want an ignition wire, the analogue input or a starter-cut relay, see the CT-V06 advanced five-wire install.
We recommend having a professional auto electrician fit your tracker, and an e-bike or e-scooter should be wired by an auto electrician or an e-bike specialist. Damage caused by incorrect installation isn’t covered by the warranty.
Before you start: tell us what it’s going in
With only two wires, the tracker works out when the vehicle is running from its battery voltage, or from movement. Its standard set-up suits a car or ute with an ordinary 12 V battery charged by the engine’s alternator. Anything else needs a different set-up, and we do that for you. Contact us when you order, or before you fit it, with the vehicle type and its battery voltage. We can set it up before it ships, or over the mobile network once it’s fitted and online. There’s nothing for you to change on the tracker.
| Vehicle | Battery | What we set up |
|---|---|---|
| Car or ute with an ordinary 12 V battery | 12 V | Our standard set-up. |
| Car or ute with a lithium 12 V battery, a smart alternator or stop-start | 12 V | A voltage range set to suit your vehicle: these batteries sit higher, or charge lower, than an ordinary battery and alternator. Your two voltage readings (below) tell us where to set it. If running and parked are too close together, we use movement instead. |
| Hybrid or electric car | 12 V | Movement. The car tops up its 12 V battery while it’s parked or charging, so the voltage can’t show when it’s being driven. |
| Truck, bus or 24 V machinery | 24 V | A voltage range set for 24 V, so the engine counts as running only above about 26.5 to 27 V. On the standard set-up a 24 V vehicle would always look like it’s running. |
| Motorbike | 12 V | A voltage range set to suit the battery (lithium bike batteries sit higher than lead-acid ones), or movement if running and parked are too close together. Also a deeper sleep between check-ins to go easy on the small battery. |
| Caravan, camper or boat house battery charged by solar, a DC-DC charger or mains power | 12 V or 24 V | Movement: a charger raises the voltage while it’s parked. Also a deeper sleep if it sits for weeks. |
| E-bike or e-scooter | 36 V to 72 V | Movement. There’s no alternator, so the voltage can’t tell us when it’s being ridden. |
| Golf cart or forklift | 24 V, 36 V or 48 V | Movement. The charger raises the voltage while it’s parked. Better still, fit the ignition wire (see the advanced install). |
How it knows the engine is running
Without an ignition wire, the tracker watches the battery’s voltage. While the engine runs, the alternator charges the battery and the voltage goes up; once the engine stops, it settles back down. The tracker counts the engine as running while the voltage is inside a range, and as off when it’s below that range. The range can be changed, and we set it to suit your vehicle. For example, a 24 V truck charges at about 27 to 29 V and sits at about 25 to 26 V when parked, so we set it to count the engine as running only above about 26.5 to 27 V.
📝 Help us get the range right. With a multimeter across the battery terminals, note the voltage with the engine running (give it a few minutes), and again once the engine has been off for at least 30 minutes (straight after you switch off, the reading is a little high). Send us both readings and we’ll set the range between them. If the two readings are too close together, as they can be with some smart alternators or with a battery that a charger or solar panel keeps topped up, the voltage can’t reliably tell running from parked, and we use movement instead.
⚠️ Never above 84 V. Check the voltage on your charger’s label: if its output is more than 84 V (some 72 V lead-acid systems, 80 V forklifts, and battery packs bigger than 72 V), the CT-V06 can’t be fitted. Never connect it to a hybrid or electric car’s high-voltage battery or its orange cables: on those cars it goes on the ordinary 12 V battery circuit only. Anything above 60 V DC should be worked on only by someone qualified for it.
ℹ️ Tow alerts and movement. Where we use movement to tell when the vehicle is running, the tracker can’t tell being towed or carried away from being driven or ridden, so you won’t get a separate tow alert. You’ll still see every move on the map, and a geofence alert around where it’s kept is the best way to know it has left. The ignition wire in the advanced install avoids this.
📝 About deeper sleep. A tracker set to sleep more deeply checks in less often while it’s parked, so some alerts can arrive late, and in the deepest sleep the tow and power-disconnect alerts are off. We’ll talk it through with you when we set it up.
What’s in the box
| Item | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| CT-V06 tracker | The tracker itself. If you bought it with one of our plans, the SIM is already fitted. |
| Five-wire lead | About 70 cm long. It plugs into the tracker. For this install you use the red (power) and black (ground) wires only. |
Nothing else comes in the box. You’ll also need a 3 A inline fuse and holder (see step 3), connectors to suit your vehicle’s wiring, insulation tape or heat-shrink, cable ties and a multimeter.
ℹ️ Bringing your own SIM? The CT-V06 takes a nano-SIM, and some networks need a setting (the APN) changed on the tracker before it will connect. Turn off the SIM’s PIN lock first (put it in a phone to do it). Fitting a SIM means opening the tracker with the power disconnected, so contact us before you fit it and we’ll walk you through it.
The tracker’s wires
| Tracker wire | In this install |
|---|---|
| Red: power (+) | Connect to power that’s on all the time, through a 3 A fuse. |
| Black: ground (−) | Connect to the vehicle’s ground or the battery negative. |
| Yellow: ignition input | Not used. Insulate the end on its own. |
| Grey: analogue input | Not used. Insulate the end on its own. |
| White: output | Not used. Insulate the end on its own. |
⚠️ Wire by function, not by colour. The tracker’s colours don’t match your vehicle’s wiring colours, which vary between makes. Always confirm a wire with a multimeter before you connect to it.
Fit the tracker, step by step
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Find permanent power and ground. Do this with the battery still connected. Permanent power is a supply that stays on when the vehicle is switched off. With the key out, put the multimeter’s black probe on bare metal and find a supply with the red probe that reads the battery’s voltage. Good places are a permanent circuit at the fuse box, or the battery’s positive terminal. Ground is the vehicle body: a bolt through bare metal, or the battery’s negative terminal. Never connect to the wiring of an engine computer or any other control module.
- Stop-start cars: if the battery’s negative terminal has a sensor clipped on it, ground to the body instead, not to the terminal.
- E-bikes and e-scooters: connect at the controller’s battery input, after the battery’s own protection circuit. Never open the battery pack.
- Caravans and boats with a battery isolator switch: connect on the battery side of the switch, so the tracker keeps working when the switch is off.
- Switch off and disconnect. Now you know where you’re connecting, switch the vehicle fully off and take the key out. On a car, ute, truck or motorbike, disconnect the battery’s negative terminal. On an e-bike or e-scooter, switch it off and take the battery out if it’s removable.
- Fit the fuse in the red wire. Fit a 3 A fuse rated for at least 125 V DC in the red wire, as close to where it connects to power as you can. This applies whatever the vehicle’s voltage. Ordinary automotive blade fuses are rated for only 32 V, so they don’t meet it.
- Connect the black wire, then the red wire. Black to ground, red (through the fuse) to permanent power. A ring terminal under an existing body bolt is the best ground: scrape any paint off under it first. A splice or a tap connector sized for the wire suits the power connection.
- Insulate the three wires you’re not using. Tape or heat-shrink the ends of the yellow, grey and white wires, each on its own so they can’t touch each other or anything metal. Tie the lead to existing wiring, away from anything hot or moving, and add extra sleeving where it’s exposed on a bike.
- Plug the lead into the tracker. Push the plug fully home.
- Reconnect and check. Reconnect the battery (or refit the e-bike battery). The tracker’s two lights should come on within a few seconds. Measure the red wire again with the tracker connected: it should still read the battery’s voltage. Check the lights now, before it goes out of sight (see Check it’s working below).
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Mount the tracker. Label side up, with no metal above it: its GPS and 4G antennas are built in. Tie it firmly with cable ties so it can’t rattle or move.
- Cars, utes, trucks and buses: inside the cabin, high up under the top of the dash, as close to the windscreen as you can, with the label facing the glass. Keep clear of the pedals and steering column, and never put it on, behind or near an airbag (anything marked SRS or AIRBAG), or tie it to yellow airbag wiring.
- Motorbikes, e-bikes and e-scooters: the tracker is made for fitting inside a vehicle, not outdoors. Fit it inside a small weatherproof box or a sealed plastic compartment, out of rain, spray and direct sun, for example under a plastic seat or body panel. Not inside a metal frame, deck or battery case: metal blocks its GPS and 4G.
- It isn’t built for engine heat: keep it away from the engine, exhaust, motor and anything that gets hot.
- Check the power stays on. Switch the vehicle off, lock it, and wait 30 minutes. Then check with the multimeter that the red wire still has the battery’s voltage, or that the tracker is still online on the Open Platform. Some vehicles switch circuits off a while after they’re locked; if yours has, move the red wire to a different permanent supply.
Check it’s working
Status lights
The tracker has two status lights, Navigate (GPS) and Status. They should come on within a few seconds of the power being connected. If no lights come on at all, see Troubleshooting below.
| Light | What you see | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Navigate | Blinking once a second | Working normally, with a GPS fix |
| On all the time | Looking for GPS. Give it a few minutes with a clear view of the sky | |
| Blinking fast, non-stop | Updating its software. Leave it powered | |
| Off | GPS is off: the tracker is asleep, or not working | |
| Status | Blinking once a second | Working normally |
| Blinking every two seconds | Asleep. This is normal while the vehicle is parked | |
| Short bursts of fast blinks | Sending data. This is normal | |
| Off | Starting up, or not working |
If we’ve set your tracker to sleep deeply while it’s parked, both lights go off while it sleeps. That’s normal: check them with the vehicle switched on.
On the Open Platform
Take the vehicle outside with a clear view of the sky. Log in to the Open Platform at platform.crucialtracking.com.au and check the tracker shows as online with a position. Out in the open, the first GPS fix usually takes under a minute. Then take a short drive or ride and watch the position move: every 10 seconds on our Real-Time plan, or every 2 minutes on Power Saver. If your vehicle isn’t a car or ute with an ordinary 12 V battery and you haven’t told us yet, let us know now so we can set it up.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | What to try |
|---|---|
| No lights at all | Check the lead is pushed fully into the tracker, the battery is reconnected and the fuse is fitted and not blown. With a multimeter, check the red wire has the battery’s voltage against the black wire. If it does and there are still no lights, contact us. |
| The fuse blows | The red wire is shorting to ground. Check red and black aren’t swapped, and that no bare part of the red wire or the fuse holder touches metal. Fix it before fitting a new fuse. |
| Not showing on the platform | Give it a few minutes outside with a clear view of the sky, then take a short drive. Check you’re in 4G coverage. If you fitted your own SIM, check it’s active with data, and contact us about the APN setting. |
| Goes offline a while after the vehicle is switched off | The red wire is on a circuit that switches off. Move it to a supply that stays on all the time (see step 1). |
| Always shows as running, or never does | Its voltage range needs adjusting for your vehicle. Send us the battery voltage with the engine running and again after it’s been off for 30 minutes (see How it knows the engine is running), and tell us how the battery is charged. |
| Position jumps around or drops out | The tracker is probably under metal, or upside down. Move it so the label faces up with nothing metal above it. Metallised or heat-reflective window tint can also block GPS. |
Need more?
For an ignition wire, the analogue input or a starter-cut relay, see the CT-V06 advanced five-wire install. Full specifications and purchase options are on the CT-V06 product page. Once the tracker is online, the GPS Tracking Platform User Guide explains events, geofences and trips, and Install the Open Platform as an App puts it on your phone’s home screen.
Stuck on a step? Call us on 0413 418 743 during business hours, email team@crucialtracking.com.au or request a callback and we’ll walk you through it.