GPS DataLogger required for GeoTagging and route recording

[mrblack85]

Hi all,

Apologies for the long post but please bear with my....I'm looking for some help in my search for a reliable high sensitivity GPS device and having spent hours finding very few useful resources on the internet I finally found here!

I'm looking for a GPS data logger that I could also use to GeoTag photos (by comparing the time stamps of the two at a later date). The requirements are:

- Long Battery life whilst logging is active at ~20sec and 20m /datapoint (over 32 hours)

- Ability to export data tracks to an SD card without the use of a computer (be it via an external USB card reader or through the device itself having a card slot built in).
- Ability to geotag photos with the GPS data by comparing time stamps (preferably using provided software or built in functionality of the GPS device).
- Preferably running off AAA batteries, rather than a Li-Ion rechargeable pack, (although if the device can charge direct through USB this isn't such an issue).

I'll be travelling the far corners of the World for around 9 months, and will have limited access to a Computer during these times. Hence the need for it to be possible to export the tracks without needing a computer. It also explains why I'd need as long a battery life as possible (it is likely I won't have access to power sockets for long periods of time).

My plan is to buy a couple of SD cards to store all the datalogs on to the memory cards (you can imagine 9months @ 20sec/datapoint could be a lot of data!!!). I will then use this to put my route onto Google Earth when I finally return home to relive my adventure. I will also need to GeoTag my photos by doing some automated time-stamping/cross referencing between the two (9 months of photos means it would not be possible to do the geo-tagging manually).

I've looked for hours and hours and have built up my knowledge of GPS devices from scratch. The most suitable devices i've been able to find are the following:

Genie BGT31 - http://www.locosystech.com/product.php?zln=en&id=30

ATP PhotoFinder - http://photofinder.atpinc.com/what.tml


But I'm not overly certain about their reliability and signal strength. Can anyone thats used either of these devices provide any commentary on how good they are? Can anyone recommend any other devices that they know of that would be better for my purposes than these two devices?

The device doesn't have to have OS mapping features, but if these types of devices are actually the best for locking onto GPS signal I would pay the extra to get one.

Any help would be HUGELY appreciated, as I've had no luck at all looking for recent reviews of GPS geo-tagging/data loggers. Anywhere I look it seems the reviews are from the middle of last year, and I can't find any products that fit my description that have been released since 2008!

Thanks in advane.

[robertn]

32 hours is pushing the boundaries, as most people want the device to fit in a pocket. Current technology (As far as I know) means you get about 10-12 hopurs. Above that, the manufacturers tend to use a smaller battery rather than get more hours (Garmin handhelds have done 8 hours since the mid 90's). You may need and external battery pack, how suitable that is as a solution will depend on you application. ANotehr alternate taht may work is a unit with replaceable battery, and purchasing a number of battery packs (Either AA or Li packs). Look for one that uses a standard Cell phone battery - cost and avialiby are better. AA's a most flexible, but bulky.

Sensitivity - since about 2005 theres been improvements, mostly in power consumption The Sirf III chipset was the first to meet the "good enuf" test. I would nto worry too much - if its a dedicated GPS and avaible for purchase today, it will be good enuf (unless maybe if if's a non name brand).

Data size. Don't bother worrying about it. an SD card with a capcity of 16gig will hold well over a year of uncompressed NMEA at 1 second intervals. It is possible to compress location recording to about 1 byte record and sub 5 meter accuracy, but no one does it because memory is cheap.

You may have better luck looking at commecerial products rather than consumer products. The 32 hours indicates to me your needs are fairly specialised.

[mrblack85]

Thanks for the reply!

Replaceable batteries would be perfectly acceptable to reach the 32 hours mark... I'll be getting a fairly large supply of Low Self Discharge AAs and AAAs so if the device can only manage 12-16 hours this would be fine (so I can replace the batteries overnight) or just turn it off at certain times during the day when i'm not moving.

I'm quite surprised that battery life is in general so short and that limited advances have beenn made since 2005, especially given the massive increase of GPS devices in general everyday use (SatNavs/Phones)

I've found another device that seem promising:

Columbus V900 (also called the VisionTac VGPS-900) - http://www.visiontac.com/v900_specs.htm

It uses the MTK chipset (with 51 channels), and I've seen comparisons of this vs the Sirf-III and the response is pretty mixed. Can anyone vouch which is better?

Has anyone used this device or used another Columbus/VisionTac device? Their websites looks extremely basic, they don't appear to do much else, and doesn't look like they're particularly famous, but some reviews of it seem very promising. Would be happy to hear from people that have used this or any of the previous two devices I mentioned.

Thanks again,
Rob

[mikealder]

I use the V-900 as do quite a few of the other Mods/ Staff of this web site - great device and you can do more than just geo-tag pictures/ data log with it you can even add voice tag recordings against positions - There is a review of the V-900 on this web site by lbendlin, see Here - Mike

[mrblack85]

Thanks again, I'm 90% convinced after reading that review... But still have a couple of questions...

The review makes note of the limit to a max 512 files due to the FAT16 nature of the memory card format. Would I be right in thinking it only creates a new file in the following instances:

- Voice Records
- For POI tags

Or would it also create a new track file every time it is manually switched off and on?

I'll be travelling for ~250 days, so if it creates a new file every day, I'd be limited to no more than one voice tag or POI tag every day...? Its not a huge problem, I'll just periodically (~once a month) log onto a computer and move the files into a subfolder, negating the need to worry about such a limit, but I would prefer to not have to if it can just reload the same file for the next days logging.

WRT geotagging photos....I get the feeling this will again cause me problems because i'll be logging data points all day every day for ~250 days. As a result, if i don't update the camera time when changing timezones, the geotag feature will find a match, but it will be at the wrong tag (i.e. it will be the location I was at, at however many hours out the time syncs are).

Since Geo-tagging can be done by telling the software how out the cameras time is and given that I'll be crossing timelines quite frequently on my travels, would I be better off leaving my camera's time alone for the entire trip? I could then just, using the Time Zone correct feature, tell the device how out my photos are for the each batch I upload (I could upload and geotag them in one batch for each timezone).

OR

Would I be better off trying to sync the time on my camera, and then if I forgot for part of a trip I could then correct the time zone on my camera? The problem with this would then be knowing which day(s) I'd forgot to correct the camera time on?


Thanks again for any response, all help has been much appreciated!

[mikealder]

The GPS uses UTC time which doesn't alter with time zones it is the same across the planet, I would set the camera to UTC time and leave it set this way for the entire trip so you can easily align the picture time with the GPS position.

Take a few MicroSD cards with you as the device can only use 2GB cards, this way you won't have an issue with the number of files on any single card and they aren't very expensive these days.

It doesn't use disposable batteries so you might want to consider a battery powered re-charger pack to accompany the V-900 - Mike

[mrblack85]

Thanks Mike,

one final question. I see it charges through a mini USB port, do you know if it would charge from a single cell AA battery, or whether it would require a double AA battery? I already have a single cell "emergency" charger for mini USB, but would need to buy a double cell charger otherwise.

Thanks again!

[robertn]

The USB standard is 5 Volts. I expect your single cell charger has a voltage up converter - check out it's specs and make sure it has 5V output.

As for you concerns with number of files etc that fit on a SD card, I have one word of advise "Backup"

As with any computer having one copy of you data becomes no copies very easily. Memory cards fail, and far more commonly than people admit, get lost. My experiance, is if it is not in the device, I loose it within a few hours.

I personally would use one or two SD cards for the GPS, and have a couple of high capacity memory sticks or external hard disk units. If you have a computer, thats one copy, you need at least another one. If you don't have a computer with you, intenet cafes are cheap.

[mrblack85]

Thanks for the tips...

I'm going to get an external hard drive that can copy direct from the SD without need for any other computer. I'll use this to back up my photos, and will also copy my tacks on to there.

I'll also upload tracks and my fave photos at Internet Cafe's to a webserver as and when I get the chance .

That should cover me .

Think I'm sold on the V900! Cheers everyone!

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