| Already got an iPhone? Got
a plane/car/bike you want tracked? Want a spouse/friend to know
where your plane is every 3 seconds*? Well, you have a GPS online
tracking solution...and it won't cost you a penny more.
URL: http://tracklog.ch
Where to get the App: Go
HERE and click on the button
upper left, or using your iPhone search for the 'TrackLog' app.
How to use in plane: Turn on
iPhone, tap TrackLog icon, tap the glider picture, then the ON button for
'tracking on the internet', then finally tap the 'Start GPS' button. Set
iPhone on dash. You're broadcasting your location to the web.
How to track online at the house:
Web browsers that work with this app
are
Firefox 3.5
and
Safari 4.0. If you use
I.E. you'll have to install one of these on your computer, if only to use this
one application. 1) Open the browser, 2) go to
http://tracklog.streckenflug.ch/index.php?page=device_tracking&id=XXXXXX
(where XXXXXX is the first six digits of your phoneID - you can find
your phoneID at the top of the screen on your phone when you start the
app).
Tip: If you're using Internet Expolorer and want to keep it that way,
create an icon on your desktop that goes to FireFox or Safari, make the home
page
http://tracklog.streckenflug.ch/index.php?page=device_tracking&id=XXXXXX
(where XXXXXX is the first six digits of your phoneID). This will
let a spouse/friend track you in nearly real time with one click of the
mouse.
Pros:
- Free
app. No monthly fees.
- Location updated as often as
every 3
seconds. Default every 15 seconds.
- Shows Barogram and track history in car,
plane, on foot or on bike.
- No ham license required (like
APRS). You're up
and tracking 60 seconds after you download the iPhone app.
- Unlike APRS, you don't loose the signal as
you get close to the ground (tracks you taxiing around right to where you
park).
- As you mouse left/right through the Barogram the pointer
moves in the map in the top half of the screen on your track history line, showing course, speed, altitude and more.
Video showing this below...
- Has a 'Playback' feature that lets you
relive a flight (in real or faster time)
- Uses Googlemaps, so you can choose
Satellite, Terrain or Map views.
- Add an iFrame of your map to your website
(how)
Cons:
- Doesn't let you export
your trip data down to your local PC for later analysis (I was told by the
app author that .igc files will be available next year and that files for
Google Earth will be next).
- Uses cell tower coverage for in-flight
stuff, so if you fly higher than about 3,000' you can't follow along in
near-real time (caches in the iPhone and uploads to the net when you get
back in coverage)
Tip:
- Use
something like the free
ScreenHunter 5.1 application if you want to capture images of your
travels and paste them into Photoshop or an online travel journel - it's what I used for
the pictures at right.)
- Use the power cord for your iPhone in the
plane if you have it. The GPS drains battery power.
- Instructions for making your tracks NOT
appear on the public radar page
HERE.
Friends will have to know your phoneID to see where you are.
Kudos: Special thanks to RV-6A
builder/pilot Mike Reddick for
showing me this iPhone app while talking to each other at the fuel pump at
Bridgeport, TX 9/26/09.
Things To Consider:
- Calls: When taking a call
on the iPhone while tracking, TrackLog stops. After you hang
up, TrackLog resumes, but you have to restart the GPS again.
- Music: You can't listen to
music while using TrackLog (it uses the microphone to track the
noise levels - the red bars in the barogram).
Relevant Links:
|
Screenshots:
The drive out to the airport...satellite
view.
I've clicked on my account (to display the barogram) and moved the mouse to the right (pointer moves on the map
in top half showing where I was at that instant:
course 287, speed 79 km/h, altitude 178m.)
(click to enlarge)
Short flight...terrain view.
Clicked on 'Radar', then the airplane symbol (filters the car/bike/walking
activities out of the
data), then clicked on my name to show my barogram. Moused over to the
right on the barogram (look for my cursor) and you can see at that point in
the flight (reference pushpin in map half of screen) that I was on about a
one mile initial for 17, course 181, speed 277 km/h, altitude 432m...time
07:38:50. Pretty damn cool for free.
(click to enlarge)
Base Turn To Final
This screen capture from the morning flight shows the drive into the
airport, taxi lines on the ground, the last phase of initial and the
base/final 180° turn for a runway 17 landing - data reported every 10
seconds. The first 3/5ths of the barogram shows the drive out to the
airport, the dip is when I powered off/on to put it in the plane, and I'm
pretty sure you can tell where I took off. The peaks are acro.
(click to enlarge)
|
to see a little better)
