| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| malch |
Posted - 30 mai 2008 : 02:33:12
EDITED BY GPSPASSION 20081009
   
I've created a new topic since I know gpspassion likes to keep these things all neat and tidy <wave>.
I am amazed these new devices haven't created more excitment here. It seems to me there's a unique combination of interesting features on offer here:
* Waterproof to IPX7
* Provision for extra (SD) memory card
* Very decent battery life
* Optional bluetooth
Is there some problem that is putting people off? Something I'm missing?
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| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Ian Worthington |
Posted - 19 juil. 2012 : 12:55:11
FWIW I don't bother to adjust the camera clock. I just photograph the tracker the then adjust the image timestamps after.
i |
| GraemeG |
Posted - 19 juil. 2012 : 12:25:19
Hello dbikedoc,
I am sure there are many ways to use the BGT-31 to geotag photos but the method I use is to ensure the camera clock is set accurately (within a few seconds) then have the BGT-31 create a tracklog with 5 second points. At the end of the day/week/holiday I use Geosetter to match the image timestamps against the tracklog and update the image with the geotag data.
A more detailed description of my workflow is on page 6 of this thread. That was over 3 years ago but I still use the same process. Geosetter is a great application but can take a while to learn as it can do a lot more than just tag photos. I like it can handle jpg and RAW images and as a bonus it is free!
Regards,
Graeme |
| dbikedoc |
Posted - 18 juil. 2012 : 23:03:22
I want to use my BGT-31 for navigation, tracking and geotagging photos on my upcoming vacation. What is the best way to set it up so I can record my travels. How can I differentiate navigational waypoints from photo tags?
Up to now I have been using it as a simple bicycle cyclometer. Although I have read the documentation, I remain confused about exactly how to use the BGT-31's apparently overlapping functions. Thank you. |
| glaros |
Posted - 11 mai 2012 : 10:22:06
Graeme,
Thanks a lot for the quick reply.
I think I am looking inside the V1.2 series,
between the current version (B1405) and the
latest available, that is B2118T.
I will send an email to Locosys or Chalko as you suggested.
My concern is the reduced number of points when you
upgrade from V1.2 to V1.3 or V1.4. That's the reason
I prefer to remain on the V1.2 series.
Cheers. |
| GraemeG |
Posted - 11 mai 2012 : 10:10:34
Hi Glaros,
Sorry but I don't have that version. I have V1.2B0922 and V1.2B1003T if either are of use to you. I gather that the V1.2 firmware is not supported now but you could try contacting Locosys support who I have found very helpful or Tom Chalko on the mtbest.net site. They may be able to supply it. |
| glaros |
Posted - 11 mai 2012 : 09:28:09
Hello,
I am looking for firmware V1.2B2118T. Does anyone please know
where I can find it?
I am still using firmware version V1.2B1405x and I want to remain
on the V1.2 because on V1.3 and V1.4 the data logger stores less points.
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| Martin Jensen |
Posted - 07 janv. 2012 : 13:05:11
Hi there.
My GT-31 crashed a week ago after some water entered into the (not so) waterproof bag I was using.
Do any of you have a used GT-31 you are not using and which you are willing to sell me?
The price for a new one is a bit steep...
Thanks in advance! |
| Ian Worthington |
Posted - 13 nov. 2011 : 01:56:46
My suspicions are on the charge circuit too. I neglected to mention the charge light doesn't come on. Battery life was fine last time I used it a few weeks back. But if it's a standard battery type (http://sunpowcn.livejournal.com/61388.html ?) I'll see if I can find someone here -- Bogotá Colombia at the moment -- willing to test one out for me and see.
Annoying being here without a working logger :(
If a need a replacement logger is bt-31 still the best one out there or has it been superseded now? Hate to spend that money again on a unit which has proved bad. Maybe I should putit towards a phone with a built in gps instead and use that for logging? Any thoughts welcome. |
| GraemeG |
Posted - 13 nov. 2011 : 01:17:47
Our BGT-31 is 3 years old. It has mainly been used during a couple of overseas trips for geotagging our photos. So it has had continuous use for 8 weeks at the beginning of 2009 and 6 weeks at the beginning of 2010 and sporadic days in between. I pulled it out and topped up the charge a couple of weeks ago to test the battery life as we are heading off for another 8 weeks in December. I have it set to log both internally and to the SD card every 5 seconds with power mode set to normal and bluetooth turned off and it lasted about 21.5 hours sitting on the window sill. I have a vague memory that it used to last a bit longer, may be 24 or 25 hours when it was new but I am not 100% sure. Anyway the battery is good enough for a 16+ hour day and then a recharge overnight so that's good enough for me.
But from the sound of Ian's description I wonder if the problem is not the battery but the charge circuit.
Ian, if you try a new battery please let us know how you get on.
Regards,
Graeme |
| gpspassion |
Posted - 12 nov. 2011 : 21:54:41
More like 3 ;-) Could be the battery too, it's a standard Nokia B5 type of battery I think so you could try a replacement one. |
| Ian Worthington |
Posted - 12 nov. 2011 : 06:10:46
My GT31 appears to have stopped charging. There's some residual in the battery so the gps is working fine, but a variety of leads and power sources fail to recharge it.
Any known issues? Unit is maybe 5 years old? |
| GraemeG |
Posted - 16 août 2011 : 12:53:28
No problem, happy to help! The Data Logger menu refers only to logging to the internal memory. This internal memory is "circular" so after several hours the oldest data is always being overwritten. You should check the specifications but I think there is room for about 16000 records so it saves about the last 22 hours at 5 second intervals. The only options under the Data Logger menu are the Interval (set to 0 to turn off the internal logging), Min Speed to stop logging if you drop below a set speed (I have this set to off), Save To Card and Clear.
The Data Logger uses a proprietary binary format that records just about everything and is pretty space efficient but needs the Navilink utility (or GPSBabel) to convert it into NMEA format. The Clear option empties the internal memory and Save To Card always copies the entire internal memory contents to the SD memory card as a .SBP file. So if you save to card often then the content of the SBP files will overlap due to the circular nature of the internal log and so your geotagging software might have to cope with duplicate data points.
The Memory Card menu refers only to logging to the SD card. From what I remember I think the "SBN" format under the NMEA Items in the Memory Card menu logs using the same binary format but to the SD memory card. I don't bother with this. I prefer to write NMEA direct to the card so that it is immediately usable when I copy it to my laptop and I only copy the internal data to the card if I have lost a NMEA file.
Other than when I removed the card without turning it off, I think the other time I lost a file was once when the battery ran flat. From what the Locosys support folk told me I gather it should close the file if the battery is running flat but I am pretty sure I lost at least one file when I was testing how long the battery lasted. But that was a long time ago and may have been on an earlier firmware version. I think they also suggested it might be SD card dependent. I avoid letting the battery run down when I am travelling because of the chance of losing the SD card file but I've never seen the internal data be lost. I would be interested to hear if others have lost SD card data when the battery runs flat. |
| dsm363 |
Posted - 16 août 2011 : 01:57:00
Graeme: Thank you very much for the reply. That was very helpful.
Under 'data logger', I sent interval to 10 seconds so if I understand that correctly, it logs my position every 10 seconds.
How do you leave the write to internal memory on? or does it do that automatically before moving it to the SD card? I can't seem to find that in the settings. Thanks.
Dave |
| GraemeG |
Posted - 15 août 2011 : 13:45:04
Hi Dave,
I'm a Geosetter user (great program!) on a Windows platform so I can't comment on HoudahGeo but I have used the BGT-31 to create NMEA files and tagged many RAW and jpg photos.
I used the information on http://www.gpsinformation.org/dale/nmea.htm to decide that all I needed was GGA, GSA and RMC. As far as I can tell, these three are the minimum that you need to collect the date, time, location, altitude, and some indicators of the quality of the fix such as number of satellites, 2D or 3D fix and DOP figures. I have used the 2D/3D and DOP figures to filter the data with GPSBabel (another great program) to remove some of the dodgy points. All three NMEA parameters are set to 5 second samples although 10 seconds should be fine! I also use 2048K file size, Log Switch set to On-Fix and Min Speed set to Off.
Mine only has an old 256MB SD card in it and that is good for several weeks of 16 hours per day logging so a 2GB card will last you many months. I also leave the internal data logger turned on. It has saved me a couple of times when I have lost the NMEA file but at 5 second samples it will only hold the last day or so. Once I opened the door without turning it off or stopping the logging to the card and that trashed the current file. But I was able to save the internal data to the card and use the Navilink tool to extract the NMEA data from it.
I used it for 4 weeks onboard ship during a trip to Antarctica and it worked great. Whenever we were in our cabin I put it on a desk below a couple of port holes maybe 1' x 1.5' and it was able to pick up enough signal to log a track perhaps 80 or 90% of the time. Whenever I was out of the cabin I dropped it in my pocket and it would happily log whenever I was out on deck or off the ship.
The only drawback of the unit is that you can't charge it while it is logging to the card. I made a point of topping up the battery whenever we were stationary and not taking pictures (like meal times) or over night when we were essentially travelling a straight course so that I could interpolate a reasonably accurate track.
Hope that helps and enjoy your trip!
Regards,
Graeme |
| dsm363 |
Posted - 14 août 2011 : 18:07:56
Hi,
I just received my BGT-31 for the sole purpose of geotagging photos for an cruise I'm going on. I'm trying to figure out how to use this thing before I go and the user guide that comes with it isn't very helpful. I've read through this thread and appreciate everyone's input. I have a Mac running Mac OS X 10.6.8, Aperture 3 (latest version) and am using HoudahGeo to tag my photos.
What NMEA settings do I want if I simply want to geotag each 10 seconds? There are so many options
I have
GGA 1 sec
GLL 240 sec
GSA 1 Sec
GSV 5 sec
RMC 1 sec
VTg off
ZDA 60 sec
SBN OFF
I have a 2GB SC card that I formatted in the BGT-31 and have file size set to 2048KB after reading this thread about setting it to 'file size'.
Since this doesn't export GPX files, I changed the .txt file to .NMEA and it seemed to be recognized by HoudahGeo and tag the photos. I just wanted to make sure I had the appropriate settings before I left for my trip. Thanks.
Dave |
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