Hi Poley friends.
I know theres a lot of you guys right into this technology.
Id really appreciate some feedback on whats the best Way-to-Go.
I'd like to get the best there is for a trip Im up for - crossing of the Torres Strait by kite power. .
Then have a unit to keep for general use once Im hooked (as Im sure I will be)
Also wanting to suss out the options for stocking it in the shop for others.

Really appreciate some feedback from those who know field to help choose whats worthy & what may not be.
All the stuff Ive seen on posts on SB would be of interest.
- obviously track logging - Im guessing they all do that but some may do it better?
- time & speed recording - as detailed as possible rather than just averages?
- anything new on the kiters hope for height of jumps would be awesome?
- compatibility with software for dragging out specific stats ?
etc etc.
All info appreciated including brands & sources.

Post or PM - all good
Taa in advance.

Hey Puppet I noticed on your site you say you are going to be the first single sailor craft to do the crossing but I think you will find Rick Burnup and his mates did this in the eighties on windsurfers and I can remember one of them broke a mast and they carved a new one from some bamboo off one of the islands on the way.
All the best for your trip should be a great adventure.
Most of us use GT31 gps they seem the best currently.

Considering you are kiting to another country, duty free could be the go.

do you want one for the purpose of navigation or just retrospective data (speed tracks etc) ?

I would imagine that because you are planning an offshore adventure, you are wanting to check the gps to tell you where you are. The gt31 won't help with that coz it only logs data for analysis at a later time.
Surely you will need some sort of navigational gps like you would find on a yacht?

Hi Mate

The GT31 is good, and I've got one.. but I would regard it as old technology now. Also, I would regard the product as "fiddly" to use in the field (not a very good field device - buttons can be pressed, data erased/stopped, even when you lock it). Doubly so through the aqua-pack.

I think most modern phones have a GPS chip in them, so anything is possible (ie: "there is an app for that !" etc). A few guys at work like to use thumbdrive type "turn key" devices that fit into their pocket (due to the "accidently pressing something" scenerio). They slide a switch, lock the switch, and it runs.. and then just logs the data. This serves their application well..

.. but the GT31 is still an excellent device. It's got a bunch of other features (not related to Windsurfing) that I use all of the time. Infact, I use it more of other stuff than windsurfing.

Regarding the tracking feature of the GT31 mentioned above. It's very crude. The GT31 also requires a hard power reset after travelling 300km or more.

Whatever the case, make sure the device you purchase logs data in NMEA0183 format (and not solely a proprietary format). This format seems to be the defacto standard for GPS, tracking logging etc, and gives you access to a bunch of free or free to use analysis/visualisation software that is available on the Internet.

Good luck. Let us know what you get :)

J

Is that kinda like an "error located between keyboard and chair" type scenario Kato ? (or fat fingers error ?)

jn1 said...

The GT31 also requires a hard power reset after travelling 300km or more.

What do you mean?

AUS02 said...

What do you mean?

Given, it looks like there is a bit of "engrish.com" with the wording, but without knowing the proprietary code/circuits, I just go by what they are trying to say . Most likely, the unit needs to download the Almanac after a certain distance (used to make speed calculations), or it calculates the km per degrees constant only at start up ?. Who knows.

jn1 said...

AUS02 said...

What do you mean?

<snip>

Given, it looks like there is a bit of "engrish.com" with the wording, but without knowing the proprietary code/circuits, I just go by what they are trying to say . Most likely, the unit needs to download the Almanac after a certain distance (used to make speed calculations), or it calculates the km per degrees constant only at start up ?. Who knows.

Nah, that just means that if you move it a long distance, while turned off, that it needs to be reset. This is because it knows what satellites should be available in the area, but when you move it too far, it can no longer find them.

It then needs to listen to what is in the new location in order to get enough satellites to have an accurate fix. If it moves the same long distance while turned on, it should be able to progressively learn of the new satellites and have no problem.

decrepit said...
As far as the almanac is concerned, I don't think doppler needs it for speed calculations.

This is known as "ephemeris" -> FormulaNova is 100% correct.

Without accurate knowledge of the position of the satellites, your GPS wouldn't be able to determine doppler speed, as it wouldn't be able to take into account the relativistic effects of gravity.

ie: GPS clocks are accurate to an order of a few nanoseconds, where as gravity will affect the satellite clocks by the order of microseconds.