Late March, more GPS

More on the saga of getting a GPS track to work properly.  The problem is that I am a Mac user.  Mostly this saves an enormous amount of time, but GPS are the exception.

I reported in an earlier post that I cannot reliably use my Iphone, so I have to use a dedicated GPS tracking device.

Mostly these are designed for business purpose, but low cost models are available. The first one I tried I had to send back as it simply didn’t work, even though it came with Mac software.  this was a Gisteq.  The guy I bought it from said they were sometimes flakey, and recommended that I try the next model up in his range.

I will add details to a GPS Tracking page on the specifics of the issues involved in getting this device to work, which is not quite straightforward.  The device is a Qstarz BT-1300ST  .  Its virtue is that it uses a standard chipset so in theory I should be able to use any of a number of programs that work with that chipset.  But this is not the case.  Again, refer to the GPS Tracking page.

I have managed now to get track details onto a Google map.  This is just a local afternoon coffee run from my home. It is our intention to do a daily addition to our blog when we are touring, and include a map.  If you click on the link at the bottom of the map, you will be taken to the actual Google map, from which you can link to Google Earth.  If you right-click on the track in Google Earth, you will have the option of seeing an elevation profile, which is both pretty cool and of interest to touring cyclists.

View 12 5 2011 Tuggeranong in a larger map