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Messages - svartbjorn

#181
Fixed in version 1.3. Now it is perfect! Thanks!
#182
Implemented / Tracks - sorting reverse order?
April 01, 2011, 22:57:40
Today tracks are sorted either from a ->z, from shortest-> longest (distance or time), from oldest -> newest, from fewest points -> most points.
You have the button with three squares and a DOWN arrow to select this sorting menu.

---> Would it be possible to add a similar menu button with an UP arrow to sort in the opposite direction?

That would be particularly useful for looking at the latest tracks. Today, you have to scroll down the whole list of tracks to get to the latest track, since that one is always at the bottom when sorted by date.
#183
Troubles & Questions / Guiding line issue
April 01, 2011, 22:46:03
Case 1) I select one specific point and enable guiding to it. If I now tap the point and select "Hide" from the pop up menu, the guiding line is correctly turned off.
Case 2) I create a track and enable guiding to it. If I now deselect the track in the Tracks list, the guiding line remains on and the only way to turn it off, is to select guiding to a new point and then hide that point again. I assume the guiding line should turn off if the track is deselected.
Case 3) I create a track and enable guiding to it. I have GPS off. If I now have map center (red cross) close to one of the points, the guiding not necessarily selects guiding to that closest point. It rather seems arbitrary which point it picks. I thought guiding from map center should work even with GPS off, or will guiding only pick track points correctly from an active GPS position?
#184
Troubles & Questions / Guiding sound issue
April 01, 2011, 22:29:26
- If I create a track with guiding on, the guiding sound AND the guiding jump to next point are BOTH triggered by the distance value set in Guiding/"Set next point". The value set in Guiding/"Distance for sound" is ignored. I tried with Guiding/"Set next point" = 100 and Guiding/"Distance for sound" = 150. I tested this on three different tracks I created, each with 5-6 points and followed the guiding distance closely. The above happened consistantly for each point. ALSO - there is no sound for the last point (kind of makes sense in this picture, since there is no next point to jump to and sound is (incorrectly) triggered by the "set next point"). I assume the sound is supposed to be triggered by the Guiding/"Distance for sound", even when guiding on a created track (ref below).

- If I enable guiding to one specifically selected point, THEN Guiding/"Distance for sound" is used to trigger the sound.
#185
Congratulations Menion, with your latest release 1.3, Again a lot of new features and improvements just blow me away! Where is this going to end? You have fixed the info placement on the guiding line, fixed the guiding jump to next point when within a certain distance, selectable sound type, improved POI search, included new map sources, beautiful new satellite window, new track chart display (even live update on track being recorded), user selectable panel hiding timeout. Again, congratulations with a great release!!
#186
I hope you mean NiMH batteries? NiCd was 1st generation rechargable batteries. 2nd generation is NiMH, which about double the capacity for the same volume and weight. 3rd generation is LiIon and LiPol, which again double the capacity of NiMH. I though no one used NiCd any more. They suffer from the memory effect and bad capacity. Nothing is good with NiCd. Only disadvantage with NiMH is a noticeable self discharge, but they have no memory effect at all. LiIon has close to 0 self discharge, no memery effect, and very high capacity. Disadvantage is significantly reduced effect at low temperatures. LiIon batteries today also are available in versions that can deliver incredible large discharge currents. They are charged completely different from NiCd/NiMH, so a special LiIon/LiPol charger is required (a charging algorithm called "Constant I - constant V").
#187
I have looked a lot into those AA based chargers. I have some advanced equipment at home where I can measure exactly how much juice I get out of different types of AA's (batteries from different vendors have very different capacity). It is really bad. Be aware that a phone draws a certain amount of current, typically 450mA when charged from a USB data port and 850mA when connected to a AC powered USB port (defined as a power USB port, signalled by having the two data lines shorted). Now some mathematics: a two cell based AA charger has a battery voltage of 1.6 x 2 = 3.2V when fresh and not loaded. In the charger there is a step-up switching regulator. To be able to deliver 450mA @5V (USB voltage), the batteries have to deliver about 450/5*3.2/0.9 (90% efficiency) = 780mA. A one cell charger is even worse, since that poor battery now has to deliver 450/5*1.6/0.9 = 1.57A. I am designing a lot of switching regulators in my work, so I know all details about how this works. Delivering 1.56A for an AA battery implies that the voltage will drop significantly (internal battery resistance), causing the battery current to increase accordingly. The end result is that AA batteries are not suited for high loads for more than a short time . So if you carry AA batteries to charge your phone, you will need a lot of them. AA batteries are cheap, yes, and the chargers work, yes, but they are really bad in terms of stored power compared to LiIon batteries. With my lab equipment I tested AA batteries feeding a step-up regulator, which then charged my phone over USB. I monitored the input voltage (battery voltage) and output voltage (USB 5V) as well as current in and out. So I know exactly what these systems can deliver. I also calculated the weight and space needed for AA batteries versus LiIon batteries. Two different worlds!  So if you need to carry power, forget AA based chargers unless you think it is ok to carry a *lot* of them. They are only suitable for an emergency situation, not at all as a portable power on a trip.
#188
I have done a lot of testing with different sestting of "Time between GPS locations" = TBL. With screen off, I get the following (HTC Desire):
- TBL = 0: battery usage 14 %-points per hour
- TBL = 60: battery usage 8 %-points per hour
- TBL = 120: battery usage 4 %-points per hour

So the TBL setting makes a huge difference. When walking, sampling every 2 minutes should be more than enough. Locus once again is outstanding having this great feature!

Regarding solar panels: heads up! I have checked out the solar panel market for a long time. There is a lot of crap out there, so be very careful if you consider buying anything. I am a computer hardware designer, so I know quite a bit about hardware technology. The spec for a panel is something you may get close to only under the very best conditions: bright sun light and sun light perpendicular to the panel. If you walk with a solar panel on your backpack, you will face the sun at all kind of angles, and the charging current will drop dramatically. And if it on top of that is a cloudy day, the charging current quickly drops to 1/10 of spec. So all these small, neat, compact solar panels you can find on the market, are pretty much useless. I have done some mathematics on this. To have a solar panel make sense under practical conditions, it really need to be large. That means space and weight. After considering solar panels for a long time, I finally concluded this is not a good solution. The solution I found, was to use an external USB-based battery with two standard USB output ports, and it can be charged with a standard mini-USB cable. That means you can use the same charger for your phone as for your battery, just different cables (mini USB/micro USB).  Here again, there is a lot of crap out there, so be careful. After a lot of searching, I bought this one:
http://www.portablepowersupplies.co.uk/ ... remium.htm
This battery (5 Ah) can fully charge your battery twice. Size and weight is about the same as a HTC Desire. You can get much larger batteries (even 21 Ah), but as usual it a compromise of price, weight and size.
#189
It doesn't work that way for me. It doesn't jump to next point when I am within the specified distance from the point. I actually have to pass through the point. Also, I do not get the sound, even though I have "Guiding sound" = enabled. I do get the guiding sound if I ask for guiding to one selected point, but no sound when passing points on a created route. There are no other switches to turn for the guiding , so it seems strange why it works for you and not for me. BTW, I have tried many times, and it is consistent.  I have "TIme between GPS locations" = 0. Hmmm, I hope we can make this work, because it is a really useful feature.
#190
In an earlier version of Locus you actually displayed the info at both ends as well as along the line at certain intervals. I think it would be sufficient to display the info at the current position end of the guiding line, but at both ends would also be useful. The double display could then be reduced to one when both ends are within the screen. When getting close to the point and the line is getting short, would it still be possible to display the info above the current position?

BTW - your new compass with guiding is beautiful and much better than before.
#191
Pass around a point by 100m? Not sure what that means, but I also tried to pass a point at a distance of about 20m, and the guiding never jumped.

I am not asking about any accurate distance here, just need to have the guiding jump to next point when approaching a point. I also use this feature when flying, and then a "Set next point" in the order of km is necessary to make it useful.
#192
The guiding info displayed above the guiding line is a great feature. However it seems to always being displayed at the leftmost end of the line as shown on the screen. So if target is to the left of current position, you have to pan the map until you get the target within the screen to see the guiding info (I know I can select the same guiding info in the Title field, but that is a separate selection). Guiding info should be displayed at the starting end of the line, i.e. your current position, since that is what you normally have centered on the map, and you want to see the updated info as you move.
#193
I create a route. I set Settings/Guiding/Set next point = 100 meters. I enable guiding and the first point is selected. When setting "Set next point" = 100, the guiding is supposed to jump to the next point for guiding when I am within 100m of the current point. That doesn't happen. I have to get within 10m, and actually have to pass the current point by some few meters, before the guiding jump to the next point. Guiding from point to point would be very, very useful is it worked according to the "Set next point" specification, otherwise not because mostly you won't pass exactly through a point.
#194
Under review / Heart Rate monitoring?
March 22, 2011, 22:35:42
There are half a dozen Android Market apps that support connection with a bluetooth based Heart Rate monitor. I am using the Zephyr HxM Bluetooth Heart Rate monitor with Endomondo and SportsTrackLive. Polar too has one monitor based on bluetooth.

Have you considered implementing such a feature? Or is that a direction you do not want to go? Just curious. Using Endomondo or SportsTrackLive for this is fine for me, but if Locus supported this, then the track log could also store HR. That would mostly be interesting I think if playback of stored tracks was supported.

What do people think?
#195
I think the "All" and "Speed > 0" are of interest for many people. And this is a feature you find in most other GPS apps, so a brilliant app like Locus should support it too. When I go out for exercise, my true moving speed (= "Average speed" under "Speed > 0") is of great interest, but I also would like to know how long I have been out. So please keep all this - just make the statistics correct.

I am sure you know the best way to do this correctly, Menion. I am just reporting what I find. As it is today, it just isn't correct. I have also tried setting INT-M = 0, but if I remember correctly, the small movements due to GPS inaccuracy caused the distance to accumulate (with RMOV unchecked). I can try checking the RMOV box, but then I understand only moving points are stored and we are back to the basic problem? And as I said in my previous post, storing identical points just to get the stop time info, seems a bit unnecessary.

Anyway, Menion, it is just fine if you look at this later when you have time. This is not critical, just good to know it is coming.

BTW - I paid for the PRO version to support you and to get all the new features in the future. Very best regards. Keep on with your great work!