I saw this on the Maplin website and decided it would be worth giving it a try. The i-gotu is a ‘GPS Travel Tracker’, it’s roughly the size of a small MP3 player and is connected to the PC via a proprietary USB connection. The device has a silicon skin to give it a degree of protection from the elements (although I found it best to fit it in the case back to front as that then covered the data connection).
Specification
* SiRF Star III low-power chipset.
* Built-in GPS patch antenna
* 230 mAh Lithium-ion battery
* Average GPS Acquisition time <35 seconds
* Operating temperature –10deg C to +50 deg C
* Dimensions 44.5(l) x 28.5(w) x 13(h)
* Weight – 20g
Battery Life (Logging time – Life)
* Every 60 seconds – 75 Hours
* Every 30 seconds – 60 Hours
* Every 15 seconds – 30 Hours
* Every 10 seconds – 24 Hours
* Every 5 seconds - 8.5 Hours
Configuration of the device is done via the PC application, you simply set the type of activity (driving, biking, running, walking) and select the logging duration, with the option to change the frequency over a configurable speed.
Operation is very simple, there’s 1 button on the front that controls the operation, simple push on/off. There are two leds (one blue, one red) mounted behind the white plastic case that glow when active. The blue led illuminates blinks when logging your position. Red and Blue flashing together indicates it’s getting the gps co-ordinates.
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Data is downloaded to the desktop application via a wizard, again very straight forward. There is an inbuilt editor to allow the removal of any spurious entries. Logs can also be exported as .gpx for use with other applications.
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A ride player is built in, which tracks your trip on the Google Map, with relevant attributes (current speed altitude etc).
Overall I think it’s an excellent unit. I’m not 100% convinced by the results I had regarding speed (max 55 k/m/h) and total ascent/descents (8000ft), but that may be down to the sampling rate of 15 seconds that I had set. I’ll do another ride with the sampling rate set to 5 seconds and see how that fares.
Currently retailing at Maplin for £39.99, normal price £49.99
The only thing it doesn't do is stop me from getting slightly lost!
analyse your gps data reading and adjust your software to discard any HDOP readings greater than say "25".
the HDOP number is a measurement of accuracy of the log.
Sportstracker on a Nokia phone....
druidh, I've not got a gps phone, hence getting the tracker.
HTTP404 - I'll see how to clean up the data.
Cheers
Will it function as a GPS unit downloading in real time to the PC?
Questiiiions! The software looks great, is there anything similar I can use (free) with my eTrex? Might invest in the PC cable for it
How strong is the GPS lock? Does it loose the signal under tree cover?
NICO - The documentation states -
i-gotU Travel Logger with PC
Slide i-gotU Travel Logger onto i-gotU Dock/ i-gotU USB Cable and connect it to your PC USB port.
Please go to Start-> Settings -> Control Panel -> System -> Hardware -> Device Manager -> Ports (COM & LPT), and note down the com port number of "Mobile Action GPS USB Com Port" device.
Please refer to the user manual of your navigation software to set up the transfer port and set the Baud rate between 9600 and 115200.
The blue LED indicator starts to flash when the setup is completed. i-gotU Travel Logger now works as GPS receiver for your navigation software.
So that'd be a yes.
Jim - the Lock seems to be quite strong, and no it didn't lose signal under the trees. It did go a bit odd later on when the weather set in. But you can edit the points and delete the inaccurate entries. There's no way of editing the HDOP/VDOP settings though, but there is a clean up data option.
Deft, the software is available to download from the Mobileaction website, might be worth a try.
my sirf 3 device does not lose signal under tree cover and can attain a signal indoors as well. powered by a phone battery i'll probably get 8-9hrs on a single charge. i noticed yours is "low power" sirf 3 what sort of runtime on yours?
anywhere between 8.5 and 75 hours depending on the logging rate.
Battery Life (Logging time – Life)
* Every 60 seconds – 75 Hours
* Every 30 seconds – 60 Hours
* Every 15 seconds – 30 Hours
* Every 10 seconds – 24 Hours
* Every 5 seconds - 8.5 Hours
UPDATE: Changed the logging frequency to every 5 seconds, much better results, no spurious entries in the data now.
"Out of stock" on the Maplin site 🙁
They were the other week then some appeared the week later.. There are some on ebay but they're slightly more expensive.
Loads in stock in the actual shops tho. I brought one last friday - tried it out this weekend, and worked a treat. Worth noting the one that maplin is selling is the IQ120 rather than the IQ100 - it has a 64,000 rather than a 16,000 track point memory. The next cheapest I can find the IQ120 is about 60 quid.
Only thing I can't get the software to do is give me a total elevation climbed - it's easy to get by exporting as a GPX and loading onto trail guru, but I wondered if i'd missed a trick with the software.
no, it doesn't do total climbed, but it may be worth suggesting on the @trip forum for development upgrades.
I like that trail guru site. I'll be using that each time I go on a new route. It's really easy to use. 🙂
Yeah trail guru is ace - I've got the app on my iphone too, which is also easy to use...