Dumb GPS question

[Harrington]

I know very, very little about bike mounted GPS systems. I was wondering if these systems allow the bike to be tracked real time from a computer. I know GPS tracking is available for business applications. I ride solo 99% of the time and my spouse would be happy to know where I am. (Good or Bad to be debated at a later time)

I am looking at the Garmin 2610/BMW Nav II and the Garmin 2730(?). Thank you for any information concerning this matter.

Jack

 

[hotspice]

I know i've seen some of the riders here use star-traxx.com on rides like the Ironbutt.

Nextel also has a TeleNavTrack that you can use with your phone. Some other companies offer similar services through your cell phone and they are usually marketed to parents trying to keep track of their kids..

Those are just a few that I've found but I'm sure other riders have seen other options for you..

 

[kurt1305]

The ones you mention are only receivers, therefore no one but you will know the location. Typically, commercial vehicles use a seperate piece of equipment called an AVL (automatic vehicle locator) to take the GPS info from the receiver and broadcast it over a radio frequency back to a tracking computer.

 

[hotspice]

The ones you mention are only receivers, therefore no one but you will know the location.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. I know that during the iron butt I was able to go to the StarTraxx site and get updates of riders locations. The site even says live On-Line Tracking (reports and maps) & Family Viewing (multiple accounts)..

As for the Nextel Plan you can see more here http://www.telenavtrack.net/en_US/info/whatstnt.jsp and it looks like it is both a transmitter and receiver.

I'm far from an electronics guru but they both seem like they would do the same thing with the Nextel being easier to implement..

 

[kurt1305]

A quick search indicates that StarTraxx is a seperate tracking system from a GPS mapping system. Uses the same GPS satellite grid, but towards a different end. Someone somewhere probably combines the two, but I'm not aware of any of the Garmin (or BMW) systems that provide mapping and third party tracking.

 

[Kenny2]

Aprs

Yes you can track, real time using the GPS on a bike, It is called "Automatic Packet Report System".

Now the news, You will need an Amatuer Radio license. The transmitter is the size of an Altoids mint box or you can use a radio.

For more information, Goto: APRS

Happy hunting!

 

[Harrington]

Thanks for the information everybody. I'll look into the APRS system and affordability. I have Nextel phones and know of their tracking abilities. I believe they need a signal to broadcast the GPS info back. My phone cuts out in the boonies.

Thanks again.

 

[serazin]

Thanks for the information everybody. I'll look into the APRS system and affordability. I have Nextel phones and know of their tracking abilities. I believe they need a signal to broadcast the GPS info back. My phone cuts out in the boonies.

Thanks again.

Well before you get too excited about the APRS system please note that APRS is somewhat limited to the distance one can track due to the massive amount of traffic on the APRS system. The position reports sent from your bike will be limited to 2 to 3 hops through the APRS repeaters just to stop your position from showing up across country. Just not enough bandwidth for everyone. You can be sent through an I-Gate to the internet, but it is still not 100% dependable.

here is a URL to where you can see all the hams on APRS. Select west coast and watch what happens..

http://www.aprs.net/

pretty crowded.

Now there are internet sites where you can just enter the call sign of a particular ham and his/her latest position will show up.

My thoughts on the nextel system is that there are a LOT of place where nextel just doesn't work. We had it at a place where I worked and we couldn't get very far out of town before it dropped out.

 

[Harrington]

Well before you get too excited about the APRS system please note that APRS is somewhat limited to the distance one can track due to the massive amount of traffic on the APRS system. The position reports sent from your bike will be limited to 2 to 3 hops through the APRS repeaters just to stop your position from showing up across country. Just not enough bandwidth for everyone. You can be sent through an I-Gate to the internet, but it is still not 100% dependable.

here is a URL to where you can see all the hams on APRS. Select west coast and watch what happens..

http://www.aprs.net/

pretty crowded.

Now there are internet sites where you can just enter the call sign of a particular ham and his/her latest position will show up.

My thoughts on the nextel system is that there are a LOT of place where nextel just doesn't work. We had it at a place where I worked and we couldn't get very far out of town before it dropped out.

I looked at the APRS site and it looks too technical for the laymen. I'm looking for a user friendly web based program. It's for my wife's peace of mind and in case I'm late. She wouldn't take the time to learn something too technical. I would probably become very impatient myself.

The problem appears to be in the uplink. It would need to be satelite based because of spotty cellular service. I've heard of marine applications but the hardware is bulky and expensive.

Who knows what the future brings? Modern technology is moving ahead so fast.

 

[billyfields]

The standard consumer GPS systems such as the Garmin 2610 are receivers only. They use the navigational sats. NavSats are LEO (low earth orbit) systems and cannot be used for communications purposes. To be able to report position in real time requires connection between the GPS and a communications system of some kind. The comm system could be as simple as a cell phone service (making an automatic dial out every few minutes) or if you want to get fancy you can use a communications satellite uplink like the truckers use. In any case the cost of such a system would be considerably higher than the $400-$1000 you would pay for bike mount GPS. If you really want the wife to be able to track your exhaust plume the simplest and cheapest fix would be to give her a call from time to time with your coordinates 

 

[Harrington]

There won't be cell service most likely in these areas. I would otherwise use the GPS locater available through my Nextel.

It would also be for my peace of mind. I could be located if the blip on the screen stopped moving. I hit a deer in '04. I was lucky enough to walk away because the bike wasn't rideable. This could have easily happened on an empty stretch of road.

Does GMC's Onstar use cellular or satelite? I'll need to look into this.

 

[Boingo]

I know i've seen some of the riders here use star-traxx.com on rides like the Ironbutt.

Jerry White (jwhite518) has one, and he seemed to like it. For what you are looking for, this may be the best option.

 

[FredRydr]

When motorreffing and motormarshalling bicycle races, we use the amatuer bands for communication. Another motorref with a young wife apparently had some difficulty getting the okay to go away on his motorcycle for all these races, and two years ago a third motorref whispered to me that the guy had one of these set-ups connected to his GPS. His SO would check on her husband on the home computer and comfort herself by seeing exactly where he was during the week-long races in distant states.

Smart guy! I hope he weaned her off of it.

Fred

 

[Harrington]

Jerry White (jwhite518) has one, and he seemed to like it. For what you are looking for, this may be the best option.

I think you're right. I should have checked it out when he posted it.

Thanks for the help everybody.

 

[dlearl476]

Yo, Harrington. I just came across this doing some other forum reading. It might be what you're looking for. I know nothing about it, can't and won't recommend it. YMMV

trackstick

OTOH, with a little more looking, I get the idea it can only tell where you WERE, not where you ARE. Couldn't get a diffinitive answer. You might.