[HOT] Recommendations for cheap "passive GPS trackers" / vehicle mountable GPS loggers?

[Guttorm Flatabø]

On Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 8:12 PM, Jaakko Helleranta.com <
jaakko at helleranta.com> wrote:

> Could someone recommend essentially GPS logger solutions that would be
> temporarily installed in vehicles for gathering information for preferrably
> a week, two or even three for every 1-2 meters the vehicle drives.


Some time ago I bought the cheapest logger available on Dealextreme:
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/usb-gps-rechargeable-65-channel-data-logger-dongle-black-58695
at 26 USD worldwide, incl. shipping.

I just downloaded the track I've gathered. It is one track with 127 734
nodes, which seems to have been collected over about 7 days. The resolution
is more like 5 meters than 1-2 (but probably time based), but when you have
several tracks for the same way that's ok. I am not sure if it stopped
collecting when it was full, or started overwriting the beginning, probably
stopped. The track was easy to retrieve with gpsbabel:
http://www.gpsbabel.org/htmldoc-1.4.3/fmt_skytraq.html

Accuracy of the points seem to be normal, but no HDOP information is
included.

It has a battery to store last satellite scan, so as to retrieve location
faster on next start, but needs power continuously to operate, 12V car
adapter is included.


> The idea is/would be to find cars that are driving actively around Haiti
> or/and the capital area and record their tracks into GPS traces so we could
> verify the road network.
>

The advantage of the one on Dealextreme is the price. Apart from that,
there's not much that can go wrong I suppose. But as for accuracy it is
probably not among the best.

--
Guttorm Flatabø
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