[OSM-talk] [OSM-newbies] Wiki documentation on GPS devices - please help answer some questions

Dudley Ibbett dudleyibbett at hotmail.com
Mon Jan 21 19:38:40 GMT 2013





Hi Rob

As a UK countryside mapper using a Blumax and Garmin 62s and JOSM I'd make the following comments:

At this time my personal answer would be almost anywhere (path, tracks, roads etc. etc.).  I also understand that the accuracy of the GPS trace will vary with time due to the position of the satellites (particularly when you're in a valley or on the side of a slope and I guess the same goes for when your in an urban environment.) so recording the same route repeatedly at different times would also be helpful.   When editing having more gps traces certainly gives you greater confidence when drawing and/or adjusting elements.  I suspect the answer to the use of phones, tablets etc is it depends on where/when you're mapping and how good the reception and therefore accuracy is.  I always assumed the 62s would have better accuracy with an external aerial but experience shows that this isn't always the case and sometimes the Blumax, with its internal aerial is better. 

My suggestion would be just to encourage people to record and upload gps tracks rather than make any recommendations.

I would also add that the section on PDOP is rather technical for a newbie.  Perhaps this could be moved to a separate wiki page and the answer to the question changed to be more general.   If your GPS has a display then this is more likely to be given as a distance.  I must admit I never bother with this and generally leave determining the accuracy to when I use the traces for editing.  However this only works if you already have map features of other gps traces.  If the trace looks awful in the editor then I also wouldn't upload it.  This work with JOSM but I don't know how this practice would fit with other editors. The section in http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Accuracy is a much better answer to this question but even this could do with some diagrams to go with the text.  I don't know what the rules are about moving or duplicating content on the wiki but as a newbie this is much more useful that PDOP.  I get the impression that satellite numbers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ConstellationGPS.gif) and positioning in the sky is a bigger issue than multipath reflection but might be wrong.  Apparently the latter is less of an issue when moving quickly in a car.  Something to be added to the section on the in vehicles section? 

I use the BT747 (http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/BT747) application for talking to the Blumax and converting traces to GPX format.  

Hopefully others will comment as it is good to see these pages being updated and make more user friendly for newbies.

Kind Regards

Dudley



Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2013 13:54:16 +0000
From: rob.j.nickerson at gmail.com
To: talk at openstreetmap.org; newbies at openstreetmap.org
Subject: [OSM-newbies] Wiki documentation on GPS devices - please help	answer some questions

Hi All,

I have been updating the wiki pages about recording, converting and uploading GPS tracks. My aim is to have these 3 pages (record, convert, upload) acting as a nice guide.

== Progress so far ==
1. I updated the "Upload" page [1] to bring it up to date with the fact that GPS data is just one part of the picture. The original page was from a time when aerial imagery and other data sources were not available. I also moved FAQ questions to this page.


2. I rewrote the "Making GPX Tracks" tool to include the fantastic online conversion tool at GPSVisualizer.com (no need to confuse people with GPSBabel software). A simple "how to" for conversion is now prominent at the top of the page. Technical details at the bottom.


== Current project - Where I need your help ==
3. I have started to update the page on recording GPS tracks [3]. This is where I need your help. There are some obvious questions that should be addressed on this page:


* Can I use a iPhone / Android phone? What is the accuracy like? Which Apps are best?
* Where should I record tacks? If the answer is anywhere, then where would you recommend I focus my attention (e.g. rural roads)? Is this the same globally?


What should the page say in regard to these questions? All thoughts welcome.

== Future ==
Really the page titles should be updated to "Recording GPS traces", "Converting GPS traces" and "Uploading GPS traces". How do I move the pages without messing up the language stuff? Is it possible to mass move all translations at the same time?


Regards,
RobJN


[1] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Upload
[2] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Making_GPX_Tracks

[3] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Recording_GPS_tracks


_______________________________________________
newbies mailing list
newbies at openstreetmap.org
http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/newbies
 		 	   		  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/talk/attachments/20130121/1fcfcaa3/attachment-0001.html>


More information about the talk mailing list