The Rimrocked Blog

I brought my eeePC with me on my recent vacation to California (an eeePC is a 7″ subcompact notebook computer that runs linux), I wasn’t able to get GPS Babel running on it before we had to leave so I couldn’t upload points using my DG-100 GPS data logger while on the trip (but I really wanted to showcase my trip day-by-day on Rimrocked so I made the decision to use the manual input).

Manual input was almost an after-thought when we were first developing rimrocked as we believed that using a real-time GPS device or uploading GPX/KML from an existing file (e.g. from a GPS data logger) would be so much easier nobody would want to use a manual input feature. Boy were we wrong. It’s just so convenient to add your trip details, click the points where you were and then click “Add Trip” - I did it at the end of each day I was away. You can see them at my wife and I’s group for our trip: Cheryl and Andrew’s California Adventures.

Of course, using a real-time GPS device remains the fastest/easiest way to add map points to rimrocked as they just automagically are there when you log in after a trip (or if you set up the trip before you go others can see where you are in real-time) but given the cost versus ease of use the manual editor comes in a very close second.

So, don’t let not having a GPS device stop you from using Rimrocked - you’ll get all the functionality and ease of use by placing your points on the map manually. One feature to look forward to in regards to the manual tripinputinator (which will be forthcoming shortly) is to be able to add more points to an existing trip - look for it soon!

As of a few minutes ago Rimrocked is officially open for business all day, every day (even Christmas) - no more invitations needed, you can sign-up all by yourself and start using Rimrocked (of course if you’d still like assistance just email us and we’ll respond as quickly as possible).

Also, as part of opening up sign-ups we’ve made a slight change to our commenting system, you used to have to be a friend before commenting on a trip or journal entry of another person, however, comments are now open to anyone who has a rimrocked account, which means you should sign-up, sign-in and start socializing with everyone at rimrocked!

If you have any questions, comments or bugs to report please email us as we’d really like to hear anything you have to say - good, bad or otherwise. Not because we’re starved for social interaction (although this might be partly the case) but because we value your insight into what we’ve created and would like to make it even better.

We have lots of announcements to make over the coming months, so stay tuned to this blog, we’ll be announcing them here first.

Update: A slight adjustment to the above, although the invites are gone, sign-ups will now require a ‘webcode’ for your new account to be activated. Of course this puts the onus on us to provide webcodes, so without further adu, if you’re reading this and would like to sign-up, simply go to the Rimrocked home page, click “Sign-up” and use the webcode “blog”.

This might not be news to most as it was announced a week or so ago (I’m a little behind since my vacation) but it’s worth saying nonetheless…

Recently Garmin and GE announced 2 very interesting GPS enabled devices, one is a phone, the other a digital camera.

Garmin Nuviphone

Although not expected to be released until the summer, this Garmin Nuviphone looks a lot like the Apple iPhone from the provided photos and has the potential to alter the GPS market landscape as well as the cellphone marketplace - competition in both markets is welcome in both in my opinion as good competition pushes companies to innovate and focus on the user experience - both things that benefit the consumer greatly (and in turn the companies that understand and implement these kinds of strategies).

The Nuviphone appears to be very well thought out design wise and executed well - It’s impossible to know what the real experience will be like as size/weight/battery life/price have not yet been disclosed, but for now I’m quite interested and would consider one instead of the iPhone (if either are ever released in Canada and the data rates in Canada fall inline with the rest of the developed world - I’m looking at you Rogers).

Garmin already has a very good understading of user experience on small devices and with GPS making it’s way (slowly) into digital cameras and cell phones it seems like a natural decision on Garmin’s part to me.

GE E1050

This might not be news to most as it was announced a week or so ago (I’m a little behind since my vacation) but it’s worth saying nonetheless…

With 10 megapixels, high-def movie recording, a touchscreen, GPS receiver with a MSRP of $249.99 this is a camera worth keeping an eye on! The E1050 is the first affordable camera I’ve seen with a GPS receiver on board - there’s a couple of others but the price vs. features keeps them off my list.

I don’t have any experience with GE cameras as I’m quite fond of my Canon Powershot and Rebel but at $250 I might be willing to try this out as it should be a fairly inexpensive way to have your photos automagically geocoded - and you can bet that we’ll be working on adding the ability to rimrocked to interpret the location data on the photos from this camera!

I couldn’t find any information on availability but it’s marked as 2008 camera, so keep an eye out for this digital camera - it might be the first affordable gps-enabled camera but it certainly won’t be the last, I’d expect increased competition in this market over the next year or so, which can only mean better options/experiences available to consumers - always a welcome thing!

Check out these links to learn more:
› Nuviphone
› GE E1050

See part 1 of my data loggers posts to see what a gps data logger is and read about the Trackstick.

After losing my Trackstick somewhere in the bush and just before embarking on a trip to California I decided I’d like another data logger as they’re quite small and make adding trip points on Rimrocked quite easy. So I started searching online to see what else out there as I wasn’t completely satisfied with the Trackstick. After reading a number of reviews online I decided on the GlobalSat DG-100 and went to canadagps.com and purchased one. At $120 it was about $30 cheaper than the Trackstick (I’ve since seen the DG-100 for as low as $80, so shop around if you’re thinking of buying one).

I’m quite fond of this little GPS logger as it’s quite easy to use - it has a single on/off button, 3 lights (one to show that a satellite signal has been acquired, one to say it’s on, and one that lets you know when the onboard memory is getting full) and a switch on the side that allows you to switch, on the fly, from one of 3. There’s also a place for an external antenna if you so desire.

The provided software, in my experience, worked fairly well, the user interface was a little clunky and not terribly intuitive (GlobalSat let me know if you’d like some help, I’d love to work on a new GUI for stuff like this!) however it did as it should. From the software you can set exactly what you want the settings of the 3 position switch to do, using a combination of time intervals and distance travelled.

After taking the DG-100 with me to California and using it while driving from San Francisco up to the coast to Bodega Bay and throughout Sonoma/Napa for a week I’m quite impressed with it and highly recommend it if you’re looking for a GPS data logger device to track your movements, record where you’ve been on a trip.

We at rimrocked extend our congratulations to Rich for another world-record setting flight! Experience Rich’s adventure through his words.

Adventure of the Heart III

By Rich Jaworski

Setting world records is never easy. In fact the record we intended to improve by this flight, the AX-4 duration of 23 hours 11 minutes which Adventure set in 2007¹, was never challenged by this 19 hour 3 minute flight using basically the same equipment. This 2008 flight happened to cover a distance of 250 miles and unintentionally surpassed Oscar Lindström’s 2001 record for the AX-4 distance of 210 miles. (Sorry Oscar!) As noted by Bill Bussey who had several problems during his 1996 AX-6 duration flight², “Murphy Lives.” Our 2008 flight was full of “Murphy’s.” For safety sake, contingency actions to address in-flight problems were pre-planned and utilized. Unfortunately problems with fuel consumption calculations, weather, temperature/velocity profiles, and terrain were encountered. All of these combined to put the pilot in a situation which was intended to be avoided. Somehow our shot at improving flight duration ended up as a “Mulligan” which landed in the dark Wisconsin night with a distance record as a consolation prize.

Because the 23 hour flight in 2007 was shortened by the accumulation of 100 pounds of ice in the envelope, modifications were made to limit ice formation. Two test flights were made in Nebraska at warmer temperatures which confirmed the operability of these modifications. All we needed to improve the 2007 duration was the right weather! Unfortunately last year’s minus 27°F ambient temperatures were not in the Grand Forks, ND forecast during January, 2008 so we decided to fly with the first minus 10°F weather available. It also happened that the minus 10°F weather occurred during full moon which would enhance night flight vision.

Launch preparations went smoothly with the help of Grand Forks’ aeronaut, Duane Hanson and his family; the Grand Forks Flight Support who let us practice our inflation procedure, without envelope, in their hanger; and the Grand Forks Country Club who allowed us the use of their wind sheltered parking lot and club house.

All went as expected for the 9:30 AM launch and first eight hours of the flight except the air temperature was warmer than desired. At eight hours the first fuel tank expired. A total distance of only 39 miles had been traveled. During that period, altitude was maintained as low as possible (50 to 500 ft. AGL) to keep the balloon in the surface inversion at speeds of less than 10 mph. The real “surprise” was that the “eight hours” was expected to be “nine hours” or more. Also, during hour eight, the surface winds increased to 15 – 20 mph, not predicted, and the sun set as predicted. A recalculation of the fuel consumption rate re-confirmed adequate fuel was on board to fly through and beyond sunrise the next morning.

With the flight’s night time heading and speed, the chase crew, composed of Matthew Grote, Orv Olivier, Wayne Mohring, and Gary Hendrickson, projected the track to the Northeast and a forest landing very close to Lake Superior. After long conference calls with weather consultant, Brad Temeyer, the crew recommended flying at 1,000 ft AGL or higher to avoid the North’s more dense woods and the Lake. After discussing the basis of the recommendation, at the cost of flying for a shorter duration, the altitude was increased and maintained at 1,000 ft AGL with a resulting heading of 115 degrees.

As I watched the balloon’s moon shadow race through the snow filled woods below at speeds as high as 35 mph, I wondered how one would ever land without significant damage to the balloon and the pilot who was sitting in a harness freely suspended above the fuel tank. It was comforting to know that the fuel consumption calculations had been reviewed and adjusted for the reduced duration of the first tank and still projected landing well after sunrise. Landing during the night did not appear to be a good option.

Through the night, the icicles formed on the mouth lines. The chase crew radioed to announce their departures to get around large wilderness areas or where they were as I passed over. I was mentally counting down hours to sunrise, “Only eight hours of night left! . . .” No one was counting miles.

Fuel tank inventory is monitored by spring scales which begin to indicate when 10 gallons of fuel are left, enough fuel to fly for two or three hours.. The first scale movements began around 3 AM and were definitely confirmed as true by 4 AM. Speed: 22 mph at 600 ft AGL. I radioed the crew that we were not able to fly to sunrise.

Several years ago in a discussion with Nebraska’s gas balloonist, John Kugler, about the high wind landings frequently encountered by gas balloonists, John said, “You just have to land it, you just have to.”

Landing preparations, putting on a helmet, and stowing equipment took about 10 minutes. Speed: 17 mph at 200 ft AGL. The crew radioed that they were about a mile ahead of me on a tree-lined highway — between me and the brightly lit town of Siren, Wisconsin. They advised not to land too close to town in order to avoid power lines. And some good news, “The last flag we saw looked like about 7 mph.”

Depth perception is always difficult over a large flat surface and it is impossible in the dark with the intermittent burner disrupting the little night vision gained between blasts. I was surprised when the fuel tank crashed against something and pulled the top as I was thrown onto ice and drug for 50 feet across a wonderful one-mile wide lake. I hadn’t felt this lucky since I walked away from my one power line contact in 1979. Other than unsteady legs from reclining in the harness for 19 hours, all body parts were functional!

As a result of our 911 call to the sheriff requesting directions to access the lake, the Siren Volunteer Fire Department initiated a rescue drill at 4:30 AM on a cold and clear Sunday morning. After our crew had packed up and carried the equipment a quarter mile across Big Doctor Lake, about 15 firemen met us and ordered the pilot to lay down in a transport cart pulled by an ATV. After a quick medical check in their ambulance and signing a refusal for additional medical assistance, we posed for pictures, finished packing gear, and headed for the heated fire station. And — oh yah, we just set another world record!!

References:

1. “Adventure of the Heart 2007”, Ballooning, March/April 2007

2. “Murphy’s Law is Alive & Well”, Ballooning, May 1996

Launch Preparations: immediately following hot inflation

Launch Preparations: Crew Chief Matthew Grote equips Rich with Instrumentation Package

Launch Preparation: Ready for ascent from the Grand Forks, ND Country Club parking lot.

This will be part one of two, possibly three posts (depending how successful I am with the latest GPS Babel beta release and my eeePC). Part one will look at the Trackstick, the first data logger I tried, part two will look at the GlobalSat DG-100 which was the 2nd data logger i bought (the reason i needed a 2nd will become clear by the end of this post) and part three will chronicle how I got the DG-100 to work in linux on my eeePC - if it works. If I’m feeling really crazy I may even try it with Mac as I’ve found a couple of posts showing how to make it work, which means I may even get to a 4th post about my datalogger experiences.

The first question you probably have if you’re relatively new to the GPS world is probably, “What’s a GPS data logger?”. A GPS data logger is a passive GPS device and logs the position of the device at regular intervals to it’s onboard memory. After a “trip” you can plug the data logger (or memory card depending on the device) into your computer and retrieve your route, usually in multiple formats such as GPX or KML. Once you have the GPX or KML file of your trip you can many things with it, the one we’re most interested in of course is using it with Rimrocked.

On to the Trackstick…purchasing this device was easy, I simply went to their website, clicked the “add to cart” button, went through the checkout process and in 2-3 days I had my trackstick. The trackstick has a USB plug on one end and slides open to insert 2 AA batteries. There’s a single button on it that depending on how long you hold it does everything you need (in theory). It also comes with a CD that contains the software for interacting with the device on your computer (Windows only).

My first test of the trackstick was to simply place it on the dashboard of my car, hold the button until a light came on and drive to/from a wedding that my wife and I were going to that was about 45 minutes from our house. A few days later a friend of ours was going to Germany for work so I gave it to him to use, I also asked him to retrieve my tracks from the device as I was unable to get the software to work on my Dell PC or my Mac with Windows installed on it. Ian was a little frustrated with the use of the device as the single button/light setup is a bit of a pain to use and the usability is lacking because you never really know what it’s doing, although he had no trouble installing the software. His trip can be seen on rimrocked here.

Once Ian got back and I had the device again I tried installing the software a second time - no luck. About a month later Ian and I were going mountain biking and I figured it was a good opportunity to get an idea of the trails we frequent near our homes so I strapped the trackstick to my handlebars, turned it on and off we went.

We went for quite a ride, getting sort of lost but not really and about halfway through the ride I realized the trackstick was no longer on my handlebars. We doubled-back about a half kilometer or so with no luck - it was fall and the leaves had fallen quite a bit so it likely either fell into the leaves and buried itself in them or bounced off the trail under more leaves.

Overall, it the Trackstick was OK, wasn’t great as the single-button/light setup was cumbersome to use properly and of course never being able to get the software to work properly sure didn’t help. In my opinion it’s probably a little overpriced for what it is and how it works but it did it’s job well when it was working - although the software leaves a lot to be desired and is quite flaky (given my experience at least).

So, if you happen to mountain bike around the trails near Kanata Lakes/Morgan’s Grant in Kanata Ontario and you come across a little black tube it’s probably my trackstick - if it still works could you email me and I’ll setup an account on rimrocked for you to upload the points?

As far as integrating a GPS data logger with Rimrocked, it couldn’t be easier. Follow the instructions for your data logger to retrieve a KML file, log in to Rimrocked, under “Your trip > Add trip > From KML”, click the “browse” button and select the KML file that’s on your computer, press ok, fill in the rest of the trip details and presto-chango, you’ve got a trip added to Rimrocked using your KML file as the map points!