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16 replies

Electrical gadgets used in course measuring

M mikesandfordMember
Last weekend I suffered flat battery in the camera which I use to record reference points and tricky locations where barriers are needed. Of course I should have charged it up before venturing out for some ten hours of on course work. Of course a camera is a not essential one can resort to sketch drawing as we used to do 20 years ago, and this I did, and it will be supplemented by Google Street views which show many parts of most on road courses.

It is not the first time I have had a flat battery in one of the many electrical gadgets which I use, so perhaps it is not surprising that something gets overlooked occasional during preparations for measurments. Anyway, I wanted to put numbers to this so I listed the electrical equipment I used on site last weekend. The measurment calibration started at 4am so I was using battery my operated bike lights:
1. Front Light (LEDs runs off 2 AAA)
2. Rear Light 1 (LEDs runs off AAA)
3. Rear Light 2 (LEDs - AAA)
4. Counter illumination light (D)
5. Temperature gauge (button cell)
6. GPS (4 rechargeable AA)
7. Camera (special lithium cell)
8. Laser Ranger (AAAs I think it uses so little I have never replaced then yet) I always carry 50m steel tape, as a back up.
9. Hand wheel with electronic readout - (PP9) it runs down slowly even when not in use unless the battery is removed.
10. Calculator ( haven't replaced battery for some years)
11. Net Book (bought 5 years ago just before tablets progressed in capability - battery life now reduced to about 1 hour - but I rarely use it in the field - usually I do the calcs somewhere with power available)
12. Phone (My phone is 14 years old and its second lithium battery now has reduced capacity usually OK as I need only short calls to organiser- may be I should scrap it anyway and get a smart device of some kind)
13. Car Sat Nav about 5 years old -.Runs off of car accessory socket, battery does not last long now when taken out of car. Used nowadays to get to course - especially useful in cities and country lanes. Not used on Bike. But it would be nice to have a GPS with the course plotted out on really good maps displayed on my handle bars. At the moment I rely on lots of map sheets printed at large scale from my home computer.
14. Finally, here is the one I pay most attention to, always charging it up its 465 Watt hour capacity to be sure of it lasting through the most gruelling and prolonged measurement - the battery for electrically assisted bike's motor. Depending on the level of assist I select (ie how hilly the course is) I can get up to 80 miles range - more than enough for a day's measuring.

With 14 battery powered devices to worry about I suppose it is not surprising I often find one flat. I have briefly considered wiring everything except the bike to work off an auxiliary lithium battery mounted on the bike. But on the other hand the convenience (and relaibility) of no wires and connections, also being able to add devices as new things become available attracts me.

Are there other electrical devices that are recommended for measurers?
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D davidkatzMember
Michael
Impressive! You just might have me beat.
What's missing(unless I missed them)?:
1. helmet light/headband light. Never leave home without one.
2. batteries for handlebar mount gps
3. my wife bought me a winter jacket that has a battery for a small heater - never used it! We have some cold nights here on this side of the "pond"
4. 3 AAA batteries for cell phone/blackberry back up power device. This us a very handy device.
I sure I'm missing some more toys

And now for the us "older" measurers & getting older;

1. hearing aid battery
2. pacemaker battery
3. heart/lung machine
duanerussellduanerussellMeasurer
I need to buy more "Stuff"!

I have my phone (which is also my calculator, camera, voice recorder, and spreadsheet tool)(re-chargable); handlebar-mount GPS (two AA batteries); rechargable headlamp; cyclometer (button battery); "headlamp" around my neck, swinging, for more lighting; and electronic counter (to get me close to splits) (two ½AA batteries). I leave my hearing aids at home, so the sweat doesn't run into my ears and short them.

Don't use a tail light (I should get one), nor a light for my Jones counter. I use my headlight to see that, if needed.

I do like how electronics have made the process much more efficient. I will occasionally think about how you folks used to do it before electronics (I have had them since I started in '05). Much more work back then!
M mikesandfordMember
I dont sweat. I have an electrically assisted bike! Also riding it does not strain my heart and lungs so no need for that pacemaker David! I had some hills that were over 10% last week end and managed sitting in my standard position on the seat, whereas the accompanying fit younger race people were standing on the pedals of their bikes. I was not accused of cheating and my bike was described as a nice bike by one of them.

But seriously, I would like voice recorder and maybe a simple spreadsheet tool on the bike. So should i get an iPhone or something equivalent? It would also have GPS and could record video.

I would like to go some way towards a multiple view camera/video system enabled with GPS and the voice recorder. Integrated into as few units as possible so at home one could play a record of GPS tagged videos ahead (route) side (reference points) down (counter reading) - may be a helmet mounted camera would do the job but it would need zoom for the counter reading. With voice recording this could relegate my paper notebook and pencil to be a backup system. No more soggy note book pages as I had in the misty early morning on Sunday.

How much could I do if I got an iPhone to replace my 14 year old unsmart phone? I see there is a neat thing called HITCASE which can mount an iPhone to one's helmet, or elsewhere, and they produce an App called Vidometer https://www.hitcase.com/
duanerussellduanerussellMeasurer
Mike, I have an Android phone. I have a free VoiceRecorder app, with which I record my split locations. Just have to be aware if there is a lot of wind, as wind noise can drown-out my voice.

It has a camera, and a GPS, BUT... the GPS takes a while to lock-on to a good satellite-based coordinate. My photos normally have the GPS coordinate of a nearby cell tower, or maybe a bad attempt at a triangulated coordinate. Unless I wait for my phone-based GPS to lock-on (sometimes 3 minutes), I don't trust the coordinates in the photo metadata.

I also downloaded a $10 app that allows me to edit Excel spreadsheets. I use it for my measurement data sheet, as I can put my starting Jones Counts into the spreadsheet right at the beginning of my ride. But, I still write my target split counts onto a sheet of paper, as I don't want my phone to jump out of a bike-mount. Plus, the phone goes to sleep after 30 seconds. Yes, I can make it stay on all the time, but then the battery will likely die during a marathon measurement. So, I still use a clipboard with a paper for my split targets.

My point is, I have a camera, a spreadsheet, a calculator, and a voice recorder in my Android. It makes it much more convenient to measure.
AdminAdminMember
Like Duane I use my phone as a camera, a calculator, and a voice recorder. I have a spreadsheet app on there too, but I don't use it. I probably should.
I use a slightly different approach than Duane for mile mark descriptions. I have an iPhone with voice recognition, and I use that to record and send text messages to myself. I am able to see how it did the voice to text conversion to make sure it is understandable before I leave the mile mark.
M mattsonnebornMember
Jim Gerweck turned me on to the UKCM app and though still working out my familiarity with it very convenient App built for us measurers. Plug in cal course numbers and voila: pre/post constants with 1.001 factored in KM and Miles(warnings if your numbers aren't close enough). No calculations necessary-show up, plug in starting count and splits are calculated to your specs. (KM splits/mile, distance
Of route, start to finish or finish to start). Back up with something else while getting used using it. We are the ones who can give the developer feedback to make it even better. I
Haven't used all the features yet and need
A bit more familiarity with it feel completely comfortable with it.
M mikesandfordMember
I have been starting to learn my way around my wife's Samsung GT-N7000 phone. It is a very steep learning curve!

Its GPS seems pretty good and quick. I have got its photos geotagged. I found out how to transfer them to my linux pc. My first test photo was taken inside looking out through a window, so not the best location for good gps accuracy. On goggle satellite view the pointer was about 20 feet out which is impressive. A second picture taken at my computer - with really poor gps reception was 100 foot out. So I went outside in the rain, but with a clear sky view and took a photo. The geo tag was 15 feet out when plotted. So this seems to be a perfectly usable level of performance.

The Samsung has a voice recorder which works well although I have not tried it in windy conditions yet. However as far as I can see so far the recording is only tagged with date and serial number - no time or geotag which could sometimes be helpful. However the location information could of course be recorded by voice, and in most situations a voice recording of the counter numbers will also define the location.

Dougie's nice UKCM app is IOS only. I did try it out on my son's iPad and later on his old iPhone4. That was two years ago, and I did not persist to learn really well how to use it. It is an big decision to make: whether to go down the iPad route so I can use UKCM or just stay on Android and just get a spreadsheet. My measuring always seems to involve measuring lots of bits and pieces and then connecting them all together working on a spread sheet. What I remember of using UKCM it was more set up for a straight forward end to end measurement.
duanerussellduanerussellMeasurer
Mike, good luck with the Samsung! I have a Galaxy S, and it seems to be easy enough to work with. I have not had as good of results with the GPS geotag, though, so I ignore the coordinates in the photo metadata.

When you download the audio files to your computer, they are time-stamped. I normally listen to them after I download them, then re-name the file with the course name and split location.

I use the spreadsheet that I have available at my Website. I have standard distances, and the spreadsheet is automated, like the UKCM. Put in the cal course length, your click record, then the spreadsheet populates the desired split counts. Plug in the Starting Click Count, and all splits will be updated.

Once you get used to using the phone, it makes much of the work pretty simple.
B bobthurstonMember
Mike, thanks I guess for showing how far some of us are behind in the great battery race! I have fewer batteries in constant use but I still have trouble with keeping track of the needed replacements. Lots of AA and AAA, mostly for lights, so I try to carry some fresh replacements. But once I do replace batteries I usually put the old ones in my bag and then have trouble sorting out the good ones from the dead ones. There must be an app for that.

My calculator battery seems to last forever (although I may have just jinxed it).

I often feel that I need to insert fresh batteries in my brain, when it starts to short-circuit and produce stupid thoughts. But I do not know the battery type or size, so I try to stop for a coffee or an ice cream cone and that usually helps.
pastmemberpastmemberMember
Bob, I have measured with you and I, too, have experienced some of the brain drain you refer to. In my case, I unfortunately carry a reserve biological energy reserve. You have no reserve, and once you start measuring, you don't like to stop until all is done. Biking for 8+ hours with no recharge may be a source of your problem. The big difference between you and me is that I have to start swatting away the stupid thoughts hours earlier despite tapping into my reserve.

I found a good rechargeable bike light that is seriously bright in daylight. It has a USB compatible charge cable. I plug it into my computer when I am not biking. I recharge it in my car via a cigarette-lighter compatible inverter. Seems to be the way to go for me.

You are right about the ice cream though - best warm weather brain battery recharge extant, I believe.
M mikesandfordMember
Following the comments above, particularly from Duane and Mark, I have bought a 10 inch Samsung tablet: an SM-P600, which has a full set of features which I can use to replace my paper notebook and pencil. It has an S-pen, which is great for handwritten notes and sketches. Polaris office suite handles .xls files so that will replace my calculator. There is a voice recorder and a camera. I have just done a test of the camera with the tablet placed on the wooden desk top which I have installed on my handlebars, with the camera lens poking over the front viewing downward towards the counter. I captured a usable picture of the counter reading.
I will have buy some plywood and make a new desk top in order to mount the tablet in the perfect position.
Last edited by mikesandford

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