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I've just submitted to the iTunes App Store an app entitled 'UKCM' which was written specifically to automate and log all the calculations that we perform in the process of measuring a course. The programme’s algorithms are compliant with the standard measurement techniques using a ‘Jones’ counter.
The user can designate the length of the calibration course and configure various options as a definition for the course to be measured. Counter values are entered to calculate the calibration constants.
With this initial information race start, split and finish points are determined in both distance terms and counter readings. All data are dynamically recalculated as parameters change allowing instant results to be displayed. During the measurement run itself, counter values can be logged at each desired reference point with distance to the next pertinent points being presented. The complete list of logged reference points together with the automatically generated split points can be inspected and manipulated before being output to your favourite spreadsheet for further processing or presentation. 'Location aware' devices can store the approximate position of logged points which can be viewed on a map.
The app has been field-tested using iOS4.2, is compatible up to iOS5 and should run on an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad.
Feedback would be particularly welcome to improve the usability of the app and to iron out any wrinkles. I can certainly incorporate any corrections or good suggestions that are generated here.
I hope that it proves a useful and reliable time saver.
Links are below for the app and the instructions...
Dougie
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/ukcm/id511625914?mt=8
http://www.i-crabs.co.uk/i-crabs/UKCM.html
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The App is pretty inexpensive. The website that Dougie Roxburgh listed is selling the APP for £1.99 (roughly 3.19 USD.)

I have a spreadsheet that I have used in my Palm Pilot for several years, but I would be interested in trying out the UKCM App. Unfortunately, for me, I don't own an Apple iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. Maybe my kids will hand me down their Apple gadgets someday.

Here are a couple screenshots of the App.





Thank you. -- Justin
I'm a sucker for anything "there's an app for." Will look forward to testing it out.
An app I've found useful is "Elevation." Shows your current elevation in meters & feet. You have to remember to use it during your ride, though. It would be more useful if you could input locations by scroll and touch to get elevations remotely.
I have tried out Dougie's UKCM app using my son's iPad and found it worked well. I got the data out using my wife's mac and then transferred it to my PC. I am the only one in this family firmly wedded to non-Apple technology.

As Mark says, it will be handy if you have an iOS device to mount on your handle bars. My son is replacing his old iPhone with a new one in two weeks time and I am lined up to inherit the old one to install on my bike so I can use the app in the field.

Don't begrudge Dougie the odd $ or three. He has done great deal of work to make this app user friendly.
Dougie, this sounds like an awesome app. I think I might have especially appreciated it yesterday at about the 5th straight hour of measuring without a break, trying to pin down an elusive turn around on a non-symmetrical out-and-back course. My arithmetic skills can degrade when I get dehydrated But, I am an Android guy. Any plans to produce a version for the "Droid" users out here?
There are 2 (maybe more) spreadsheet apps available for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. One is Apple's Numbers another is Sheet^2 by Byte Squared Ltd. The first (Numbers) is Apple's version of Excel. The second (Sheet^2) is Excel and works just like Excel. I use Sheet^2 and it saves a ton of time and allows me to calculate on the spot.
Thanks for the comments - I wasn't anticipating the price tag to be so controversial though! Just as background, registered Apple iOS development costs $99/year and there's nearly 5 months of hard programming and testing involved so I thought it might perhaps be worth the price of a coffee...
The premise behind the app is that it can be taken on the road and used in place of your calculator to automate the standard maths. It's the portability for 'field use' that's the main design feature. At the end of the day the log can be imported into a spreadsheet for all other post-measurement purposes which is what I also do; it won't replace your favourite spreadsheet in this respect but could perhaps generate the input for it. (I paste the CSV file into my spreadsheet and have the spreadsheet refer to these pasted cells.)
If location services are being used then the GoogleEarth KML export will show the spot elevations (though for a more comprehensive profile it would be better to trace the route in 'paths' then use the 'show elevation profile' option). I've used it on 2 live measurements and on neither had call to press a calculator button or do a single calculation. There is however a calculator function that will translate counts directly into metres or yards as required. Once the calibration is logged every other calculation is quite dynamic.
In response to Jim's query, it is possible to flip between metric and imperial splits by toggling the metric/imperial split button although they will not be displayed simultaneously.
I might have to disappoint Lyman here because I'm not at all experienced in Android development: iOS uses Objective-C for iOS whereas I think Android is Java for Linux so there would be a lot of work to port it across.
When run on an iPad it will be in the expanded iPhone format - it will require a bit of tweaking of the layout to make it native to the iPad screen; at the moment a few of the buttons get misplaced after compiling for the native iPad resolution.
I'm hoping for some good suggestions and observations as feedback for the first update: It works for my measurement methodology but there will be many techniques I'm blissfully unaware of...
Jim, It's probably one area that does unfortunately require a bit of familiarity with the programme methodology.
Start and finish counts are either marked counts or calculated counts. Split counts are always calculated from the displayed start count. The start count can be logged(marked) or calculated backwards from the finish point.
Basically when you specify a new course with the 'reset course' option from page two you will get a default start-to-finish layout with the start counter set to 00000. When you then specify the finish-to-start configuration (by pressing the S icon and seeing the reverse arrow from F to S) the start value will remain at the default 00000 and the finish value will remain as calculated (defaulted from the 'nominal' course length) UNTIL the actual finish count is marked whereupon it has the real value to back-calculate the actual required start count. The amber tags on page two should turn green when all the required information is present. Also on the full list on page four, selecting the finish point should show the status of the finish count - if it shows 'unmarked' then it is a calculated count rather than an actual count and it's awaiting entry of the real count.
If you are logging points as you do the measurement (ie from page three) then when you come to log the start point at the start of the ride (using the add button top right of page three) you will be presented with the option to log it as the 'nominal start' point whereupon an estimated finish point will be calculated along with the split point values you can expect. These will be updated at the ride's end when you get to enter and mark the real finish point. Again amber icons reveal assumed information that requires a final real input to complete the calculation.
I should add that this assumes that you are riding in the start to finish direction - hopefully I'll get the reverse direction ride algorithms for a future update as at the moment it will not count upwards from finish to start should you be doing a backwards ride. The presentation will always be listed with the start at the bottom and the finish at the top regardless - this is just having a convention of 'points ahead' being 'up' and 'points behind' being 'down'.
But would be easy to change if there is a demand!
Hope this helps.
By the way, if all else fails and the logging process gets into a complete tangle just press 'reset measurement' from the page two option, select the configuration again and enter the required counts into page four. Logged points are not deleted in this process - that only happens with the big red 'delete reference points' option.
Thanks Dougie that clears things up.
I think it would definitely be helpful to have the splits read in the direction you will encounter them on the ride, whether that means reversing the presentation order on screen 3 or simply changing the arrows so the splits flowed top to bottom rather than bottom to top, as they do now. At the least, going to the finish rather than the start when switching to screen 3 would be an asset. As it works now, you have to scroll from the start through all the splits to get to the finish, which can be quite tiresome for a full or half marathon.
I would guess the majority of the rides I do are Finish to Start, so this would be quite helpful. Hope it's an easy fix.
I have a 3-mile race I'm directing on Saturday and I plan to ride the course using the app tomorrow to check it in the field.
Thanks once again for creating it, and the feedback.
Last edited by jimgerweck
I can see that there will definitely be a demand for finish-to-start riding so I'll get to work on reversible algorithms! At the moment the option only gives you a fixed finish with variable start but ridden in start-to-finish direction which may not suit everyone.
I'm not sure if it completely addresses your scrolling query but page four is always available for previewing all the split points. Start and/or finish points can be marked there too.
Thanks, that is definitely necessary. As it stands now, I'm not sure what the point of having a fixed finish is if you can't ride from the finish backward to the start.
For the ride over my 3-mile course tomorrow, I'll just pretend the finish is the start and ride to where the indicated finish is, but this will only work for even distance non-metric courses.

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