Rail journey GPS log

[asylumxl]

Yes it does.

Well there's why they keep a good fix then .

 

[stuartmoss]

Just ordered one off of Amazon, I got the slightly upgraded model that holds more points. Thanks so much for introducing me to this, can't wait to see the results.

 

[TGV]

One more question - can it pick up the GPS in the cabin of a 390? It does get a bit tiring standing up in the vestibules for 2½ hour runs...

I've not tried it but I'd eat my shoes if it didn't. The reason I'm confident is that my GPSport 245 locked on to a Satellite signal inside a class 444 while it was sitting in Waterloo station UNDERNEATH THE STATION ROOF!!!

So yeah, I'd say it'll pick up a signal pretty much on any train apart from on the tube

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Thanks TGV; my local Maplin has the 245 at £49.99 which I have reserved for a few days ( they tell me it's discontinued; they have two in stock and will not be replacing them once sold ) pending your answer to my question.

Methinks I'll definitely get it now you've said it should.

Should say, though, that I have locked onto GPS with the Garmin Foretrex 101 under the roof at Waterloo from inside a 455, but as I said I can't get any signal on any Desiros. So... the 245 is looking very good.



I don't suppose you've tried it out on the Voyager family yet?

 

[TGV]

Thanks TGV; my local Maplin has the 245 at £49.99 which I have reserved for a few days ( they tell me it's discontinued; they have two in stock and will not be replacing them once sold ) pending your answer to my question.

Methinks I'll definitely get it now you've said it should.

Should say, though, that I have locked onto GPS with the Garmin Foretrex 101 under the roof at Waterloo from inside a 455, but as I said I can't get any signal on any Desiros. So... the 245 is looking very good.



I don't suppose you've tried it out on the Voyager family yet?

I haven't but since you ask, I am taking a trip on one next tuesday - I will take it along and let you know. The only weakness of the 245 is that the software isn't as good as the I got u "@ trip PC" bundle. The latter lets you edit the trips more easily and even remove single logging points that have shown an error - sometimes if it logs a point just after going into a tunnel, the speed will be rubbish. For example on one trip the train was cruising at about 90mph and the thing logged a point just after entering a tunnel and the speed, according to the graph dropped from 90mph, to 34 mph then back to 90mph all in the space of 5 seconds. @ trip PC lets you edit that rogue point or delete it totally. You can export the .gpx file from the Holux 245 to @ trip (downloadable from internet) and edit that way.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Thanks; will await your report with interest ( by next Tuesday do you mean the 21st or the 28th? Just to be clear because I only asked Maplin to reserve it for a week until Friday 24th ).

I'm not bothered about the software stuff - I'm only planning on using it to watch the speed live on the display, not to download logs or anything.

 

[TGV]

Tues 21st. Yes, the real time speed display is good. If you get one - go online and get the firmware update - this adds average speed to the real time display which it doesn't do straight out of the box.

Highest speed I've logged on it was 123.6mph. Memory is huge - even logging every 1 second, it'll log for hours.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Thanks; if it gets a signal on the Voyager i'll definitely be parting with £49.99 later this week...

I'll probably still keep the Garmin as well and mainly use the 245 on the stock the Garmin won't work in ( the Garmin has the advantage of running off AAA batteries so on longer multi day trips the battery capacity is less of an issue ).

 

[TGV]

Peter - good and bad news. The Holux DID manage a fix on a Voyager. The bad news - it's the only train I've been on where it can't KEEP the fix. Drops out and in a lot. I managed a good few miles of data logging though - confirmed the 100mph limit where we were at the time and on upload it shows the route on the map, so that does work, but it blacked out for 2-3 miles every few minutes. Walking to the vestibule and holding up against the window there helped - it locked on and stayed there for as long as I could be bothered standing, but my first class seat was just too comfortable to continue that experiment.

So it's not exactly conclusive - nor was it a scientific test (I didn't try another voyager or another route), but of all the trains I've tried, they were the most problematic.

Whether you still want to part £50 for one or not is of course your choice, but before you do (or don't!), you might want to see the thing in action for real. I took a brief video of it logging through Didcot Parkway in an HST this afternoon...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDLme4eGE5A

 

[jimrbrobinson]

Hi TGV. Just one question - is it a bog-standard mini-USB cable for the Holux, or is it a special cable???

 

[TGV]

Thankfully they saw sense in using a bog standard one and nothing stupid like Sony or Apple would do! It's a mini USB on the GPS unit end and a regular one on the other.

 

[jimrbrobinson]

Cheers for that - I've ordered one off ebay (used) but there's no cable supplied with it. Got the software (£6 ish for ezTour) and manuals via the Holux website, but only just thought about the cable! d'oh!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

TGV - thanks; most Voyager trips I end up standing anyway unless I can get on board at the start point as soon as the thing opens for boarding!

Well, if it can get a fix in the Voyager cabins it certainly should in the 390 cabins as the Voyagers have more metal in their window film than anything else. And as I live in SWT territory ( meaning I get more than a few Desiro rides! ) I think I'm convinced enough...

 

[TGV]

Nice one - yeah, any old digital camera or similar cable will do the job. The ezTour software is hit an miss - it's grat at viewing the data, maps and interfacing with the unit (make sure you download the driver too - it's a separate file to ezTour on the Holux website) but it's useless at editing the data - the Mobile Action Technology I got U software "@ trip PC" is better, but their handset doesn't show instantaneous speed and doesn't log as much data.

Have fun with it - it's surprising how often you'll find yourself just checking how fast a train or car is going out of nothing more than curiosity.

 

[TGV]

TGV - thanks; most Voyager trips I end up standing anyway unless I can get on board at the start point as soon as the thing opens for boarding!

Well, if it can get a fix in the Voyager cabins it certainly should in the 390 cabins as the Voyagers have more metal in their window film than anything else. And as I live in SWT territory ( meaning I get more than a few Desiro rides! ) I think I'm convinced enough...

Yup - works fine in Desiro's - see attached from a 444...

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Charging it up for the first time right now!

Had a look through the settings and I can't work out how to change the speed display from km/h to MPH; is this detail going to buried within the computer disk that comes with it?

Or to save time, please - how do I set it for a live MPH display on the screen?