Hiking with the T68

DoctorWkt · 05-07-2015, 12:11 AM

One of the reasons I bought my T68 was to use it as my GPS tracker and map device when I am outdoors kayaking and bushwalking (hiking, tramping). I had hoped that the "Earl" with built-in GPS would become a reality, but it is not available yet.

The app that I used for GPS tracking is OruxMaps, which I've installed it on my T68. OruxMaps can connect to an external Bluetooth GPS device; I'm using my Android phone as the GPS. I enable GPS on the phone and run the BlueNMEA app so that it acts as a GPS server. I then pair the T68 with my phone and start OruxMaps.

Inside OruxMaps, I toggle "Start BT GPS" to connect to the GPS server on my phone. Then I can start tracking my bush walk or kayak trip.

I'm using the light theme on OruxMaps. I've downloaded my local vector maps using AndroMaps. I'm using the SimplyHike map style, but I've manually edited the XML file to darken some of the colours and to make the contour lines a lot thicker. I've set the update interval to 2 second, so that the screen doesn't refresh every second.

Below is an example screenshot of a recent bush walk. I hope others find this information useful. I'm sure the T68 would also be useful to the glider folk who use XCSoar.

bulek · 05-07-2015, 03:31 AM

Looks great! How does the battery usage looks like in this scenario? Would your phone die quicker with GPS+BT enable or T68 with BT enabled? Maybe that's not easy to answer but I just wonder how much feasible is this when doing 3-4 hours hiking.

DoctorWkt · 05-07-2015, 04:48 AM

The battery life on both devices did not seem to be worse than usual. Mind you, I only did a few hours of walking. It looks like the T68 would go for about 8 or more hours without running out of battery. Next time I go out for several hours, I'll log the battery percentage before and after.

Edit: I'm running Battery Monitor Widget and it keeps a log of battery percentages. On a 3h 45m kayak trip the battery dropped from 77% to 50%, which is 27%. If it scales linearly, this would be over 13 hours to lose 100% of the battery. Mind you, this was with 1 second GPS updates which cause the screen to refresh every second. I'll try 2 second updates next time.

Edit #2: We went kayaking for four hours today. This time I kept the T68 on the ADW launcher screen as much as possible so that there were few screen updates; I only checked the maps on OruxMaps as required. I saw a 6% battery drop per hour. WiFi was off, Bluetooth on, front light off, and the CPU was ondemand.

IluvToRead · 05-07-2015, 06:19 AM

I guess you must have one of those solar usb recharger packs.

In the wilds with your eInk device. If things get rough it could be a bear attack or moose trampling episode.

Imagine posting that your eInk device was broken in a caribou stampede.

I hope none of these things come to pass. Just being inventive.

DoctorWkt · 05-07-2015, 06:52 AM

Not many moose here in Australia, just kangaroos and wombats! I'll keep a watchful eye out for them. At least I can now read my maps.

05-07-2015, 12:11 AM	#1
DoctorWkt Connoisseur Posts: 54 Karma: 21028 Join Date: Apr 2015 Device: T68 Lynx, T68+	Hiking with the T68 One of the reasons I bought my T68 was to use it as my GPS tracker and map device when I am outdoors kayaking and bushwalking (hiking, tramping). I had hoped that the "Earl" with built-in GPS would become a reality, but it is not available yet. The app that I used for GPS tracking is OruxMaps, which I've installed it on my T68. OruxMaps can connect to an external Bluetooth GPS device; I'm using my Android phone as the GPS. I enable GPS on the phone and run the BlueNMEA app so that it acts as a GPS server. I then pair the T68 with my phone and start OruxMaps. Inside OruxMaps, I toggle "Start BT GPS" to connect to the GPS server on my phone. Then I can start tracking my bush walk or kayak trip. I'm using the light theme on OruxMaps. I've downloaded my local vector maps using AndroMaps. I'm using the SimplyHike map style, but I've manually edited the XML file to darken some of the colours and to make the contour lines a lot thicker. I've set the update interval to 2 second, so that the screen doesn't refresh every second. Below is an example screenshot of a recent bush walk. I hope others find this information useful. I'm sure the T68 would also be useful to the glider folk who use XCSoar. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by DoctorWkt; 05-07-2015 at 03:21 AM. Reason: improve readability

05-07-2015, 04:48 AM	#3
DoctorWkt Connoisseur Posts: 54 Karma: 21028 Join Date: Apr 2015 Device: T68 Lynx, T68+	The battery life on both devices did not seem to be worse than usual. Mind you, I only did a few hours of walking. It looks like the T68 would go for about 8 or more hours without running out of battery. Next time I go out for several hours, I'll log the battery percentage before and after. Edit: I'm running Battery Monitor Widget and it keeps a log of battery percentages. On a 3h 45m kayak trip the battery dropped from 77% to 50%, which is 27%. If it scales linearly, this would be over 13 hours to lose 100% of the battery. Mind you, this was with 1 second GPS updates which cause the screen to refresh every second. I'll try 2 second updates next time. Edit #2: We went kayaking for four hours today. This time I kept the T68 on the ADW launcher screen as much as possible so that there were few screen updates; I only checked the maps on OruxMaps as required. I saw a 6% battery drop per hour. WiFi was off, Bluetooth on, front light off, and the CPU was ondemand. Last edited by DoctorWkt; 05-10-2015 at 03:58 AM. Reason: more information

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05-07-2015, 03:31 AM	#2
bulek Enthusiast Posts: 46 Karma: 20251 Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Poland Device: Onyx Boox C67ML AG2	Looks great! How does the battery usage looks like in this scenario? Would your phone die quicker with GPS+BT enable or T68 with BT enabled? Maybe that's not easy to answer but I just wonder how much feasible is this when doing 3-4 hours hiking.

05-07-2015, 06:19 AM	#4
IluvToRead Enthusiast Posts: 48 Karma: 26274 Join Date: Mar 2013 Device: Onyx Boox m92 - Kindle 4	I guess you must have one of those solar usb recharger packs. In the wilds with your eInk device. If things get rough it could be a bear attack or moose trampling episode. Imagine posting that your eInk device was broken in a caribou stampede. I hope none of these things come to pass. Just being inventive.

05-07-2015, 06:52 AM	#5
DoctorWkt Connoisseur Posts: 54 Karma: 21028 Join Date: Apr 2015 Device: T68 Lynx, T68+	Not many moose here in Australia, just kangaroos and wombats! I'll keep a watchful eye out for them. At least I can now read my maps.

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