Who Knows Where You Are?

[Guest DWB]

As a side issue to the missing DH84 Dragon there are discussions around about being seen. It is true your PLB isn't going to work if you don't activate it. Not everyone has a transponder. Of course there is SPOT, GPS technology that you pay a fee for.

 

For my 2 cents worth I use this site www.greenalp.com It is free although you can make donation(s) to the creator.

 

I have used it religiously for nearly 2 years now when ever I go on a cross country flight of more than about 50 nm or if I need to go over some "tigerish" stuff. Your smartphone uses its GPS to log your location & this information is sent back to the website & is in real time. You can tell who you want to watch you from time to time on your flight but above all know that they can refer to the website for an instantaneous location for you including altitude, speed etc. Messages can also be sent back & forth from a PC to your phone & they are also instantaneous. So if you were unlucky enough to have an unannounced forced landing the record is on the website to the exact point of loss of phone coverage.

 

Just to show you how well it does work, you can see my track & details of my return flight from Monto last Monday here http://www.greenalp.com/RealtimeTracker/index.php?guestmode=1&viewuser=dexter.burkill&guestpassword=zephyr

 

This track holds around the last 400nm approx. of my flight & you can click on the track & see details along the way on intervals that I have preset. This will stay on "my" link until such time as I activate my tracking on my phone next time which may be months away even. The track will stay there until that happens.

 

My business partner watched my flight up whilst at work & used the GE satellite overlay as opposed to Google Maps & he was amazed that he could see me walk into the toilets even, at Inverell & Dalby.

 

I believe there are similar programs/Apps out there so maybe others may wish to post info of these.

 

 

[Guest Darren Masters]

Very very good and very valid point mate. Hope you are ok after all this news as I know you would have had some association with the aircraft/crew or atleast seen it while you were there. These things hit home really hard. I still am absolutely a firm believer and push for ADS-B. I live and breathe it however note that this technology (unless you are RPT) may not be so affordable. In saying that, it is getting better and ground tracking stations (including my own) are increasing dramatically. Looking for wreckage/crash sites might become a thing of the past soon enough...Shame I did not spend more time with you at AUSFLY. I'm sure the conversation could have been very interesting.

 

 

[Guest Michael Coates]

This wont work on iPhone?? only Android if i read right....... The BEST (but it costs) is SPIDERTRACKS, works anywhere in the world, real time and is great. Made in NZ sold to the world.

 

 

[bas]

A close second best to SpiderTracks is Spot - at a fraction of the cost. $200 buys you a unit and for $165/year you get service with updates at 10 minute intervals. (This goes up to every few seconds the moment you hit the distress button)

 

http://www.findmespot.net.au/

 

 

[Guest DWB]

Yes Michael, I should have mentioned Android only. Incidentally I was reading a story in the local newspaper this morning about the disaster Apple Maps are at the moment with iOS5. They showed pics of Muswellbrook showing up where Denman is 25 miles away & Singleton is indicated as being in the Wollemi National Park.

 

 

[bas]

I think Apple bit off a bit more than it can chew. Google maps was rolled out country by country over several years. Apple tried to do it world-wide on a single date? :confused:

 

Hopefully a Google Maps app will come out for iPhone soon and Apple will also get their problems solved!

 

 

[Guest Michael Coates]

Yes Michael, I should have mentioned Android only. Incidentally I was reading a story in the local newspaper this morning about the disaster Apple Maps are at the moment with iOS5. They showed pics of Muswellbrook showing up where Denman is 25 miles away & Singleton is indicated as being in the Wollemi National Park.

does this mean your farm is now worth millions of dollars ??? it must be if it is valued by Apple !

 

 

[Guest Michael Coates]

I think Apple bit off a bit more than it can chew. Google maps was rolled out country by country over several years. Apple tried to do it world-wide on a single date? :confused:Hopefully a Google Maps app will come out for iPhone soon and Apple will also get their problems solved!

Hello bas, you would know if anyone would know..... can you get a talking map on an Apple device just like a Garmin GPS in a car ?? on a recent trip to Melbourne I got lost because I didn't have a GPS telling me to turn left here and my phone with Google maps was close to useless because it only showed me where I was and not where I wanted to go. Made me think it would be much better if you could actually use it for proper navigation just like a 150 dollar GPS unit. Is this possible on an Apple iPhone or iPad ?

 

 

[Guest avi8tr]

Bas, had you been contemplating putting something into OZRunways were you can see where your mates are like a dot on the screen (using data of course) That could help - just like FindMyiPhone however it would keep a log... would only work when in a covererage area on a 3G iPad...

 

 

[PhillC]

Yes Michael, I should have mentioned Android only.

Yay! Something that's not iOS only.

 

 

[metalman]

That is really cool Dex, shame it's an android only thing,,,,what were they thinking!

 

I noticed you circle the area to gain alt , I'm guessing, you don't cruise climb?

 

Mat

 

 

[Guest DWB]

That is really cool Dex, shame it's an android only thing,,,,what were they thinking!I noticed you circle the area to gain alt , I'm guessing, you don't cruise climb?

Mat

Ummm where? I have never yet circled to climb anywhere. Certainly don't have to in a Zephyr!

 

 

[Guest Michael Coates]

I think he means you did a few laps around the house either after takeoff or before landing.....

 

 

[Guest DWB]

Wondered if that was what Mat meant. I did a go-around on landing. I had already warned Anne that it was on the cards. My irrigator had finished its run up to the edge of the strip whilst I was away & I had to squeeze between it & go over a fence & still get under the power line, didn't help had a 10kt SE quartering tail wind, so a practice run seemed the go.

 

 

[mnewbery]

. Is this possible on an Apple iPhone or iPad ?

Tom Tom sells an app. My wife refused to use it and instead bought a Navman. Horses for courses. In car navigators are optimised for that job only. Riding a motorcycle, I tend to scribble some notes down and tape them to the inside of my screen or stop and pull out the iPad

 

 

[metalman]

Yeh Dex, thought it might have been a climb thing , but the go around makes sense,,,,you still have that vid of you strip?

 

 

[Guest DWB]

this one....

 

 

 

[metalman]

Yeh cool

 

 

[Guest avi8tr]

I really do get a little concerned when I see that power line at the half way mark!

 

 

[djpacro]

Hello bas, you would know if anyone would know..... can you get a talking map on an Apple device just like a Garmin GPS in a car ?? on a recent trip to Melbourne I got lost because I didn't have a GPS telling me to turn left here and my phone with Google maps was close to useless because it only showed me where I was and not where I wanted to go. Made me think it would be much better if you could actually use it for proper navigation just like a 150 dollar GPS unit. Is this possible on an Apple iPhone or iPad ?

Garmin Navigator via Telstra. Free and nil data charges. Of course, you can give them some money and get more bells and whistles. http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/garmin-navigator-gps-from/id398304958?mt=8 My free installation works better than my basic model Garmin Nuvi.

[winsor68]

I just installed the GREENALP Adroid app and tried it out on the school run... WORKS BRILLIANTLY.

 

It is FREE, EASY (took less than 5 minutes to set up an account) and ACCURATE.

 

 

[bas]

Bas, had you been contemplating putting something into OZRunways were you can see where your mates are like a dot on the screen (using data of course) That could help - just like FindMyiPhone however it would keep a log... would only work when in a covererage area on a 3G iPad...

Contemplating, yes. You'll be one of the first to see it if and when we do get around to it! Not as simple as it sounds, doing it reliably over unreliable 3G connections...

 

 

[bas]

Hello bas, you would know if anyone would know..... can you get a talking map on an Apple device just like a Garmin GPS in a car ??

I think the Apple Maps App in iOS 6 does it, but that has other issues. The TomTom App is a pricey, but good option.

 

 

[Ignition]

Ive just found this for iPhone/Blackberry/Android/Motorola iDEN phones:

 

http://www.instamapper.com/highlights.html

 

http://www.instamapper.com/faq.html

 

It appears the app itself is all totally free but you pay data charges with your phone provider, so they recommend an unlimited data plan to avoid a high bill...