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/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> The Cafe >> Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1414682147 Message started by Oldfeller on 10/30/14 at 08:15:46 |
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Title: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Oldfeller on 10/30/14 at 08:15:46 My cell phone goes off contract this spring and it looks like nobody I want to go with next is going to allow me to transfer my old Verizon Galaxy S3 into their system as a BYOP (each carrier tweeks the guts of the phone to suit their individual systems and can't use somebody else's tweeked set ups). So, it goes on my handlebars as a GPS unit rather than being a $25 credit for trade in unit. Most of us are familiar with GPS navigation systems like a Garmin or a Tom Tom. Android systems are different and quite a few are for free now days. I have weeded out the free OFF-LINE "map in memory" based android nav systems to the top 4 contenders which are Waze, Navfree, HERE and Mapfactor Navigator. ======================================== Waze also relies on a periodic contact through cell towers, which puts it out of the running for mountain trips. Waze has just been bought by Google for one billion 600 million dollars. Must be some really neat stuff, right? And it is, if you are into social contact while you are driving, spotting speed traps automatically, seeing and avoiding traffic jams and wrecks before you get into them and having a SMART system automatically re-route you to avoid all that nasty bad stuff then Waze is what you want to use. After all, Google didn't just spend a billion six because it wasn't neat nifty neat and ground breaking stuff. If you live in a big city, Waze is super neat stuff for the urban dweller. Waze loses out in my evaluations because (1) it is too feature filled and gimmicky to appeal to me and (2) the maps lack currency and detail -- they do not show the paved section of Hwy 32 that is over two years old now. If I visited Washington DC or another major city I would use Waze to get around while I was there. Wazes takes over half a gig to download, but it will default to your main memory automatically if there is room. Waze will stay on my phone for big city trip uses. I also expect Google to come out with a future Waze release that uses a Google Maps basis which will be free, totally detail current, and be totally usable sometimes out in the future. However, I fear that Waze may lose their "stored maps" basis at that time and go to a "wireless Google contact" basis at that point in time. If this happens, Waze will become unusable as a mountain blackliner as you got no cell phone reception up where the air is thin. ======================================= Navfree is a freebee version of an old "buy me" program that uses Tom Tom maps --- the download for the USA maps are nearly 3 gigs in size and must go on the SD card that I hope your phone has. Navfree FAILS for being ANCIENT, bloated and ineffective. It is structured like a Tom Tom and that is good as it is familiar enough, but bad because the maps lack fine detail, use state road names instead of what is posted on the street signs and it does not even show the smaller mountain roads. Navfree is a total bust, and has no potential use unless I was driving interstates across the country. It has all the general low detail maps for the entire country, but it couldn't find MM's place because I don't know the state road name for his street (and it is too small of a road to show up anyway). Hwy 32 doesn't exist on Navfree. Frickn' useless to me. None of the android pinch and zoom and such works on this product at all -- ya got on-screen buttons to push to do the resizing though it will follow your finger around for the main view location. ======================================= Mapfactor Navigator http://navigatorfree.mapfactor.com/media/images/screenflow.png http://navigatorfree.mapfactor.com/en/ This is a commercial delivery truck/car payme product with a free version that tries to trap you into upgrading "in app" to get to some "advanced features" that you decide after the fact that you need. Heck, I don't need any of the advanced features, so they will never get any money from me for stuff I do not need. How long it continues to have the free front end, I do not know, there has been no mention of an ending time so far. Maps are downloaded by state, so it rests much smaller on your phone than the other products. Because it is a current pay me based product the maps are all current, fully detailed and use the posted correct street names. It not only shows Hwy 32, it shows the Waterplant Road and the little dirt roads that come off of these same "too small for Tom Tom" sorts of little blackline roads. This is the ONLY FREE PRODUCT that fills the bill for mountain black lining. Structure is good and simple and you can tell the thing was BUILT from the get to for an android phone as the pinch and zoom stuff is how it works naturally. You can download new maps for new states from within the program although it starts asking you for money after your 10th map download and I understand that map upgrades in a few years cost money too. You'll have a new phone by then, so just download it again for free. Or delete it and reload it if you have the same phone. My advice is that you download all the maps you are likely going to need when you install the app. It is the very best functionally out of the free lot, it meets all the needs for a motorcycle handlebar GPS as well as any product out there, free or not free. ======================================== So far, I have discovered Mapfactor Navigator for mountain black lining use and Waze for my wifey city trips. Both of them store all maps on the phone and require no cell phone connection. Both will likely still continue to work when my Verizon service ends in April. I feel that using the old phone on my bike's handlebars is now perfectly feasible, just as long as the phone can access the stored maps and apps and receive the GPS satellite signals with the phone's internal hardware. I look forward to Google/Waze becoming much more detailed and better over time, such that it can do the whole job by itself .... and I can always count on the Google/Waze product remaining totally free as it does it. This review was done in October, 2014 and it will be out of date and totally stale and useless by 2016. |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Dj12midnit on 10/30/14 at 18:07:24 That is the thing about waze, it requires users to update it. Once someone in your area is willing to go through and update it you will be golden. |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Oldfeller on 10/30/14 at 19:27:53 There isn't anybody "local" to our favorite sets of little bitty mountain ditties -- so Waze will never be "updated by users to" show those little ditties correctly. Google will fix her, get her off the Foss Open Maps architecture and plug all them neat Waze tricks into a totally current and good Google maps basis. Wonder how big she will sit on the SD then ..... ;) Hope she still stays a local map / local memory loaded program that just catches them instant updates for hazards and wrecks and stuff. |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by old_rider on 10/31/14 at 15:05:51 was going to ask how it connected with the gps if you no longer had cellular service. I thought most phones had to have the cell service to have a usable gps.... either that or Wi-Fi... I will experiment with my old HTC phone, it has an android base. |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Oldfeller on 10/31/14 at 18:58:28 "It is being said" that the Samsung Galaxy 3 phones will continue to operate using pre-installed "on phone" programs and locally stored maps, with the GPS hardware working off the relatively recent android 4.x system using the locally installed programs and maps. What happens when the plan ends has changed some with the recent legal requirements that an "off plan" phone still has to be able to ping anybody's tower and still has to be able to make a 911 call -- your Obama Administration at work for you there. Plus the Samsung Galaxy S3 has an in phone GPS reading capability based off its own hardware, it can still see the signals from the satellites. Android keeps most of its own capabilities now days, apart from the carrier's software additions. Plus if an old carrier wiped your "out of plan" phone you'd sue them now-a-days, especially since you can BYOP to a new carrier and hook it all up again and have your old set up running again on a new carrier. We shall see ---- in April, 2015. It is important to get your off-line capable, "maps stored in local memory" navigation app properly installed and working properly before you go off your plan though. |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Oldfeller on 11/03/14 at 09:43:26 http://www.a4c.com/product/asus-nexus-7-2012-8gb-android-tablet-w-wi-fi-black-refurbished.html?siteID=TnL5HPStwNw-PXy4p2X9OQYI.FsftrN4PA Asus Nexus 7 (2012) 8GB Android Tablet w/ Wi-Fi - Black (Refurbished) $79.95 http://cdn.a4c.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/360x360/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/a/s/asus-nexus-7-2012-8gb-android-tablet-w-wi-fi-black-main-view.jpg If you had followed along when we were plotting to do this trick with the Sero Pro tablet unit, a Tegra 3 Nexus look-alike, you will be pleased to know you can buy the real deal now for the same low $79 price point. Using the Nexus as the start point, you get a bigger screen and absolute assurance that it will work apart from any phone plan using the stored map apps mentioned above. |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Steve H on 11/03/14 at 15:56:59 OR, GPS is a separate radio receiver integrated into the phone. Most of the time these days, it is actually built into the phone chip as well but it's still a separate receiver in the same chip housing. The rub comes in with the maps and stuff like that. You have to make sure you pre-download over wi-fi or cell data whatever maps you will need or you'll get some sort of goofy message about out of area or no map data or something similar. GPS is tuned to get signals from the sattelite system encircling the planet to provide location information. You can be way out in the sticks where they have never even heard of a cell phone and the GPS will still work. When cell service is discontinued, it does nothing to your phone. Everything still works just as it always has, it's just that nobody on the cell tower will accept a call from your phone since its serial # doesn't have a valid account. It will still try to make the call. The towers just turn it down when they check for an account. This situation can tend to run your battery down very quickly since the phone will keep pinging towers trying to obtain service from somebody. There is an app on the play store called "Cell Radio Shutoff" that will turn off the cell radio and leave everything else fully functional. This will give you decent battery life while bluetooth and wifi are still working. |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by mpescatori on 11/04/14 at 01:07:23 IMHO, find an old copy of TomTom Navigator 5.0 or 6.0, and load "ornery" TomTom maps for the area you need. Works with my 10 year old Mio 701 GPS phone, but they stopped selling navigator for smartphones... :P http://https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR5bYwzF2tDxz4x9y9ZqBeHQdf7ggw-eKJnuIBPBK1TWFANj7ot www.tomtom.it will only sell its TomTom Navigator for iPhone, not for Android... |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by old_rider on 11/04/14 at 18:08:22 Well, the old HTC Eris won't even come online without a chip (destroyed the cell card so it could not be used) But the HTC Thunderbolt that I replaced it with still works, music, camera, 911, but the gps part is set up for google... so I will have to log onto the wireless and see what I can do to get it to work stand-alone. As it is now, without the Wi-Fi on it just sits and spins the little donut "wait" circle. It does have stand alone for gps and I can turn off blue tooth, Wi-Fi and turn on the gps, but the "navigation" blue arrow takes me to navigation, but the map itself will not show up, because it uses google to do it. Guess i'll have to find a stand alone program and down load it. |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Oldfeller on 11/04/14 at 18:50:35 Go to the first post and knock yourself out -- they all load locally, maps and all. |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by old_rider on 11/05/14 at 19:11:11 Looked around, thought I would try Osmand.... lets you download ten free maps..... so I did these: World base map (did it automatically could not stop it) Florida Alabama Georgia Kentucky Tennessee North Carolina Illinois Missouri I have one more, did not know if I should do Louisiana or Kansas (have relatives near KC) Still downloading while online Wi-Fi, soon as they are done I will see what happens.... From what I understand I can use the maps offline, but if I want full services I would have to pay.... going to read into it a bit more. I can always dump it.... :) :) :) |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Oldfeller on 11/10/14 at 07:56:02 Now let's talk about some of the odd things about the free android "off-line" navigation services. Right now Navigator and Waze both use locally stored (phone SD card) data from Open Maps for their functionality. Open Maps has a quirk to it, it has no actual street addresses pinned to the streets in most areas (since unless somebody contributes that pinned address data it simply does not exist in the Open Maps system database). So, you need to know the intersection nearest to the place you are going if you aren't in a well mapped city. Google maps can give you the intersect data that you need to plot from and to, so this makes Google maps the go to tool for your endpoint intersections. ============================ I'm beginning to get past all the cute in Waze now, and I can see some benefits to having the nearest cheapest gas pop up as you go along, along with cops, wrecks and speed traps. I can put up with some visual trash to get the goodies, I guess. ============================ Free Navfree Navigator is showing me that they really do want you to buy the real version, as you can use it OK but it limits itself and tells you the good stuff is available if you want to pay to download the REAL maps. Navfree still has more complete free maps compared to Waze though. Google is beginning to integrate into Waze now, you can talk in your destinations now so it is getting better & better as a hands free sort of thing. KNOW THE INTERSECTION OF ROADS THAT IS NEAREST TO YOUR DESTINATION -- OPEN MAP PRODUCTS WILL DIRECT YOU BY INTERSECTION IF THE ADDRESSES HAVEN'T BEEN PINNED TO THE ROADS IN THEIR DATABASE YET. |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Oldfeller on 12/19/14 at 10:12:43 https://www.here.com/app/en/?L=1 We have a brand new entry into the stored map GPS crew that looks to possibly be usable. HERE from Nokia (from the stub of Nokia that was not bought out by MS). The totally free HERE beta is very very nice and the maps are relatively small and will store local on your phone itself. How long it all stays free, I dunno, but they aren't pressing for any in app purchases at this point in time. Interface is totally modern Android and it is very very simple and well thought out. >:( NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: HERE doesn't work out because it wants a constant cell or wifi signal. |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Oldfeller on 12/19/14 at 16:17:23 There is a quirk with HERE and Waze that does not apply to the Navfree off line stored map navigator. When you start your trip with HERE or Waze it will require a wifi signal or a cell signal so it can initialize the map. Once you get cranked up, you can continue on with Waze with no cell or wifi signal until you change destinations, but it seems HERE wants an ongoing signal so it can keep up with itself on-line. HERE thus becomes useless on a mountain motorcycle trip for this reason -- unless it outgrows the constant contact issue it is toast. Mapfactor Navigator requires nothing but their stored maps and a set of 6 nav satellite beacons, so unless HERE and Waze gets past this little quirk of theirs they become UN-motorcycle recommended at this time. Mapfactor Navigator, clunky as it, is runs without wifi or a cell signal once you get it installed correctly on your phone. You will still need wifi or cell to download new maps, but if you got the entire USA map set when you downloaded and if you store your old cell phone charged and in your wifi equipped house it will keep the maps current and be ready to drop in on to your handlebars when you need it. |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by ToesNose on 12/20/14 at 05:20:36 Food for thought OldFeller used Galaxy S3's for Verizon are selling on EBAY for between $100 and $150, you may benefit from selling it and getting yourself a used GPS unit that you can update and have live GPS feed from. Walmart, Gazelle and most local walk in cell phone places will offer you between $25 and $50 because they have to resell it with a warranty. |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Oldfeller on 12/20/14 at 06:21:33 Toes, it is a toy. Logic says the trick should work, therefore I am simply finding out which of the softwares will support the trick on an out of service cell phone. Having found at least one, the testing goes forward when the service ends. My daughter and son-in-law have a car with no built in GPS, and I am buying him a dash bracket for his old Galaxy S3 cell phone. Heck, my proposed new cell phone is going to be a water-proof moto G and there is nothing (other than fear of damage) keeping it from going on the handle bars if it needs to. Buying a new cell phone is fun, ALL of them are plenty powerful enough now-a-days and the trick becomes finding the cell service provider that offers the least cost best Bang for the Buck. Sprint is lowest cost but it is out of the running because of relatively poor cell coverage, T-Mobile has their head on straight on pricing and has decent coverage. All the rest are still mulling over the upcoming necessity to cut their pricing in half and just simply haven't done it yet. They won't do it until it becomes obvious they simply HAVE to. Take a look at T-Mobile -- they say they are a non-contract UN-carrier and they mean it. Of all the main carriers, they are best price/best coverage/least restrictions for a full bore 4G system. Republic Wireless is the one who started all this stuff going and they are still the lowest cost decent cell phone out there, selling you a first generation Moto G for $150 outright and having plans with full data, calls and text for $5-10 dollars a month -- providing you have good wifi coverage at work and at home to base it off of. With Republic, if you need to add full cell tower based coverage for data sipping (vacation time only for me) you just punch in a change in your plan for the week you are on vacation -- you can do this up to twice a month right on your phone). I like Republic and would go with them personally, but I have family who wants to go family plan to save everybody a bunch of coins. :) |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by old_rider on 12/20/14 at 08:15:31 I haven't played much with the Osmand yet, but it has street info and seems to work without Wi-Fi or cell signal (older android phone not connected to service), it takes awhile (3 or 4 minutes) for the satellite gps to get its signals and most times picks up at least 7 of them. Only downfall is the first original limited states you can download without paying a fee, but since these are the states I most travel I will be using the phone as my camera and song device as its main function and its backup to my garmin should the battery die, I still can use my cell phone, but want it for communication only, so I don't use up the battery. So to not get lost, I suppose I could always carry my compass and a miniature booklet of the map of the united states, if all battery power goes to pot. I just like to get all the usefulness out of everything I have purchased.... And about trade in or selling some of the old cell phones.... I tend to have them for over four years...they ain't worth trading in after 2 years. |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by ToesNose on 12/21/14 at 08:58:31 Gotchya the non-service GPS is more of a 'can I' then a 'need to' ;) I'm a cell phone tech and I have Boost Mobile $40/month and I have no issues with their service, actually I love it! If you're looking for everywhere worry free my Wifey travels for work quite a bit and has had Verizon for the coverage, have you checked out their new Edge program? She went from $180/month down to $89/month +taxes and such still under $100. |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Steve H on 12/21/14 at 11:34:53 My phone's GPS hasn't worked since it was about 8 months old. I'll just have to either get a new phone or a GPS or a tablet with a GPS if I want to do this. |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Oldfeller on 12/21/14 at 11:37:13 Blow your mind time ..... using a wifi capable phone with no network card the various phone geeks have tweeked Google Voice, Google Dialer and Hangouts to allow the off-plan card-less phone to make and get totally free wifi only phone calls and texts. Internet access for this is through an app based browser. Nothing works unless you have pretty good wifi at the location of course and are willing to go through some hoops to do it. Trick also works with modern Android tablets with a microphone and speaker ..... Trick also works with Tapatalk ($7) and Skype (?)-- and it also works on mike/speaker equipped Android tablets too. Obviously the major carriers hate that the idea even exists and are trying hard to make it go away. The hackers are building an app to "do it all" integrated to the app, but you'd have to get the app off a torrent and sideload it as Google jest refuses to stick their finger in that light socket and they do still continue to refuse to touch their tongue to the school flag pole on any very very cold days. (not being totally stupid you know) Republic Wireless will let you do it though with full built in messaging and voicemail backup, for only $5 a month, which is cheaper than Tapatalk or Skype will let you use one of their numbers. Republic will even let you bring your own old phone number over for $40-$50 fee. Yep, full voice & voicemail, text, and unlimited data (wifi only on all of these) for $5 a month -- legally. But only on their phones ..... which they sell at cost, BTW. 8-) .... and as this change wave rolls along look to see even more options to go wireless on your phone. I am telling family members it is actually better than having a land-line phone and a message machine, which some of them still deal with. As you program in the wifi addys for all the places you go with the fixed passwords these places tend to use, then you have more and more instant service locations when making a call or getting a voicemail message. S179 for a Moto G and swapping between $5-$10 a month for the plan, yeah I can deal with that. How much do you spend a month for your cell phone? |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by savskad on 12/22/14 at 15:39:22 On a slightly similar note, I'm NO WHERE NEAR where I would like to be to do this. But I'm wanting to learn Java programming so I can build an android app. My ultimate goal is to make a sort of "All-in-one" motorcycle ride app. To have a GPS Tracker/Ride Logger function (where you can track your ride then upload it to a database for other bikers to check out), Trip Planner (where you could map out a ride before you leave so you know all your stops etc.), Photo Gallery (where you could take pictures along the ride and upload them for people to view, and it would automatically tag the location so others can see where it was taken in case they wanna check it out themselves), Food & Gas suggestions (in case you're unfamiliar with the area). Y'all just gave me another idea of what to add in, offline-GPS navigation. I will probably create a thread dedicated to this later on when I get closer to working on it. What do y'all think? Does all this sound practical or useful? Thanks. |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Dave on 12/23/14 at 05:49:53 60726560787277130 wrote:
I uploaded one of these to my I-phone - and it called Eat,Sleep,Ride. It works OK...but is nothing stellar, and it does not provide navigation. You turn it on when you start your ride and it will show you where you are - but it does not function for navigation. Once your ride is over it shows you the time you have been riding, time you have been sitting, average and maximum speeds, maximum lean angles (calculated from speed and curve data as it shows a lean angle even when I am driving my car), and it shows the route and you can link photos to it and share it with others. I have not been able to find a way that you can use the routes posted by others for navigation to follow the same route. One feature it has that is nice if you pay the money to subscribe....is an accident alert in the case of a crash. It senses the conditions that occur when you crash, and asks you to respond to the I-phone and push a button....if you don't then it notifies someone that you have crashed and can give the location. It may have some really good features....that I am not technically able to access. I tend to be more of a mechanic minded guy that directs my attention to how the bike is running and I focus more on enjoying the ride...I don't tend to focus much on the technology available for recording or recovering the ride information. http://app.eatsleepride.com/ https://eatsleepride.com/ |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Oldfeller on 12/23/14 at 06:07:11 As Wifi first phones proliferate (Republic, T-mobile, Sprint now have them) and the new Android buffer first system matures then the app programmers will start to think in terms of "Wifi connect, then store it in the buffer" in some of these sorts of programs. Right now the HERE and the WAZE programmers assume more or less constant contact with the phone, which up in the mountains is a total fantasy as we have ridden for half a day before getting to a gas station in an area that even had a cell signal. The older stuff (Navfree and Tom Tom) assume no constant connection at all and those are the sorts of software we will likely need to do the trick up in the mountains. |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Dave on 12/23/14 at 07:28:23 Oldfellor: When MM and I were riding around the Blue Ridge area on the July ride, we relied on his Garmin and it always had a signal (that doesn't mean we never got lost!). I would occasionally try the GPS and navigation on my phone - but as you stated the service was very spotty and 80% of the time I had no signal......and as a result no GPS navigation! |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Oldfeller on 12/23/14 at 09:27:05 Dave, I may be wrong (and I always reserve the right to be wrong, occasionally) but I think Garmins don't use cell signals to update their maps or calculate a route, but instead get the satellite GPS signals directly to their GPS sensors and just refer to local stored maps. By "getting a signal" you may be referring to the GPS satellites, of which there are 18 overhead at any time and you can generally get line of sight to at least 4 GPS satellites which is what is required to calculate a location update on your device. The Android phone stuff I have found most likely to work well do it the exact same way, no cell required -- GPS signals only. (Navfree Navigator is the best/most likely so far). |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Dave on 12/23/14 at 09:54:44 Oldfellor: You may be right......if I didn't have a cell signal I didn't even try the GPS navigation function. When I saw I was in an area without any cell service....I just shut my phone off to save the battery as I didn't have a cell phone charger on my bike yet. The Navigation function really sucks the battery power down fast. |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Art Webb on 12/23/14 at 19:13:02 04272F2D2E27272E394B0 wrote:
You are correct, Garmin does not use cell signals, it's direct sattelite contact when you power the unit up, it displays the message 'searching for satellites' or something to that effect hence the lack o monthly payments :) |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Oldfeller on 05/22/15 at 09:19:56 In prep for the Dragon Run I have begun installation and testing of the out-of-service Galaxy S3 as a navigation tool. Items seen so far: Must have a constant charger connection -- the battery gets sucked down way too fast because your are CONSTANTLY searching for the GPS satellites and you are running the screen at FULL BRIGHTNESS so as to be able to see it at all in the sunshine. I also set my Galaxy S3 to use maximum processor speed to try to get it to update more quickly. Battery wouldn't last very long without constant recharging off the bike's electrical output. Next, Navigator was/is a cumbersome old program intended for truckers, and the maps (although just downloaded today) do not show some current road changes. When carried inside the house and hitting on my router wifi network the phone will seek out updates on the Navigator software automatically. However, the way you get routed around by the program is the way a truck would get routed -- it is a commercial or truck style program after all. Why use Navigator? First, it has a free version that is really free. Second, it will search out satellites and then navigate you off the satellite data against maps that stored inside the phone -- no connection is needed to anything. I am storing the state maps for the entire USA on a 16 gig SD drive, so it can carry what you need no matter where you go. Compared to trying to read a map while rolling down the road, it is much much better. Compared to what you have in your car now-a-days -- it sucks. I now have to rig up a powered USB connection on my bike .... |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Art Webb on 05/22/15 at 12:33:15 My old LG used a nav program that didn't burn the battery down so fast, but my S3 will drain it in 2-3 hours using Google Maps my truck doesn't have a working power port, need to look into a workaround |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by verslagen1 on 05/22/15 at 13:17:31 What kills the battery is the light, turn that off and it'll last much longer. |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Art Webb on 05/22/15 at 22:13:02 22 hours? Lol |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Oldfeller on 05/23/15 at 09:22:45 Next ISSUES You must supply the phone with plug in power ongoing as you are running the screen full bright, have all the power savings features and all the time outs turned off and you are reading GPS satellites continuously -- all of this is much more than the battery can support. Without constant input power you aren't going to go very far. ISSUE becomes the sorry little plug socket in the bottom of the phone not being able to stay connected properly due to all the vibration and wind whipping on the cable, etc. What happens is you get it plugged up and everything seems good, but go down the road a bit and suddenly the screen goes dead because the plug vibrated a bit so one of the little pins isn't making contact like is should and the battery got sucked dry. I need to think on this a bit because this one may be a "can't get over it" issue. If the USB jack itself isn't going to take the vibration, etc then this whole idea is a no-show. :( ======================================= NEW knowledge -- electronics style glass barrel fuses (inside the cable that connects the USB mount to the battery) cannot stand vibration under load all that well, the warmed up solder strip style conductor fractures due to the vibration. Go to the auto parts store and get a "GERMAN style" ceramic body with copper folded over the ends style fuse --- these puppies are vibration proof. Your bike is fused for 20 amps, so if you are soldering into your regular system at some point your USB should be fused at no more than 16 amps so that one is the one that blows first. Me, I went directly to the battery as I got me a combo jack with a USB and a cigarette lighter socket (run an emergency air pump if needed) so I fused big enough to support the air pump running through the cigarette lighter jack. 25 amps -- a bit bigger than the electrical system on the Savage uses. But since I don't touch the rest of the system and place no loads on the rest of the system other than directly to the battery, so my 25 amps is appropriate for the cigarette lighter jack and some of the things you might plug into it. A brand new USB cable has much better "click into place and stay there" retention action than the first USB cable I was using, so with this trick a spare fresh cable in the saddle bag may be what it takes to keep the trick working when you are out in the mountains. :) This evening we ride to see what we shall see ..... will she or won't she? |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Oldfeller on 05/23/15 at 15:18:31 Ok, right now the Galaxy S3 on the handlebars works about as good as an old style TomTom used to work -- except it is a lot quicker on the locational refresh and the route recalculations. Trying to get it lost doesn't work, it can figure out a new route before you get to the next intersection. It works off the stored maps on the SD card and the satellites up in the sky -- it does not need or want anything else. I plugged in some head buds and I could hear the turn by turn instructions around town, but the wind noise at speed drowns out the "mild woman voice" that was used. I suspect the ear buds will work better inside my full face helmet as the wind noise will be much less that way. Charging was working well now, I arrived back home with more charge than I started with, so that is working good enough now. You do have to remember to unhook it electrically at night or it will eventually suck the bike's battery down. (I am running a direct connection to the battery instead of a switched connection because of the high amp draw cigarette lighter socket that I have beside the USB connection) Brightness/screen visibility was faint but useable ~90%~ of the time in full daylight, but if the sun was glaring off the screen you got to see nothing but the glare --- but that is true with any of these GPS units that I have seen the guys using. For those glare times you just have to rely on the verbal instructions or else shield the thing with your left hand for a second. The way it routed me was strange, a big preference for larger more truck friendly roads was being shown by the device -- when I got home I fiddled until I found the route preference settings and they were set to ignore all minor roads and went instead with the largest roads available. Now they prefer a minor road over a main road and instead of most economical it is set for shortest path with a preference for smaller roads. This will need fiddling, I am sure. But right now it will go places no sane person would go to get from A to B, which actually works out good up in the mountains as we love best them awkward unimproved logging tracks that just happened to get paved recently. I think we will find more interesting stuff that way. ;) |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Art Webb on 05/24/15 at 08:41:57 I know my Garmin found very interesting routes that way *turn left at dead cow #3* ;D |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Oldfeller on 06/16/15 at 00:37:13 POST MOUNTAIN TRIP REVIEW Well, we learned some stuff. First, the mountains are hell on GPS in general -- you must have 4 satellites up over you (line of sight visible to you all the time) to plot a location. This is hard to get in the valleys since the mountains cut off some of your line of sight to the required 4 satellites. This means GPS based navigation is hit or miss up in the mountains. GPS speedos are hit and miss up in the mountains. GPS based everything is hit or miss up in the mountains. What is desireable is a system that holds your last known position until it can get a GPS satellite position update without pounding you with notifications about "no satellite connection" all the time. What is also desirable is a system that updates the road info due to construction bypasses, bridge work, etc. --------------------------------------------------------------------- End result of all testing is that your best handlebar GPS is your current active cell phone and Google Maps. Google Maps stays current for road work and detours. It keeps up with new bypasses and road closures. Google maps also now allows you to save a map section off line if you need to, but I did not actually have to use that feature on this trip at all. It is sad, but Google Maps on my active cell phone even outperformed my in-car GPS system as far as keeping up with road closures and bridge work, etc. etc. The out of service Galaxy S3 using the old style off-line GPS software simply isn't competitive any more in just about any category. Crank your current cell phone up by talking to Google, plug in some ear buds (routed under your helmet) then put the phone in your handle bar holder (plugged up to USB power to keep the battery charged) so you can see it --- you may get dead zones and some recalc notifications as you go along but the current cell phones will also drop into 3G tower triangulation mode automatically to supply a rough location if they can't get the needed GPS satellite fixes. Tech notes: cell phones will sometimes not get anything for a location signal (neither GPS satellite nor cell towers) and will go into pause mode and then ask you to touch the screen to "resume" the route. They will also sometimes take road bumps as "shake instructions" so you need to turn that shake stuff off when you are on your bike trips. Current real time road info, recent re-routings due to bridge work and roadwork, much greater ease of use say your current phone is your best handlebar GPS unit. Plus, talking to Google is a dirt easy way to set up a pathway from A to B compared to the older GPS services. Google Maps and your current cell phone is the winner overall. |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Oldfeller on 06/27/15 at 04:26:40 Ok, proof of concept time. Got my new moto G handle bar cell phone holder, figured out how to tie my cell phone case to the mirror with some 60# break strength heavy tire cording in event that the whole thing decides to break off and jump ship on me (yup, I got two 5,000 ft cones of super duper kite string that I inherited from my time at Kelly Springfield tire company) and I got my new volume controlled ear buds all situated so I can hear what Google's girl voice has to say as I roll along. Time to see if the new rig does what I expect it to do. "OK Google, navigate to Bass Pro Shops, Cary NC." :o ...... more Reloader 19, I need more Reloader 19 ..... |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Oldfeller on 06/27/15 at 06:20:26 First thing you learned is you have to turn off auto rotate. I used to refer to it as "shake" on the other phone, but on the Android phone it is called auto rotate. Turn it off or you will be driven crazy by road vibration vibration flipping your screen around. Next thing you learn is that you lose your voice navigation every time you lose your cell signal, but you do not lose the navigation. Navigation sticks around until you run completely out of the map segment that you downloaded (which takes a while). When you notice that you got bars again you can restart the navigation and everything self heals. If not, then cancel the navigation and close the app and restart the app and everything will start fresh. |
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Title: Re: Free Android Phone GPS based Navigation Post by Art Webb on 06/27/15 at 10:51:39 I learned the 'shake' lesson myself the other day I need a handlebar mount though, mine was in a clear plastic map pocket in my tank bag (gotta look down to see it) |
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