RobertP
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- Robert
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Intro
OK I admit I like gadgets and I've now added another to my collection.
This one is a Gosget GPS Data Logger that I bought from a Taiwan ebay seller. As the offer in Australian dollars was a couple of pounds cheaper I used that buy-it-now instead of the UK one - but they still delivered quickly. If the item expires from ebay I guess you could search for Gosget and find it again. Cost me about £35/36
The reason for this purchase was my bad memory for small towns etc. where I have visited and taken photographs. Processing the RAW files a week or so later the locations become increasingly difficult to name. Step in geotagging.
The exif data in a jpeg file (not raw file) has fields where the GPS coordinates can be entered and many programs are available that can read them and locate the picture using this data.
In order to get the coordinates the GPS position at the time of the picture needs recording. This is where a GPS data logger comes in.
You can get more sophisticated devices to do the job but this seemed a simple and compact solution - and so far it has proved to be a good one.
So a few days after clicking the mouse on ebay the device arrives from Taiwan. It was over the £18 VAT limit but Parcel Force just handed it to me and did not ask for any money.
This was what was in the jiffy bag (AA battery just for scale) -
Canon BP511 for scale
And of course without reading any of the info I inserted 2 x AAA batteries and switched it on. The LED flashed green for 20 seconds or so then stayed lit.
I did then read the info but it was all a bit minimalist and didn't really help much.... but at least it appeared to work.
Software supplied
First program to install is the utility for getting data out of the device and on to the computer. A driver is installed to create a virtual COM port and a program to do the actual transfer etc. A USB cable is suppplied but as it uses the same standard small connector as most other devices I just used a cable I had to hand.
Once the program is installed and run this is what you see (assuming you have turned the device on - The program runs but communication fails if you don't turn it on) -
Clicking connect then shows a success dialog if you guessed right and chose the correct COM port -
Device status lets you choose how often the position is recorded and a couple of options as to what data is recorded. I chose the second option but I don't think altitude has been recorded into my pictures exif. You can also see here how much of the built in memory has been used. After 3 days of use (20 hours?) it now shows slightly more used than in the picture below maybe 1/10th full.
There were only 2 log files when I did these captures and they only had a journey from the window to the desk recorded. You click on the files to select them then hit the middle button to do the transfer to PC
The last tab needs sorting out first - this is where you set a default folder on the computer for file download. You can also put in the path to the exif writing program they supply (details next) in case you'd like to launch it using the 'Photo Match tool' button in the screen grab above.
OK I admit I like gadgets and I've now added another to my collection.
This one is a Gosget GPS Data Logger that I bought from a Taiwan ebay seller. As the offer in Australian dollars was a couple of pounds cheaper I used that buy-it-now instead of the UK one - but they still delivered quickly. If the item expires from ebay I guess you could search for Gosget and find it again. Cost me about £35/36
The reason for this purchase was my bad memory for small towns etc. where I have visited and taken photographs. Processing the RAW files a week or so later the locations become increasingly difficult to name. Step in geotagging.
The exif data in a jpeg file (not raw file) has fields where the GPS coordinates can be entered and many programs are available that can read them and locate the picture using this data.
In order to get the coordinates the GPS position at the time of the picture needs recording. This is where a GPS data logger comes in.
You can get more sophisticated devices to do the job but this seemed a simple and compact solution - and so far it has proved to be a good one.
So a few days after clicking the mouse on ebay the device arrives from Taiwan. It was over the £18 VAT limit but Parcel Force just handed it to me and did not ask for any money.
This was what was in the jiffy bag (AA battery just for scale) -
Canon BP511 for scale
And of course without reading any of the info I inserted 2 x AAA batteries and switched it on. The LED flashed green for 20 seconds or so then stayed lit.
I did then read the info but it was all a bit minimalist and didn't really help much.... but at least it appeared to work.
Software supplied
First program to install is the utility for getting data out of the device and on to the computer. A driver is installed to create a virtual COM port and a program to do the actual transfer etc. A USB cable is suppplied but as it uses the same standard small connector as most other devices I just used a cable I had to hand.
Once the program is installed and run this is what you see (assuming you have turned the device on - The program runs but communication fails if you don't turn it on) -
Clicking connect then shows a success dialog if you guessed right and chose the correct COM port -
Device status lets you choose how often the position is recorded and a couple of options as to what data is recorded. I chose the second option but I don't think altitude has been recorded into my pictures exif. You can also see here how much of the built in memory has been used. After 3 days of use (20 hours?) it now shows slightly more used than in the picture below maybe 1/10th full.
There were only 2 log files when I did these captures and they only had a journey from the window to the desk recorded. You click on the files to select them then hit the middle button to do the transfer to PC
The last tab needs sorting out first - this is where you set a default folder on the computer for file download. You can also put in the path to the exif writing program they supply (details next) in case you'd like to launch it using the 'Photo Match tool' button in the screen grab above.