Live tracking of my location?

[chieflorenzo]

Hi, I'm among a group of 35 people doing a 28 mile sponsored walk, and I want to find a live tracking app that updates my location and plots our route on a map that web users can see.

 

I have the iPhone4, and I have tried an app called 'GPS Tracker', that uploads to www.instamapper.com, this seems to work ok, but it relies on the app being actually open in the foreground, but it won't seem to support multitasking.

 

I realise that battery life is an issue, and there are waypoints where I will be able to charge my phone a small amount.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions for this? Am I better using some sort of social networking location tagging?

[frozenflyboy]

There are devices that track you and send a signal to a satellite that you can have sent via email etc to whomever. You buy the device and pay a subscription fee. They sell them to hikers truckers and people who want to know where their kids are going with the car. The devices are small.

 

The name of the company that makes them escapes me. There may be a variety of manufacturers.

[Motorcycle_Mama]

Google Maps plus Google Latitude will show you position to anyone you allow.

 

It doesn't track the route, however.

Edited August 31, 2010 by Motorcycle_Mama

[frozenflyboy]

Here is a listing I got from a Google search of the device I was talking about.

http://www.gpscentral.ca/tracking.htm

"Spot" is the one that some chopper friends use. You can text with it also using satellite. Seems like a great idea.

[+user13371]

Motion-X GPS can share your location to Twitter, Facebook, or email at timed intervals. AND it can do this in the background.

[+Map Monkey]

So what your after is the iPhone version of this ==> http://live.geocaching.com/

 

mm

[+craigarnold]

You could use RunKeeper for the iPhone, it's a little different but it works for when I track myself when I go biking.

[+Vertigo]

The app you seek is Glympse

[chieflorenzo]

Many thanks for all your replies and information, most helpful. I've installed Motion-X, Glympse and Runkeeper, so I'm going to give those a try. Because of battery life I'm thinking it may be better to manually post updates to a twitter account or something. I think we're going to be walking for a good 12 hours. I'll keep you posted.

[+user13371]

...going to be walking for a good 12 hours. I'll keep you posted...

Then you'll need this too http://www.thepocketsolution.com/PSI-35159.html. Add some EveReady Ultimate Lithium batteries and you're good for a weekend. Edited August 31, 2010 by lee_rimar

[Vibramhead]

There are devices that track you and send a signal to a satellite that you can have sent via email etc to whomever. You buy the device and pay a subscription fee. They sell them to hikers truckers and people who want to know where their kids are going with the car. The devices are small.

 

The name of the company that makes them escapes me. There may be a variety of manufacturers.

 

The device you're thinking of is the Spot Messenger. It costs $150, plus a $100/yr subscription fee. For an extra $50/yr, it has a tracking function that sends a location signal every 10 minutes that appears on a website. I have one and used it recently on a hike around Mt Rainier. It worked pretty well, except in heavy tree cover.

[+Orienteering]

Hi, I'm among a group of 35 people doing a 28 mile sponsored walk, and I want to find a live tracking app that updates my location and plots our route on a map that web users can see.

 

I have the iPhone4, and I have tried an app called 'GPS Tracker', that uploads to www.instamapper.com, this seems to work ok, but it relies on the app being actually open in the foreground, but it won't seem to support multitasking.

 

I realise that battery life is an issue, and there are waypoints where I will be able to charge my phone a small amount.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions for this? Am I better using some sort of social networking location tagging?

My son used recently (July 24 - August 12) a SPOT messenger so people could track him live during his fundraising hike along the John Muir Trail. Look at his website http://daniels-eagle-scout-project.webs.com for his hike report to the see the Garmin tracks and compare them with the SPOT tracks on the pages with the photos of his JMT hike. You will see that the SPOT transmits a location every 10 minutes. That was good enough for his three week fundraising hike and several hundred people followed his hike online while he was backpacking for over 200 miles. He needed two sets of three AAA batteries, so each set is good for at least 10 days.

[chieflorenzo]

My son used recently (July 24 - August 12) a SPOT messenger so people could track him live during his fundraising hike along the John Muir Trail. Look at his website http://daniels-eagle-scout-project.webs.com for his hike report to the see the Garmin tracks and compare them with the SPOT tracks on the pages with the photos of his JMT hike. You will see that the SPOT transmits a location every 10 minutes. That was good enough for his three week fundraising hike and several hundred people followed his hike online while he was backpacking for over 200 miles. He needed two sets of three AAA batteries, so each set is good for at least 10 days.

 

Thanks for the advice re the Spot Messenger, I'm afraid I can't warrant spending that sort of money for tracking our location for a single day, but any bigger event in the future and I will certainly look into that.

[chieflorenzo]

Then you'll need this too http://www.thepocketsolution.com/PSI-35159.html. Add some EveReady Ultimate Lithium batteries and you're good for a weekend.

 

I'm liking the idea of this one though.

 

I've been testing Glympse.com with its free iPhone app. This looks like it'll do the job pretty well. I'll try and post here before with a link so people can track our progress on the day.

[frozenflyboy]

If it makes any difference I am sure you can get a 1 month contract. Some outfitters might be willing to rent one for a short time. I have a relative who is using one now. I believe that he got it short term. Will check.

[chieflorenzo]

If it makes any difference I am sure you can get a 1 month contract. Some outfitters might be willing to rent one for a short time. I have a relative who is using one now. I believe that he got it short term. Will check.

Thanks for the suggestion, I've found a company here in the UK that will rent one for £30 for a week, about $45USD, I don't think there's going to be enough people watching to warrant that though; I reckon regular location updates from Glympse app or similar, plus Twitter posting/images will probably do the job

[chieflorenzo]

Ok so there are some issues with the glympse.com site in that it isn't reading the reference codes I post on Twitter. Hopefully it will be fixed in time for tomorrow.

 

Meanwhile, here is the link:

http://bit.ly/tauntonlyme

 

I've configured Google Latitude with my iPhone so that I can just tap a bookmark on my homescreen and wait for the page to load. This will update my location on Google Latitude, which is then displayed on the site.

 

In case the Glympse site issues can be resolved, the second method is also there for the moment, although I'm not convinced.

 

Thanks to everyone who gave advice here, and here's hoping that I manage all 28 Miles (sponsorship welcome, it's for a good cause!)