• Welcome to the Two Wheeled Texans community! Feel free to hang out and lurk as long as you like. However, we would like to encourage you to register so that you can join the community and use the numerous features on the site. After registering, don't forget to post up an introduction!

GPS tracking?

Swagfu

0
Joined
Aug 27, 2014
Messages
142
Reaction score
0
Location
Deland, Fl
Is there a software program that will allow people at home track my progress on a trip via GPS? I don't know that I need it, but thought it sounded interesting. Family can check on my progress without calling or texting me. They can see when I have stopped for the night or for where I am if they want to know.

Has anyone used something like this?
 
I know there is a way you can share your trip progress from your phone on iphone and stuff like that. Aside from that there is the Spot tracking device for emergencies but not sure how it can be used for normal use while riding. There is a fellow here, he doesn't post up as much as he used to but you can send him a message on how he goes about it of no one else with more knowledge pipes up. His forum name is Ken Phenix. Ken does a lot of Iron Butt/Bun burner related stuff and ride for distance and I know in the past on another forum he was using his GPS to track his trip in real time. It was pretty cool and he had a trip on Wristtwisters a couple years back where he went over to the west coast and rode a ton of miles while displaying his gps position, so he can definitely tell you about how he did it. I think he spends more of his time riding then writing but if you send him a message he'll get back to you soon as he can manage.
 
You can use a free smart phone app that will track you as long as you have cell service. SPOT satellite tracking is needed in remote areas.
 
That was a lot of good reading. May be more than I really need though. I did like the delorme sos feature. And that may be something i get just for the piece of mind. I am not going to going off road anywhere..although that sounds extremely fun. I am looking for something that my family can log into on the internet and see where I am. Mostly on the highway or known roads. I already have a garmin gps, and a cell phone of course. Plus, I would like something relatively simple to use as some family members are older or less computer savvy.
 
On iPhones, the Find my Friends app will do exactly what you want so long as your phone is in service areas. Set up is easy, you send a request from your phone to whom you want to be able to track you. So long as the recipient can run the app on their phone or tablet (dunno if 'droids and others can) and have it loaded they just accept and are good to go.

Maybe that's less than what you are looking for.
 
My dad and his lady friend just set off on about a month long road trip in his truck heading up to Vallejo California to visit his brother. Their taking their time and visiting several places along the way. Their actually enjoying the cooler CO weather right now. My dad is 72 and not very tech savvy but can get around the basics on his phone. I downloaded find my friends app and sent him, my wife and my sister the invite code to join it. They all followed the instructions and downloaded the app.

So far it has worked great. Only down side is you need network connection. My dad dropped off while in Taos NM but once they got into CO it picked up again.

It works across both android and iphone. Me my dad and sister all have Samsung devices running android and my wife's phone is an iphone.
 
On iPhones, the Find my Friends app will do exactly what you want so long as your phone is in service areas. Set up is easy, you send a request from your phone to whom you want to be able to track you. So long as the recipient can run the app on their phone or tablet (dunno if 'droids and others can) and have it loaded they just accept and are good to go.

Maybe that's less than what you are looking for.

My dad and his lady friend just set off on about a month long road trip in his truck heading up to Vallejo California to visit his brother. Their taking their time and visiting several places along the way. Their actually enjoying the cooler CO weather right now. My dad is 72 and not very tech savvy but can get around the basics on his phone. I downloaded find my friends app and sent him, my wife and my sister the invite code to join it. They all followed the instructions and downloaded the app.

So far it has worked great. Only down side is you need network connection. My dad dropped off while in Taos NM but once they got into CO it picked up again.

It works across both android and iphone. Me my dad and sister all have Samsung devices running android and my wife's phone is an iphone.


Thanks guys. I will look into this. Sounds like it would work for my needs.
 
I have "Find Friends" app on my Apple cell phone and my wife can see exactly where I am at any time as long as I have signal.
 
Several smartphone options, but all need wifi or cellualr data service...

  • Find my iPhone for people on the same iCloud account.
  • Find my Friends for anyone with an iOS device (iPhone, iPad)
  • SWconnect app with Spotwalla. Anyone with a browser can see where you are and your track.
 
Bubbler GPS Pro app on the smart phone and Spotwalla website for tracking. Only good while in cell range but it will send catch up info when you are in range again. Spotwalla is the site where everyone was following the Iron Butt Rally folks.
 
I have an Android cellphone, my wife and daughter have iPhones. We use an app called "Glympse" which is available for both platforms. You can pick with whom and for how long to share your location. You can also share your location via social media or people who don't have the app. They can view your location via a specific URL on Glympse's website.

http://glympse.com/

Oh BTW... it's free.
 
As mentioned, the SPOT system provides real time tracking, you can send anyone you want to your spot web page and it will allow them to see where you are and your trail, the map is updated every few minutes in real time. I use it to allow friends to track our off-road trips and know where we are.
 
I've been a SPOT user for probably about 7-8 years now. Just now upgrading to the GEN 3 unit.

My wife/mom/sister/friends have my Spotwalla link and they can follow my rides wherever I happen to be. Plus it has the benefit of having the SOS button should I need it.

It's in Track mode most of the time, but if I'm going to stop somewhere for a little while I can just hit the OK button and they get an email telling them that I'm ok and it gives them my lat/long.

This is a screen shot of my last three rides combined. You can set the parameters of what you want your viewers to see in terms of the number of days, the number of "hits" you want displayed on the map, etc.

19989528_10209139336750311_3243092506231551471_n.jpg



The green markers are where I hit OK on the SPOT.

www.findmespot.com

www.spotwalla.com
 
Last edited:
I use a Gen3 spot as well. Upgraded from a Gen 1 unit about a year ago. I use a spotwalla link to whoever I want to be able to see where I'm at. Last time I used it on a long trip it ran for almost a month daily on the same set of batteries.
 
I'll be heading out in the morning for a longish trip and will be using the SW Connect app on my iPhone6 with SpotWalla. So we'll see how it works.
 
Do any of these apps or tracking devises use data from your phone?
 
Do any of these apps or tracking devises use data from your phone?

Apps use data to transmit the GPS coords to another device or to a service on the internet, i.e. the Spotwalla website.

Tracking devices such as Spot, do not need your phone or its data.
 
I have also had a SPOT for several years. It is a Gen 1 that still works fine so I see no reason to upgrade as yet. My wife & granddaughter are privy to to my SPOT tracks using the phone app. In fact we carried the SPOT in our truck for a recent 5000 mile trip in it pulling our travel trailer so our granddaughter to could where we were. My wife also uses the Life360 app on her iPhone to follow me as I ride the bike as well as the SPOT.
So, I can't get away with anything?

Marty
 
I'll be heading out in the morning for a longish trip and will be using the SW Connect app on my iPhone6 with SpotWalla. So we'll see how it works.



Plus 1 what Tourmeister said.
I've used SW Connect app on iPhone linked to SpotWalla website - works great!
And both the App and SpotWalla account are "Free" !!!! [emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
Plus 1 what Tourmeister said.
I've used SW Connect app on iPhone linked to SpotWalla website - works great!
And both the App and SpotWalla account are "Free" !!!! [emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

How does this use your data, is it using your data 24 plan hours a day, update once an hour?
 
The amount of data used by either SWConnect or Bubbler would be small. It would be packets of info containing your information sent every few minutes. Those packets would be quite small compared to pictures or video for instance. The GPS info comes from the satellites, not from the network.
 
Back
Top