Module: TRACKING

Tracks allow defining routes in order to create personal and accurate travel guides.

Tracks can be created by either linking points together in a sequence on maps to prepare a trip from home; or by recording GPS movement during a trip to mark trails to follow them again and to create map in wilderness areas.

Tracks are visualized on maps as lines connecting recorded location points. You can comment any tracks by adding information on each recorded point in order to mark an important location, a change of direction…

With a GPS connected, intuitively follow tracks on maps and you will be accurately guided en-route. Moreover back home, tracks recorded inside Tracker can be utilized as ground data for any type of GIS applications.

The Tracking module allows to record and manage track logs of your trips in order to extend, correct, or even build a map.

Track menu structure

The first three menu items of the main menu option enable the recording process, whereas the last four items give access to tracks management.

Tracks→Start

To start recording a route, apply the main menu option Tracks→Start.

Tracks→Pause

To pause recording a route, select the main menu option Tracks→Pause.

This option will only stop the recording process, applying the Tracks→Start or Tracks→Pause option will resume the process, and new points will be added to the current track segment.

Tracks→Stop

To terminate a route, apply the main menu option Tracks→Stop.

This option will definitively end the route and this point will be the arrival point of this route segment. You can start a new route segment with a new departure point with the Tracks→Start option

Tracks→Details

To obtain and change information on current track, use the menu option Track→Details.

The details box, displays the name of the current track at the top of the form. Click on the labeled box, to change the name of the track. Next to the track name, you can choose the format in which you can save your track: csv or gpx formats.

The text field below allows taking personal annotation to describe this track. Click on the text tracks comment box, to start taking notes.

Then track information is listed:  total duration time, total distance, and altitude profile of the track to describe the elevation difference along the track.

Tracks→New

To create an empty track, apply the Track→new option,

Tracks→List

The tracks list allows browsing among all tracks stored on your device. When a track name is selected, its associated comments are displayed in the right part of the screen.

To visualize a track on the map screen, select its name in the Track list.  For display clearance, one track can be visualized at a time.

By single clicking on any items of list, you can access to a pop up menu allowing the following functions:

• View: allows displaying the current track on the map screen.
• Details: allows loading the Details screen of the selected track.
• Delete: allows deleting the selected track.
• And close: allows exiting the tracks list screen.

Displaying track logs on maps

A track is not attached to a map. Indeed a track log can cover more than one map. Tracker manages an unlimited number of tracks but only one is visualized on screen at a time.

Select the track’s name from the menu option Track→List, to visualize it on screen; the track is then drawn by a bold line on the map. You can change the color of tracks via the Preferences menu in modifying the track color box.

 Preparing trips from home

Select the map of the area of your travel, and center the map on your departure point by applying the option “Center” from the contact sensitive menu.

Create a new track if necessary by applying the menu option Tracks→New.

Then start the recording process by applying the main menu option Tracks→Start.

To link to the next check point: pinpoint your next route location on the map, and drag this point to the center of the map, or apply the option “Center” from the contact sensitive menu.

When your trip is all planned, select the main menu options Tracks→Stop or Tracks→Pause to end it. The Tracks→Stop option will terminate definitively the track segment: the Tracks→Start option will create a new track segment with a new departure point.

Whereas the Tracks→Pause option will interrupt the recording process, applying the Tracks→Start or Tracks→Pause to resume it, and new check points will be added to the current track.

Recording tracks using GPS movement

Recording tracks to see where you've been is very helpful to mark a route for later use. This feature is essential for traveling in wild areas to build your own geographical information.

Start a GPS session, by connecting and initializing your GPS device.

Create a new track if necessary by applying the menu option Tracks→New.

Then start the recording process by applying the main menu option Tracks→Start.

Move. The record option captures constantly current geo-positions, the Preferences screen, has ome options for controlling track recording precision. A good detailed track for traveling between 30 and 60 mph is to set the precision to record position every 10 seconds.

The Tracks→Stop option will terminate definitively the track segment: the Tracks→Start option will create a new track segment with a new departure point.

Whereas the Tracks→Pause option will interrupt the recording process, applying the Tracks→Start or Tracks→Pause to resume it, and new check points will be added to the current track.

Track storage

Automatically the system saves the current track during all the track recording process. The track is also saved when exiting the application.

To reuse tracks outside the scope of GPS Pilot applications in order to collect, store, analyze, manipulate, retrieve, and plot GPS positional, you have the possibility to convert the track under two formats: either on an ASCII form in a csv format - comma separated value format- or on a GPX format - GPS Exchange Format- .

The name of the Track file is the name of the track followed by the extension csv or gpx according to the chosen format.

The storage format has to be specified in the Track details by selecting the format from the format choice box.

The track will be stored under the default Storage Space selected in the preferences box.

The GPX format is a light-weight XML data format for the interchange of GPS data (waypoints, routes, and tracks) between applications and Web services on the Internet.

Tracks CSV file format: Each line describes a track point record following this format:

Lat, Long, Alt, Variation, Date and Time

Lat is the Latitude of the track point in degrees with decimals format: dd.ddddd

Long is the Latitude of the track point in degrees with decimals format: dd.ddddd

Alt is the Altitude described in feet or meters

Variation is the magnetic variation degrees, positive for East negative for West. North / East is positive, South / West is negative

Date and Time and universal format and are readable by any spreadsheet.


Compatibility: Exported files are directly readable by all major data sheet software and had been mainly tested on Microsoft Excel.

Following Recorded Tracks

Once you have recorded a journey, you can now use the track to follow. This is an extremely useful for finding your way home.

To choose a track to follow, select its name from the list available through the menu option Tracks→List.

This will display by a colored line the selected track on the map. You can now use this track as the route you want to follow.

You can get additional information when following a recorded track such as track time, track speed … by displaying the Track detail box with the menu option Tracks→detail.

A first-aid tutorial that answers to most common questions is available via the menu Option-Help.
 

> Tracking FAQ
> TRACKER product page