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Old 05-03-2011, 05:17 AM   #14 (permalink)
dcb
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bestclimb View Post
If you drifted back down do you count it as a 10 mile trip or a 0 mile trip
Only boaters struggle with the concept I guess But if you go 5 miles, then you go another 5 miles, that would be 10 miles. Pretend you went to the convenient store 5 miles up river or something. You would NEVER say your commute is zero miles just because you wind up at home again. Just sell your vehicle and forget all this tracking business then

Quote:
Originally Posted by bestclimb View Post
If you are counting it as a 10 mile trip why could you not put 10 miles into the Whiz wheel and find the average for the whole trip?
My mistake, when I heard the term whizwheel, I envisioned a paddlewheel or impellor type speed sensor. I didn't realize an antiquated navigation device was being brought into the discussion.
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While I encourage everyone to be able to use maps, I think a more automated solution is preferrable here.


Quote:
Originally Posted by bestclimb View Post
A GPS will continue to output speed when anchored.
Good to know. It also puts out grid coordinates too so that it *might* be compensated for (i.e. computer says your x or y haven't changed by more than .0002 for 7 minutes, I will just pretend you are sitting still then), as opposed to manually entering in current river speed or something. I don't know what a good absolute threshold is without experimenting.

Quote:
Originally Posted by bestclimb View Post
but with the equipment the OP already has a close approximation can be done from the speed of the boat through the water.
Absolutely, I don't know anything about the onboard speed signal though (well I can guess).

Quote:
Originally Posted by bestclimb View Post
But a whiz wheel and fuel consumption information would do just as well.
If the gps were sorted then it would just be more convenient and perhaps accurate, and provide a basis to compare with land vehicles. Car miles are already made good


edit: more fun with gps inaccuracies (I never really looked before):
http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/...m=1295491451/3
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Last edited by dcb; 05-03-2011 at 06:00 AM..
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