Apps and Software

[Ramjet]

Anyone use Apps to log locations of their finds?
I've been looking around, not much available.

A couple I am going to try...
Treasure Tracker
Gold Prospecting Tools
Minelab Treasure Tracking (It has manuals for the Minelab detectors as well)

Plus a couple of GPS apps to mark the big X on.
All on the Android system.

Any other Apps out there?

Rod

 

[Diggerdude]

I use GIS Roam to plot everything on my iPad. MemoryMap is a great little app too.

DD

 

[TenOunce Tone]

I have a few of the free gps apps. I am yet to find a standalone gps for an android phone that will work without network connectivity, I use a galaxy s1, built in gps seems to work ok bu only with network coverage... frustrating.

Update - I will be installing a few gps apps i found on a google search, I will let you know how my testing goes in regard to ease of use, extra downloads ie maps, etc. I will be only looking at android.

Google maps has an offline ability, open up the maps app on your device, hit the menu button select off line, you will then get a blue square on your current map, you can drag and zoom to your desired area of interest, zoom feature starts cutting out around 50mb so you cant get a whole state or such..

Will let you know the results of my testing.

 

[ChrisM]

Same as you guys trying to find the right app for the Android.
Ended up frazled trying to work the apps on the phone so i asked Santa for a GPS.
Believe it or not my "mother-in-law" got me a Magellan hand held unit for Chrissy this year.
Small compact and fairly priced i thought [$126] Just gotta find someone that can show me how to drive the blasted thing !!!!! :/ :/

 

[Ramjet]

Thanks guys. When i finally go detecting I'll test A couple out.
On 1st attempt, Walking lines in the back yard doesn't work well 8)

Rod

 

[littleazza]

Don't bother with the apps just get a GPS mine was $45 from cash converters works fine I just looked it up on you tube and found out how to drive it

 

[TenOunce Tone]

Hi everyone in this thread, I have tested the following apps over the last week:

Google maps off line mode.
Handy GPS (Free)
MapDroyd.

All are available on the Play Store in your phone.
When testing I put my phone into Airline mode so the transmitter was disabled and I then knew it was in "off line mode". I travelled within a 60km radius of Cairns, I use optus as my carrier and there are some blackspots in my region so data / network location assistance was not possible in a few of the spots. Also due to dense canopy, I could not always get a signal from the onboard GPS.

MapDroyd, Forget it, could not get the thing to work properly and when it did, the maps are incomplete, seem to be based on goolge maps from a few years ago.

Handy GPS is great for getting your exact coordinates in both lat and long and WGS GDA coordinates, did not try the coordinates on a topo or geo map cause I did not have one. It uses updated google maps and works ok in off line mode. Another feature of this app is the waypoints, you can create a waypoint for the spot you are at and label it. It also offers the option to export your way points in .kml format for use in other gps software.

Google maps worked ok, gave me the direction i was heading but I can not figure out how to get coordinates out of it,

I am running with a combination of google maps with off line data stored and the Handy GPS for its waypoints and coordinates. This seems to give me what I need as far as geolocation goes.

Another app worth mentioning is GPS Test. This is a good tool to check the number of satellites you can see from any given location, I was using it as comparison for the other apps.

I will update in a few weeks when after going to more remote localities.

Good hunting everyone

 

[GMH]

Hi All,

I developed the "Gold Prospecting Tools" app. I have some other ideas, but wanted to know if there was a market before I invested the time to add diary and encryption features.

It looks like there is quite a bit of interest, but I've had very little real feedback. Interestingly 50% of the active users are in the US, and I've heard zip from them.

I strongly recommend Off-line caching in Google Maps, even if you don't use my app.

If you keep the real-time display on constantly your battery will drain pretty quickly. I've only prospected a few times, but I think that the app is good to help choose where you go. My advice is to stat the app, and then lock the phone and stick it in your pocket. This will use significantly less battery. You can then see where you have been, and if you are covering the same ground.

You can change the view from Satellite to Terrain, to show the lay of the land. You can also add makers to see distances. You can SMS or email you current location (or one of the makers). This has the Lat long as a link to Google maps. I've recently added a relative altitude (to starting location).

I would really appreciate some feedback, especially if there is something that I can build, that would make it more usable.

Cheers Geoff

 

[hereskip]

Have tried a lot of android stuff but in the end had to bit the bullet and get an ipad. GISroam is great but it learning curve is steep but well worth the time. must say a thankyou to DD and shivan for there info and help with GISroam.
Cheers
Skip

 

[Redfin]

Running memory maps and could not be happier, got a Lic for the PC, Lappy and 2 Mobiles, can edit the 1/25 Topo's on my main PC and sync it to the rest of the devices.
When we started I was worried about the other getting lost, so we both installed "find my car" app.
When we park, marked the car and off you go. When it is time to return it tells you which direction to go and how far.