SPOT Advice

#1
Hi

Santa brought me a Spot 3, which was nice, and I've just started fiddling with it to figure it out, but I'm a bit lost on what the best way to set it up is.

Can anyone give me a bit of a simple guide to what settings I should have, how best to use the features, how to share the SPOT information with my Mrs and on Rallies such as the Brit Butt and so on?

I've signed up for the FindMe Spot service (no frills or expensive extras) and signed up for a Spotwalla page.

Thanks in advance

Lee
 

FJRPilot

Brit Butt Rallymaster RBLR1000 routemaster
Premier Member
IBA Member
#2
Lee, I'm not a Spot owner so can't help you with that aspect but I create and use Trips using Spotwalla for the same reasons as you. This is for using with my Bubbler GPS app on my android phone.

To share your trip so others can keep tabs on where you are you click on the blue trip menu box against the specific trip you want to share under the 'My trips' page. This opens up a drop down box and then click the bottom heading 'Trip links'. There's then the two types of links you can copy and send to whoever you want to be able to view your trip. Hopefully this will make sense if I've explained it right. o_O
 
#3
Thanks Mark, would you make the 'trip' after a journey to show where you've been, or before, so people can see where you are at points during your journey?
 

FJRPilot

Brit Butt Rallymaster RBLR1000 routemaster
Premier Member
IBA Member
#4
You need to create the trip before you ride. You set the start and end date/times. If you choose to share it with family or for instance with rally staff during the BBR so they can see where you are then they need the link before hand. If you just want to show somebody where you went afterwards, still create the trip before you go then send them the link after you get back home.

I've already created my trip for this year's BBR with a start time of 06.00 on the Saturday and a finish time of 17.00 on Sunday. That way they won't get confused with the travelling you do to get to and from Leicester. Or if it's your family you're sharing it with you can set the time from when you leave home.

I might put my trip link on my Facebook page so that my 'friends' can see what I'm up to during the rally :rolleyes:
 
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FJRPilot

Brit Butt Rallymaster RBLR1000 routemaster
Premier Member
IBA Member
#6
The other good thing about the Bubbler app is I can take a picture or type a text message with my phone direct from a button on the app and it gets uploaded to my Spotwalla map. If somebody clicks on that icon when viewing the map the text and/or photo I just took appears. :)

If you have an android phone you could use this as well as your Spot device, but not sure if both tracks would appear on the same trip map?
 

Sneezy

IBAUK Bouncer
IBA Member
#8
As for the spot, i have mine on 5 min refresh, i have the right hand button send message saying, im ok, just having 5 mins, and left button under flap, saying call me, thats when im in need of some motivation. The battery lasts for ages, mine is on constantly, in the van (approz 2000 miles a month) and on pig whenever im on her, (approx 1500 miles a month) and the batteries last about a month and a half.
 
#9
Thanks, the 5 minute refresh is a paid upgrade to the service isn't it?

I did try it out on a journey to work of 30 minutes and was a bit concerned to see only a couple of points shown, then realised it only shows a point every 10 minutes, which is probably enough over a big trip.
 

FazerPhil

President IBA UK
Staff member
Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#10
I use 10 minutes which is fine for longer trips. Sometimes points do not appear. May be that buildings trees or clouds block signal. But still shows enough if route.
 

GSears

Dambuster... Bouncing panniers...
Premier Member
IBA Member
#12
Lee
I have a full year trip 0001 on 1st Jan till 2359 31dec each year. This is good for seeing where you have been through the year. I can create a trip to share after I've completed it. Don't know if this is because of the full year track, or whether you can do it anyway. It does also mean you can create a post event track for a specific ride to help Mike with verification if necessary.
 

Sneezy

IBAUK Bouncer
IBA Member
#16
I will be having dinner with her and her team soon, got to try to keep the questions to a minimum. For the sharp sighted, she got caught in a storm off japan, which caused her to be rescued, then crossing the atlantic, she had to be rescued again, which ended with her not completing the full circle, it must be eating her up, i know it would me, but her and her girlfriend are getting married this year, and she Says she doesnt want to finish...
 
#17
I have just used my Spot and a Spotwalla Trip for the first time whilst in Ireland. While I was away the whole of the first day wasn't showing, which had me confused as I was sure I'd had green lights on the GPS and trail buttons. But now I am back home and looking into it, it's all there.
https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=10a835731d1433dfea

Is this something that happens sometimes? I'm a little concerned if I am to be using next week for the BBR and it might not be showing how bad it's going.
 

Sneezy

IBAUK Bouncer
IBA Member
#18
Marion always views my progress on the spot tracker, (on the spot website) as she had that issue on spot walla, the only issue then is it only lasts 7 days, so i normally set up a spotwalla trip too, as that lasts forever.
 

Ignacio

IBR Finisher
#19
I have just used my Spot and a Spotwalla Trip for the first time whilst in Ireland. While I was away the whole of the first day wasn't showing, which had me confused as I was sure I'd had green lights on the GPS and trail buttons. But now I am back home and looking into it, it's all there.
https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=10a835731d1433dfea

Is this something that happens sometimes?
Sometimes my mother would bet watching on a browser and say it would stop tracking. I'd ask her to exit the browser, come back in, and it was magically all there. I believe it was browser related. The alternative might be for a <Ctrl>+<F5> to do a "hard refresh".

The other less common I get with her is the confusion about tracking what day it is and having to choose the current day or something on the screen. I couldn't recreate that, but thought it might be a Spotwalla thing. Perhaps while riding the one day shows, but as soon as the ride is over...it reverts to the whole of the trip? I'm fuzzy on this one though....
 
#20
Ah fair enough, not just me then, they were probably looking on an iPad so maybe that's an unreliable browser to use.

Thanks for the feedback.