Optimizing Sportstracker for hiking

Hi!

I have been using Sportstracker many times to track my progress during a hike. I usually later on use the recorded track data (exported as GPX) to geocode photos that I took with my regular digital camera.

There are a number of features that could be added to Sportstracker to make it more suitable for hiking:

1. Allow to import GPX track data downloaded from the Internet into a Sportstracker route:
I often download GPX track data like one at the bottom of this page http://www.clubtread.com/Routes/Route.aspx?Route=157. Unfortunately there is no way to import such routes into Sportstracker. It would be very handy to do that so I can use Sportstracker to guide me on my hike.

2. Display selected landmarks in Sportstracker from the landmarks database in the phone
The GPX files I download, I usually convert into a Nokia LMX landmarks file using this tool http://www.gps-data-team.com/convert.php. Then I can store those GPX waypoints into the phone. That way, I can use the built in GPS application from my phone to point me in the right direction. However, it would be nice to having to use two separate applications for that and having such functionality integrated right into Sportstracker.

3. Provide a super-low power mode that saves the battery of the phone even more during long 6h or longer hikes.
On long hikes, the phone battery easily runs out of power during the Sportstracker recording. An even lower power mode would be good to prolong the recording time.

4. Provide a "SLR camera geotagging" mode which only records the location when I take a photo with my digital SLR camera, triggered manually in Sports Tracker.
On most hikes I take my digital SLR camera with me to take photos and I want to be later on able to geotag my photos with data I recorded with Sportstracker. In most cases, I don't need to record the entire route, just the locations where I took my photos. So it would be good to be able with the push of a button to acquire and save the location, instead of draining the phony battery by having to record the entire hike.
I export the recorded Sportstracker route into a GPX file and then I use applications like Geosetter (http://www.geosetter.de/en) and Microsoft Pro Photo Tools 2 (http://www.microsoft.com/prophoto) to geotag my photos.

Keep up the great work!

Thanks! Best regards,
Dennis

Comments

Submitted by tncc01 on 30-06-2009 18:18.

Dennis,
I second your suggestions. I also use Sportstracker for hiking, especially like #1 and #3.

Thanks for the info in #2. This also would be useful built into the NST app.

I'm not sure what phone you are using, but can you geotag photos taken with your phone? I can do this on my N82. When I am using my digital SLR to get better pictures, I will take the same picture with my N82 (or at least one picture in that same location) and use the geotag EXIF data from the phone's image file to add to the SLR's image files.