GW52

Has anyone been able to run the GW-52 utility on Windows 8 I downloaded it but the utility is incompatible. I asked Locosys they said ( The GW52 USB driver/Utility has been tested on Win8 successfully.

Tried out the latest firmware today. The distance no longer dissapears when you adjust the speed genie setting, and there's a selection of 1s, 1.5s, 2s and 2.5s for the speed genie scroll rate. I've set mine to 2s and find it much easier to read in the pouch.

RealSpeed only gave me a 16kt alpha, but gpsarpro was a 20 something, the GT31 and logit also gave a 20, whether processed in RealSpeed or GPSarPRO.

Gents, this forum discussion and the others of similar vein is fascinating, but I'm finding it hard to keep up.

The question that needs to be answered for IT challenged sailors like me is - Now that the GT31 is almost impossible to purchase, what should we purchase, when as a result of malfunction, we have to replace it with a device that is compliant on GPS Team Challenge?

Will we have an answer to this question before spring?

I've finished all the things I want to check until there's another firmware version. So if anybody wants to try it out, see me at the beach and you can borrow it for a session.
I'll email the resulting file back to you.

Manfred has solved the problem I was having with gybes in GPSResults.
I was using "Smart logger" set at 10knts, so any gybes that went under that changed form 5hz to 1hz.
This upsets the filters and no alpha or NM including a gybe, result is produced unless filters are deselected.
So I think I'll stick to the 5hz setting unless going for distance.

I'll do some experiments and see if this is also the realspeed problem with alphas.

Here are some comparisons of Alphas between the GW-52, GT-31 and Sony/GPS Logit App.

The images are is just the one quickest Alpha I did in yesterdays session. I have not directly compared the the track maps of the others but did compare them in terms of speeds.

These images suggested that the GW-52 is a lot better for Alphas and that the Sony/GPS-Logit is a lot worse. So I did some investigation below.

GW-52:



GT-31:








Sont Experia E1/GPS-Logit App:





SDOP = Speed Dilution of Precision. i.e. The error range values for the calculation as reported by the GPS system within which we can be 99.9% certain that you did the reported speed.
ie. If you subtract the SDOP from your reported speed we can be 99.9% certain you did at least that calculated speed.

The 10 GT-31 Alphas had an average SDOP of +/- 0.289 with a high of 0.308 and low of 0.188

Taking off the high and low give an average of +/- 0.215

GT-31 Alpha 500/50m:
time m [knots]
16:05:10 480.0 25.219+/-0.190
16:06:56 489.8 24.411+/-0.244
16:03:42 488.0 24.321+/-0.195
16:08:43 479.2 23.885+/-0.188
16:33:46 493.4 23.391+/-0.247
16:32:45 499.7 23.128+/-0.308
16:31:50 495.4 22.929+/-0.261
15:53:13 477.5 22.638+/-0.200
16:07:53 489.2 21.612+/-0.190
16:06:02 488.9 21.598+/-0.194

The GW-52 Alphas had an average SDOP of +/- 0.227 with a high of 0.291 and a low of 0.195

Taking off the high and low give an average of +/- 0.223

GW-52 Alpha 500/50m:
time m [knots]
16:05:09 495.9 25.368+/-0.234
16:06:55 496.6 24.626+/-0.232
16:03:42 497.8 24.436+/-0.206
16:08:42 480.7 23.960+/-0.253
16:33:47 499.4 23.448+/-0.207
16:32:44 499.2 23.216+/-0.198
16:31:50 498.2 22.946+/-0.195
15:53:12 497.8 22.931+/-0.206
16:07:52 499.3 21.761+/-0.291
16:06:01 498.4 21.724+/-0.251

The Sony/GPS Logit does not record the SDOP values in the files as the GPS chips in the phone do not output that data.

Below I have added two columns showing the worst case error added (speed plus SDOP) for the same runs in the GT-31.(This is the best comparison as both are at 1hz)

SonyExperia E1/GPS Logit App:
Alpha 500/50m:
time m [knots] GT-31
16:05:09 474.2 25.607 (25.409)
16:06:56 491.7 24.510 (24.655)
16:03:42 489.0 24.373 (24.516)
16:08:42 472.8 24.183 (24.073)
16:33:47 489.5 23.208 (23,638)
16:32:44 488.2 23.148 (23.346)
16:31:50 498.2 23.060 (23.190)
15:53:12 477.7 22.651 (22.838)
16:06:01 493.0 21.780 (21.792)
16:07:52 481.0 21.744 (21.802)


So there are two Alphas that are higher than they should be according to the error values from the GT-31 (bold).

They are not a long way out but they still could make a difference in a list of rankings in a competition.

You will also notice that the last two runs from the GPS-Logit are reversed in ranking from the other two GPS (bold).

This highlights the importance of error margin value and how it can affect competition results and rankings.

In this case, the margin is very small and in fact if you add the max error in the GX-52 results you get the same reversal.

It highlights that accuracy and error margin matters, and in rankings where the difference between rankings is lees than around 0.25 knots, you must assume they are random rankings and give the riders a draw.

For 'fun' rankings it is probably of little consequence, but for records and the results of top level competition it is to be taken very seriously.

This is also exactly why the GPSTC and the GPS-SS insist the top ranking riders use the GT-31 (or the GW-52) for their postings as the results from those GPS can be verified.

The SDOP analysis is just one way of examining the Alpha results and comparing them. Looking at the map view and speed graph I am still inclined to deduce that the Sony/GPS-Logit Alpha are a bit more suspect, so more study will be needed.

Another factor to consider is that all the different Android phones may well have different GPS chips and implementations in them so to get a very clear picture, they would all need to be individually tested. Some may well turn out to give much better results than others.

Recommendation:

The GPS Logit App is a wonderful advance in almost every way and still has more potential. I highly recommend it for those who like to have lots of feedback and instant results. Depending on the phone it can also be quite inexpensive. (remember the GPS Logit App will not be free - nor should it be).

But for those serious about their speeds, competition and rankings in the GPSTC, I recommend using your GT-31 or GW-52 for your
posting data, preferably work on or in your helmet, and using the GPS-Logit app on your arm for a competitive tactical advantage (the value of the speed talking and instant and running averages feedback is huge!)

Hope that helps clear up some of the confusion.

Here is some good news for Mac users.

Up until a few days ago I had been unable to get a connection with the GW-52 with Windows (XP) running in VMware in my Macbook Pro.

By good fortune, a clever IT support person was staying in our ski lodge last weekend. He heard my complaint and offered to take a look. Within a minute to so of flicking in and out of various venues I didn't know even existed, and after installing a driver update, he had the Locosys utility talking to the GW-52 perfectly.

I am now one very happy chappy.

So it seems that the use of emulation software to run windows and talk to the GW-52 is possible if set up correctly and should not be a blocker to Mac users benefitting from using a GW-52.

Glynn, It sounds like more of a KA72 website issue to me. Try here for contacts: www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Gps/New-KA72-Website/

Thingsee1 is available for ?300 "shipping in 6-8 weeks"...
http://shop.gps-speedsurfing.com/p/67/thingsee-one-gp3s-edition-v1