Motion GPS

He is still making the Mini Motion. Production is slowed due to him taking on another project so he can make a living.
It seems that the LCD screen Motion is on hold indefinitely due to non availability of suitable parts (screen)

Great to hear that I was wrong and that the LCD Motions are back again!

We are in awe of you perseverance and commitment Julien, and there are no words to describe how much we appreciate it.

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JulienLe said..
As Andrew said, I work full time and do Motions on saturday, sunday, monday morning now. I sent 15 Mini every week for the past few weeks and started sending 5 LCD a week last week.

I'll make a longer topic about this in the coming weeks because I had an offer I can't refuse but long story short, nothing changes for you and things will get back to normal in May. I'm not taking any new orders as I'm about 10 from clearing Mini and 35 from clearing LCD. I'll do that first, I'll accept new orders next.

I've been considering quitting, it would be by far the easiest to me. And it would stop the money leak Motions currently are. But as long as it's the only accurate device and as long as some of you will want one, I'll carry on. Also, I owe it to previous supporters of the project.

Great news Julien!!!!!!! I really look forward to getting my LCD

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JulienLe said..
... I'll accept new orders next.
I've been considering quitting, it would be by far the easiest to me. And it would stop the money leak Motions currently are.

Julien, it would be a real bummer if the Motion would not be available anymore - it is by far the best GPS for windsurfing ever. If you are not making money selling the Motion, you will have to give up sooner or later.

The demand for the Motion has always been much larger than the supply. This really means you should raise prices until demand and supply are even. That should also make it easier for you to earn some money from the project. You can always lower prices in the future again.

I believe that the potential demand for the Motion is very high. I would love to get a few more Motions, but since I have other options like my prototypes, I figured others need them more, so I never tried to order. I certainly don't want to order a device that you loose money on!

I also appreciate very much what Julien has done, but it is for GPSTC to understand that at the moment the whole system of accepting only posts from approved devices hangs on Julien's shoulders. Some GW60 might be still available but really no one is willing to pay for it.
This is not a complaint or trying to stirring up, it is a matter of fact that should be looked at.

The has always been pretty much only one approved GPS available for GPSTC since the GT-31 hit the scene.

That's not a problem as long as they are readily available.

Now there are actually two mainstream choices (arguably 3) which was not really the case in the past. Plus of course, the option for home made.

Despite some peoples very real, poor experiences with the GW60, it is still being bought for use in the GPSTC and can give years of service if treated with an abundance of the correct care (just like every other bit of windsurfing equipment) but it's probably too much to ask for them to last indefinitely. There are just as many or more dead GT-31's in landfill - and many of them were mine.

The Motion Mini Logger is a sensational device that is almost bomb proof and fool proof. It will probably outlast every other design we have had. It is inexpensive (Lower cost in real inflation adjusted terms than the GT-31 was) and already in wide use in Australia by many very happy sailors. They are often used in conjuction with a GPS smartwatch or smartphone for on the water feedback depending on your needs and budget.

The original Motion LCD GPS was a giant step forward from everything else in every way! Those who got them when they were first available, (until production was abrupty halted by the non availability of the LCD screens), are very fortunate, but the newer model with induction charging and WiFi downloading has eliminated the one potential weakness of the original, which was the USB connection. It is very welcome news indeed that availability of these is on the horizon again.

It's also worth remembering that when GPS windsurfing first started on around 2004/5, the Garmin Foretrex 201 that we used then (that has it's own fair share of losses and drownings - I calculate that there are at least a Dozen on the Shallow inlet seafloor) cost around A$350. Adjusted to current values, that is probably substantially more than the current, far more capable and durable Motion LCD! And GPS-Windsurfing boomed!

If not-making-money on the Motions, then just increase the price. The fact is, they are good devices. And some people are happy to not whinge about a thing that costs a few weekends of booze.

Are there any teams in Australia with Motion Mini in stock for sale ?

Very nice, love the display!
unfortunately a display is a bit beyond my abilities, but I'm using a BN880, and as you 10hz NAVPVT sentence.
I'm getting excellent results, so I'm sure you will as well.
As mine is just a logger, I wear it on my head.
I made a fibreglass case for mine with a plastic top, but switch, charging usb slot and card holder are just covered with gaffer tape, and I wear it in an aquapac. Not a brilliant solution, but typical of me a temporary method that lasts for ages.

My problem with the open log chip is it's speed. I can't get it to do 10hz reliably, works fine at 5hz though.
And thanks again Peter for guiding me through the process!

These e-paper displays come with a ESP32 + SD-card reader + lipo charge circuit integrated. Cost is around 15 ?- 20?, comes from Banggood, ttgo T5 e-paper Lilygo.
Logging@10 Hz seems to function, but I only did tests on land with 1 SD card. E-paper is slow, a update rate of 1s ! But the readability is very good. Al is programmed with Arduino IDE. The wifi is used for downloading files + over the air update.
Greetings, Jan.

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rp6conrad said..
These e-paper displays come with a ESP32 + SD-card reader + lipo charge circuit integrated. Cost is around 15 ?- 20? :
...
E-paper is slow, a update rate of 1s !

Price looks very good for the features, but what about the update rate? The e-paper I played with had similar slow rates, and IIRC, the screen would flash for most of this time. Just doing partial updates would work only for a limited time. At least one of the comments on the site mentioned something similar.
It's one thing if you can change the numbers displayed just once a second - that's tolerable, we don't need more frequent updates. It's another thing if the screen is unreadable during the entire update period, or flashes to black every time.

On the other hand, I could see some use for a unit that updates only after each run, showing last ran and top speeds. Of all the GPS units I've used, the Motion with the display is really the only one that I can read the numbers easily while sailing - but I don't usually do that in the middle of a top speed run.

Also, have you looked at what kind of sAcc values you get with the setup running and the screen on top of the GPS antenna, compared to GPS chip being separated from the electronics? No need to go windsurfing for this, a stationary test will do. I'm curious because some setups I looked at would increase the sAcc values noticeably.

Looks good. The number of sats is a bit low. How many sat systems are you using? I think the default is just 2. Another possibility is that you'll need to let is warm up longer. The initial acquisition of satellites can be very slow, like half an hour or longer for 3 systems.

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boardsurfr said..
Looks good. The number of sats is a bit low. How many sat systems are you using? I think the default is just 2. Another possibility is that you'll need to let is warm up longer. The initial acquisition of satellites can be very slow, like half an hour or longer for 3 systems.

This GPS module takes a long time to first fix (120s - 180s), and also the number of sats needs time... But after 15 min, it will see between 14 and 20 sats. I have the impression that the small ceramic antenna has less signal then the bigger ones. I did tests with a older ublox M8N, and the time to first fix was certainly better (60-100s). Maybe the Beitian BN180 is better.

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remery said..
I was thinking (dangerous activity), would iit be better to have the battery check when you turn the device off instead of on?

With the e-paper, the battery is checked every hour, and the text stays on the display. Current consumption in deep sleep is 1.5mA, if you cut the blue power led even less (0,5mA).

Thanks for the update Julien, the latest batch of minis you sent to me has been posted out to people around Australia and one on its way to the Phillipines. Great to hear the LCDs are being worked on too. Will be in touch to do another mini motion order in April