• SatGuide GPS Logger

    SatGuide GPS Logger

    Jayesh Limaye, Dec 04, 2008 1342 hrs IST

    This device tracks the path of a vehicle recording details like speed, time and number of stops made.

    Excellent and precise position logging, Very portable, Good battery life.

    A bit expensive, No real-time GPS navigation option.

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Performance

Using the GPS device may seem to be a daunting task at first look, but it is pretty simple to use, as we found out. You need to first install the device drivers from the CD and then insert the dongle into the USB port of your PC. If you wish to use Bluetooth connectivity, you have to first pair the device with the PC. You can then run the SatGuide Log Manager from the CD software, which lets you manage this device.



After launching the SatGuide Log Manager, you are prompted to choose the baud rate as well as COM port for the GPS device. You need to open the Device Manager to learn about the COM port being used by 'Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port' device and select that COM port. SatNav informed us that in the next version of the Log Manager, port selection will be automated and user intervention will not be required.

Once the program is launched, you can see the window shown above. The Percentage box displays the percentage of data accumulated, Logged displays the number of logged points, which can be up to a maximum of 1,30,000. You will see that all the buttons, except Stop, are disabled when the device is in the recording mode, which is on by default. If it is off, you need to click on Record button, disconnect the GPS dongle and place it in the battery bank to start recording a log of the journey.



Once the journey is completed, you can disconnect the GPS dongle from the battery bank, connect it to the PC and run the Log Manager again. You have to press Stop to enable the rest of the buttons. The Clear button clears the data inside the dongle, while Configure is to set up logging triggers. Before you begin using the dongle, the data needs to be cleared.

Record is for resuming the recording mode and Read is to read data logged inside. The device ID window lets you name the device with an easy-to-remember name, but doing so is not necessary to get this thing working. On clicking Read, the data is downloaded into the folder containing the Log Manager and this progress is displayed on the progress bar to the left of Stop button. You will be provided information about the data once this download is complete.



You now have to click on the Change Setting button in the lower part of the window. Here, you can set the time zone, and you can also choose from among five different formats for saving the results on your hard drive. Of these, CSV and KML are more important. In addition to the speed unit, you can also specify the maximum speed that is permissible, in the Over-Speed box. This is useful to find out at what point during the journey, the driver crossed the speed limit.

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SatGuide GPS Logger review specials GPS tracking navigation.



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