Help I know nothing

[testeraf]

The Optimus V is my first delve into the world of smartphones.

I'm figuring somethings out...slowly but I have a few questions.

I understand that this phone has GPS.

1) How would a person use it for geocaching? Is that something built into the phone?

2) Also, is there a way to track a route that I've traveled using this phone? I plan to drive part-way cross country this summer and I would like to record the route I've driven and display it on a map after the trip is completed.

3)Can the GPS features of the phone work without a connection to the internet?

Thanks.

 

[kwknott]

Yes the optimus v has Gps. You can do geocaching and gps tracking but it's not built into the phone. ylYou would need to find the appropriate app in the play store (android market) for the task. Just search for geocaching or GPS and look through the apps.

Whether internet is required would depend on the app itself.

 

[Thorsten]

GPS Essentials saves tracks and waypoints, is small enough to work well on the V, and works just fine without Internet connection. I

 

[MacFett]

I use the geocaching.com app when I do geocache (With three active kids it seems we never have time to cache any longer). There is also one called opencache, I have downloaded it, but not used it yet.

 

[Petrah]

1) How would a person use it for geocaching? Is that something built into the phone?

Here's just one of the many Geocaching apps I found in a Google search. I'm sure you could probably find some more out there, but be sure the site you get it from is reputable.

Geocaching > Groundspeak's Geocaching Android Application

Just a side note: not sure how accurate the game will be on an android device. You might want to check some Geocaching specific forums and see what others are using and if they recommend a cell phone or a special Geocaching GPS device. Either way, it's something to research.

 

[testeraf]

Thanks for the advice and recommendations. I will look into them.

Thorsten, is there a setting for how often a waypoint is collected? I will use this in my car and might want more frequent data points when driving in a city.



I apologize if I'm not using the correct terminology in my posts.

 

[Thorsten]

Thorsten, is there a setting for how often a waypoint is collected? I will use this in my car and might want more frequent data points when driving in a city.

I apologize if I'm not using the correct terminology in my posts.

No problem; I have no idea if this terminology has been standardized. GPS Essentials uses the following:

• A track is a sequential list of automatically created, time-stamped locations. You start a new track, optionally create the update frequency (see below), and let it run on its own.
• Waypoints are created only manually. Their major advantage is that they can have annotations, mainly customizable labels and descriptions.

So when I

 

[testeraf]

YES, that sure does help me out.

 

[testeraf]

Another novice question: I haven't activated my Optimus V yet. I use the wifi in my house.

In the manual it says the "3G" symbol will display if a 3G signal is available. I have yet to see that symbol.

Do you think the phone needs to be activated just to give it the capacity to determine if a 3G signal is available?

 

[MacFett]

The 3G symbol will not appear if wifi is enabled.

 

[testeraf]

Thank you. It's embarrassing and unbelievable how little I know about this technology.

 

[testeraf]

I disabled wireless and the 3G symbol still did not display. I drove to areas that I know have Sprint 3G (strong) signal.

Maybe it does need to be activated to determine if 3G is available.????

 

[kwknott]

Yeah I don't think you get a 3g icon until phone is activated for the 1st time. You may get a 1x icon

 

[testeraf]

I've downloaded and used my first app, GPS Essentials.

I 'tracked' my driving for about an hour and several hundred tracks were recorded. I can't figure out how to access/download the tracks.

Does anyone happen to know?

 

[TX-Dennis]

I had GPS essentials, but deleted it. Tried to use it to track an all day hike, but the battery gave out after about three and a half hours. It's not very useful for longer hikes considering how fast it chews through the battery. The GPS radio is probably what uses most of the juice. As I recall there was an option to look at the tracks either statistically or on a map, but I'm not sure sicne I have deleted the app from my phone.

 

[testeraf]

What do you use now, TX?

 

[testeraf]

I figured it out. To export the tracks, you hold down the 'tracking session' and you are given a menu to export the tracks.

 

[TX-Dennis]

What do you use now, TX?

Nothing. The power drain is too extreme to keep GPS on for extended periods. It was pretty cool on short hikes, though to see how far I'd walked, elevation gain, etc.