On Topic Ipad as a GPS for Rescue

Offroad Rescue

Offroad Rescue

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Hey Folks!

My name is Austin an I'm with Motorsports Safety Solutions for BITD an some other local socal series. Im looking to upgrade to an iPad from a Lowrance Trophy Baja 5m. What is needed to make this happen for Best in the Desert Race course? I would like to be able to get real GPS imaging so its easier to find access roads to the race course for emergencies.


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AZ7000'

AZ7000'

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I'm trying to upgrade from a hand held lowrance to a lowrance Trophy Baja 5m. Pm me if you want to sell it...


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Mike321

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In a search and recovery -- not in the race car -- scenario, I'd look into a Windows-based tablet, Maps Pro and an external GPS puck. If you already have an iPad it doesn't make sense, but if you haven't purchased a tablet it might.

I really like this setup for a chase truck.
 
Offroad Rescue

Offroad Rescue

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Already have the ipad just need to get it set up. I have all apple products as well so it makes things easier.


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Mike321

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Offroad Rescue said:
Already have the ipad just need to get it set up. I have all apple products as well so it makes things easier.


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Click to expand...

If you are with Motorsports Safety Solutions I would use the same system they do, it helps keep everyone on the same page.
 
Mike321

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I’d recommend that your team gets on board with one system, it will make this task much easier and quicker for emergencies.

Good luck with your choice. I will say having mixed GPS tracking systems on one team makes things more difficult than they should be, and can cause confusion (e.g. map fidelity).
 
dezert_nerd

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For purely using an IPAD for GPS tracking, it has served me very well. I use the Motion X GPS app and have used it just about every race I go to, including in Mexico. To get the full benefit of the app, or any GPS app for that matter, is to have an IPAD with a GPS chipset. The GPS chipset is mainly used if you were going to add a service plan for your IPAD, but in the case of a GPS app it's necessary so that you can run the app. Not sure what model you have, but you may run into issues if your IPAD works solely off wifi, in which case you would need an external service puck to run the app. If it does indeed have a GPS chipset, you can download the maps as well as the general area of where the race course will be and successfully run the app with or without service. I usually set my IPAD in airplane mode to conserve power. As long as your IPAD has a clear view of the sky, like any other GPS, it will work fine. I've never used it in a race application, but chasing it works great. Last year at V2R, we had 2 IPADs for both our chase trucks and they worked great the entire race.


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dezert_nerd

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IMG_0086.jpg

Various V2R maps and pit locations over the years as well as pit locations from last years 2 day race.


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dezert_nerd

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IMG_0089.jpg

2017 Mint 400 course with all race mile waypoints, pit locations, etc and an old Henderson 400 course. Also various waypoints I've plotted.


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dezert_nerd

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IMG_0088.jpg

The Mojave Trail along with various waypoints that were included in a file provided by PCI on their website.


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EMS702

EMS702

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Austin I have been using LeadNav for a while now. Text me 702 493 4780 I can tell you where to get the puck and the stuff I use. I only bought one upgrade from Leadnav but you can buy the pro tools on there to do more since you tend to do more races. For me user LeadNav is more user friendly than the Lowrance. Most of our courses I know because I know the area but it is a nice tool.
 
ndvalium

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Offroad Rescue said:
Hey Folks!

My name is Austin an I'm with Motorsports Safety Solutions for BITD an some other local socal series. Im looking to upgrade to an iPad from a Lowrance Trophy Baja 5m. What is needed to make this happen for Best in the Desert Race course? I would like to be able to get real GPS imaging so its easier to find access roads to the race course for emergencies.


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Click to expand...
Austin - Go to our staff page and talk to Brad - He has been using it for a year or so
 
Zambo

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You don't need a puck if your ipad is cellular capable. The wifi only ipads don't have built in GPS but the cellular models do. You don't need to activate cell service to use the built in GPS. As was mentioned, you can even leave it in airplane mode to save battery as the GPS still works in airplane mode. Lots of mounts you can get that just use a suction cup on the windshield which is usually plenty good for a chase truck. One final note is that you can use that ipad for a lot more than just nav down in Baja. I put all my maps, pit books, phone lists and other race info, equipment manuals and anything else I can think of on the ipad. Oh and use it for GoPro control/playback as well.
 
Mike321

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Zambo said:
You don't need a puck if your ipad is cellular capable. The wifi only ipads don't have built in GPS but the cellular models do. You don't need to activate cell service to use the built in GPS. As was mentioned, you can even leave it in airplane mode to save battery as the GPS still works in airplane mode. Lots of mounts you can get that just use a suction cup on the windshield which is usually plenty good for a chase truck. One final note is that you can use that ipad for a lot more than just nav down in Baja. I put all my maps, pit books, phone lists and other race info, equipment manuals and anything else I can think of on the ipad. Oh and use it for GoPro control/playback as well.
Click to expand...

One can use a Windows tablet in the same manner. I extended it to work with my iPhone as well to control switches that turn pit lights on/off and also store "first responder" material that is searchable.

The person requesting the information is part of a search and recovery team. They need to get to the area of X/Y/Z coordinate in the least amount of time. I hope there are better alternatives for first responders than what I use and a racing-based app.
 
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Zambo

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Hard to imagine anything better for going direct across desert areas than a tablet with a course and trail overlay on top of satellite imagery. All of these apps let you enter waypoints in coordinate format.
 
Mike321

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If you have map version X and I have map version Y – we are not on the same page. Regardless of how great our GPS systems claim to be.

During the Baja 2015 Baja 1000, the lead bike crashed into a truck on a road. Call this race mile X. Behind me was an abandoned Pemex and in front of me was a highway. Also behind the gas station was a SCORE rescue helicopter on the ground.

The rider was loaded into someone’s truck -- he was in a lot of pain, and they took off heading east in the truck. The helicopter behind the building takes off and heads in the same direction moments later. ~ One hour later, both the truck and the helicopter return to the same spot and they load the rider into the helicopter and take off north-west.

We got there early to see the bikes and were yelled at over the radio, where are you guys? We replied we were at race mile X per the plan, we’ve been here for hours. Our friend was using an older version of the course.

I think there were +20 updates to the race course that year. It is the only thing I can think of that cause the rider an hour of unnecessary pain as well.

I would hope a search and rescue team uses the same map and technology. If they don’t we need to figure out how to fund it.
 
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