RobiNZ Personal Blog

Project Virgle, Ben Elton's "Stark" becomes a reality?

When I saw this post I first thought of the date it was posted, 1 April, but soon after Ben Elton’s novel Stark:

Australian billionaire, Sly Morgan is invited to join the Stark Conspiracy, a group of the world's richest people who plan to save themselves from the Earth's impending environmental doom [by buggering of into space]. (plot via IMDB except for the buggering off bit which I added)

Never know, it may happen  

Official Google Blog: Announcing Project Virgle
Posted by Sir Richard Branson, President and Founder of Virgin Group

In my life, I've had a lot of exciting adventures and launched a lot of ambitious business ventures. I'm delighted today to announce Virgle, Inc., a joint venture between the Virgin Group and Google which qualifies on both counts.

Virgle's goal is simple: the establishment of a permanent human settlement on Mars….

1575 km in 3 days in an Uno

I can’t pretend the drive (red map route) to Wellington for the Pat Metheny Trio concert was an economy run but I had the Etrex GPS running all the time so it was interesting to see how the numbers added up.

I matched the traffic flow, running at the speed limit where possible, managing a moving average of 79.8 km/h over the 1575km distance. Given that included getting in & out of Auckland, a couple of commuter type trips around Wellington and a slow crawl through Waikanae, 5km took about an hour thanks to a traffic jam caused by a roadside fire, it was a respectable speed.

The hills were tackled at full throttle when required which is quite often! The haul onto the volcanic plateau around Mt Ruapehu, with 1000m altitude knocking a few kilowatts off the usual massive 34kw (45hp!) available, is full throttle all the way yet the mighty 1 litre Ferrari still managed to average 5.7 l/100km (49.3mpg). Not bad for an old car!

The big 32.8l fill (Wiri to Foxton) + only having 98 octane, can’t use 91 and no 96, meant it was the first time I’ve managed to fit in more than $50

TRIP Km	FUEL l	l/100 km	mpg	km/l
592.5	32.8	5.5	51.0	18.1
482.4	29.6	6.1	46.1	16.3
500.5	27.9	5.6	50.7	18.0
1575.4	90.3	5.7	49.3	17.4

Supercar Heaven on Google Earth

Looking for an Italian Supercar? Google Earth Hacks has the Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini factory locations for download.

• Maranello - Ferrari Factory
• Maserati Factory
• Lamborghini Factory

Garmin goes cycling with an Edge

While the Garmin GPS’s can be used for cycling, my Legend does many km’s on the handlebar mount, they now have a model aimed specifically at cycling. In addition to the usual GPS things like position, speed they can also measure things like heart rate & cadence then export data to the new Training Center software for analysis. If you’re training for that big ride looks like a nice accessory to have.

Garmin Edge Press Release
Garmin Edge 205, Edge 305HR and Edge 305CAD – a new line of integrated personal training systems focusing on the needs of recreational and advanced cyclists.

My first Google Earth Hacks upload was accepted!

I sent a location to Google Earth Hacks and it’s been accepted.

It’s the track for the Race to the Sky (Snow Farm) at Cardrona, New Zealand. This is used for an hill-climb event similar to the Pikes Peak Event in the US and also manufacturer tire and vehicle testing.

Google Earth Hacks - File Downloads - Sports Venues: Auto Racing and Test Tracks - Race to the Sky - Cardrona - New Zealand

 

Google Earth 2005 Formula 1 Circuits

Google Earth Hacks have a collection with all 19 2005 Formula 1 circuit locations for Google Earth. The example shown here is Silverstone in all it’s glory (Click on the thumbnail to see full size). Quality of the images varies a little but will only get better as Google develop content.

Google Earth Hacks - File Downloads - Sports Venues: Auto Racing - 2005 Formula 1 Circuits

If you have Google Earth installed, you can double-click on the “.kmz” placemark file and it will fly you to a location. If not, you will need to install Google Earth first (available at http://earth.google.com. Note: Requires broadband connection).

Thanks to Aaron sporadicfire.com for creating it!

GPS Dreams 2 Text

A new GPS Blog has some interesting ideas combining GPS, Images and blogging.

Dreams 2 Text

TUMONZ - Updated to Version 2.08 + 2005 Tide data

TUMONZ has another update to support High Resolution Photos of Auckland. Unfortunately only Auckland City boundary (they commissioned the photo’s) so don’t cover the Waitakere City where I live

If you have TUMONZ the 2005 Tide Data is available. It’s probably been there for a while but I haven’t needed it until now as summer only started on Sunday!

The tide feature in TUMONZ is great, click anywhere on the sea and you get Tide and Moon Phase data for the nearest measurement point. The “flow” is shown as a wave but can point at any time/spot to get precise time/height readings. Major and Minor fish feeding periods are shaded inside the tide-curve according to the solunar fishing times.

TUMONZ - The Ultimate Map of New Zealand. Anywhere. Any Scale. All Vector.

What's New in Version 2.08 ?

• Support for the New Auckland City High Resolution Aerial Photos,
• The ability to enable/disable the advanced plug-ins (GPS Manager, Spreadsheet Data Link) to make TUMONZ even faster loading.
• Reduced the CPU usage while live tracking
• Improved NMEA stability & added manual configuration of NMEA settings.
• Other minor fixes and additions.

Elvis's Birthday and Lawn Bowling?

Elvis died 27 years ago, aged 42. If not would he have spent his 70th birthday Lawn Bowling?

Strange combination you might think?

I was cycling today and went through Tui Glen Park. Its an old holiday camp/park by the river that is being re-developed into a public park. Its usually not busy but today was very crowded as there was an “Elvis in the Park” event run by the Memories of Elvis Fan Club NZ  with classic cars, other displays and a sound system blasting out Elvis music (some dancing from what I saw from the bike path).

Then went over the bridge (Yellow is GPS track) and found the NZ Lawn Bowling Championships was at the Henderson Bowling Club, a few hundred metres away, on the other riverbank. I stopped for a few minutes for a drink and it was strange to see, it must be said somewhat staid, Lawn Bowling with Blue Suede Shoes as a live sound-track!

While writing this I found out there is a Memorial to Elvis in the park. Have no idea where or why its there – 12,662 km from Memphis according to my GPS – but I’m not a fan of either Elvis or Bowls. Put them together maybe…

Garmin MapSource Updated to Version 6.5

If you own Garmin's MapSource there is a new update available to version 6.5. Details of all the changes are listed on the download page but some are:

• Updated the default document format to the new GDB version 2 format.
• Added the capability to import GPX documents that use both versions 1.0 and 1.1 of the GPX schema and export GPX documents using version 1.1 of the schema. (NOTE: GPX is also used by TUMONZ GPS Manager)
• Added the ability to batch-edit certain properties of user waypoints.
• Added category and sub category classifications to property pages for map features. This was done to help users better understand the classification scheme and be able to use it in feature finds.
• Added ability to zoom in on sections of a route profile.
• Reorganised categories used by the 'find places' and 'find nearest' dialogs to make finding items more intuitive.

Garmin: MapSource Updates & Downloads

MapSource software version 6.5 as of January 3, 2005
Download (11.99 MB)
WARNING: This software will not work unless you already own a MapSource product.

eTrex Legend Colour

Garmin have updated the Legend to include a colour screen. I've got a Legend (Mono) and will be interested to see what difference the new screen makes. The promise of a longer battery life is interesting and the increased memory (from 8mb to 24mb) is a useful improvement.

Garmin: eTrex Legend C Outdoor enthusiasts will love the latest improvements made to the eTrex Legend C: 256-color, sunlight-readable display makes it easy to distinguish map details and see where you’re going Automatic route generation, off-route recalculation, turn-by-turn directions with alert tones, and icon-driven menus for finding points of interest (when combined with Garmin’s optional MapSource? CDs) navigate you safely to your destination Longer battery life for more hours of outdoor enjoyment Mini-USB port for fast, convenient download of map data from Garmin’s entire library of optional MapSource CDs using a PC 24 MB of internal memory for lots of map storage

NZ GPS Maps

Brent's New Zealand Street Maps for Garmin GPS are now available via his new site.
I use them with my Garmin Legend and Mapsource software but they also come with a DOS loader if you don’t have Mapsource. Until Brent made these available Garmin Worldmap was the only up-loadable mapping for Garmin GPS in NZ. Compare the level of detail in the screenshot from Worldmap with Brent’s Street Map (Version 3).
The street data is based on the LINZ database and with the assistance of partners at Where Are We Brent is also adding extra Points of Interest and other data. The older versions are still available to use with low memory GPS. The Legends 8mb memory can hold all the street maps for NZ. Adding the search data (find streets and intersections, POI) reduces this to about 1/2 of NZ. You can decide what to take as the data is split into different map sections so this isnt a big deal

NZ GPS Maps Website

Waitakere Scenic Loop Ride

This is one of my usual weekend rides. It's a 46km loop (full route follows) that combines a mix of hill and flat roads, suburban and rural riding. There are some good climbs (400m) but the payoff is some fast descents.

It follows the Scenic Drive which is scenic (duh) but has some narrow twisty sections that mean you have to be very aware of traffic. For the most part I've had no trouble but try and get round the blind corners as fast as possible. This is the first look I've had with the new Tumonz Height tool to see the profile. I know these hills well but its interesting to see them presented like this.

All map image/data produced using TUMONZ - The Ultimate Map of New Zealand.

In love with GPS?

I really like "my little Legend" and would be lost without it but love.... i dunno!

I Am In Love With My GPS Tracking Gal

Tumonz Mapping & Cycle Touring

As an example of how TUMONZ can help with planning or recording cycle tours I have mapped a ride I did on both trips with Adventure South.
This is "The Crown Range Road", the highest main road in New Zealand. Its a challenging climb that includes a steep "zigzag" thats fun going either up or down!
I did this in the 2003 Milford Wilderness trip (Cadrona to Arrowtown)and the other way (Arrowtown to Cadrona) on the first day of the 2004 West Coast Escape.
To map in TUMONZ I selected the start & finish point and it found the route. As seen in the Route Dialog this is 30.2 km by road, approx 1.6 hours if done at an average touring speed of 18km/h. You can input any speed to get average travel times.

I used the new "Line Height Profile" tool to inspect the true elevation of any point on that route or any other marked line. The road route is indicated in the map as a magenta line. You can see that the peak (cursor location highlighted by yellow circle) is 1078m high and is 16km from the start of the ride.

Fantastic information that you can get for anywhere in New Zealand. Just plot a route or draw a map line and TUMONZ allows you to run the cursor along the track/line displaying distance & height. You can also get a 3d view as seen in at the start of this article. It may have been better not to know about this hill but at least with TUMONZ you get no nasty surprises!
All map image/data produced using TUMONZ - The Ultimate Map of New Zealand.

GPS NZ Mapping

Own a Garmin GPS?
For a fantastic New Zealand road map suitable for Garmin units look at NZ GPS Maps Website
Thanks to some wonderful work by Brent this is a great resource for NZ land based GPS use.
I took my Etrex Legend for a 5500 km drive and about 300km cycle around the South Island using this map extensively. Even the most remote roads were accurate. I didn't even get lost in Christchurch!