How to easily mark fossil locations/ walked trail/ photo location on digital maps?

[hadrosauridae]

1 hour ago, Slow Walker said:

 Thanks for giving a detailed explanation of how the GPS on the phone works. I have a question when I turn  On my Airplane mode for the phone it doesn't receive cell service  Right? So how am I still able to get coordinates and update GPS to where I'm at when I have Airplane mode on and also shows I have no cellular service? So far I've been taking a photo of the point of interest and then a 4 directional pictures of the surrounding area but My current issue now is I have these images with coordinates but how do I easily display them on the Google map?  At the moment I can click on the images GPS Coordinates and it will pull up a map but the map doesn't have very much detail and isn't a satellite view it's also  Not easy to interact with. I would like to upload my images to something that can automatically put them at their corners and where I can add labels to them.  currently and manually doing it with my Google maps but it's really slow. 

 The Google Earth that invention sounds more useful than the my google maps that I'm using.  Any advice would be great!

 

"airplane mode" just means you phone wont send calls or alert you to calls.  You cant really disable a modern phone short of breaking it open and ripping out the battery. (notice all modern phones are sealed so you cant take them out?)  You can turn your phone off and its still contacting nearby phone relay towers and tracking your location.  Whether or not you can still use data apps while in airplane mode really depends on the phone.  Also, most phones have an internal GPS receiver, its just not very good alone, so they use cell tower pings to improve the accuracy.

[Sagebrush Steve]

6 hours ago, Slow Walker said:

 Thanks for giving a detailed explanation of how the GPS on the phone works. I have a question when I turn  On my Airplane mode for the phone it doesn't receive cell service  Right? So how am I still able to get coordinates and update GPS to where I'm at when I have Airplane mode on and also shows I have no cellular service? So far I've been taking a photo of the point of interest and then a 4 directional pictures of the surrounding area but My current issue now is I have these images with coordinates but how do I easily display them on the Google map?  At the moment I can click on the images GPS Coordinates and it will pull up a map but the map doesn't have very much detail and isn't a satellite view it's also  Not easy to interact with. I would like to upload my images to something that can automatically put them at their corners and where I can add labels to them.  currently and manually doing it with my Google maps but it's really slow. 

 The Google Earth that invention sounds more useful than the my google maps that I'm using.  Any advice would be great!

Those are good questions and let me try to answer without getting too technical.  Regarding how to import GPS data into Google Earth, Google has a web page that explains how to do it.  The web page is HERE, but here are the details:

Make sure any needed GPS device drivers are installed on your computer.

1. Open Google Earth.
2. Turn off the GPS device and connect it to your computer.
3. Turn on the GPS device.
4. Click Tools  GPS. The "GPS Import" window opens.
5. Choose how you want the data displayed.
6. Click Import.

Regarding how your cell phone can still find your position when in airplane mode, here is the story.  Each GPS satellite broadcasts several types of data.  First is what's called a PRN code.  That is the data the GPS receiver uses to determine its position.  But in order to do that, it needs to know exactly where the satellites are in the sky.  So the satellites broadcast two other types of data.  The first is called almanac data, which tells your receiver which satellites should be overhead at any time for your current position.  But that data isn't very accurate, so the satellites broadcast another signal called ephemeris data that gives your receiver very precise orbital information for a single satellite.  Your receiver needs all three of these signals to work.  It takes a long time for your receiver to download the almanac data from the satellites (about 10 minutes), but once loaded the information is valid for about 6 months.  It takes about 1-2 minutes to download the ephemeris data from a single satellite, and it needs data from at least 4 satellites before it can compute an accurate position.  That data is only good for a few hours.  Phone manufacturers realized they didn't need to download the almanac and ephemeris data from the satellites (which takes a long time), the cell phone system has that data stored in its system so your phone can call it up and download it quickly.  So if your phone was turned on shortly before you took off, it has accurate almanac and ephemeris data and doesn't need to download it again.  It can immediately start calculating its position from the PRN code (which it gets from the satellites, not the cell phone system).  But if it's been too long since your phone was turned on, the data will be stale and your position will be inaccurate, if it can be calculated at all.  Also, you'll have a better chance of getting your position if you sit in a window seat where the phone has a better chance of receiving the satellite signals.

 

I also want to correct one bit of misinformation in an earlier post.  When your phone is in airplane mode it is not talking to cell phone towers.  The main reason you put it in airplane mode is so it is not sending out radio signals that could interfere with aircraft radio and navigation equipment.  This is especially a concern for newer 5G receivers.  (Cell phone service providers won't generally tell you, but another reason is that with an aircraft flying 500 miles an hour, the cell phone towers might not be able to keep up with your location and end up not billing you for a call.)  There is a fair amount of misinformation out on the Internet about people still being able to track you when in airplane mode but that's not correct.

 

If you want to know more, you might take a look at the book I wrote for hikers and backpackers called Outdoor Navigation with GPS (published by Wilderness Press).  Be sure to get the third edition, which has a section that talks about the challenges of using GPS-enabled mobile phones in remote environments.

[Slow Walker]

On 4/6/2023 at 8:09 PM, Sagebrush Steve said:

Those are good questions and let me try to answer without getting too technical.  Regarding how to import GPS data into Google Earth, Google has a web page that explains how to do it.  The web page is HERE, but here are the details:

Make sure any needed GPS device drivers are installed on your computer.

1. Open Google Earth.
2. Turn off the GPS device and connect it to your computer.
3. Turn on the GPS device.
4. Click Tools  GPS. The "GPS Import" window opens.
5. Choose how you want the data displayed.
6. Click Import.

Regarding how your cell phone can still find your position when in airplane mode, here is the story.  Each GPS satellite broadcasts several types of data.  First is what's called a PRN code.  That is the data the GPS receiver uses to determine its position.  But in order to do that, it needs to know exactly where the satellites are in the sky.  So the satellites broadcast two other types of data.  The first is called almanac data, which tells your receiver which satellites should be overhead at any time for your current position.  But that data isn't very accurate, so the satellites broadcast another signal called ephemeris data that gives your receiver very precise orbital information for a single satellite.  Your receiver needs all three of these signals to work.  It takes a long time for your receiver to download the almanac data from the satellites (about 10 minutes), but once loaded the information is valid for about 6 months.  It takes about 1-2 minutes to download the ephemeris data from a single satellite, and it needs data from at least 4 satellites before it can compute an accurate position.  That data is only good for a few hours.  Phone manufacturers realized they didn't need to download the almanac and ephemeris data from the satellites (which takes a long time), the cell phone system has that data stored in its system so your phone can call it up and download it quickly.  So if your phone was turned on shortly before you took off, it has accurate almanac and ephemeris data and doesn't need to download it again.  It can immediately start calculating its position from the PRN code (which it gets from the satellites, not the cell phone system).  But if it's been too long since your phone was turned on, the data will be stale and your position will be inaccurate, if it can be calculated at all.  Also, you'll have a better chance of getting your position if you sit in a window seat where the phone has a better chance of receiving the satellite signals.

 

I also want to correct one bit of misinformation in an earlier post.  When your phone is in airplane mode it is not talking to cell phone towers.  The main reason you put it in airplane mode is so it is not sending out radio signals that could interfere with aircraft radio and navigation equipment.  This is especially a concern for newer 5G receivers.  (Cell phone service providers won't generally tell you, but another reason is that with an aircraft flying 500 miles an hour, the cell phone towers might not be able to keep up with your location and end up not billing you for a call.)  There is a fair amount of misinformation out on the Internet about people still being able to track you when in airplane mode but that's not correct.

 

If you want to know more, you might take a look at the book I wrote for hikers and backpackers called Outdoor Navigation with GPS (published by Wilderness Press).  Be sure to get the third edition, which has a section that talks about the challenges of using GPS-enabled mobile phones in remote environments.

Thanks for the detailed explanation. Im going to try using this. Have you ever tried this? 

 

[Sagebrush Steve]

12 hours ago, Slow Walker said:

Thanks for the detailed explanation. Im going to try using this. Have you ever tried this? 

 

I haven’t tried My Maps yet.  If you do, let us know what you think.