Spotwalla help needed

Struggling with trying to figure out how to use Spotwalla!
Account setup? check. Device created? check. Upload GPX file? check. Create the trip? check. View the trip? ummm, no route showing. Only shows a cycle where my house is.

Getting kind of late now but is there any tutorials online or Youtube? I've gotten this far by using Spotwalla's information pages.

Skip

Skip - No route as you have not ridden since you set it up, I am assuming. It only is able to store your pings after you set it up. Go for a ride and then check it out.

When you added your device to Spotwalla did you copy and paste the "Raw KML Data" link into the area just below the IME number field?

Another thing....if you have added the device correctly, it may be due to the "adjustments" for the trip not being set.
- open the trip you want to view
- click on view
- go up to the top and find trip name in a box. There should be a drop down arrow beside it.
- click on the arrow and select "adjustments"
- make sure that the %fill etc are correct.

Other than these couple of suggestions, I can't think of anything else off the top of my head.

skipcurt said:

Struggling with trying to figure out how to use Spotwalla!
Account setup? check. Device created? check. Upload GPX file? check. Create the trip? check. View the trip? ummm, no route showing. Only shows a cycle where my house is.

Getting kind of late now but is there any tutorials online or Youtube? I've gotten this far by using Spotwalla's information pages.

Skip

Click to expand...

As I understand it Spotwalla is a tracker / position reporter not a planning tool. It shows where you have been / are, not where you think you are headed. So I think Kevin is "spot" on with his analysis.

Kevin_56 said:

Skip - No route as you have not ridden since you set it up, I am assuming. It only is able to store your pings after you set it up. Go for a ride and then check it out.

Click to expand...

I'll see if I can get out tomorrow to re-check it.

drrod said:

When you added your device to Spotwalla did you copy and paste the "Raw KML Data" link into the area just below the IME number field? No idea about that. I added a "Generic Device with GPX Support". There wasn't a Raw KML Data choice.

Another thing....if you have added the device correctly, it may be due to the "adjustments" for the trip not being set.
- open the trip you want to view
- click on view
- go up to the top and find trip name in a box. There should be a drop down arrow beside it.
- click on the arrow and select "adjustments"
- make sure that the %fill etc are correct. What is the correct %fill?

Other than these couple of suggestions, I can't think of anything else off the top of my head.

Click to expand...

Kevin is correct. If you have not ridden since setting it up, it won't show anything.
My reply assumed that you had ridden. Sorry about that.

So do I go out and ride that particular ride, then come in and upload it and it should show my tracks or trip?

If you have set things up correctly, it will automatically populate Spotwalla and you should see the trip.

The "Raw KML feed"......I use an InReach so I am not quite sure where this is with Spot but look at your Spot account and look for something that resembles "mapshare" and "feeds". Go into feeds and there will be a couple of links, one of which is labelled "Raw Kml". Copy that and paste it into the appropriate place in Spotwalla.

For your purpose, set %fill to "all".

Something else just occurred to me. Make sure that when you "create" the trip, that the dates are correct.

skipcurt said:

So do I go out and ride that particular ride, then come in and upload it and it should show my tracks or trip?

Click to expand...

Not quite.

Go to your bike. Activate your Spot device, or the app you installed if you are using a phone-based tracker. (For me that is the Bubbler GPS app on my phone.)

That action starts sending the "pings" that SpotWalla listens for and accumulates.

Activate your navigation device or app to display your intended route for you to follow while you ride. That device knows nothing about SpotWalla, or at least not for the purposes of following a series of waypoints loaded to SpotWalla as a track. Ride your ride, and follow your route (or not) using your device.

When you are done, deactivate both devices and shut down your bike.

When you look at your SpotWalla pages you may find the activity under My Tracks or, if your ride occurred during a window of time you have designated as a trip, it will be under the trips listings.

Basically, a "trip" is simply a designated window of time that causes SpotWalla to group all of your position reports into a single reporting unit. By default it shows a day at a time, but you can change the view to see more than one day's wanderings if you want.

ibike2havefun said:

As I understand it Spotwalla is a tracker / position reporter not a planning tool. It shows where you have been / are, not where you think you are headed. So I think Kevin is "spot" on with his analysis.

Click to expand...

It is possible to use Spotwalla to record a planned trip using the Tracks function. I have done this by exporting planned routes from Basecamp as GPX files, converting them to KML and then importing the planned routes as Tracks into Spotwalla. This is my plan for my big ride this summer up to Alaska. When I leave in two weeks, my SPOT track will start to superimpose with my actual route.

amorley said:

It is possible to use Spotwalla to record a planned trip using the Tracks function. I have done this by exporting planned routes from Basecamp as GPX files, converting them to KML and then importing the planned routes as Tracks into Spotwalla. This is my plan for my big ride this summer up to Alaska. When I leave in two weeks, my SPOT track will start to superimpose with my actual route.

Click to expand...

Cool. I take it each color change represents a different day? Have a great trip.

I've never tried to upload a plan-- I not that well-organized.

ibike2havefun said:

Cool. I take it each color change represents a different day? Have a great trip.

I've never tried to upload a plan-- I not that well-organized.

Click to expand...

Yes, each color is a different day. If you click on any color, it will show you the date, start and end for that day.

Sorry if I misled any of you but I don't have a SPOT. From what I read on the Spotwalla page I was under the impression that I could also use just a GPS device. Guess I was expecting to see what I usually see when people share their ride here or on FB. Usually shows orange/yellow dots with a cycle somewhere.
View my attachment and that's what I see. Now this isn't a loop but you can see the route is squiggly up to Clayton and then there's this straight line that runs through or parallel to it. What the heck is that?

Skip

skipcurt said:

Sorry if I misled any of you but I don't have a SPOT. From what I read on the Spotwalla page I was under the impression that I could also use just a GPS device. Guess I was expecting to see what I usually see when people share their ride here or on FB. Usually shows orange/yellow dots with a cycle somewhere.View my attachment and that's what I see. Now this isn't a loop but you can see the route is squiggly up to Clayton and then there's this straight line that runs through or parallel to it. What the heck is that?Skip

Click to expand...

I do not have a Spot brand device either. I use the Bubbler GPS app on my Android phone, which grabs my location from the phone and sends it to SpotWalla every 5, 10, or 15 minutes.You need to use a device that actively sends info to Spotwalla, which then saves it and displays the breadcrumb positions you describe. I do not think that is a function generally available on navigation - oriented GPS devices, though some might support it.That long straight line connects two successive points in your data. Hard to tell on my phone but it may be a connection from the last point you set back to the point of origin.It also happens if you travel a long way without sending a position update to SpotWalla while you are being tracked. Happens to me when my phone battery craps out or I get into areas with poor cell coverage. When I am back at my personal computer I can post a sample if needed.

amorley said:

It is possible to use Spotwalla to record a planned trip using the Tracks function. I have done this by exporting planned routes from Basecamp as GPX files, converting them to KML and then importing the planned routes as Tracks into Spotwalla. This is my plan for my big ride this summer up to Alaska. When I leave in two weeks, my SPOT track will start to superimpose with my actual route.

Click to expand...

I didn't realize the Dalton Highway was paved up to the Arctic Circle sign. Maybe I'll have to think about that one - I haven't done Alaska yet!

I've been using the "Bubbler GPS" Android app also. It just leaves breadcrumbs, locations on the map, and Spotwalla will draw a line between positions. It's not perfect - if your phone isn't charged, or out of cell range it can lead to gaps. (It's supposed to save locations in the phone for upload when in range, but if you phone battery runs down searching for cell coverage it doesn't work too well!)

My WeSTOC trip last year. (BTW, you can pull-down the trip menu at upper left, hit adjustments, and increase the percentage of breadcrumbs shown. On large maps they can get in the way.)

https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=120a457be9324e608a

ST_Jim said:

I didn't realize the Dalton Highway was paved up to the Arctic Circle sign.

Click to expand...

Where did you find this information? Curious minds want to know.

Thanks, Kevin

If you are using an iPhone check out SWconnect app to send data to spotwalla. Works great.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I do not believe it is paved all the way to the Arctic Circle sign. Still about 100 miles of dirt one you cross the Yukon according to 2017 MilePost