Waterproof GPS Datalogger Kit - 1 GB, Bluetooth, & Charge Cable

One of my favorite devices aboard Nomadness is the GPS datalogger... something I have used on all my boats (even kayaks) to record every second of the adventures. The generated files, with one GPS fix per line of text, can then be easily dropped onto Google Earth or other mapping tools, showing a complete log of the trip.

You can read more about this, featuring an earlier version, here. The article shows a number of examples from my recent journeys, and the 621-mile shakedown cruise of the new ship in 2008 is shown in its entirety in this image. What's beautiful about this data is that I can zoom all the way in and observe the effects of current, dicey docking situations, and other phenomena... and even tag it with notes that key it to the ship's log, blog postings, or photos! You can even do it with online tools, like the excellent GPS Visualizer.

I have had numerous inquiries since writing that article and posting on various forums, and for a long time just linked to Sparkfun electronics... the delightful geeks in Colorado who build the tracker boards. But it occurred to me that boaters might like a bit more: a waterproof enclosure, a suitable SD card, a charging cable, and a reasonably non-technical explanation about how to use it. So I have assembled this little kit.

What you will receive is a Geochron Blue GPS datalogger, which will record fixes from its internal WAAS-enabled GPS until the provided 1-gigabyte card is full. This is a lot of travel... guessing at about 40 characters per line, that's 9.6 months of around-the clock recording. In more normal use, you would charge the internal Lithium Polymer battery from the ship's 12-volt power system, then pop the unit into the sealed Pelican case that can be Velcro'd, double-sticky taped, bolted, or even strapped to some convenient spot on your boat. After the day's run, you either remove the SD card (easy) and slip it into a USB reader for the fastest file transfer, or connect to the unit via Bluetooth from your computer without leaving the nav station!

This becomes particularly interesting if you decide to install the unit permanently. A small hole can be drilled in the Pelican case (I don't ship it this way, since most folks initially prefer the simpler approach), and the tracker can then be easily configured to automatically collect data whenever it is receiving DC power. You can leave it in the case forever, and use Bluetooth to slurp in the files, archiving them on hard disk (Mac, Windows, Linux... it doesn't matter). All that is visible is this little yellow 6x4x2-inch box (opaque lid to prevent solar heat gain), which can be either outdoors or under a non-metallic cabin roof... wired to a power switch somewhere below. (Black, blue, or red cases are available by special order.)

The main photo at the top of this page shows the full package, and I'll also include a non-technical procedure document to help you through setup, map integration, and ongoing use (with email help if necessary to get you started... though it's generally pretty straightforward once you get the hang of it). Please allow a week or so for delivery; I'm on the boat a lot this season, and prefer to set up each kit and pre-configure the tracker and SD card for turnkey use before shipping.

(For some reason, the shopping cart software is offering Media Rate on everything. That's not legal for anything but books and such; for this item, please select Priority or Parcel shipping options.)