Cheap Windows Tablets and Rocket Electronics - Any Experience?

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I just got one of these tablets and I have been trying to install GPS Rocket Locator but it failed to download. This is an Android app so is that why it wont work? Is there a rocket locating app that I can use on this tablet? If not can someone recommend a good GPS app?

Yea. It's a windows tablet.
 
I just got one of these tablets and I have been trying to install GPS Rocket Locator but it failed to download. This is an Android app so is that why it wont work? Is there a rocket locating app that I can use on this tablet? If not can someone recommend a good GPS app?

Yup, Android app won't work on windows. You can try some Ham Radio APRS tracking apps and run the NMEA stream from the Eggfinder receiver to the GPS "local" position. Unfortunately, the Ham APRS apps only can decode one NMEA/GPS/aka EggFinder
stream, hence you can see where the rocket went but won't be able to use the app to navigate/track to it.

The APRS app YAAC can do two NMEA streams but unfortunately stinks when it comes to using an outboard B/T GPS source or a B/T enabled receiver. A wired USB GPS and receiver will work.
B/T works in Linux with YAAC

There unfortunately isn't an easy live tracking app for windows. You can get the rocket painted on a screen but to do it with your position displayed at the same time is difficult. For APRS trackers for which these programs are designed, it's a piece o' cake.

Kurt
 
ublox ucenter can receive nmea data, display on a google earth image, display coordinates and save a .kml of logged points.
The only thing I have found that it cant do is give me directions or a bearing to my tracker.
I use my windows tablet with openrocket and ucenter at my set up table and then input the coordinates into my phone when I head out to recover.
 
ublox ucenter can receive nmea data, display on a google earth image, display coordinates and save a .kml of logged points.
The only thing I have found that it cant do is give me directions or a bearing to my tracker.
I use my windows tablet with openrocket and ucenter at my set up table and then input the coordinates into my phone when I head out to recover.

Yeah but can you cache the map for off line use? That's the kicker. If using a photomap tile the storage overhead is very high and to download tiles from 3G or 4G will cost ya unless you have
unlimited data. Caching maps will get them painted quicker than you can download out in the field.

I picked up a Chinese tablet a couple of years ago that is Android/Windows dual boot, has a USB 2.0 socket and a micro USB socket, a weird 3mm jack for the external "wall wart" power supply/charger,
an "onboard" GPS chipset which I have never found in any domestic Windows tablet out there AND a cellphone network/Data receiver I still can't figure out what provider would work.
Oh, can supply power through the micro USB jack. Get a domestic tablet that has these options on it and it would be "perfect". So far there is no "perfect" dual boot Android/Windows tablet out there.
If a dual boot Android/Windows tablet doesn't have an onboard GPS chipset, the google site won't let you download any GPS programs. Also, I can't find the firmware for the dual boot tablet hence
I am not going to attempt to root it for fear of bricking it. I have a Cube I6 dual boot also that was made a very short time with micro USB for power and data, cellphone Data only receiver and an onboard
GPS chipset. Remember to have external power/battery pack as with the screens turned up and any connected power sucking peripherals attached, you'll suck a battery dry very quickly. Kurt
 
Anyone thinking about getting one of these DONT follow the link in the first thread. I love mine btw so im not here to bash the product, just the price!!! Did a little research yesterday looking for a case and screen protectors and found a wide price range. You can get the same thing for anywhere from $54.99 to $150.00. Wish i would have looked around first.
 
Anyone thinking about getting one of these DONT follow the link in the first thread. I love mine btw so im not here to bash the product, just the price!!! Did a little research yesterday looking for a case and screen protectors and found a wide price range. You can get the same thing for anywhere from $54.99 to $150.00. Wish i would have looked around first.

Which model did you find for $54.99?

TM800W560L

or

TM800W610L
 
Consider getting a micro SD slot for more memory. A standard USB socket and a micro USB slot is nice too. If power is fed through the micro USB socket can be a pain if you need an external battery connected and can't plug in a peripheral.
8" or larger is what I like to track on be it Android or Windows. I have a Winbook TW801 and the screen seems a bit small. The Windoze stuff I consider a mouse and a mini keyboard of the B/T flavor essential for field use.
Android only, try to get one with an onboard GPS chipset or the Google site won't let you download any GPS apps. Will say your device doesn't support it even though you can pair a B/T GPS source to it cheaply! Actually, using a B/T GPS saves
your tablet's battery by being independent but it is what it is.

Being miserly on the setup isn't wise if using any tablet for live tracking. That means screen full brightness, no power saving or CPU hobbling. Mission critical stuff add an external battery source. Sure, you just want to run Rocksim or Open Rocket out in the
field doesn't matter but with tracking it does. Kurt
 
The idea is cheap and simple to use.

This tablet does that..and is more than adequate. Tracking software isn't exactly taxing on the system. This runs it. Why complicate what's intended to be a simple reliable setup?
 
I see now there is a difference in memory. I got the 32 gig

The TM800W610L is the 2017 model and has a better processor, I believe. I purchased the -610L and am happy with it so far. Got it for $80. I ran RockSim just fine. I now need to install all of my other programs.
 
The idea is cheap and simple to use.

This tablet does that..and is more than adequate. Tracking software isn't exactly taxing on the system. This runs it. Why complicate what's intended to be a simple reliable setup?

Simple is good but unless one is running Ham Radio APRS software. I believe most new users who do GPS tracking are using the unlicensed stuff. If you want a photomap for Beeline GPS APRS trackers, APRSISCE/32 is the tracking app to
learn. Any tablet is fine but this is the only program that can deal with WinBlows Bluetooth idiosyncrasies satisfactorily. If you want to live track and carry the device out to recovery I suggest B/T peripherals as jostling USB cable connections
will screw things up. If you just want to "watch" from a stationary position then cable connections can be fine. If the device has a standard USB 2.0 or 3.0 socket, you have the option to feed power through the micro USB socket and still be
able to plug in an outboard peripheral if you want without having to dink with "adapter" cables that may or may not work.

Oh, APRSISCE/32 can to the EggFinder/Missileworks/ArtsII and any other NMEA tracker that can put the strings out to a definable port but it is a little chore to setup two instances. Once setup, it's rocket steady. Again the learning curve is
very high for the program but it is very rock steady in that I can pair my local B/T GPS source for local position, pair my EggFinder LCD (and I suspect the Missileworks GPS receiver would work too.) fire up the respective instances of APRSISCE/32
and the program works rock steady every time.

If a neophyte wants to live maptrack with the NMEA trackers "GPS Rocket Locator" has the lowest learning curve out there. That's where I'd tell a beginner to go. Get a program up that will live track the rocket and you don't have to diddle with
inputting data manually into another app AND you will be able to carry it along with you on the recovery because invariably if one moves on to totally sight unseen flights, they will lose the signal when the rocket is down. If you go to the last known
position and see no rocket then what? You got your map tracker on you, you'll likely would have been receiving a final ground position while in the "ground footprint" of the tracker so you can continue on to the rocket's resting place. If you still don't have a signal, you might be able to develop a trend line from GPS Rocket Locator although this program doesn't do "bread crumbing" like APRSISCE/32 does. GPSRL just gives a datum line from your position to the rocket. Bread crumbing paints positions spots on the screen and draws lines between them. That is highly desirable with extreme flying. Kurt
 
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Simple is good but unless one is running Ham Radio APRS software. I believe most new users who do GPS tracking are using the unlicensed stuff. If you want a photomap for Beeline GPS APRS trackers, APRSISCE/32 is the tracking app to
learn. Any tablet is fine but this is the only program that can deal with WinBlows Bluetooth idiosyncrasies satisfactorily. If you want to live track and carry the device out to recovery I suggest B/T peripherals as jostling USB cable connections
will screw things up. If you just want to "watch" from a stationary position then cable connections can be fine. If the device has a standard USB 2.0 or 3.0 socket, you have the option to feed power through the micro USB socket and still be
able to plug in an outboard peripheral if you want without having to dink with "adapter" cables that may or may not work.

Oh, APRSISCE/32 can to the EggFinder/Missileworks/ArtsII and any other NMEA tracker that can put the strings out to a definable port but it is a little chore to setup two instances. Once setup, it's rocket steady. Again the learning curve is
very high for the program but it is very rock steady in that I can pair my local B/T GPS source for local position, pair my EggFinder LCD (and I suspect the Missileworks GPS receiver would work too.) fire up the respective instances of APRSISCE/32
and the program works rock steady every time.

If a neophyte wants to live maptrack with the NMEA trackers "GPS Rocket Locator" has the lowest learning curve out there. That's where I'd tell a beginner to go. Get a program up that will live track the rocket and you don't have to diddle with
inputting data manually into another app AND you will be able to carry it along with you on the recovery because invariably if one moves on to totally sight unseen flights, they will lose the signal when the rocket is down. If you go to the last known
position and see no rocket then what? You got your map tracker on you, you'll likely would have been receiving a final ground position while in the "ground footprint" of the tracker so you can continue on to the rocket's resting place. If you still don't have a signal, you might be able to develop a trend line from GPS Rocket Locator although this program doesn't do "bread crumbing" like APRSISCE/32 does. GPSRL just gives a datum line from your position to the rocket. Bread crumbing paints positions spots on the screen and draws lines between them. That is highly desirable with extreme flying. Kurt

Kurt,

Your posts are too long man! I am sure that they're filled with a lot of information, but I'm saying that the AIM Xtra, tablet, and a Garmin Etrex or smart phone mapping app make for a very easy to use tracking system. Fly rocket, enter last coordinate into Etrex, go to rocket.

I don't necessarily care about caching maps, having a GPS in the base tablet, or any of that. I use it purely as a receiver. It works to our waiver, hence my sharing my experience.
 
Kurt,

Your posts are too long man! I am sure that they're filled with a lot of information, but I'm saying that the AIM Xtra, tablet, and a Garmin Etrex or smart phone mapping app make for a very easy to use tracking system. Fly rocket, enter last coordinate into Etrex, go to rocket.

I don't necessarily care about caching maps, having a GPS in the base tablet, or any of that. I use it purely as a receiver. It works to our waiver, hence my sharing my experience.

As long as you can input data into your Etrex and your rocket is nearby the last known position, you will usually be able to find the rocket. The extreme situation is where a rocket drifts for a few miles and there is a premature loss of signal.
One's last received position might be quite a distance away from the landing site. If you carry your tracker with you and are within the ground footprint of the tracker, you'll get a new position to guide you as long as it has a satellite lock.

The edge with live map tracking is with a bread crumb track on a map screen, you can see the drift trend as the rocket was at lower altitude before loss of signal (LOS). You get to the LOS site and no rocket or no signal you proceed in the
direction your map suggests to reacquire the signal for final recovery. You track by last known position in your Etrex and you might be in a situation if your receiver isn't picking up a new position.

True, with most rockets coming down in 1.5 miles you'll be able to input into your Etrex and go right to and if it's not there, it's nearby so always carry your receiver with you.

John Beans of Jolly Logic fame is exploring a GPS mesh technology where one has a tracking transceiver. There is no transmitter or receiver the device does both. Would need a minimum of two and this is the funky part. My rocket goes out of range and I have
a last known position on my ground transceiver. Your rocket with one of his mesh transceivers say flies over my rocket and communicates with tracker and relays it's position back to the receiver at the launchsite.
Your rocket flying over will have a better fix on the final position flying on high.

Could also put a transceiver on a tethered balloon so it's up in the air 100 feet or more. It can "see" more of the ground from up there so a rocket on the ground out of range of a ground based transceiver can be "heard" from up there and the position
relayed back down to "base"

Another scenario is put one of these mesh transceivers on a Drone and fly it out up high to where one thinks an errant rocket went. If it receives a position from the "grounded/lost" rocket being up high and with better radio propagation it can
send the downed rockets position back to the launchsite base.

Even though the current state of GPS tracking is sufficient for 95% of us this "mesh" setup would make it darn near impossible to lose one's rocket as long as the device doesn't lose power or come in ballistic way out of range.

Heck, people have posted pictures of ballistic rockets sticking out of the ground where the GPS died, but not before it got out a few positions before it hit. I had one of those and with a glass rocket maybe new electronics, nosecone and back in business.
In my case, I would not have found it without the GPS tracker as the rocket completely disappeared. It did not land that far away either.

Sorry for being wordy but I'm getting excited of the prospect of a simpler live map tracking system anyone can use instead of all the gobbly-gook I've had to do. I'll tell you it's about as close to worry free flying as you can get as long
as you don't get a CATO or in flight failure. Finding it becomes the easier part of the flight so you can get it and fly the next one. Kurt
 
Balloons? Drones? Why not just hire chuck Norris to push the button and command the rocket back?
 
Balloons? Drones? Why not just hire chuck Norris to push the button and command the rocket back?

Tell that to John Beans. I suspect the current state of GPS tracking on the 33cm/900Mhz band is satisfactory for the all the sport fliers out there. Tweaking this way and that buys a little more range
but it's all that's needed. Kurt (Short enough now? :blush:):lol:
 
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