Have been trying to place an order for Motion loggers and/or LCD Motions with Julian for a few months. Unfortunately, he latest reply, yesterday, to my enquiries is that he won't be accepting new orders for several weeks, or maybe months as he is beginning to fill his Australian orders. (Not a complaint, just stating the situation.)
Our team has sailors who are desperate to acquire a suitable unit so as to be able to participate in GPSTC.
Does anyone have a logger or two for sale please? (PM if you have)
Thanks, Mikey

While you are waiting , making your own is very simple , if you accept something a bit rough. The parts are cheap, no programming necessary, but some computer skills and a bit of soldering. Takes some time doing the first, then you can replicate easily for all team members. And also you need to send a few files to GPSTC advisory committee to verify that it is performing as expected.
If you are interested follow this thread:
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Gps/A-plug-and-play-GPS-?page=2

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powersloshin said..
While you are waiting , making your own is very simple , if you accept something a bit rough. The parts are cheap, no programming necessary, but some computer skills and a bit of soldering. Takes some time doing the first, then you can replicate easily for all team members. And also you need to send a few files to GPSTC advisory committee to verify that it is performing as expected.
If you are interested follow this thread:
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Gps/A-plug-and-play-GPS-?page=2

Have been following that thread and unfortunately, most has gone over my head. Have close to zero computer skills

I really am a 'turn on and play' guy. That's why the Motion logger is the perfect GPS for me.

Mikey, the hardest thing is configuring the GPS chip. After that's done it's just soldering a few wires together and semi waterproofing.
If we can preconfigure the chip, would you or somebody in your team be more interested in putting these together?

Hi Decrepit. Will give anything a go. Basically, if I had a kit if parts and instructions, am sure we could do it. Have followed the DIY LOGGER thread, but seems you need to scrounge parts from old Go Pro cameras etc to get batteries etc. Also, would this device be GPSTC legal?

If you use the right bits and put it together properly, it's just a matter of doing what George is, sending files in to daffy or me to make sure it's working as expected, then approval can be granted. Batteries can be bought, the bigger, the longer the session you can do.
Enclosures can also be bought. But Andrew already had the GoPro stuff so just used that. Have a look at George's endeavour, I'm fairly sure his was all new.

I've had a talk with George on the phone, and I think we can organise something between us

The most involving part is Installing the U-Center software, connecting the chip to your computer and configure it. It takes some time and requires a usb to serial converter. This is needed only once so it would make sense to have one volunteer in each area that can do the job. After you only need to put the parts together with some soldering and edit one text file on your OpenLog card.
I am happy to do the chip configuration if that can help anybody to get onboard.

What you need:

1 - Beitian BN-880 or BN-880Q gps receiver chip
2 - SparkFun OpenLog board
3 - Micro sd card class D
4 - 3.7V battery, you can scrounge one from an old gt device or an old mobile phone
5 - Battery charger
6 - Waterproof case
Some headers and wire connectors, heat shrink tube, a soldering iron, solder and a good light with magnifying glass if possible.

If anyone wants to try and TBWonder info is not enough let me know I will put together some more details of what I have done.

So if a number of people are interested, it would make sense to do a bulk order of the parts. Maybe we knead a new thread?

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decrepit said..
So if a number of people are interested, it would make sense to do a bulk order of the parts. Maybe we knead a new thread?

ABSOLUTELY. Not trying to take anything away from Julien and his logger as it really is the perfect solution to my and my friends' needs for GPS sailing, but if it's not readily available, then an Aussi GPS unit at a reasonable price sounds great.

Having the collective of those in this sport 'crowd solutioning' the need for a readily available device.

If a diy unit can be knocked together and approved for gpstc can I ask can other devices go through to same process? I.e a garmen, can a file be supplied and then approved?

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cald said.. >>> I.e a garmen, can a file be supplied and then approved?

It could if it saved accuracy numbers. It's been tried a few times, and people have contacted Garmin. But we still have no accuracy data. We are also unsure if the "doppler data" it outputs is the real thing.

Here's one of George's sample's. You can see there's +- columns, unfortunately these don't appear with a Garmin.

Update: Julien just got in touch with me and can supply loggers. Massive back orders to be filled on screen versions and much more time consuming to build. Happy days.

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decrepit said..

cald said.. >>> I.e a garmen, can a file be supplied and then approved?

It could if it saved accuracy numbers. It's been tried a few times, and people have contacted Garmin. But we still have no accuracy data. We are also unsure if the "doppler data" it outputs is the real thing.

Here's one of George's sample's. You can see there's +- columns, unfortunately these don't appear with a Garmin.

Ah right, so it's just that not all of the data is available from garmin devices, bit of a shame!

I don't want to discourage people from making there own devices and learning more about GPS's but there are a few things to consider.

First the good things:
If you were to buy all new parts from Australian stores it will cost you less than $100.
It will log at 10 times a second and produce very accurate results.
A very long battery life can easily be achieved.
The download process is very quick and easy.
It will help you appreciate how good the mini Motion is - How does he cram all the stuff into such a small waterproof package!

The bad things:
It is very hard to make a waterproof homemade unit, it will need to to be used in an aquapac.
It is unlikely that a home made unit is going to be as reliable as something like a Motion.
Currently each individual unit made needs to be approved by GPSTC. Even if you make two identical ones.
You need to sail several sessions with your homemade unit and a currently approved unit (preferably a Motion, but I think they may except a GW60) and submit them for comparison to GPSTC admin.

Bear in mind I have no connection with GPSTC (except as a user) but I feel there is perhaps potential to develop a kit product made from parts purchased from genuine parts suppliers and assembled following a set of detailed instructions, that may convince the GPSTC admin to not require individual device approval. But when you can buy a device like the Motion for AU$160 why would you bother?

So if you are tech savvy and want to learn something new then go ahead and make your own. I have a box of approved devices, GT31s, GW60s, Screen and Mini Motions, plus an approved home made unit. What do I grab when I go sailing? Mini Motion every time (and of course my Garmin)

- Do make new devices, the space isn't crowded.
- But do factor in taxes, duties, registration, legislation, accounting, licenses, insurance, liability, defects, shipping, the value of your time and such if you ever want to sell your work. Minis are 160AUD and I earn nothing on them. I do it because 1) I had the knowledge/suppliers of previous devices, 2) it allows you to have devices, 3) the incoming cash-flow saved the whole project. It's not and won't ever be a cash-cow. There's a reason huge companies don't just throw a few engineers at this use-case to pop up a product in a month.

Of course it is a hack and requires a waterproof case, it is not something that can be marketed or supported, but I was down to my last device and not knowing when I will get my orders it was a relief to know that I could make something. I have joined gpstc about 10 years ago and posted 99% of my sessions, I would be very disappointed to miss out. Some in my team can no longer post for lack of an approved device, this would allow people more time to wait for the motion, not replace it.

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powersloshin said..
>>> this would allow people more time to wait for the motion, not replace it.

Exactly!!!
A DIY device is as a back up, while waiting for a motion, it's never intended as an alternative to it.

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JulienLe said..
- Do make new devices, the space isn't crowded.

I was hinting at why I have no intention of any form of manufacture. The space isn't crowded for good reason. You simply can't make something like this in a first world country and sell it for this sort of money.
We are all grateful that the Motion is available. At least now we know we could make our own if we had to.

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decrepit said..
A DIY device is as a back up, while waiting for a motion, it's never intended as an alternative to it.

My DIY devices started that way, but I ended up using them all the time since I found them more convenient when just wanting to log a session, and used them as a backup in "real" speed sessions.

I have developed two different "plug-and-play" GPS units that give results at least as good as currently approved 5 Hz+ devices. One requires an armband and has a display, which however is quite hard to read while sailing.

The other is a logger that fits into a GoPro housing, so I put it on top of my helmet.


Both devices need custom firmware, which I'll be glad to share. Installation is pretty easy. More details about the units (and a couple of other tries) are at boardsurfr.blogspot.com/2021/05/exploring-plug-and-play-gps-options.html If anyone is interested in building one, send me a private message.

I started this discussion simply to see if there were any of Julien's Motion loggers for sale so as to help out new team members who were new to this sport and did not know how to acquire one. Julien has since contacted me to say an order for loggers could be accepted and would be fulfilled in the not to distant future. This device is the solution to all our team's GPS problems.
Thanks again Julien.