+plook Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 A week ago I was Googling images looking for an animated GIF of something GPS related when I came across this FREE site totally by accident: http://www.magnalox.net/ I searched the GS forums when I first found the site and there wasn't any mention, but I see now that a couple days ago someone posted in the German Speaking forum. So let it be known I was FTF! Basically this site allows you to upload the track log from your GPS, edit it, and then will automatically pull an aerial or satellite map from USGS or NASA and animated your track log over top of it. You can even add story text and photos at certain waypoints and these will appear at the correct time as your track log animates. Best of all it's really quick and easy once you've done one. I downloaded all of my track logs from my eTrex Legend into MapSource, then deleted all but the one interesting track and saved it in GPX format. This file I then uploaded to magnalox, set a couple of paramaters, then chose the option to automatically lay the track over a USGS aerial map. Viola, my track log began animating over the terrain I had traversed on the cache trip. Took about 60 seconds once I'd gotten the hang of it. Volker (the guy who runs the site) just added a beta to overlay tracks on a Google Map which works great with FireFox (but not with IE). If you like playing with track logs and aerial maps ½ as much as I do, this site is for you. Best of all it's free. I couldn't even give him a donation toward his innovative and very slick site. Happy magnalogging! Quote Link to comment
+tabulator32 Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 (edited) Apparently you are NOT the FTF! It allows you to filter the submitted examples for geocaching on the website and their are four tracks their already! Edited July 1, 2005 by tabulator32 Quote Link to comment
+plook Posted July 1, 2005 Author Share Posted July 1, 2005 Well, 3 of those 4 are mine, and the other is by the site developer, so in a way he is the "cache owner". The OP in German Speaking created his account Mon Jun 27 20:23:57 2005 (username: 4lagig-deluxe). I created mine Fri Jun 24 19:47:13 2005 (username: plook), so you could say I merely did not "log" my FTF until a week later. heheheh But regardless of who was "FTF" (it's about the journey anyway, right?) the site is very slick and innovative. I like to play with track logs, maybe they don't appeal to most other people? I get some very nice results from pulling a track log into MapSource and superimposing it over 6-inch resolution aerial images in Photoshop. But that takes a while and the track log doesn't animate like those I can make in a minute or two on Magnalox. Quote Link to comment
+tabulator32 Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 Oops! You're correct. I retract my earlier statement and commend you for being FTF. That IS a pretty cool application. Thanks for posting it! Quote Link to comment
+the hermit crabs Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 That is a very cool site. Your "Looking for the elusive path" tracklog cracked me up -- you're very tenacious! I would have given up after the second loop through. Quote Link to comment
+cachew nut Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 (edited) That is a very cool site. Your "Looking for the elusive path" tracklog cracked me up -- you're very tenacious! I would have given up after the second loop through. 25 miles and 90 minutes! Eventually the path was found, but only after abandoning the car. This is the perfect example of the point I've been trying to make about parking and parking coordinates. Why drive in circles looking for "perfect" parking when you could just pull over at "any" parking? Just ditch the car and go for a walk! To the credit of the track poster, that's what eventually led to the find. Edited July 1, 2005 by cachew nut Quote Link to comment
+plook Posted July 1, 2005 Author Share Posted July 1, 2005 That is a very cool site. Your "Looking for the elusive path" tracklog cracked me up -- you're very tenacious! I would have given up after the second loop through. heheh yeah. I have a Flash movie of it screencapped from MapSource at 300' resolution that is pretty amusing to watch. But it actually was a good thing that I spent so long going around in circles on that one, because what was in store ahead was pretty unsavory (wading thigh-high into a murky river to retrieve an ammo can tethered to shore) and had I not spent so much time getting to the actual cache spot, I would have turned around and gone home when I saw it. Definitely the most challenging cache I've done so far (and the nice FTF $ made up for all the wasted gasoline). Quote Link to comment
+plook Posted July 4, 2005 Author Share Posted July 4, 2005 (edited) Someone posted this new GeoCaching magnalog called Calavera Lake View. Since it is a log from the USA (and the site is German) I wondered if it was maybe someone from these forums? Pretty cool but it could use a background map... Edited July 4, 2005 by plook Quote Link to comment
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