Tracking Alzheimers patient/Reports of poor i730 gps perform

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Mark
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Joined: Mon May 16, 2005 6:45 pm

Tracking Alzheimers patient/Reports of poor i730 gps perform

Post by Mark »

Hello, I am evaluating using the i730 in conjunction with Accutrack or a similiar service to track my father with early/mid-stage Alzheimers as he takes his frequent walks around the light residential environs of east Madison WI (1-2 story houses on medium-size lots). My mother is the primary caregiver but is not currently able to accompany him due to health reasons. He is usually out in the open on the sidewalk or in parks, but often also goes into the (small, few acre) wooded areas of his local parks. For comparison purposes, I purchased two Garmin RINO units with gps/waas and position polling to evaluate and they were able to mostly receive signals along most of his routes (I discarded the RINO option due to user interface and GMRS radio range limitations in the urban setting/with the receiving unit indoors, however).

We were consdering purchasing the i730 and trying it out with accutrack or similiar services, but then my brother -- located in a semi-rural area an hour north of Minneapolis (Buffalo MN) -- reported the following:

[quote]i've talked to my contractor buddies about the nextel phone. they say the gps on it is worthless most of the time, as it cannot be in a pocket, in a vehicle or indoors to work. even on a belt holster it's not too reliable, and likely not in a treed park either[/quote]

He told this to me in the specifc context of buying the i730 phone & using a web-based location service, but I'm not sure if that is what his "contractor buddies" are actually doing, or the phone they are acutally using (at one point he mentioned that they have an i530 ... that is a phone with GPS instead of A-GPS right, so it would be expected to perform that poorly if it is an i530?). And I am not sure if it even is the i730, whether they have applied the 8/04 A-GPS fix that I read about here. I am trying to verify the exact details with him and will post them hear when I get them.

In the meantime, I would ike to hear some feedback from others with personal experience with the i730 & accutrack/similair services, is this a fair assessment of the capabilities of this unit? What are your experiences using accutracking in a similiar environment (sometimes in woods, in a pocket or holster -- or in any case not carried by someone who will carry it in an optimal way).

Also, if anyone is familiar with the Wherify Wheriphone product (which I just found out has slipped in availability another month, to end of June -- Grr!) and could compare/contrast with the i730/accutrack combination, I would appreciate it. It sounds to me like the two use very similiar technology (A-GPS), the main difference is the user interface (the wherifone is a simplified phone with pre-programmed numbers designed for use by children & elderly). We are thinking about waiting for that, but I am uncertain how much advantage if any it gives as far as tracking capability (our main need -- the ease of use of the phone is secondary).

Thank you in advance for any help you can give me, it would go a long way towards enabling my father to have another year or two of semi-freedom before his disease takes it's inevitable toll.

Mark
Skibum
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Location: Canton, Ct
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Post by Skibum »

Hi Mark

I use the i730 personally, and seldom if at all do I ever have any issues getting a GPS signal. (especially outside)

The only thing about the GPS that does not work well is the built in GPS application, which rarely gathers a fix.

I think that this might be an ideal solution to your problem. My 730 is currently on my belt, and I am inside my house. (wood)

BTW the 730 offers 1 button dialing... so all he would have to remember is to press a single digit.
I can't be tracked anymore... :(
Mark
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Joined: Mon May 16, 2005 6:45 pm

Post by Mark »

Thank you for that skibum. I've poked around here furhter though, and the follwong text fromt he faq seems to suggest that it would not work if carried in a pocket, let alone indoors/in a woods, am I reading it correctly?

"Because the phone picks up GPS signals from the satellites like other satellite systems (DirectTV for instance), it won't be able to get positions while being indoors, underground or in tunnels. AccuTracking cannot help you in this case, neither can any other GPS-based tracking systems. However, when used in car/truck, you can put it behind the windshield above the dashboard, it should be no problem getting positions. Keep in mind, your phone GPS chipset needs to "see" the satellites to work."

This is a little surprising to me, since as I said I have purchased Garmin RINO gps units for evaluation and they are not as limited in their gps capabilities as this FAQ entry claims "any other GPS-based tracking system" is (e.g. it can get a gps lock indoors, thought only intermittently). So the FAQ seems to be incorrect about other systems, maybe it is overly conservative in desscribing the capabilities of Accutracking as well???

Also, if I do decide this solution meets my needs, I'm tryign to figure out the most economical way of implementing it. As far as I can tell the cheapest basic nextel plan is $39.95/mo (plu sthe $9.95+ for the totalconnect on top of that). It seems kind of a waste to pay $40/mo for cell phone service when I expect maybe 5-10 minutes/mo tops would be used, and maybe none at all. The prepaid boostmobile phone with totalconnect or some other service allowing use of accutrack (is there any other?) seems more ideally suited for my needs, but there seems to be conflicting info on this thread if this will work, and from what I can tell looking at the boostmobile site it doesn't look promising.

Once agian, any further help is appreciated!

Mark
Skibum
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Location: Canton, Ct
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Post by Skibum »

Hi Mark

I just restarted my Accutracking, and it is on my belt, and I am inside my work location. It took a while, but it did grab a location. YMMV!

I think htat NEXTEL may still offer a data only plan. I would check with them.
I can't be tracked anymore... :(
jnewell
Junior Member
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Joined: Wed Aug 11, 2004 4:29 pm

Post by jnewell »

I've used Accutracking and an i730 for over a year and I've had little to no problems with the GPS acquisition. The phone does depend heavily on the availability of a Nextel tower in order to speed the time it takes to acquire. I've seen it take several minutes to acquire in an area with no Nextel coverage, whereas it usually locks within 90 secs otherwise. As skibum pointed out, YMMV.

Also, I believe Nextel has a 15 day trial period, so you can actually try it and see if it will works for you.

Good luck.
---joe
madrabbitt
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Post by madrabbitt »

My reccommendation is a boost mobile phone and plan for this. Its a cheaper solution, the data will still work, and the overall effect works fine.

I have a boost mobile i830 with accutracking as the third phone on my account. Its primary purpose is something i can leave in my sister's car when she goes out to desert bonfire parties, so i can find her in an emergency... I also put it in my mom's van to know where she is, and attatched it to my brother's power wheelchair to be able to track him when he goes on "walks" with the dog.

The i830 is a small robust device, its rugged enough in case its dropped or mishandled, when it sits in the holster, the gps chipset faces outward.

I've carried it in an body glove ion case this last week and have had no problems with it recieving signal.

You have to understand how a-gps works. I'll create a post on it explaining it.
madrabbitt
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Joined: Fri Feb 04, 2005 1:56 am

Post by madrabbitt »

edabney

I730 Reception \ Boost phone

Post by edabney »

I've been using my Boost I730 with AccuTracking for about a week now and while the reception hasn't been the best it has been acceptable.

By using a Boost phone, I am able to get a GPS tracking \ emergency phone for around$6.00 month (although I heard that even the .20 minute web access is not required - I'll be following up on that but it doesn't seem right as it is a pay-by-use phone and .20 a day for web access is about as cheap as I can imaging it getting) I plan to run a small magnetic base antenna and power cord to the phone and leave it in the glove box for tracking and emergency use.

As far as reception I plan to do a full comparison between my 5 different GPS devices (BlueTooth GPSmart, ForeRunner 301, I730 (with and without antenna extension), Teletype PDA GPS, SportTrack Color) as soon as I get an antenna extension for the I730 and will post the results in a topic here.

Thanks, Earl
edabney

Boost instructions

Post by edabney »

ps. See my other post for info on what did to get the Boost I730 working with AccuTracking.

Look here or do a Search on Boost:
viewtopic.php?t=94&highlight=boost
madrabbitt
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Posts: 188
Joined: Fri Feb 04, 2005 1:56 am

Re: I730 Reception \ Boost phone

Post by madrabbitt »

edabney wrote: I plan to run a small magnetic base antenna and power cord to the phone and leave it in the glove box for tracking and emergency use.
not going to work like you're expecting, the gps chipset wont be able to see the sat's as well as they should.
edabney

Re: I730 Reception \ Boost phone

Post by edabney »

I've read that the I730 uses the antenna for it's GPS reception and several antenna are set for dual Nextel \ GPS use.
http://www.cellantenna.com/Antennas/gps.htm

Madrabbit - Have you tried to use an antenna extension on the I730?
Any suggestions on what worked or didn't?

Thanks, Earl
madrabbitt
Senior Member
Posts: 188
Joined: Fri Feb 04, 2005 1:56 am

Post by madrabbitt »

The only way you're going to be able to do that, is using a dual 800/gps antenna, which run in the $125-150 range, WITH a hard install kit with the proper cradle. You'll notice there is no hard antenna connection on the handset. They make clip-on adaptors, but no antennas that work with those adaptors.

We rundual band antennas made by Trimble, with hard install kits for our iden units, in the trucks at work.
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