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Main Boards => Gear => Topic started by: SectionHiker on 14:30:53, 29/03/19

Title: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: SectionHiker on 14:30:53, 29/03/19
Couple of questions about ViewRanger app for a guy who likes to use a map and compass, so he can see what he's walking over and not fall flat on his face..couldn't find answers anywhere.


  1) How do you set (or even tell) whether the compass is pointing to magnetic north or true north?  
   
2) How do you read the bearing that the ViewRanger compass is pointing to, so you can transfer the bearing to your compass, or do you have to whip out your map and figure it out by hand?  
 



Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: sussamb on 15:54:43, 29/03/19
I believe it will only show magnetic north. You can also set up numerous data pages and have one field set to bearing.
Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: SectionHiker on 17:09:17, 29/03/19
I believe it will only show magnetic north. You can also set up numerous data pages and have one field set to bearing.




Response from ViewRanger Support:


We use true north if it is available (i.e. the device has a GPS position), magnetic north if there is no GPS position.  
We don't offer a way to read the compass bearing, I will note that on our wish list.  
If following a route or navigating to a point, we do offer a bearing in the configurable values, to the target waypoint or POI. That bearing uses grid.  
---------------  
SectionHiker: Who uses the OS app? They have bearing printed at the bottom of the screen...seems a lot less complicated than View ranger.  
Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: GnP on 17:22:45, 29/03/19



Response from ViewRanger Support:


We use true north if it is available (i.e. the device has a GPS position), magnetic north if there is no GPS position.
We don't offer a way to read the compass bearing, I will note that on our wish list.
If following a route or navigating to a point, we do offer a bearing in the configurable values, to the target waypoint or POI. That bearing uses grid.
---------------
SectionHiker: Who uses the OS app? They have bearing printed at the bottom of the screen...seems a lot less complicated than View ranger.  
I use the OS app and like it. The thing I miss though compared to a dedicated gps is that when following a route it doesn`t track up..that is it doesn`t point the cursor (arrow) in the direction you are going. I think Viewranger does , but I may be wrong.
Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: sussamb on 17:23:00, 29/03/19
VR support is normally very good, didn't know about the switch from mag to true, which could be confusing if it keeps switching? As for the bearing that is definitely available via a data field as I explained  O0
Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: Litehiker on 02:35:48, 30/03/19
Compass needles only point to magnetic north. Strangely, in our increasingly strange world, the north magnetic pole is rapidly moving west! This means the declination (angle between magnetic and true norths) is fast increasing. Don't rely on 5 or 10 year old maps' declination markings.


In fact some scientists who study the earth's magnetic field say we could even see the earth's poles flip-flop in our lifetime! Not to worry (too much) B/C this flip has happened hundreds of times in the earth's history according to geologists.


Already there is a huge NORTH magnetic field drifting westward and about to go under the Patagonian area of South America. Reportedly this area has a much lower and thinner ozone layer that will result in a higher rate of skin cancer for South Americans in the area of the anomaly.


THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING! And it's all a damn Roosian plot.


Eric B.
Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: ninthace on 02:59:21, 30/03/19
Meanwhile on our side of the globe N is going E https://www.grough.co.uk/magazine/2019/03/21/is-it-time-to-ditch-the-old-walkers-mnemonic-as-magnetic-north-migrates-east (https://www.grough.co.uk/magazine/2019/03/21/is-it-time-to-ditch-the-old-walkers-mnemonic-as-magnetic-north-migrates-east)
And of course since opposite magnetic poles attract the N pole of a compass points south so the N pole is really a S pole which means all the polar bears are at the wrong end and my head hurts.
Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: Dread on 11:38:13, 30/03/19
I use Viewranger pretty much exclusively these days. The maps are always set to true north which is fine by me as the app knows where I'm going, there's a great big arrow pointing in the right direction and it can beep at me if i go off track. I miss getting lost sometimes!


You can't transfer compass readings onto a real compass, I have a separate compass app but have never wanted to do that. It would be useful if battery was low I suppose. You can use the Skyline feature in VR to locate points to use for triangulation if you want to. Tbh I find that gps apps are so handy that once you start using them the map and compass become a rarely used backup.
Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: jimbob on 12:06:42, 30/03/19
ITbh I find that gps apps are so handy that once you start using them the map and compass become a rarely used backup.
I agree. I also use VR but also carry a Garmin Venture (Ancient but it is solid reliable) as my primary backup. I carry a paper map and compass in the depths of my knapsack and cannot remember using them. Sometimes overnight I have got one out because just sometimes I like to see the bigger picture.  The skyline feature is great but comes at battery cost I think.  I cover that with my battery pack and solar charger now. And the main reason I carry the Garmin is because I have been caught out on zero battery in my phone and it is my first line insurance. Belt, braces and a bit of string.
Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: Owen on 16:03:53, 30/03/19
Ok, how do you get a compass on vr? I have it on my phone but only ever use it to comfirm my position. If I want anything more I generally use my Garmin but 99% the map is easier.
Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: Dread on 16:10:29, 30/03/19
If your phone has an internal compass then you go into the viewranger settings and tick show compass. It's only a little thing at the bottom of the screen for general reference.
Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: sussamb on 16:14:17, 30/03/19
You can add data pages, on those you can have a large compass icon and data fields, one of which can be bearing.
Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: Owen on 16:26:01, 30/03/19
Still nothing showing so I guess my phone doesn't have an internal compass.
Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: Dread on 16:31:26, 30/03/19
Still nothing showing so I guess my phone doesn't have an internal compass.


A lot of phones don't. You won't get the full range of features without a compass. No direction arrows or Skyline.
Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: GnP on 16:35:46, 30/03/19
I think the necessary gizmo for a compass is a geomagnetic sensor in the phone..there are four or five different types of sensors that phones can have inbuilt, but not all phones have them.
Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: Dread on 16:36:07, 30/03/19
You can add data pages, on those you can have a large compass icon and data fields, one of which can be bearing.


Can you do that on the app? I can't find how you do this. I have the free version though.
Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: Owen on 16:39:05, 30/03/19
Oh well, fortunately I can use the real thing.
Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: sussamb on 16:40:27, 30/03/19

Can you do that on the app? I can't find how you do this. I have the free version though.

Sure, you access them by tapping the Trip time button, lower left.  Note you can change what is displayed on that button by a long press, you can then select, for example, bearing

https://support.viewranger.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=53
Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: Dread on 16:51:58, 30/03/19
Thanks Sussamb, I've got it now. I mainly use the app to plot routes and then tell me if I'm sticking to them. I can see that I've not been using its full capabilities now.
Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: sussamb on 17:22:09, 30/03/19
Still nothing showing so I guess my phone doesn't have an internal compass.

It should though give you bearings, heading etc based on your GPS reading, see my post above about data pages.  You can set up one of those to show the compass or have direction showing in the datafields on the map page.
Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: Dread on 17:47:43, 30/03/19
My last phone was a Motorola which had no compass. Viewranger worked fine and i used it a lot. As sussamb says, the GPS will still find you and give you bearings.
Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: archaeoroutes on 13:22:08, 31/03/19
In fact some scientists who study the earth's magnetic field say we could even see the earth's poles flip-flop in our lifetime! Not to worry (too much) B/C this flip has happened hundreds of times in the earth's history according to geologists.
Mars was the same. Then one time instead of flipping, it turned off. Without the magnetosphere to protect it from the solar wind it lost much of its atmosphere, liquid water boiled off in the decreased pressure, and it ended up as it is now.
Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: ninthace on 18:22:29, 31/03/19
Mars was the same. Then one time instead of flipping, it turned off. Without the magnetosphere to protect it from the solar wind it lost much of its atmosphere, liquid water boiled off in the decreased pressure, and it ended up as it is now.
  As I understand it, the loss of the Martian planetary magnetic field is thought to be due to the planet cooling and the loss of the internal dynamo provided by the molten core when it solidified.  A solid core would no longer have the instabilities in the flows in the liquid core needed to cause the poles to occasionally flip.
Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: Litehiker on 22:07:22, 31/03/19
ninthace,


Since Mars is smaller than earth the loss of its magnetosphere could be from the loss of a molten core. However more recent Mars orbiter studies indicate that Mars was once hit with an angular trajectory blow form planetoid (think Pluto). So that may have been what  took out both the atmosphere and the molten core in one fell swoop.


Eric B.


P.S. I still say "THE SKY IS FALLING!" Only this "sky" is our ever increasing Co2 and methane emissions creating accelerating global warming. I taught high school (grade 12) Environmental Studies for 25 years and in 2002 what we are experiencing now was not supposed to have happened until 2050! Jus' sayin'...



Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: ninthace on 22:36:10, 31/03/19
Funny you should say that - my original draft had the sentence "Opinions vary as to what may have caused this"  as my second sentence but I deleted it.  Another school of thought is that water may have been a contributing factor,  https://www.sciencenews.org/article/wate-may-have-killed-mars-magnetic-field (https://www.sciencenews.org/article/wate-may-have-killed-mars-magnetic-field)
Ain't science wonderful?  Incidentally, I learned about the greenhouse effect and global warming at school in the sixth form in 1967.  It also came up in my Environmental Science course at university in 69 yet Trump and co still deny the science.
Title: Re: ViewRanger and Compass Use
Post by: Litehiker on 21:48:19, 01/04/19
Yeah, Trumo!


A climate-denier president 10 years ago would have been "tolerable". But now with such a small window of time to remediate tings it is a disaster.


Thankfully most big manufacturing states are going ahead with their anti-pollution, Co2 reduction plans anyway. hereinNevqda we are about to pass a bill (after a referendum passed) which will REQUIRE the state electric suppliers to have 50% of there power from renewable resources.


BTW, in May I will be getting rooftop solar on our house that will cut our electric bill quite a bit. Maybe when DC solar storage batteries drop 50% in price I'll have one installed on the inside garage wall.


Eric B.