Multiplexing?

[Glen]

I own three GPS receivers: a handy Holux GPSport 245, a Vista HCx, and a GPSMap 76Cx. I love all three of them, they each have their own quirks and advantages. I like setting them to different log intervals - one to time, another to distance, and one of the Garmins to 'auto' - and, using them on a simultaneous trip, seeing the results, which are usually all over the place.  Of course some of these variations are due to the inherent receiver design characteristics, others due to the terrain and external conditions on the day. I have played around with TopoFusion's 'make network' feature to make a better 'average' track, but if your receivers backtrack over the same ground, you can't tell which fork was taken. I was wondering if there is a way of 'averaging' multiple logs taken simultaneously, or if TopoFusion might make it possible in a future update.

[ScottMorris]

Hi,

Sorry about the (now deleted) spam, but at least it got me to look the thread again.  Averaging is definitely something we are keen on investigating and improving in the network feature and perhaps just in general.  It's a bit of a tricky problem, especially on winding trails (e.g. switchbacks).

You're right that the network function right now will average in your backtracks.  It's goal is to come up with the best representation of the network, so it treats backtracking as simply more information on the same segment.

A function to average tracks, given that they traveled the same ground at the same time, might be something fun to work on, but it's a bit specialized and probably not that wide of an audience.  I'll put it on the list, though.  We are going to be revisiting the averaging issue soon.

Thanks for the post.

[Glen]

Thanks Scott! I think 'averaging' or multiplexing might be of useful to a wider audience because it should (in theory) improve the overall accuracy, and many of us own more than one receiver - I usually use two  GPSs on long trips, in case one fails due to a flat battery or whatever.
Can't wait to see what you might come up with!