GPS Speedometer for laptop?

[EagleMark]

Any ideas for GPS speedometer from a laptop? I really have no need for a GPS other then verifying MPH.

[RobertISaar]

i've seen handheld units that plug in to a computer via USB/serial, i imagine a lot of those support MPH calculations.... not mich cheaper than a navigation unit though.

[EagleMark]

I was really only intrested in MPH for setting PCM... but for $50-$60 you can get Streets and Trips 2013 with the USB GPS which will show speed on display. Pretty cool gadget! Loads of info...
http://www.laptopgpsworld.com/

[Lextech]

If you have a so called "Smart Phone" you should be able to get a free GPS/Speedo setup on it. I have an Iphone and have "GPS Drive" on it. It works great. I am a cheapskate, so it was either free or VERY cheap.

Jeff

[EagleMark]

Glad to see you here Jeff! :welcome:

I thought about that but have no need for a smart phone or costs involved, I have a not so smart... cheap phone! :laugh:

Found a 2010 MS Streets and Trips software with USB GPS on Amazon for $25. Think I'll get it as the USB GPS has a good review and that's about bottom dollar for a USB GPS by itself...

[Six_Shooter]

If you have a so called "Smart Phone" you should be able to get a free GPS/Speedo setup on it. I have an Iphone and have "GPS Drive" on it. It works great. I am a cheapskate, so it was either free or VERY cheap.

Jeff

I do the same thing, I have a few different free GPS speedo apps that I've used.

Anything else I've come across wouldn't be what I would consider "cheap".

[Lextech]

Glad to see you here Jeff! :welcome:

Thank You.
I have never tuned an OBD1 or earlier system. I am hoping for some OBD2 activity here. There seems to be a lot of very sharp people here.

Jeff

[CamaroDude85]

If you have a so called "Smart Phone" you should be able to get a free GPS/Speedo setup on it. I have an Iphone and have "GPS Drive" on it. It works great. I am a cheapskate, so it was either free or VERY cheap.

Jeff

Yep that's what I do. I use one called GPS Speedo, really simple, free and even has a HUD that'll display on the windshield. The HUD only works at night cause the screen isn't bright enough though.

There's some neat car related apps out there, got some that'll log lap times, read OBD2 codes/data and g meters.

[EagleMark]

Thank You.
I have never tuned an OBD1 or earlier system. I am hoping for some OBD2 activity here. There seems to be a lot of very sharp people here.

JeffTuning is tuning so what you know goes backwards or forwards and there's always more to learn. Software is all differant. We just started to add the OBDII stuff. I'm about to do the 0411 swap to my Vortec truck (thank you for the effort you share with that conversion! :thumbsup: ) Mine will have a slight twist as I'm using a Moates RoadRunner. With it I will be able to tune with RR/TunerCat OBDII, EFI Live and I think the new frontire will be using the files for TunerPro RT! TunerPro already works with the RoadRunner!
http://www.gearhead-efi.com/Fuel-Injection/showthread.php?1335-TunerPro-XDF-for-0411-LS1-PCM-Project


Yep that's what I do. I use one called GPS Speedo, really simple, free and even has a HUD that'll display on the windshield. The HUD only works at night cause the screen isn't bright enough though.

There's some neat car related apps out there, got some that'll log lap times, read OBD2 codes/data and g meters.There's a really cool app for an iPhone using the Innovate OT-2 wireless, can even wire in a LC-1 WB and it's wireless to the phone and wireless to laptop. I have the OT-2 but it sucks with just LogWorks, only one channel, no PIDS?. It was supposed to work with ScanXL Pro but there is a glitch somewhere on Innovates side? Data log in iPhone and eMail it to youself... I just don't need an expensive phone! For what they cost I could buy another laptop? Still end up needing a laptop so it's a cool toy, sometimes just because technoligy can doesn't mean you should...
http://www.ot-2.com/

[1project2many]

Stopwatch.

Pass mile marker = "go." At one full mile = "stop." 3600 / recorded time = speed in MPH. Also quick and easy method to check if speedo is close. Set at 60 and drive through mile with stopwatch. There's a 10 second window on either side. If you travel a mile in 50 secs that's 70 mph. If you cross a mile in 70 seconds you're only doing 50. Most phones come with a stopwatch.

[EagleMark]

Yeah but that's Old Skool for carbs and points! Won't work with EFI... :laugh:

Well I'll be, my phone has a stop watch. But can't run and app... :rolleye:

3318

[1project2many]

So you can get the time but there's no way to get the math done?? If the windows are foggy you can do it by hand on the passenger glass!

[EagleMark]

I was just being funny... got a big kick out of the old school way, it's amazing the simple things we forget (stop watch, time and mile markers vs computers and GPS)

How accurate is MPH on GPS? I'm really splitting hairs at this point and don't think ther's an issue, just want a procedure like GPS MPH to verify tire. wheel and gear changes done to bins through software. So far I'm down to 1%. But looking at MPH on laptop to verify would be simple compared to times, miles and math. No biggy...

[1project2many]

I was just being funny... got a big kick out of the old school way, it's amazing the simple things we forget (stop watch, time and mile markers vs computers and GPS)

Me too. The idea of doing long division on the fog inside your window just to figure out the speedo seems funny, especially after using technology (the phone) to get the time in the first place. It's the visual that makes me laugh the most.

Non- military GPS data is accurate to within 25.59 feet at best. But there are multiple satellite and ground based augmentation systems which can be used to narrow position even further down to millimeters in some cases. DOT, FAA, and NASA all have some type of GPS system or supplement which may be used by a GPS unit to determine location. So ultimately the accuracy will depend on what's available where you are for supplemental data and what your gps unit uses if anything to narrow your location. If you can get within 26 feet of your actual location and you're crossing distances over 5,000 feet your speed information will be more accurate than most speedometers.

[phonedawgz]

You guys are making it way too hard.

Set your cruise to 60.

Watch for the mile marker. Note the second that you pass it. Next mile marker note the second again. Do it for several miles if you really want to be accurate.

If you are hitting the same second every time you pass the next mile marker, you are going 60.

If you are dropping seconds, then you are going faster than 60. One MPH for every second that you are dropping. So if you are at 58 seconds a mile consistently, you were travelling 62.

And if you are adding seconds, again one mile slow for every second you add.

---
Take it for 10 miles and see how accurate you are. Of course divide the total number of seconds added or dropped by 10. Your accuracy then is about 1/10 of a MPH, which my guess is more accurate than you can visually read most speedos, and also more accurate than you can set your cruise.

[Six_Shooter]

You guys are making it way too hard.

Set your cruise to 60.

Watch for the mile marker. Note the second that you pass it. Next mile marker note the second again. Do it for several miles if you really want to be accurate.

If you are hitting the same second every time you pass the next mile marker, you are going 60.

If you are dropping seconds, then you are going faster than 60. One MPH for every second that you are dropping. So if you are at 58 seconds a mile consistently, you were travelling 62.

And if you are adding seconds, again one mile slow for every second you add.

---
Take it for 10 miles and see how accurate you are. Of course divide the total number of seconds added or dropped by 10. Your accuracy then is about 1/10 of a MPH, which my guess is more accurate than you can visually read most speedos, and also more accurate than you can set your cruise.

That's all fine and dandy if you can actually be on an open stretch of highway, where no one is cutting you off, or traveling random speeds etc.

GPS speedometer is great for verifying other speedometers.

[JeepsAndGuns]

I thought about that but have no need for a smart phone

For the longest time I thought the exact same way. I had no use for a smart phone, heck, I had no use for a cell phone period. But I ended up getting a better deal on a smart phone with data (aka, internet) for less a month than what I was paying for my house phone. After having one for a year or so now, I can hardly go without it. Having a phone, camera, video recorder, and internet with me all the time, is quite handy. You see something while out and about, you can take a quick pic and show it to friends. Your at the junkyard and find a ecm in something with the engine already gone, you can look up the bcc and see what it was. Being able to google stuff almost anywhere you are ends up being super handy. You can be in a store, find something you think is a good deal, google it to make sure, and find out its not such a great deal. There are some really usefull apps too. I have one called unit converter lite, it will convert almost anything, temperature, measurements, distance, decimels to fractions, etc, stuff you never even knew you would want or need to convert...lol
They are really not as bad as you think. I have a older phone, a samsung fascinate and really like it. I also have verizon as the carrier.

[EagleMark]

But the only time I leave the house is to tune a car! :laugh: I have all those things at home and a cell phone just in case when I leave...

I did order the old 2010 Streets and Trips with USB GPS for $25.

[ony]

so i am going 60 mph average 54 seconds for each mile marker, 64-65 mile mph ?:innocent:

[supercoop]

+1 on what jeeps an guns said.
Ive Done away with the landline an just use a smart phone..Now
I wanted to check my speedo a while. Back an got a free app
On my iphone called awesome hud .seems to be 100. % acurate
At A steady speed .but there is some lag under acceleration

[JeepsAndGuns]

Same here, I tried one of those free apps, and at steady speed it was fine, but same with you, there was some lag. I ended up deleteing it because I have a regular gps, aka a tom tom. It will tell me the speed I am going, (most times) the speed limit on the road I am on, and the exact direction I am going in degrees. from 0* N all the way around to 359* NW. Pretty nifty, all while giving you directions if you dont know where your going. I use mine when doing deliveries for work.

[ony]

that stop watch method is pretty acurate,i checked my speedometer that way last weekend it showed that i was going faster than the speedometer showed 4-5 mph, my daughter has a garmin gps it showed 5 mph to. recalebrated the swith in the speedometer head now it and the old ometer is right on with the gps.it should gain 10 miles in 120 miles if i figured the oldometer right, better mpg.the speed limit on interstate 45 is 75 ,2 weeks ago i was data logging got up to 78 for a while which was acully 83 and there was still some people passing me they must of been going 95-100 as fast as they went by.

[1project2many]

I've used the stopwatch with a cop. He asks "Do you know how fast you were going?" I held up the stopwatch and said "Well, I know how long it took to get here so if you'll give me a second I'll do the math." He knew the math too as they used to use the timer method to get speeders. So we got into a discussion about required speed measuring devices, and "regular" people owning radar guns, and vehicle manufacturers artificially bumping speedometer readings, and gray areas in the law books. At the end, he said "just keep it under 52 seconds. I don't want to have this discussion this in front of a judge." Fine by me!

[ony]

i have been speeding with this old truck for 8 years ,got stoped once on the highway so i stayed about 5mph under the speed limit. in town 45 mph speed limit that is what i run which was really 50 mph,i kindof wondered why the city police allways looked at my old truck funny, proble 1 more mph and they would have give me a ticket.:innocent:

[JeepsAndGuns]

I have the opposaite problem in my YJ. It reads about 3-4 MPH too fast. So I know when my speedo reads halfway between 70 and 75, I'm doing 70. Around town I just do what the spedo says, does good, as it keeps me out of trouble! Unless I'm not paying attention and go over...lol