Map refreshing delay

DintheNorth · August 17, 2020, 4:05am

Hi, how often does the map update? I find it slow to get an updated location and I guess there’s no way to do a manual refresh.

Thanks.

DintheNorth · August 31, 2020, 2:34am

I upgraded the GPS antenna on my T-Beam V1.1 w/NEO-6M to a bigger GPS antenna and noticed the map updates where more frequent. Not sure if this is due to the new antenna or the f/w or software updates. I’m using 0.9.05 and f/w tbeam 1.0-US/0.9.3.

https://www.amazon.ca/CIROCOMM-Antenna-Ceramic-25x25x2mm-Geekstory/dp/B078Y2WNY6/ref=sr_1_10?dchild=1&keywords=gps+antenna&qid=1598840684&sr=8-10

PA7John · August 31, 2020, 6:47am

Upgraded the GPS antenna on my T-Beam 1.0 before the new soft/firmware and noticed better reception (even indoors now) and faster locks (map updates).
Details, 28x28x8.5mm, 3dBi, CF 1575 MHz(+/-30 MHz).
About triple the size of the one that came with the T-Beam

DingoOz · September 6, 2020, 12:01pm

Thanks for posting this. I have just ordered a lot of 5 of these antenna from AliExpress ~USD20 (slow shipping though).

geeksville · September 6, 2020, 7:02pm

btw - the default refresh rate on GPS positions is pretty infrequent (I forget without looking but I think only once every 15 mins). But if you cycle the screen to look at a node it will immediately ask that that node for an updated position.

DingoOz · September 9, 2020, 11:24am

Geeksville’s memory is correct. The current timeout in the Android app for node position is 15 minutes. See line 88 in file NodeInfo.kt.

github.com

meshtastic/Meshtastic-Android/blob/770d2b8d758d7f3a6fd351a4d40ccad07b507eef/app/src/main/java/com/geeksville/mesh/NodeInfo.kt#L88


/**
 * true if the device was heard from recently
 *
 * Note: if a node has never had its time set, it will have a time of zero.  In that
 * case assume it is online - so that we will start sending GPS updates
 */
val isOnline: Boolean
    get() {
        val now = System.currentTimeMillis() / 1000
        // FIXME - use correct timeout from the device settings
        val timeout =
            15 * 60 // Don't set this timeout too tight, or otherwise we will stop sending GPS helper positions to our device
        return (now - lastSeen <= timeout) || lastSeen == 0
    }

/// return the position if it is valid, else null
val validPosition: Position?
    get() {
        return position?.takeIf {
            (it.latitude <= 90.0 && it.latitude >= -90) && // If GPS gives a crap position don't crash our app
                    it.latitude != 0.0 &&

geeksville · September 9, 2020, 5:58pm

btw: this is largely an intentional choice for the use-case described at www.mesthastic.org for 1.0: A tool for hikers, skiers etc to communicate/share positions. In those cases rate of movement is low and if you’ve clicked the button on the device to look at a particular node it will dynamically ask that other node for an immediate current position update.

For changes to this behavior given all the great ideas people have had wrt to how to use this project, that will be tracked in this bug:

lux · September 9, 2020, 8:54pm

@geeksville does the protocol allow for GPS coordinates to be sent in the same packet as the messages. This could keep GPS chatter to a minimal, only updating when the shared coordinates become stale after a predefined number of minutes… currently 15 minutes.

lgx · September 9, 2020, 9:14pm

I hope GPS positions to be included in message, could be useful to share a position with other details

Bussemann · September 11, 2020, 7:37pm

Could these functions be included in the app? or optionally appended to mesages? (or really just be changeable by the user to suit the speed of travel)

also I read the thread Show GPS coordinates on TTGO mini display - #2 by skyde which are rapidly improving the display on the TTGO.

However you still need a phone to text, and while the screen on the TTGO is good for debugging, (and I Love the data it provides) it would be more practical to have it in the app,
so I can keep the TTGO in its hermetically sealed waterproof enclosure while driving around testing. I did some driving today (in my quarantinomobile), and this time I noted the signal strenght also while testing but had to stop and fiddle about to get the info from the screen.

A bit bothersome when checking multiple nodes.

The locate other user function on the TTGO is neat, but only if you know which way true north is, there is no compass in the TTGO (i think, arrow points in one direction no matter where I turn), so tracking an individual is hard without a map.

Sorry if I seem to nag, I am in quarantine, and have too much time on my hands.

Scout · January 13, 2021, 12:48am

Hello everyone, I just got a few t-beams and loaded latest Meshtastic version. Great project.
Can someone confirm if the arrow points to the other device relative to North indicated on the circle, irrespective of my current orientation?
The reason I ask is because N indicating North seems to be moving around the circle as my orientation changes but then N is always about 120 degrees off true North or arrow is pointing 120-180 degrees opposite of where my other T-beam is.
I’m at home now and cannot do any more testing today so I thought I ask.

Thanks,

Peter

Lure.Exciting.Salads · January 15, 2021, 4:12am

Is there any reason why I cant set this down to something like 30 seconds or a minute? I’m currently trying to track my dog with these, and not too worried about the battery life.

I’m hoping with buying the improved GPS antennas and reducing the refresh rate these will work perfect for me.

I did a 5 minute test following my wife and dog around the neighborhood with a t-beam and only got 2 location hits 300 meters apart, and cycling the screen didn’t really seem to work for me? Will try again in the next few days here though.

Thanks in advance!

geeksville · January 15, 2021, 1:47pm

A post was merged into an existing topic: Role of GPS in Meshtastic

geeksville · January 16, 2021, 1:20am

you can set the position broadcast interval to something other than the current default by using the python tool. Alas, there is no GUI yet in the android app to change this but someone is working on that.

Lure.Exciting.Salads · January 16, 2021, 1:25am

Thanks! I literally just came to this conclusion after scouring the forum.

Is this something someone with no coding experience whatsoever can figure out? I know which lines I have to change to get what I want, I just need to figure out how to install python, edit the firmware file, and flash it?

Looks like I should be able to find that on the forum as well!

Definitely looking forward to being able to do that in the GUI in the future, wish I could contribute more to the project! Super excited about it!

claesg · January 16, 2021, 10:19am

Hi, No need to change any code. Just install the python API

and then you can use the command line tool called meshtastic to change settings on your device. You run the meshtastic command line tool directly in the shell on your computer (do not start python first).

Lure.Exciting.Salads · January 16, 2021, 5:14pm

Alright, I think I’m getting there. However, I’m someone who recently casually started using Ubuntu (Which I gave up even attempting this on) so this is back on my computer running Windows.

Now, I have no previous knowledge of Command Prompt, really at all. I’ve followed all the readme’s I could find, Installed the serial drivers, Python, pip3, pytap2 etc.

I ran the “meshtastic” script and I can see
“Trigger power FSM 9
Connected to radio”

Typing “Meshtastic -h” in command prompt gives me the help message.

Am I even remotely close? I have no idea what to do next. I know I want to change “position_broadcast_secs” from 900 to 30 but cant really figure out my next step.

I’ve had a computer since I was 5 years old and I feel like I am way out of my league here hahaha. I really appreciate any help. Maybe once I get this sorted out I can contribute a tutorial for dummies.

claesg · January 16, 2021, 6:02pm

You are close…
Try
meshtastic --set position_broadcast_secs 30
I don’t know how long time it takes to send a position message but my gut feeling is that 30 secs may be at bit small.

Lure.Exciting.Salads · January 16, 2021, 6:13pm

Thank you very much! That seems to have worked. the response I get is

“Connected to radio
Setting position_broadcast_secs to 60
Writing modified preferences to device”

And then nothing after that, so I’m assuming that means it was successful?

I really do appreciate it!

Spor7biker · January 16, 2021, 7:13pm

Using a shorter range / faster transmit channel will help as well.

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Map refreshing delay

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