Foolography Community

Hi all,

Can the App sound an alarm when the Unleashed has not received any GPS data for a while?

Three scenario's:
1. Unleashed receives GPS data from external GPS receiver only. BT connection between Unleashed and GPS receiver is lost, or GPS receiver has lost GPS fix (= no valid GPS signal).
2. Unleashed receives GPS data from smartphone only. BT connection between Unleashed and smartphone is lost, or smartphone has lost GPS fix (= no valid GPS signal).
3. Unleashed receives GPS data from smartphone and GPS receiver at the same time. BT connection between Unleashed and GPS receiver/smartphone is lost, or Unleashed has not received valid GPS data for a while.

Can the Unleashed App sound an alarm/bell in such cases, just to make the user aware of the Unleashed not getting any (valid) GPS data, or having the BT connection lost between smartphone/Unleashed? Especially in cases the user is away from the camera, not seeing the Unleashed blinking an LED code indicating the absence of (valid) GPS data?
When the smartphone is out of range, the Unleashed cannot signal the user (through the App) that the external GPS signal is lost (no fix, empty battery, corrupt data) between the Unleashed and the external GPS device. It would be nice to have such feature that in such cases the smartphone notifies the user of such cases.

I can recall situations in which I wasn't aware that the external GPS device had lost its fix and thus all photo's taken did not have a geotag. I can also recall situations in which I was aware of the Unleashed not getting any GPS signal due to dead battery of the external GPS device and quickly switched to smartphone as GPS provider.

It would be nice to know WHICH GPS data source it CURRENTLY providing the Unleashed with GPS data, in the App as well as on the Unleashed hardware side.
For example:

1. Smartphone:
- certain sound/bell playing when switching occurs between smartphone/external GPS
- certain sound/bell playing when BT connection drops
- certain sound/bell playing when external GPS connection drops (like dead battery)

2. Unleashed:
- certain LED blinking pattern when smartphone is the GPS provider
- certain LED blinking pattern when external GPS provider is the GPS provider
- certain LED blinking pattern when smartphone is not connected (BT connection lost / App not running)

If this also could be made configurable in the App, that would be wonderful. Some people don't need these features, others need some features, and another group of users may need all of these features. For example: studio photographers (they are at close range of the App and Unleashed, can check the smartphone/Unleashed for themselves), wildlife photographers (having a distance away from the camera, can't physically see the Unleashed, may be getting out of range of the BT connection), travel photographers (those that are a lot on the move and have no time to keep an eye out on the App or Unleashed, for example: driving a car/bike. It is dangerous to keep your eyes off the place where you are going, but you need to be made aware of your camera not having GPS anymore).

I do see some use cases for such signalling.

Is this already implemented?
If not, would you consider this to implement?

Now with the new 2.0.0 BETA firmware and new App some configurations could be made to help support the user in signalling what is going on and notifying the user of it as soon as possible, so action can be taken by the user (like changing battery, switching GPS provider, walking closer to the camera when BT is out of range, etc). It would be cool to have a bell ringing on the smartphone to see how far away you can walk from the camera and still are in connection with the Unleashed to find that spot in nature away from the camera... or when you accidentally get out range, but never intended this...

Greetings,
Unfoolishly

We'll think about the Audible signals - we don't have any implemented until now.

whenever something is wrong with GPS, the Unleashed has a short red blink that alternates with the normal LED sequences.
So if you see that on your Unleashed, you know something is up, and can check your external GPS or smartphone to see what's up.
eg GPS battery dead, smartphone has bad GPS reception, smartphone app is off...

Oliver wrote: ↑

August 25th, 2021, 1:15 pm

We'll think about the Audible signals - we don't have any implemented until now.

whenever something is wrong with GPS, the Unleashed has a short red blink that alternates with the normal LED sequences.
So if you see that on your Unleashed, you know something is up, and can check your external GPS or smartphone to see what's up.
eg GPS battery dead, smartphone has bad GPS reception, smartphone app is off...

Yes, I understand this. But the reason for asking audible signals is that you can get so overwhelmed in the action of shooting pictures that you totally forget to check to see if something is wrong with the Unleashed's reception of BT and/or GPS signals. On the Nikon D90 you had a GPS icon on your upper LC display, but Nikon removed that icon and now the only way to check to see if you have a valid GPS signal is to check on the backpanel of your Nikon camera. A bad design choice of Nikon imho.
Normally you don't look every minute of the day to check the Unleashed for flashing red LED colors, you just plug it in, start up the App or turn on the external GPS device, check for GPS signal on your camera and you assume it will be working the whole day... Well, to my surprise I sometimes ended up with pictures not being geotagged. Too bad! I had to post-production the geotagging into the pictures. Extra work :(

Maybe you can introduce a few types of audible settings?
1. Play audio tune when something is wrong with BT connection (distance, disturbance, interference)
2. Play audio tune when something is wrong with external accessories connected to Unleashed
3. Play audio tune when something is wrong with GPS signalling (either provided by smartphone or external GPS; also when switching occurs between those two sources)

A fine extra option would be:
4. Repeated audible reminder until user responded to the current state by opening the App and fix the problem. Having the option of signalling just once with an audio tune, or with a repeated pattern of an audio tune, more like a snooze function... like: 'repeat audio tune playing after YY minutes until problem solves. Sometimes you don't need extra attention after YY minutes because the problem solved itself, as in a new GPS fix or coming in BT range again.

Actually, what you provide your users with, with this extra option of repeated notification, is this: "if it still isn't solved after YY minutes, you REALLY need to look at this!".
I recall the following moments that are real life examples in which I really could use an audible buddy to bring this to my attention (because I wasn't looking at the LED indication of the Unleashed):
1. Loss of GPS signal (going into buildings with a lot of concrete)
2. Loss BT connection (outdoor/nature shooting: range) or because of some aluminum foil from the sandwiches in the bag covered the BT signal between external GPS device and Unleashed/camera.
3. Loss of battery power. Empty battery. Mostly the external GPS device, not the smartphone.

Thus, an audible buddy in the App reminding us that something needs attention is highly welcomed! Especially for live geotagging!

Greetings,
Unfoolishly