View from above of the surroundings. "I sit high, I look far away"

Chapter 8 How high can we fly? We'll do the impossible, We've got the power in our hands. We will not stop, because we must change Something in this life. We have a voice, a heart and two hands - And we can do anything. Lyn Rhimes. We can If in a nutshell, the answer is: "As high as

We continue our series of articles on orienteering. Of course, orientation techniques largely depend on the natural area in which we found ourselves. But a number of things remain fundamental, fundamental and common to any zone. We will talk about one of these methods today. It can be formulated: I sit high - I look far away. So today we'll be scrambling on trees, hills, rocks and other hills to scan the surrounding area for signs of people or paths to civilization.

So the task find high ground or the most tall tree convenient for climbing. Of course not always physical form lost extremal corresponds to climbing on cedars :), but if there are opportunities, you need to climb.

From high you can see signs of people, a city or village in the distance, the smoke of a taiga hut, the outlines of a clearing, rivers, roads, and you never know what else.

In arid areas, climbing a hill, you can see plants - a sure sign of the presence of water, and possibly an entire river. Also, in the forest, rising above the crowns of the forest, one can notice sea ​​birds, a sign of the approach of the ocean, etc.

You always have to be inventive, analyze all, even seemingly meaningless, information. Flexible mind - best tool survival!

To more effectively climb high, even trees with a small number of branches, you should use shoelaces or a rope. You need to tie the shoelaces and clasping the tree trunk from behind, climb up. Thanks to the additional friction of the rope on the bark of the tree, it will be easier for you to stay on an even trunk and move up more efficiently.

Surely many of you have seen such scenes in films - someone hooks a "bug" on someone's car, then follows the villains along a beautiful interactive map to the very cache, in last moment rescue bound goodie, shooting-explosions-blood-dismemberment ... well, you understand) Everything is in the best traditions of one-time films, I watched it and forgot.

However, such "spy things" have always aroused interest, which could well find application in our Everyday life. Are there such devices as in the movies? I present my new review.

You can’t call the hero of today’s review a spy - he will easily give himself away at least in size, not to mention the unambiguous GPS inscription on the case. However, you won’t immediately understand what it really is - if they hadn’t told me, then I would have been lost even in the wildest guesses.

Let's talk about a GPS tracker. MamaGPS. The manufacturer's website provides examples of using the device - for children, the elderly and for pets. I will not pull the cat by the tail and list its main features, according to the documentation:

Location determination at any time
- View location, moving speed at any time on GoogleMaps
- View the history of movements on the map
- 4 channels for voice communication
- SOS signal transmission
- Transfer of information both by SMS and by E-mail (in the format "street, house")
- Message about exceeding the set speed
- Message about entering / exiting a certain territory
- Service management on a personal page on the Internet

Inside the box is the tracker itself, charging from the network and from the car's cigarette lighter, as well as USB-miniUSB wires - unfortunately, no disk with software, not even instructions. The fact is that the roots of the device grow from the Netherlands, where the existence of Russia is not even suspected. Therefore, maybe the manual is meant to be downloaded from the manufacturer’s website, but I still didn’t dare to dig there - it’s still not clear.

But good deed Ukrainian craftsmen are engaged in developing a service for these trackers - they already have everything for more than understandable language. Including the manual.

Appearance

The front side of the device is made of black glossy plastic, it has a speaker, a power button and a 5-position "circle", which will be discussed later.

On the sides you can find SOS buttons ... Why two identical buttons? That's right, so that the alarm signal is not sent by chance, you need to hold down two buttons at the same time.

On the right, you can connect an external antenna behind a rubber plug, and on the left, there is a microSD port where you can additionally record data. The SOS button on the left side is combined with another button - together they are responsible for the volume level.

It's good that the connectors of the device are protected by rubber plugs - practical. And another nice little thing - holes for attaching the lace.

The back cover is almost matte and there is a lock on one of the ends:

Inside there is a 750mAh lithium-ion battery - given that there are no color displays, Wi-Fi and other goodies, one charge is enough for almost a day of GPS data transmission.

Under the battery is an IMEI code and a slot for a SIM card, thanks to which data will be sent to the network and which will open access to other interesting functions.

Turn on and work

Imagine - you bought a car, and in the cabin you were still forced to install an alarm system, even the most incredible one, with "satellite tracking". A dishonest salon employee (or insurer) reports to the side all the information about the car and the security system, which greatly facilitates the work of the hijackers. They leave in your car, overcoming the standard system, not even suspecting that ... you installed your little “plug-in” without violating any guarantees, interfering with the design of the car and without other problems) This can be done within a minute after leaving the salon, no one giving notice. No, upon arrival in a quiet place, it will not be difficult for craftsmen to find the tracker, turn it off and throw it out the window, but all the information will already be on the network.
The minicar has a nice bonus in the luggage compartment - a second “cigarette lighter” inconspicuously hid there, into which you can plug anything (for example, an inverter or a pump) - it was a sin not to plug in the charging from the device; the tracker itself was hidden in a small cutout designed for a first aid kit. As a result, almost nothing betrayed the presence of a foreign device, while the tracker itself became completely autonomous in terms of power (not counting the Internet). Palevno, yes, but it is unlikely that the first thing the hijackers will climb under the hood or in the trunk - of course, they will first drive off, and only then ... But the whole charm is that you can follow your car in hot pursuit on your own and immediately, not waiting for slow workers in the alarm service - unless, of course, the tracker's GPS signal is jammed. In general, a whole script for the film, but as it turned out, everything works.

In my case, I drove 700 km from Moscow, to the legendary city of Uryupinsk, in the Volgograd region. The trip was about 8 hours - all this time the tracker silently worked autonomously in the glove compartment (given that the device can work autonomously up to 20 hours, then you could find a car not only in Uryupinsk, but also in a more distant sub-sub-Moscow region, for example, somewhere in Yekaterinburg or even Omsk). Without noise and dust, the tracker "burned" our route with a fairly high accuracy - at least in some places the trajectory of our movement coincided up to a meter. But it's better than nothing at all, right?

There are some inaccuracies along the track itself - perhaps this is due to the speed and the fact that the tracker was hidden in the bowels of the cabin (this can be solved by installing an external antenna). When the tracker was in your pocket, the signal was transmitted much more accurately, as evidenced by the trajectory of movement in the park:

Or another "test" - I asked a friend to drive the car in any direction (with a tracker in the glove compartment) and stop. Armed with a netbook and an egg from an iota, I found a cunning and contented face in neighboring yards - already 10 minutes later, walking on foot.

All these are screenshots of the map in GoogleMaps, where the tracker can export its data in a couple of clicks. If you wish, you can do it yourself. Everything is convenient and very visual - almost like in the movies :)

Here is a video to illustrate:

If we discard all bad thoughts, then this device can still come in handy in many other places. For cyclists (memorize the route and share it with friends), for photographers (overlay geo-data on photos), just for travelers ... but in many places. And, of course, to control children and the elderly, who periodically know how to tickle their nerves - as you can see, the tracker will greatly facilitate their search. The only strange thing is that the kit does not come with some kind of case with a carabiner or something else there - now the only reliable option is to put the device in a zippered pocket.

As for the rest of the functions, in my opinion, less useful.

On board the device there is a slot for a microSD card - there, if you insert a card, the tracker will write GPS data that it sends to the server. It is useful if the SIM card runs out of money for accessing the network - the data will not be lost, later it can be exported to the system. For a thousand kilometers, the tracker recorded 48kb of data and another 500kb of some system data, such as "Brace yourselves, I'm sending data to the server!".

There are 4 buttons on the front - 4 numbers for an "emergency" can be attached to them in the tracker's administration panel. By simultaneously pressing two SOS buttons, an SMS with the coordinates of the tracker (address "street, house") is sent to the first phone in the SOS list, and at the same time a voice call is sent. Incoming calls are accompanied by a cheerful ringtone.

In addition to SMS, you can call the specified phones - just press the desired button and "OK". For a conversation, there is an external speaker, volume control buttons and even a wired headset jack - it is hidden from above behind a rubber plug.
There is a small undocumented feature fine tuning devices. So, for example, one of the commands (they are sent via SMS) allows you to make sure that every time the connection is lost, the tracker does not start a new GPRS session - this will lead to considerable money savings, and the operator will not round the slightest session to the numbers that are beneficial to him (in this case, the tracker has a cache so that the data does not disappear). After a trip to Uryupinsk and back, the balance on the SIM card amounted to 191.48 rubles - when buying a SIM card (Megafon Login), I put 200 rubles on it with a margin.

As for the web interface, it is quite good. A map on which the trajectory of the selected tracker is plotted (there can be several trackers registered on an account).

Above - a menu with various settings.

The time and coordinates of the movement are shown on the right - you can select any period of time and see the trajectory for this period. All coordinates can be exported to GoogleMaps.

If desired, you can set "green zones", upon exiting from which (or upon entering which) the tracker will send an alarm SMS message to the phone specified in the settings.

Very cool in general. I thought everything would be much more deplorable, but it turned out that it works the way I imagined it.

Specifications

GPS
- GPS Chipset: SiRF Star III
- Channels: 20
- Sensitivity: -159 dBm in tracking mode
- Refresh: 0.1 sec., medium
- Hot start: 1 sec., average
- Cold start: 42 sec., average
- Cold start (AGPS): 8 sec., average

Advantages and disadvantages
Equipment
Compact size, light weight
Good build, rubber plugs
GPS and GRPS modules in one bottle; microSD slot
Decent battery life
SOS function and "smart" filling
Convenient and functional WEB-interface
Only 10 free SMS every month, if you need more - you have to pay
No lace included
Price

The price is quite biting - about $245. Whether the “protected” object is worth this money - let everyone decide for himself.

The end

I anticipate comments like " On eBay similar things from $ 5 with delivery» - happy owners, write if there is at least export to GoogleMaps ;)

Thank you for your attention.
Good luck!

And here's another bear. Well, this one was completely different, he lived by the rules, he kept the whole neighborhood as it should be, no one dared to breathe, but they respected him - wow! It used to be that he was lying in his lair, and just wanted to sneeze, and already throughout the forest they were shouting:
- Be healthy!
That's how he lived! And suddenly this tear came to him, he said:
- Call me Mashenka ...
ABOUT! Masha! And the next day she said that Lucy, and the day after tomorrow - Valya.
In gave! Well, what her real name is, we'll find out later. And in general, about everything, about this fifa, about the tear. But I digress. In short, this same tear-off fills up to him in the lair, says:
- My name is Mashenka, I got lost. I don’t know the way back, I will now live with you.
That's what she thought! And he, the fool, was seduced. Well, not quite a fool: this tear-off was smooth in appearance, all of himself was so pneumatic, then, again, businesslike - oatmeal she quickly boiled it, filled it with honey, then the bastard takes out of her purse, for a bear, a hundred, two fingers, well, they clinked glasses, oh, she says, I’m wandering, wandering ...
And stayed! It became good for the bear: three times a day he had hot and hearty meals on the table, then the floors were shiny, there were geraniums on the windowsill, there were no flies, but there were five varieties of liqueurs in the buffet. And in general, you understand! But there was something else too. Here, let's say, such orders: until you wash your feet, do not go to bed. She said:
- You smell bad.
The bear began to wash his feet at bedtime, in the morning he began to brush his teeth, began to walk with a handkerchief, and much more. Well, he endured it. Also, she's jealous! Only, it used to be that a bear would gather in an apiary or somewhere else, say, in a raspberry forest, immediately hears - he yells wildly:
- Stop, don't go, you can't! I sit high, I look far!
And for sure: he will climb a pine tree, he looks so that he does not run away, so that he does not get lost with any fox. Well, baba! It's a shame, disgusting to the bear. Although, on the other hand, he is happy somewhere - that's, they say, how desirable I am for her, that's how she dries for me! So he forgave her. It happened, sometimes even on purpose, as if secretly turning into a plot, and immediately op:
- Stop! I sit high, I look far!
And he is happy.
But there was trouble, so trouble! As soon as the bear falls asleep, as soon as he starts to snore, she immediately pushes him, pinches, scratches, hisses:
- Shh! Quiet! Don't snore!
How is it? And, most importantly, why? Snoring is strength, it is power, and in general, when a bear snores, then everyone knows that everything is fine, calm and in order in the forest. Well, snoring makes you sleep better. And here…
Wow, damn it! Well, in short, I got it. A gloomy bear walks, without sleeping, whoever he meets, he will bully. He walks, walks, will return home, eat, wash his feet, lie down ... And already this tear is neither joy nor sweetness, but he thinks of only one thing: oh, he would burrow, snoring properly, so that the leaves fall over the oaks! Well…
Well, yes! He started. And he started like this: first he asked what he could, about grandfather, about grandmother, then what kind of village, where, like hayfields, how is the harvest (hay to a damn thing and harvest to a damn thing!), And then had a hearty dinner, and after legs with pumice washed, scrubbed, then lay down, then everything was as it should be, then she sag-sis - sniffs in two holes ...
And he does not sleep! And he got up quietly and, as he was in slippers, dive into the door - and my legs are my legs! He runs and thinks: sleep, swallow, sleep, rest, now I will not disturb your sleep! Well, he runs himself, runs, runs, keeps his way through the stars ...
And ran out to the torn village. Look, there’s already her house, and the light is on in the house, well, the bear thinks, it’s fun, they don’t sleep, so, he thinks, I’ll run in, I’ll fall at my feet, I’ll beg, they say, take it away, I’ll tear this one off, I’m for you then ... Well, and so on! And he runs up, runs into the gate, and only on the porch ...
ABOUT! Yo-mine! And what's that? And they have funnels in the yard. And the grandfather is brought down the porch, under his ass - and the grandfather thundered on the tin, he plunged himself. And immediately the woman is also on the porch, also in the ass - and also self-immersion. Bear to the cops:
- E! What's wrong?! Pensioners, yes, helpless?! Here I am…
And to him:
- Citizen, wait! And who are you, exactly? And for what business?
Bear:
- I'm so ... I, this, a local beekeeper! Here, their granddaughter plows in my backyard. I brought greetings from her.
Him then:
- From this one, right?
And they show him a picture. He admitted saying:
- Yes she. How alive!
They then:
- What's wrong with your paws?
He:
- Nothing! Look, there's no blood!
And stretched out his paws. And they bam! - and clapped him in handcuffs. He:
- I…
And his back on kumpol! Deafen, yes, it was in the village. Well, he immediately bamts like a sheaf - also on a tin, on a grandfather and a woman. Those yell. And the cops, what are they, they are not a sanatorium, they are behind the wheel and on the gases - and to the city, to the administration.
There, in the department, at first everything was decent - they took prints from him, clicked on the photo, recorded his height, weight, gender. After:
- Surname?
The bear is silent.
- Name?
Again silent. They gave me one, two in the kidneys and again the question:
- And where is Inessa Pirozhkova?
- Which Inessa?
- And this! - and they say on the wall.
And her portrait hangs on the wall - large, colored. Yeah, the bear realized, that means she is Inessa, and not Mashenka, and that means she is wanted. Well, if he was, as I already warned, with concepts, then he answers like this:
- I have never seen such a vile mug, never smelled it with a scent!
Then they hit him again. And after that, just like that, indiscriminately, they kneaded. Kneaded, carried to the medical unit. From the medical unit - alone, to the punishment cell.
And they no longer took him to interrogations, they themselves went to him and there they stabbed him. There were two of them, these cleavers, an evil one and a good one. Well, kind, he just didn’t let me sleep, didn’t turn off the light and asked all sorts of stupid questions, put pressure on the psyche. And the evil one, yes! What he, this evil one, was inventing, that cannot be said in a fairy tale, nor described with a pen! But the bear, he was persistent, fastened. He is silent, he pretended to be a hose, and he allegedly does not know this, and this, but he does not remember this, but he forgot this. In a word, it does not prick. Well, then they, these cleavers, like this:
- Okay, - they say, - we have a lot of business without you. Here, sign here, and we'll tie it up, - and they give him paper.
The bear is reading. About her! They, these bastards, hung on him, the poor fellow, all the dead Innessa's affairs: and that he allegedly scammed at the stations, entered into trust with the suckers, and that he climbed through the windows, and cut his handbags and many other small things. And, most importantly, he traded his body. Well, then the bear could not stand it, roared:
- It's me? With your body?!
- And what? - answer. - Your body is large, soft, capable of all sorts of pleasures! - and on the kidneys to him, and on the liver!
Oh, the Herods beat, kneaded, did not spare! And they also said:
"Sign, you fool, sign!" It's all the same for you to sit now, you won't go out, don't hope. Have pity on her there, ruddy and smooth! Take, fool, her sins, then we will close her business, we will burn it in the stove - here you have a cross on this, and if you want, and a star, but if you want, a cookie with butter. Well, choose!
The bear thought, chose to smoke. They let him go, untied him, gave him a cigarette, gave him matches and gave Inesin a folder. Well, the bear lit a match and first set fire to Inessa's folder, and after that he lit a cigarette and on the third puff he took and waved their paper, took all Inessa's sins. Here the cleavers immediately rejoiced, gave him a quiet finish smoking, gave two more chenariks in reserve for both ears - and immediately he was sent for a speedy trial, and there straight from the meeting room under escort along the stage along the endless snowy native fields and valleys - and into the taiga , and felling.
And now a bear sits in the taiga, shakes the term, pulls out trees by the roots, brings down.
The work, to put it bluntly, is familiar to him, uncomplicated. But it's boring, how sad! Alien side, winter, dark, sleepy. Don't sleep! And don't snore! And do not run away - godfathers sit high on the towers, they look far away! The bear became haggard, the bear turned green, the wool climbed out of it in shreds. Well, he thinks I won't last until spring. And suddenly…
Thirty-first, just under the most New Year, in the morning at the check he is told:
- Go to the office, there's a package for you.
The bear has gone. No, even ran! But still didn't make it. These clerical bastards have already torn apart the package and ate everything that was there. Only one spirit remained. The bear sniffed... Oh! Already staggered! So good for him! Rodimo! Sweet! And the main bastard:
- So, sign here. So, I got 12 pies. With raspberry jam. Don't write the date, we'll set it ourselves.
The bear did not argue, signed. Him then:
- Here's a note for you.
The bear took the note, reads: “I sit high, I look far away. Kiss". And without a signature. The bear wiped away a tear and asked for a return address.
- Reverse, - they answer, - a dash.
Well, okay, the bear thinks, this is a dash for all of you, but for me - native home, heat, light and more! And left the office and went. He walks, sings, his eyes shine with hope, and he feels - the power in him boils, boils and foams, and the term, ugh, is this the term, winter-summer, winter-summer, winter-summer and walk! There is someone to walk with - and this is the main thing!
That's what love is, that's how it turns us around - more than a zone!