I've recently had the opportunity to test-drive the AMOD AGL3080 GPS Logger. For the past three weeks I've been within 15 feet of the AGL3080 at all times. It's sat in my pocket, on my car dash, in my backpack and I've even carried it around the house in my hand- Just to get a feel for it.
And... I'm impressed.
My DG-100 has a serious contender for pocket-space in my future photowalks.
Here's why:
History
AGL3080 Front. 3 status LEDs: memory full, satellite lock, low battery... yummy.
AMOD has recently relaunched the AGL3080. Their first-gen release was sadly flawed and suffered from susceptibility to RF interference, making the GPS module very inaccurate. AMOD seems to be pretty actively chasing down owners of their first-gen device, and offering upgrades, so if you own an old AGL3080, you should get in touch with them! The new version works flawlessly.
Drivers & Formats
The AGL3080 is a driverless GPS logger, which means it mounts as a USB external drive. If you read my blog post about the DG-100, you know that driver issues with many GPS devices can be a #*$@!'ing nightmare, especially if you're on a Mac!
The AGL3080 saves each GPS track in NMEA format (although oddly enough, it gives each file a .log extension, so make sure GPSbabel doesn't mislabel it as a Geogrid file!)
Convert your file into GPX format to use with GPS Photo Linker or HoudahGeo, or convert it to KML or KMZ to throw into Google Earth.
The device uses the SiRF III chipset, which, personally, is the only chip I trust for good reliability & accuracy- especially in urban environments. (Recently, I've heard good things about the Nemerix chipset used in devices like the iBlue, but it still doesn't have the sensitivity of the SiRFstar III chipset, so no cookie for you.)
This puts the AGL3080 as a front-runner among the small handful of GPS loggers worth considering.
Form & Function
AGL3080 Back. 3 AAA batteries for 15 hours of continuous use. No USB-charging, though.
The AGL3080 takes 3 AAA batteries for about 15 hours of use per charge. It's very sleek & solid and it fits perfectly in my hand or in my pocket, however it's not as flat as the DG-100, so it doesn't stay put on the car dash quite as nicely. The front is smooth & glossy and the The battery-compartment door (frequently the first part to break on many of my devices) is rugged and easy to open. It has a built-in carabiener hoop, à la Sony GPS-CS1. (Similar to the Sony, the provided carabiener and strap are shite, replace ASAP.)
As I find myself slowly adapting to life in Japan, the carabiener hoop is begging me for a cute dangling cell-phone toy. Update on that to follow.
The device logs position, altitude, heading, speed, acquired satellites, hdop & vdop every 1 second and saves it to its 128mb of flash memory. It creates a new log file for every time the power is cycled, so it's fairly easy to identify tracks if you're looking for a particular day's data.
Sample GPX output. The AGL3080 logs: lat, lon, elevation, heading, speed, satellites, hdop & vdop @ 1Hz. Impressive. Textmate screenshot using skitch.
Richard Akerman has identified an interesting quirk where the log files are missing the standard filesystem created/modified datestamps, though it doesn't seem to affect the data.
While 1Hz logging may be a tad on the excessive side, it provides very good resolution (although I would recommend using a quick GPSBabel filter at download to strip out excess track points within 5m. You can chop your GPX file size by about 2/3 with no reduction to your precious data.)
The AGL3080 won't recharge your batteries over USB like many other devices. Instead, go buy a good wall-mount battery charger. Your rechargeables will charge faster and stay healthy for much longer. Still, it's a feature that many will find important in chosing their first GPS logger and sadly the AGL3080 doesn't support it.
Bottom line
AGL3080 & DG-100. Both devices use the SiRF III Chipset for near identical results. Shown: Route 38 - Takikawa (滝川) to Ashibetsu (芦別), Hokkaido, Japan on Google Earth
Okay- here's the verdict. The AGL3080 hands down beats the DG-100 for one reason and one reason only. Data.
We geocoders are interested in collecting quality GPS data to tag our photos, videos, blog posts, etc. My DG-100 logs only a small subset of available GPS data. (position, altitude and speed) The AGL3080 logs position, altitude, speed, heading, acquired satellites, hdop and vdop (Dilution of precision... look it up.) USB-charging and logging frequency are one way to evaluate a device, but if it doesn't log every single piece of available GPS information, why bother carrying it around with you?
This, of course, is extremely subjective. Some people don't place as much importance on maximum GPS data; they want the smallest device possible, or USB charging- and that's all fine; there are plenty of other GPS devices on the market that are better suited for those criteria. But for me- it's all about the data.
Oh- and the fact that it will work on my Mac without spending a few dozen hours hacking around with a C script is pretty cool too. =)
You can get your hands on a AMOD AGL3080 through semsons, amazon.com or you can contact AMOD directly.
Review & Photography © Kevin Jaako, 2008. All rights reserved.
Comments
Wed, 10/21/2009 - 06:20
Anybody having a problem getting correct altitude from the V-900? Just bought mine and altitude data seems bogus.
Tue, 10/20/2009 - 11:04
Very good review there. Awesome information.
Thu, 10/01/2009 - 03:16
I am surprised to see AGL3080 works based on AAA type batteries, do you have any recommendations? I doubt all the batteries will keep it working for 15 hours.
Wed, 07/01/2009 - 09:59
First, thanks for all the information and help you provide.
Now the problem, I have been looking at to many reviews. I am looking for a simple, easy to use GPS logger for recording my family's trip across the country and Geo tagging our pictures. I have been looking at the Amod AGL3080, Columbus V-900 and Holux M-241. Which unit would you suggest? The display on the Holux attracts my attention because of other activites such as camping. You can display your current position or the distance that you have traveled (straight line or by points).
Thanks in advance.
Tue, 06/16/2009 - 15:12
this device is really the one who are considering to buy a photo tracker as well. I bought mine at bedoxinc.com . They offer a free windshield mount with this unit.
Sat, 05/09/2009 - 19:09
Thanks, Kevin! I think I'll go with extra sets of batteries. The Columbus has an internal battery and that won't be so convenient as I will not have access to power for parts of my trip.
Fri, 05/08/2009 - 17:53
Hi Jay,
Nope, sorry.
The AGL3080's SiRF III chip (the actual GPS chip) stays on and powered 100% of the time, regardless of which logging frequency you chose. Saving data to memory uses a fraction of the power that it takes to keep the SiRF III GPS chip running.
You'd be better off either investing in a few sets of rechargeable batteries or buying cheap disposable batteries in bulk. You can also look into GPS dataloggers based on the MTK chipset, such as the Columbus v900 , which can get almost twice as many hours per charge as SiRF III based loggers and investing in a solar-powered recharging device.
I hope this helps!
KJ
Fri, 05/08/2009 - 08:51
Great review! I am also going on a long trip and it won't be practical to bring a large number of extra batteries nor can I buy batteries while on the trip... I was wondering if battery life will improve much if I change the recording frequency from once per second to once every 5 or 10 seconds? Will this allow me to keep the unit running for 5 or 10x as long on a single set of batteries? Thanks!
Tue, 05/05/2009 - 22:37
Hey Mitchell,
Correct!
The AGL3080 EASILY has a week's worth of storage capacity. You should have no problem waiting a week before downloading and sync'ing your data. Just make sure you shut down the AGL3080 properly every night before changing batteries! As long as you remember to shut down before changing batteries, your data will be safe and sound, even without any batteries in the unit!
Good luck!
KJ
Tue, 05/05/2009 - 09:56
Ah. I misinterpreted the manual's saying "Battery cannot be removed while the AGL3080 is still turned on and functioning. If this happened, the power to the device will be out. This power outage will cause the logged GPS data not being properly saved and thus permanently lost." The operative phrase there is "turned on and functioning."
I actually meant take out one battery then put in a one fresh then take out the next one, etc. The idea being to keep a little charge going in to maintain the data. But you say data is maintained in ROM anyway.
So, if I'm in 10 second sample mode for a 12 day trip, you're feeling is I can just turn the unit on in the morning, off at night, change the batteries, rinse and repeat every day... and I won't have to sync the data with the photos till I get home from the trip 12 days later?
Thanks so much for tolerating the rube.
Mitchell
Mon, 05/04/2009 - 23:51
Hey Mitchell, good questions!
GMT.
Nope!
Just like a USB-key, the data remains until you delete it with your computer...
That's actually not a very good idea. Having 2 drained batteries and 1 full one will put so much load on the full battery it will drain much quicker than normal. It's best to get as much "juice" out of the batteries as possible, and change them all together!
Hope this helps! Thanks for stopping by,
KJ
Mon, 05/04/2009 - 23:21
Hi Kevin --
Great review and discussion follow-through.
"The AMOD AGL3080 gets its timestamp from the GPS signal, so it always has the correct time."
Will it be local time or GMT?
When I put in new batteries, is the data lost? I'm going on a 14 day trip and would prefer to not have to go through a nightly sync ritual -- and only download the data at the end of the trip. (I'll be using the 10 second sample mode.) What about if I just change the batteries one at a time?
Thanks very much.
Tue, 04/07/2009 - 06:22
Look at this device: http://www.columbus-gps.de
Tue, 03/31/2009 - 09:05
Awesome review. Good one.
Fri, 02/13/2009 - 08:54
Hi Al,
good question.
The AMOD AGL3080 gets its timestamp from the GPS signal, so it always has the correct time. The only thing to make sure is that your Camera's time is set perfectly. My camera (Canon EOS 30d) comes with software that perfectly syncs the camera time to my computer, so personally I don't really have to worry about it. (my computer clock is auto synced too)
If you need to set your camera's clock manually, you can always set it for one minute in the future, but don't press [OK]. Then as the seconds roll over 58...59...00, hit okay and your camera will be synced. (as long as you're watching an accurate clock)
Once you've downloaded your photos and your GPS tracks, software will match up the two timestamps and geotag the photos accordingly.
The only important thing is to make sure your camera's clock is set accurately.
Cheers,
KJ
Fri, 02/13/2009 - 01:14
Very good information.
Here's something that I haven't seen anywhere:
How does one sync the time on the AMOD with the time on your camera? That's the most important step in assuring your photos' time stamp will match the time on the AMOD.
Thanks!
A
Sat, 02/07/2009 - 22:08
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for the advice. I'll give GPSPhotoLinker a try.
I poked around iPhoto with ctrl-click and option-clicked in the menu's, but could find anything to refresh the photos. Nice thought, though.
Cheers
Sat, 02/07/2009 - 21:11
Hi Dan,
Bundled software that ships with GPS devices usually suck. GPS companies often like to spend money on hardware, and think that the software doesn't matter. I'm a big fan of GPSPhotoLinker; I've used it since the very beginning. The developer is a really cool guy, and has always welcomed my questions and suggestions, and it's free!
Thanks for your investigation on iPhoto '09. Did you notice if there's a refresh option buried somewhere, in a ctrl-click menu somewhere?
Sergey,
Easily! The AGL3080 has 128mb of internal memory. It takes much more than 3 weeks of logging to fill this up.
Around 18 hours, give or take. I usually bring 2 or 3 sets with me when I'm traveling, and cycle between them. (and i ALWAYS keep a set of disposable alkalines with me too... just in case)
Either the AMOD AGL3080, or the Columbus v900, my newest GPS logger.
Rick,
No problems! All questions are welcomed here. Are you looking for navigation software or tracking software (such as fleet management) ? If you're interested in navigation software, I just answered a similar question in my Columbus v900 review. If you're looking for tracking/fleet management, you're starting to look into a very specialized field that is totally out of my area of expertise!
Thanks guys, good luck!
KJ
Sat, 02/07/2009 - 07:25
Hey, I am sorry if this is not appropriate, but I have been looking for a good gps tracking system for my car. There are a lot of them out there, but I found one that looks pretty good. I was just wondering if anyone has ever heard of them. I am looking for personal experiences before purchasing. The site is www.gpstrackpro.com .
Any help would be great.
Thanks
Rick
Sat, 02/07/2009 - 04:32
Hi,
First of all, thanks a lot for the review.
I'm planning to purchase a kind of tracking software to use it in my trips. It's not that easy to order it with delivery to Ukraine, therefore I have to chose the right one without buying a few and choosing the best :)
I was looking to TrackStick II GPS but looks like this AMOD model has better capabilities and feedbacks
Given your experience with the device, could you please shed some light on two questions:
- How many hours of data can it save in memory? What's the filesize of hour-long track? E.g. would it have enough 2 or 3 weeks of data?
- How many hours does it usually work from 3 high-quality AAA batteries?
- Which model of GPS tracker would you recommend me? :) I'm planning to write tracks to visualize the trips at the map later on. Less focus to geotagging photos; more - to statistics and trip history.
Thanks in advance!
Sergey
Fri, 02/06/2009 - 11:03
I received the AGL3080 a couple of days ago from Amazon. The first thing I did was upgraded the firmware to 2.2 (SN off) and then tested it around town with my camera.
I'm not too thrilled with the Jephoto software. For some reason my waypoints wouldn't show up in the waypoint window. I also found it, not difficult, but not easy either, to sync the photos with the correct time. I would have thought you could grab a photo and drop it on a track line to sync all the photos. A wish list item, I guess.
I searched for other software, but it's slim pickings for a Mac. I ended up using HoudahGeo, syncing was still a pain, but it was a lot simpler to tag the photos. Anyway...to the point...the geotags added to photos already imported in iPhoto isn't recognized by iPhoto. The files need to be reimported. It's just an extra step before importing, and a step that would need to be done anyway. Maybe iPhoto will add this feature in a future upgrade. :-)
Thanks again for the excellent review and allowing me to contribute to your blog.
Thu, 02/05/2009 - 22:37
Thanks Dan!
Good luck! Let us know what you find out...
KJ
Sat, 01/31/2009 - 02:11
A year old and still a great review.
I installed iPhoto '09 last night and realized what I was missing by not geotagging my photos. I'm looking into geotagging now and that's how I stumbled on to your review.
If it helps any, iPhoto '09 will allow you to update the locations of your current photos, individually, or as an event group. That would make me think that you can update your photo's with the AMOD software after importing. I haven't been able to try it since I don't have the logger! I'm on a mission to find one today and if I do I'll try it out and let you know.
Thu, 01/29/2009 - 10:43
As far as I know, it has always been best practice to download your photos to disk manually and use geolinking software, such as GPSphotolinker before importing into iPhoto. This way, there's no need to update the iPhoto DB, because your photos will have already been imported with geotags.
I have yet to get my hands on my copy of iLife '09, so I can't tell you if anything is different in iPhoto '09. I'm excited for geotag support in the new version, but I'll be a little disappointed if they don't finally address the issue of re-importing EXIF data (or ANY data, for that matter) into the iPhoto internal database.
Cheers!
KJ
Thu, 01/29/2009 - 01:25
jeffrey:
But even when you look inside the database folder and add GPS location to the exif information, it won't show in iphoto 09. You have to update the database somehow or reimport the picture. Or have you found a way that iphoto 09 actually reads the location, then please share :)
Mon, 01/19/2009 - 02:29
[Previous versions of iPhoto have all suffered from the simple fact that you can't refresh the iPhoto internal database after you import pictures. This means that if you use iPhoto to download your photos from your camera directly, you won't be able to add GPS data afterwards. You either have to:]
Actually you can get to your photos. Right click a photo and choose show file. This will pop open the folder structure behind your iPhoto library. If you navigate to the root folder called Originals and drag that and drop it as a shortcut under Places, you'll be able to get to your files in any application. I tagged a bunch of old photos this morning.
Thu, 01/15/2009 - 19:41
Hi Phil.
Previous versions of iPhoto have all suffered from the simple fact that you can't refresh the iPhoto internal database after you import pictures. This means that if you use iPhoto to download your photos from your camera directly, you won't be able to add GPS data afterwards. You either have to:
A. Use a GPS-enabled camera that saves GPS data directly into the images (a la Nikon D300 or D700), or...
B You have to introduce a middle-step into your workflow: (1. download your photos using another program such as image-capture, or the Canon EOS utility, then 2. run GPSPhotoLinker to embed GPS data before importing to iPhoto)
However, if (and it's a big 'if')iPhoto '09 allows you to refresh it's internal database (or better yet- if it comes with it's own photo-linking tool) then the workflow becomes much simpler!
I haven't personally played around with iPhoto '09, but I plan to get my hands on the new version of iLife soon, so I'll let you know when I find out!
Thanks for stopping by, Phil.
KJ
Tue, 01/13/2009 - 21:45
Anyone tried to use the AGL3080 with the new iPhoto 09? I am looking for simplicity. What is the actual process to tag your photos? Is this product user friendly... you know plug it in and it works?
I am new to this and what to find a tagging method that is simply and user friendly like most mac applications?
Thanks,
Phil
Sun, 11/02/2008 - 11:36
Hi Mike,
I'm actually talking to the folks at buyGPSnow.com right now about reviewing the Columbus V-900.
I should hopefully have a review up in a few weeks!
Stay tuned...
KJ
Fri, 10/31/2008 - 03:36
Has anyone tried the Columbus V-900 which is the voice-tag support?
According to buygpsnow.com, the Time Album Java application is claimed to be compatible with Linux and Mac OSX.
I found the Columbus v-900 here:
http://www.buygpsnow.com/Columbus_V900_Bluetooth_GPS_Data_Logger.aspx
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