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What is SPOT?
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SPOT is a personal tracking device that is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand and provide
coverage across the globe. The best place to learn more about what SPOT is, coverage areas, costs
involved and everything else SPOT-related is straight from
SPOT Inc. Additionally, you can check out
the FAQ page at My Live Tracks.
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What SPOT messages does STM process?
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There are three essential SPOT message types - OK, Help and 911. STM allows you to capture and store the
location data associated with OK and Help messages. Each of these messages is timestamped by SPOT according
to the the timezone setting in your SPOT profile. Using this message/location data STM allows you to create
and share your trips with the world. Using the Google Maps API, STM plots each location in a trip
on a map and allows others to view it.
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Does STM do anything with the tracking messages?
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No. I built STM because I didn't think SPOT's tracking service and associated interfaces was worth the
additional yearly charge. There's a slim possibility STM will pull tracking data in the future.
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Where can I purchase a SPOT unit?
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You can purchase a SPOT unit from SPOT Inc.,
but one can find discounted units out there. I bought mine from the good folks at
My Live Tracks. These folks are riders like you and me
and their website is chock full of good information. Check out there FAQ page.
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What SPOT services should I purchase?
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Well I'm not here to recommend services. If you haven't already, learn about them at
SPOT Inc and decide what services meet
your needs. I personally signed up for the basic service and the GEOS Search and Rescue Benefit. These
services meet my needs.
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Will using STM cost me anything?
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Not at all.
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How do I setup an STM account?
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It's real simple. In the upper right area of this page, click the
Create an Account link and follow the directions. You will need your SPOT unit's ESN (serial number).
Now you need to make some changes to your SPOT Inc account:
- Add the following email address to the distribution list for the OK and Help messages:
Hidden to reduce spam. Please login into STM to see this address.
- Be sure and click the Save button at the top or bottom of the page.
- Ensure you've properly set your country and time zone in your
SPOT profile. This will dictate the timestamp assigned to each message. After logging in to your
SPOT, Inc. account, click on the Account
tab and then click on the preferences link. Set your country and time zone accordingly and then click the
Update button.
That's it! Create an STM trip, send a few SPOT checks and view your trip.
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What about privacy?
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I will never sale, rent or otherwise share your personal information with anyone or anything. I guard your
privacy as if it were my own. I utilize STM just like you.
Regarding trips specifically, each trip can be password protected and/or prevented
from ever being displayed to the general public via search results like that performed on the STM
home page. Between these two options, your privacy is in your hands.
The best way to protect your trips is to give each one a password and prevent it from part of any
search results.
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How do I submit an enhancement request or a bug report or just ask a question?
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Don't hesitate to holler at me via email.
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How do I prevent the general public from viewing a trip?
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The best way to prevent the general public from viewing your trip is to assign a password and
prevent the trip from appearing in any search results. If a password is assigned, anyone viewing the
trip must first supply the password. Preventing the trip from appearing in search results (e.g. the
various searches on the home page) keeps people from even seeing the ride.
Both of these options are set when updating a trip.
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Can I provide a link to a trip report or pictures or a blog?
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Each trip can be assigned an external link wich is displayed on the trip viewing page. The link can be
to anything on the web.
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Can I hide the time component of each message on the trip viewing page?
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Absolutely. When editing a trip check the option to hide the time component. The date will still be
displayed, but the time will not. If you change your mind, no worries. Just uncheck the option.
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Can I download my trip data in KML?
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Absolutely. And you can optionally allow the general public to download the trip data in KML format too.
To download your trip in KML, login to STM and click the My Trips link. Find the trip and click the KML
link in the Actions column.
To allow the general public to download your trip in KML, edit your trip and check the appropriate
option. You can always remove this option, if needed.
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What happens when I delete a trip?
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It's important to note that deleting a trip does not delete any location data. A location,
once in STM, will always be in STM.
When you delete a trip, the trip goes away along with the view statistics for the trip. Once
the trip is deleted, there is no way to undo it. However, since the locations are never removed
you can always create another trip with the same or similar date range.
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Can one trip's start/end dates overlap with those of another trip?
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Absoutely. Trips are merely windows into a set of locations from one date to another.
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How do I embed a trip? And just what does embedding mean?
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Embedding allows you to include a fully-functional map of your trip in a webpage or blog post.
The only thing that's embedded is the map and locations. Those viewing the map can zoom in/out, navigate
the map, click the locations to view the pop-ups... It's a fully-functional view of the trip's map. Cool stuff.
The first step is to copy the embed HTML. To do this, click the "My Trips" link in the upper right corner
of the page. Each trip listed on the page has an Embed Link text box. Click inside the text box to highlight
the content. Copy the text to the clipboard by right-clicking the text and selecting Copy or press Control-C.
Now that you have the embed HTML copied to the clipboard, you can paste it into a webpage or blog post.
When you view the page, you will see the fully-functional map of your trip.
When you look at the HTML code, you will see a number of parameters whose values you can control. They are:
- id - You probably don't want to change this one. It's your trip's identifier. If you want to embed
a different trip, copy that trip's embed HTML rather than trying to change this value. Of course, if you
know what you're doing, go for it.
- width - This value controls the width of the map image itself. Valid values are between 200
and 1600 pixels. Note that the <iframe> element has a width parameter too whose value should probably
be at least equal to the width of the map. I've found that the <iframe>'s width should be 20 pixels
bigger than the map for the best results. You play with it, though. This value defaults to 400.
- height - This value controls the height of the map image itself. Valid values are between 200
and 1200 pixels. Note that the <iframe> element has a height parameter too whose value should probably
be at least equal to the height of the map. I've found that the <iframe>'s height should be 20 pixels
bigger than the map for the best results. Again, you play with it. This value defaults to 400.
- scale - When set to on, the default, the map will contain a scale control. When set
to anything else or omitted altogether, the map will not contain a scale control.
Y'all have fun with it and let me know if there are other parameters you'd like to have access to in order
to control the behavior of the map.
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