Rob

Well-known member

• Mar 21, 2015

• #1

Any people out there with experience using TopoDroid underground, connecting directly with a DistoX?

Looks on the face of it as a great little tool. Connects with little faff to the DistoX, and seems to do so more reliably than PocketTopo? Not as simple interface as PocketTopo, so maybe not as slick/quick in the cave?

What it does enable is use of cheap android IP68 phones, with all their benefits over the dying PDA tech...

 

cavermark

New member

• Mar 21, 2015

• #2

How much do cheap android IP68 phones go for?

 

Rob

Well-known member

• Mar 21, 2015

• #3

Plenty new for under ?8, such as:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00PGSESU4/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1426946146&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SY200_QL40&keywords=ip68+android&dpPl=1&dpID=51XZ7xsw03L&ref=plSrch
Probably not amazing as modern phones, but look interesting as an alternative to PDA's.

 

cavermark

New member

• Mar 21, 2015

• #4

Think you meant ?80 (pedant) - interesting - they solve the problem of finding suitable otterbox etc.  Pocket Topo that can run on Android would be perfect!

 

Rob

Well-known member

• Mar 21, 2015

• #5

Yes, thanks for the ?80 correction (although i wouldn't be surprised if some bargains are about on 2nd gear on eBay)

PocketTopo is not perfect. Playing with TopoDroid today has quickly highlighted a number of areas for improvement, such as export direct to survex, ability to save connection with multiple DistoXs, temporary bluetooth connection improving DistoX battery, and there's other more subjective ones too...

 

cavermark

New member

• Mar 21, 2015

• #6

Sounds really interesting 

 

graham

New member

• Mar 21, 2015

• #7

These cheap Android IP68 phones, what are the screens like for drawing on?

 

caver.adam@outlook.com

Member

• Mar 23, 2015

• #8

The screens take some getting used to. You're going to want a stylus (try it above ground because different styluses are better), but even with a stylus it isn't as nice as a pda. I've found that I can now get the lines to match up fairly well. But I have to go in later and fix them because they don't match up perfectly.

That being said, I love using topodroid. I can get an output in SVG right out of the cave. It also imports fairly well into Therion for those of us with massive cave projects. The PNG is excellent if you have small sections of cave (you can't make a PNG of 1km of cave in a single sketch).

 

Rob

Well-known member

• Mar 23, 2015

• #9

Adam, thanks for the feedback. What Android device do you use?

Any advice/suggestion on styluses?

 

caver.adam@outlook.com

Member

• Mar 23, 2015

• #10

Yeah, so i use a kyocera edge. Its water resistant. But I'm looking for a larger screen. I just can't afford a Galaxy Note 2.

As for the stylus...just make sure the tip doesn't fall off and try it. I picked my variety up on sale at different stores. Oddly my cheapest one seems to work better than most.

 

Rob

Well-known member

• Mar 24, 2015

• #11

Thanks again Adam.

Do you also use it with Cave3D? That's the closest I've seen to a mobile survex viewer. It would be even better if there was a way to get it to run .3d files directly, rather than having to running them through Therion first....

 

caver.adam@outlook.com

Member

• Mar 24, 2015

• #12

I don't do much with Cave3D. I open the lineplot sometimes to view. I don't think you can have more than one lineplot open in Cave3D at a time. If you find out different let me know. Between working full time and grad school I don't worry about the details too much. I'm just happy to get underground when I get a chance.

 

J

John S

Member

• Apr 2, 2015

• #13

Have a look at SexyTopo on the Play Store. Still in development but its getting there.

 

caver.adam@outlook.com

Member

• Jul 24, 2015

• #14

I really like the user interface. Nice and clean. Couple thoughts though.

The only issue I have is that it's hard enough for me to draw lines on a capacitive screen. Tick marks are almost impossible. I could see using 1 color for walls, 1 for floors, 1 for ceilings, and 1 for water. That would help a little bit. Does the SexyTopo team have any plans to add symbols? It's pretty easy to grab the SVG code for the different types of lines from Thomas Holder's Speleo3 extension for Inkscape.

John S said:

Have a look at SexyTopo on the Play Store. Still in development but its getting there.

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