Getting to know the Google Nexus ever better

Update of the past few weeks:  

As mentioned, I decided that some "in the field" protection for the devices was needed.  After some research on-line and discussion with current users/owners, I decided on notebook-like covers, such as offered by www.thesnugg.com.  I contacted Sammie Mercer (customer service), who helped me decide on the version to purchase (I needed the Google Nexus 7 series 2 version),  which I then ordered.  

Sammie was able to offer me a significant discount as I made a bulk purchase- and the cases were going to be used by a public school.  The cases arrived quickly, were unpacked, un-wrapped, and the Nexus devices were slipped into the slots, secured by a wrap-around-velco closing tab.  This is a very nice design- especially as the case has an elastic band sewn through the backing, which allows the user to one-hand-hold the device securely, while the other hand is free to enter data. 

I also ordered 15 thin plastic screen protectors- actually, I ordered these screen protectors in 3 different batches from some ebay retailers- thereby getting wicked good deals.

Another update- we tried using 3 of the Google Nexus devices during a Summer Institute field trip to the Bow Knox-Road-School Forest.  1 lost it's basemap- I don't know how, and the user did not have the admin password to try downloading another version.  The other 2 never really displayed an accurate location- at least , when running the ArcGIS Collector app.  This needs further investigation.  

It may be that the devices needed time to settle down and get an accurate "fix", or it may be that the devices have a setting that needs tweaking- or it may be that there is a flaw in the Collector app- I do know that the devices themselves are accurate, at least while using the GPS Essentials app.

Another update- Rebecca Lilja (US Forest Service) borrowed one of the devices over this past weekend August 8-9-10,  to test during a GPS "field day" event at the University of New Hampshire.  She determined that they are accurate- AND... was able to solve another mystery.  Garmin GPS units generally display 10 or 11 or 12 satellites that are "viewable" at any given moment.  However, the Google Nexus devices display...26!!!  

How is that possible?  One half of all 26 GPS satellites are on the other side of the planet at any given moment... Well.  These Google Nexus 7 devices seem to have a GPS chip that is capable of seeing not only the United States' satellites, but also the Russian GPS satellites! Cool!

"X" marks the spot

I downloaded data from GRANIT.unh.edu, and located a geodetic survey marker nearby to our camp in Acworth, NH.  Visually on the map, it is located just south of the intersection of North Shore Road and route 10 (Second New Hampshire Turnpike), in the town of Unity, New Hampshire.  According to the obtained data,  it is located at 43 degrees 16 minutes 50 seconds, and 72 degrees 14 minutes 39 seconds.  I drove to the approximate location, parked on the side of the road, and started searching around, on the southwestern corner of that intersection- eventually I found the marker, placed in a large boulder that is also serving as an anchor point for a nearby power pole. 





I turned on all 11 Nexus devices, turned on a Garmin Etrex GPS, started up Motion GPX on my smartphone... and got out my notebook and pen.  A light drizzle-shower interrupted me briefly, when I ran for a towel in the car... and eventually all the devices settled down, and I was able to jot down readings from all devices.  I set all to report degrees/minutes/seconds, as that was how my data reported the survey marker.  





The latitude decimal degree column and the longitude decimal degree column are calculated, from the device-reported degrees,minutes,seconds data.  Also, it should be pointed out that the latitude readings are N, and the longitude are W. To be used in an GIS map, the decimal degree longitude numbers would be multiplied by -1 (negative 1).  The unit reported accuracy on all Nexus devices was 3, which is 3 yards radius.  The reported accuracy of the Garmin Etrex is 10 feet radius.  I don't have a reported accuracy for the iphone Motion GPX app.  Note the only discrepancy is the survey marker!!!   I wonder if I should get in touch with the USGS.  On the other hand... these hand-held devices are set to WGS 1984 datum.  The marker states it was reset in 1966.  I wonder... if that could explain the discrepancy of just-more-than 2 full seconds of longitude.





I think... I will revisit the site, and set waypoints there, to check if the stored data (stored waypoints) is kept in decimal degrees, as the Garmin Etrex does.  (Even though the Garmin Etrex is set to read-out degrees/minutes/seconds, it stores the data as decimal degree.) And then I will re-set the Nexus devices to read-out decimal degrees, and re-write those read-outs, to compare the accuracy compared to the set above.  And I need to check how to access the internally stored waypoints (and tracks).  Pulled off with a cable?  E-mailed out to... someone?  Vulcan mind-meld? Magic?  More later.

The Google Nexus in action

We just completed the 3rd of our 7 Summer Institutes related to GIS- and I had a chance to try out a couple of the Nexus devices, using an Editable Feature Service (EFS) in ArcGIS Collector.  It was raining off-and-on throughout the day, but we grabbed 30 minutes in the middle of the afternoon to go outside and collect GIS referenced data- specifically, oil spots on parking spots in the Hopkinton Middle High School (HMHS) parking lot. 





We were successful in logging onto the devices, successful in downloading a basemap of the EFS using the school wifi connections... we were not as successful in collecting the data.  Because the oil spots were obscured on the rain-wet asphalt, the 3 of us using the Nexus devices had to more-or-less make up pretend data as we walked along the parking lot.  

In addition, the device that I was carrying did NOT have accurate GPS readings, regularly reporting poor GPS reception, and never getting accuracy better than "somewhere in a 66-foot radius".  It may have been the drizzle, it may have been the saturated clouds, but Nexus device #1 was never accurate.  And both Nexus device 8 and Nexus device 3 (I have numbered them for identification) seemed to get more accurate GPS readings... they both suffered from other connectivity issues.  Specifically, both of those devices continuously connected to the building WIFI, or TRIED to connect to the building WIFI, causing the mapping/gathering of data to stop functioning while the WIFI attempted to connect.  So some data collection was lost.  

Still... we collected data with I-pads, a few smart phones and... 3 Google Nexus 7 devices- here is a map Marcel Duhaime (math teacher from Bow High School) made with that shared EFS data...



View larger map

 
Walking around the rain-slick parking lot with these Nexus devices, these slippery, thin, hard-to-hold devices...shielding them from drizzle... comparing them to the expensively-rubber-clad-in-waterproof-cases UNH Cooperative Extension I-pads that others were carrying... made me realize we really need to consider adding some protection to these Nexus devices.  I plan on researching to find something within our budget constraints.

Also, I intend to test all 11 devices for accuracy over the coming weekend, when it will be sunny, clear and dry.  I packed them all up in a newly acquired hard-shell small suitcase (that will soon be outfitted with foam lining), and will report back on the GPS accuracy testing. With regards to the connect/disconnect to WIFI issue, we decided it can be solved by simply turning off WIFI when "out of the building".  An elegant solution!  So, some more testing, some more research and some more tweaking is planned for the weekend.

Cases

I have located 11 neoprene sleeves to contain the devices, and am considering some scheme to acquire an appropriate sturdy shock-resistant shipping case, so that we could re-allocate some of those funds to purchase better “in the field” cases to protect the individual devices from accidental knocks and bangs and bruises and drops.  It seems to me, the real risk to these devices is NOT during storage and/or transit/shipping.. .but rather, during actual individual use in the field.  THAT”S where we should concentrate our efforts for protection.  More about that later.

Finally... we're back to 11 again.

Again… the Concord store had none in stock… the near-to-my-camp Claremont store had none in stock. I emailed to Walmart.com to ask procedure, the auto-reply told me to “return the device” to the store, and re-order through online.  So… I made plans to return the device, and re-ordered the replacement before actually returning (to save a trip) and … again… the ordered on-line device was “ready for delivery” within minutes of ordering.  Clearly, there is a distinction with the stores, and they don't talk to each other.  “out of stock on the shelf” doesn’t really mean “out of stock in the building”  I drove to Claremont NH, returned the mostly-dead Google Nexus. ( All right, so maybe the device is only mostly dead… still, it would take a miracle to bring it back.  I returned it).

After the successful return, I visited the Walmart.com area at the back of the store, and picked up my ordered-on-line 11th Google Nexus 7 device.  (We opened the box there, and turned it on.  It worked.  Excellent!)

Mostly dead?

Of the 11 devices, 1 totally refused to power-up / turn-on.  I tried reading online about similar situations involving the Google Nexus, and found that MOST users with dead devices are able to “jump start” the battery with a short charging… followed by unplugging… counting to 15, plugging back in… and turning on the device.  This trick didn’t work.  I found another story of charging for 1 hour, and then doing the same… that didn’t work either.  I found another story whereby the owner dis-assembled the sealed Nexus, and disconnected the battery briefly... and this supposedly revived the device.   (“Whoo-hoo-hoo, look who knows so much. It just so happens that your friend here is only MOSTLY dead. There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive.” )   I decided AGAINST that idea, and … decided to return that 11th device.

Login' in

Matt suggested we set up a new email account in the name of a generic nhedgis-student, and then… set up all 11 devices so that they start up with that same log-on.  He also discussed the possibility of having a password-locked administrator-log-on to the devices, along with a semi-locked nhedgis-student account, and I am still investigating that possibility.  It “locks down” the capability of the typical student user, and maintains a student-friendly log-on homepage with readily accessible-but-limited supply of apps… and I think that is the way we will eventually go.  But it requires some tweaking, so that all needed capabilities are turned on and available, while other distractions are turned off appropriately.  More to do here.

Setting up the devices

I un-boxed the first device, and walked slowly through the setup procedure- (How did it know I have an interest in understanding Chinese???  Oh, that's right- Google knows all...)   After setting the language to English (United States variant)... it sure seemed like the device really really really wanted me to have a Google account.  Should I sign in to my own Google email account???  Would that give all students a view of my own emails?   Could we know that all students would have their own gmail account?  I was unsure of the best procedure to use, to make the devices be accessible to a variety of students in a variety of schools… so I re-boxed that single device, and made an appointment with Matt Stone.  (He knows his google-stuff- I think he has a Google-doctorate.)

Time to get the tablets!

The purchase of 11 Google Nexus devices required a bit of research- we wanted tablet-devices that would have wifi capability… have GPS capability…  be affordable, easy-to-use, perhaps intuitive, and interesting/desirable/enticing.  Discussion with Matt Stone, our district SAU66 technology director led me to a decision to purchase the 2013 version of the google Nexus 7, as that device had all of those qualities.  With the choice narrowed down, researching price led me to Walmart.com, with an online cost of 189.00 for each unit.

After clicking on the “add to cart” button  , I was able to change the quantity to… 5.  Only 5.  Hmmm… I wanted 11.  I tried… purchasing again, and did add another 5 to the cart, now totaling 10.  Unfortunately, I had also accidentally added an additional warranty to that purchase of 5, and so… while I did have 10 in the cart… I also had that un-wanted extra warranty.  But try as I might, I could NOT add an 11th device to the purchase cart.  So… I shrugged and mentally agreed to purchase only 10, at least on that first go-around.  But first, I needed to delete the un-wanted extra warranty.  I soon realized I could not isolate the warranty to delete- I needed to delete that entire package of 5 with the warranty.  Okay.  Delete.  Then I re-made the purchase of 5 again (this time without the warranty)… and I found I could NOT get that added to the cart!!!    5 was the maximum number I could get in the cart.  Time to call Customer Service.

There is no phone number listed on the Walmart website...

Time to call Walmart the store.  Concord had none in stock and were completely un-helpful. Claremont had none in stock… but the salesman there gave me the telephone number for Walmart.com (on-line sales) customer service.

After waiting on hold for 15 minutes… the first salesperson told me they COULD help me add 10 devices to the cart… but they could NOT help me, because I did not have a Walmart Online account.  So I hung up, and created an online account... added 5 to my cart... tried to add another 5... and failed.  Still only 5.  I called Walmart.com again… another 15 minutes of on-hold time...and I found myself connected to a different customer service representative. But even with her friendly help, we still could not get the cart to accept more than 5.  So… she advised me to purchase them in batches of 5 (plus an additional 1) to total the needed 11), and have all batches shipped to the Concord store.  Okay.  Good idea.  She offered to “do it for me.”.  Agreed.  We added the first batch of  5 to the cart, she took my VISA number and … the VISA was rejected.  Tried a second time… fail again.  Hmmm… I decided to hang-up and try on my own.

Starting fresh, I added 5 to the cart… purchase..  VISA failed for me.

I called VISA.  On hold for 10 minutes… “Why are you rejecting my VISA purchase?”  “Oh, that is normal.  Anytime a large purchase “out of the ordinary pattern” happens, we reject it. It’s a feature, not a problem”.  “.....”    “Do you want me to authorize that purchase?”   “Yes.  And I intend to purchase 5 more, and then 1 more after that.  Can you make sure you will authorize the unusual “out-of-the-ordinary-pattern” purchase of 11 Google Nexus devices, in 3 separate batches, from Walmart.com?”

I logged back onto Walmart.com, and made 3 separate online purchases of 5 Google Nexus 7 devices. Success, all 3 times.  Remember… Concord told me they had none in stock?  Within 4 minutes of the 3 separate on-line purchases, I received 3 emails telling me that the devices were ready for pick-up at the Concord store.  Hmmmm…..

30 minutes later… the telphone rang.  “Good morning, this is Chris, calling from Walmart.com. How are you today sir?  We have an unusual purchase from you that I would like to follow up on- Did you order 3 separate orders of Google Nexus 7 devices… a total of 11 devices?  It’s unusual… we wanted to make sure it wasn’t a mistake.”  I assured him the 3 separate batch purchases of 11 was intentional.

2 days later, I drove to Walmart on Loudon Road in Concord NH and picked up the 11 devices, and walked out of the store!