topic Rif.: FDR-X300 GPS Altitude in Action Cam

FDR-X300 GPS Altitude

1881600600009639 — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 13:31:59 GMT

Why does the GPS on the FDX-X300 not log Altitude?

Raw NMEA details stored in /private/sony/gps as a .log file but altitude is missing.

This was one of the main reasons of upgrading to this camera.

Rif.: FDR-X300 GPS Altitude

Marino.Manolo — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 14:59:39 GMT

The GPS technology can be determined with a good accuracy the position in the horizontal plane (latitude and longitude), while on the vertical plane (elevation) the inaccuracy is definitely superior.
In this case also need an altimeter.

Manolo

Rif.: FDR-X300 GPS Altitude

1881600600009639 — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 19:18:02 GMT

That is not an answer to the question I asked.

Why do sony action camera's not log altitude!

Rif.: FDR-X300 GPS Altitude

Marino.Manolo — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 20:32:42 GMT

Maybe because the Action Cam don't have an altimeter...

Manolo

Rif.: FDR-X300 GPS Altitude

1881600600009639 — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 21:00:10 GMT

Hi Manolo, thanks for your reply but the Action Cams do have GPS, this should be able to log approximate altitude.

GPS works by measuring distances to multiple satellites at known locations. (Or to be strict, the difference in distances to multiple satellites.) To determine longitude you'd compare distance to one satellite towards the east and another one towards the west. To determine altitude, you compare distances to one satellite high up in the sky and another one somewhat lower in the sky. The difference is much smaller.

So any GPS should be able to measure altitude but the accuracy may be questionable, but should be good enough for telemetry displays in video overlay.

An extract from the GPS LOG as described earlier

$GPGGA,153143.000,5116.0654,N,28.8477,W,2,0,,,M,,M,,*50

The ,,M is the missing altitude

Paul

Rif.: FDR-X300 GPS Altitude

Marino.Manolo — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 22:49:54 GMT

Ok, but the FDR-X3000 don't save altitude in Log, like HDR-AS30V, HDR-AZ1, HDR-AS100V...

Manolo

Rif.: FDR-X300 GPS Altitude

1881600600009639 — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 08:12:26 GMT

Correct so to get back to my original question.

Why does the FDR-X300 GPS not log Altitude and will this be enabled in the future?