BugGPS II Easy-Guide

 

Download all Bug GPS Software download here:  www.buggps.com/allsoft.zip


Step 1:  Battery charging

BugGPS II contains a built in high quality Sanyo lithium battery.  To charge, connect to your USB port. 

  • Charging time is 4 hours.
  • If your battery dies, your tracking info will not be erased.
  • Battery life is 22 hours straight or 2000+ in sleep mode.  Two hours of driving per day will give you about 11 days.
  • Wall chargers are available for $13USD.

Step 2:  Insert your MicroSD memory chip

Your MicroSD card is where the GPS signals (tracking info) are recorded on.  You can log up to 14 million log points (over 2 years!).  

Insert the MicroSD card as seen on the right. It will click in. To remove it, press it and it will click and pop out.

Note:  Insert & remove Mini SD only when power is off.

 

Step 3:  Turn power on

BugGPS II has only one button and it's on the side.  Press and hold for one second to power on.  To power off, press and hold for three seconds.

Once the power it turned on, your BugGPS II will start recording GPS signals to your memory chip. In other words, it's now recording the tracking info and you can place in or on a vehicle.


Step 4:  Learn about your LED buttons

Orange - Chip storage.  When it lights up, data is being recorded to the chip. When the light is always on, your Micro SD chip is either inserted incorrectly, or is corrupted.
Red - Charging status.  When it's on, it's charging.  When it turns off, it's completely charged, or not charging.
Green - Battery life indicator.  Blinking intervals are 8,5,3 and 1 seconds.  The faster it's blinking, the lower the battery level.  When it's always on, your battery is almost out and it's time to charge.
Blue - Satellite status.  When it's blinking, satellites have been located. When it's not blinking, no satellites have been located.


Step 5:  BugGPS II settings

Your BugGPS II is ready to go out of the box. It's set to record a position every 5 seconds.  This is an optimal setting to provide frequent updates without too many log points which would slow down Google Earth or LOCR.

Sleep Mode:  BugGPS II will go into 'sleep mode' if it does not detect motion for three minutes.  When in sleep mode, the BLUE LED will be off.  The green LED will blink periodically.  Every 15 minutes, the BugGPS II will power on to log the time, position and be sure the vehicle has not moved. during this time, the BLUE LED will be on.

*** Please see 'Photo 1' below the FAQ at the bottom of this page for information on sleep mode.

 

Step 6:  Tracking

Once your BugGPSII is powered on, it will start logging info immediately.  You can now place it in or on the target vehicle.  It's set to record only when moving and will automatically go into 'sleep mode' if idle for 15 minutes.  It can stay in sleep mode for 2000+ hours and 22 hours of straight logging.  2 hours of driving per day will give you about 11 days of tracking.  If the battery dies, the tracklog will not be lost.


Step 7:  Download your tracking software

As with any car tracking device, you need tracking software. I recommend and will provide instructions using LOCR and Google Earth.   Please keep in mind that It's up to you to learn how to use Google Earth and LOCR. They have their own help and FAQ sections.

To download Google Earth (free):  http://earth.google.com/intl/en/download-earth.html

To download LOCR (free):  http://www.locr.com/downloads    (See Q18 in FAQ below for more LOCR help)


Step 8:  Accessing your tracking info

You've collected your BugGPSII from the vehicle, now it's time to view the tracklog and see where it's been.  This quick method will show you the tracklog as blue lines on your mapping software. Detailed info such as stop times, dates, speed etc can be seen by using the provided software. See section 9 for this.
  1. Power off your BugGPS II.
  2. Open the rubber flap and remove the SD micro chip. This contains the files with your tracking info.
  3. If your PC does not have a MicroSD slot, use the adaptor provided and insert the SD into your PC.
Your PC will recognize the SD chip as a removable disk as seen on the right. If you can't see this window then go to 'My computer' and open the SD card from there. If you don't know how to do this, ask someone for help.

To view your track-log files, Click 'Open folder to view files' as seen on the right

 

See the files? These are your track-logs.  You'll see that they are also dated.  

If you were operating the unit correctly, there should be data there.  If there is no files there, please see Q5 in the FAQ at the bottom of this page.


Step 9:  Viewing the tracklog on LOCR

Open LOCR from your 'Start Menu'.

Click one of the track-log files and just drag it over to LOCR as seen on the right.

Once the file is on LOCR, you can do a few things. To view the track-log on the Map pr satellite, click 'Show on map

Note:  Your track-logs on Google Earth and LOCR will not have your start/stop times, speed, etc.  This can all be viewed using the advanced software that was included with your BugGPS II.


Step 10:  Viewing the tracklog on Google Earth

To view your tracklog on Google Earth, you need to create a Google Earth file.  

In LOCR, highlight your file as seen on the bottom left of the picture. 

Now click 'Show in Google Earth' as seen on the right, circled in red.

Google Earth should now open automatically. If not, the file will still be created in your SD folder as seen on the far right of the picture.

 

Detailed tracking information (Stop times, speed etc.)

The following section and feature of BugGPS II does require some basic computer knowledge.  If you're having problems ask someone for help.  I don't provide tech support for Google Earth or basic computer operation.

 

Step 11:  Convert your tracklog to Google Earth with animation and detailed information points.

Open the BugGPS-Plotter software on your CD.

Now do the following as seen in the picture below...

  • Step A:  Click the arrows and scroll to the following settings.
  • Step B:  Click here, browse your PC and go to your SD card where your track-log files are.
  • Step C:  Click here & enter a name for the output file.  You can browse and have it saved where ever you want.
  • Step D:  After you've selected the tracklog, then the destination folder and name, click 'Let's go'.

 

Step 12:  Open your new KML file on Google Earth

Now that you've converted your file, go back to your SD card and you will see a KML type file.  This file will open with Google Earth and show your tracklog with all the stop times, speed etc. right on the Google map!  You'll also be able to animate the tracklog and watch the log points appear as the vehicle drives.

Step 13:  Animate your tracklog

See the blue bar just below in the picture?  Try sliding that from left to right and you'll see your log points appear.  If you slide it very slowly, you'll see the log points appear in the direction that the vehicle was moving.

 

Step 14:  Viewing Full information for each log point

Each blue square is called a 'log-point'.  You can click each one individually to see detailed information. 

 

Step 11:  Download Microsoft Framework 3.5

Microsoft Framework 3.5:  www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=333325FD-AE52-4E35-B531-508D977D32A6&displaylang=en

To use this advanced software, you must have Microsoft Framework 3.5 installed on your PC.  Please download here from the Microsoft website or click the link just above.

Click the download button as seen on the right.  Go through the installation process and reboot if needed.

If you're having any issues, please ask someone for help.  We don't provide tech support for this.

Step 12:  Using TrackManager to view detailed log info

Please go to your CD and open your 'Track-Manager' software.



FAQ  - Frequently asked questions

Q1:  I see lines that are not part of the track-log.  
  • This is normal with any GPS.  It's just logging the signals it receives.  Stray lines (reflections) can be from poor reception, buildings, hills, valleys or reduced reception from being under a large vehicle.
  • Below FAQ there are screenshots with further information.  Please see PHOTO 1 below this FAQ for further explanation.
Q2:  I see a lot of star shaped lines in one spot.  
  • This is the result of turning the unit on and off in one area.  This is normal.
Q3:  My tracklog doesn't seem perfect or seems to be missing areas.
  • When placing any GPS device under a vehicle, reception is slightly reduced.  BugGPSII has about the best reception you can get and is one of the only tracking devices that will work under the vehicle.  Certain things like vehicle size, and placement on the vehicle may effect your reception.  Perfect logging can be done by placing on the vehicle dash.  When hiding under the vehicle, you will have to sometimes 'connect the dots'
  • Try placing in a different spot on the vehicle.
  • Your vehicle may be large and effecting the reception.
  • There may be something such as an anti-tracking device to block GPS signals.
Q4:  There are some small trips that are not recorded or the unit doesn't start tracking till half way through a trip.
  • When the unit goes into sleep mode, it may take several minutes to reconnect to satellites.  This may result in small trips not even being recorded.  Please see Photo 1 below the FAQ for further information
Q2:  Why is the yellow SD card light always on? 
  • This means the rubber protector is not pushed in tight, the SD is not inserted correctly or the SC card is corrupt.
Q3:  Sometimes it takes a while to start logging. 
  • This is normal with any type of GPS unit. Once in 'sleep mode', it disconnects from satellites. When it awakes from sleep mode, it will take a few minutes or several miles before logging again. This is called a 'cold start'. When under a vehicle, this may take even longer since reception is not as good.
Q4:  When I open the folder on my SD card, there are no files.  There was nothing logged. 
  • Was the SD card inserted?
  • Was the SD rubber flap pressed in tight? If not it won't log.
  • Was the unit powered on?
  • The unit may have been placed in a vehicle that was too big and limited reception.
  • The unit may have not been charged completely and drained before logging anything.
Q18:  Still having trouble downloading LOCR?
  • Go to LOCR.COM, Click ‘FREE SIGN UP’ and Register.
  • Download the Windows XP/Vista version on the download page. If you can’t see it, click this link here: http://www.locr.com/clients/LocrGPSPhoto123.exe
  • After you download and are installing, you may see a little German. Just ignore it and keep going. Make sure you click ‘I accept’ or what ever it is saying in German there. Will all go back to English after that.
  • After you’ve installed LOCR photo program, go to your ‘programs tab‘ where all your programs are. If you’ve downloaded LOCR and installed it, you should see the new file folder there as seen below:

4



Photos and screenshots

 

Photo 1:  Example of 'cold start' and explanation of where straight lines come from:

 

Photo 2: LOCR satellite and map views