Sports Tracker

[aussieidiot]

I've been using Sports Tracker for a while now and thought I'd start a thread so people can see how it works.

Background:
Sports Tracker Beta was a Nokia app for smart phones developed in 2007 and is now a stand alone product which is used GPS enabled Nokia's. I believe some people have managed to get it to work on other Symbian phones.

It is free to download and to use although data fees may apply depending on the use and setup options. I have never paid an excessive phone data charge yet by using this software.

www.sports-tracker.com

From the website
"With free Sports Tracker application mobile phone becomes a full-featured GPS sports computer, keeping track of everything from calories burned while running to your average cycling speed over altitude. You get maps, time and distance calculators, step count, and even heart rate when you use a compatible HR belt. All data is stored in a diary so you can chart your progress, find your strengths and weaknesses, and share with others. "


I started using the Beta software on an E71 and then I bought the N79 with the Bluetooth Polar Heart Rate Monitor, and now run the full version on an X6. It has always worked well.




Display

When you first open the app, this screen will appear.
http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww280/aussieIDI-07/Sports%20tracker/sportstracker14.jpg

It gives the option for a new workout, accessing your training diary, settings and shows details from your latest workout as well as sunrise and sunset times.
Hitting the options button gives you the option to connect the HR belt, check for updates and about the software.

If you click on New Workout, the next window appears with your current workout settings based on your last workout.

http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww280/aussieIDI-07/Sports%20tracker/sportstracker13.jpg

From here you can change the activity, target using a previous workout, and alter the auto lap feature.

The list of activities is huge

http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww280/aussieIDI-07/Sports%20tracker/sportstracker11.jpg




Once the new workout is selected, this is the main screen.

http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww280/aussieIDI-07/Sports%20tracker/DSC03801.jpg

It will use the GPS to get your location and if you have a HR belt, will show your heart rate. It will use the phone network when it needs to for data.

I don't mount the phone and just stash it in a jersey pocket or pocket in the camelbak.

Once the workout is complete, you can view the data on the screen.
Afterwards, the data is available in the workout diary.

http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww280/aussieIDI-07/Sports%20tracker/sportstracker9.jpg

The first page is a summary. If the heart rate monitor was connected, it displays the heart rate. If it wasn't connected, it will display the map route.

http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww280/aussieIDI-07/Sports%20tracker/sportstracker4.jpg

http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww280/aussieIDI-07/Sports%20tracker/sportstracker7.jpg

As the Nokia X6 is a touch phone, just sliding a finger across the screen moves the screen up and down but also side to side to compare to other workouts instantly.

Next screen down shows the lap times. I haven't managed to get this sorted out yet. so the page is blank.

http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww280/aussieIDI-07/Sports%20tracker/sportstracker6.jpg

Next page is speed vs time

http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww280/aussieIDI-07/Sports%20tracker/sportstracker5.jpg

Next page is heart rate vs time

http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww280/aussieIDI-07/Sports%20tracker/sportstracker.jpg

Followed by Heart Rate distribution. How long you were in each hear rate zone. This zones are based on the settings you provide for you age, weight, etc.

http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww280/aussieIDI-07/Sports%20tracker/sportstracker18.jpg

The comes altitude vs distance

http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww280/aussieIDI-07/Sports%20tracker/sportstracker17.jpg

And then the map of the ride. If you took photo's during the ride then it will be shown. If you listened to music, it will also be shown.

http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww280/aussieIDI-07/Sports%20tracker/sportstracker16.jpghttp://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww280/aussieIDI-07/Sports%20tracker/sportstracker15.jpg

and then it returns to the summary.


Once you have completed the workout, you can then upload it to the website for a better view of the workout.

You need to register and connect your phone to the service for this to work.

Once you have done that, you have a dashboard showing your workouts on a map, and all the details listed below. These can be sorted by av speed, distance, date, duration or pace. It will show the same information as the phone but is more interactive. You can pick a spot on the map and it will show you the exact details at that point.

If you have taken a photo, this is where you can view the photos if you have chosen to upload them. You can also listen to your "soundtrack" if you uploaded the media.

http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww280/aussieIDI-07/Sports%20tracker/Mainscreentop.jpg

http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww280/aussieIDI-07/Sports%20tracker/Mainscreenbottom.jpg

http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww280/aussieIDI-07/Sports%20tracker/Media.jpg


Pros and cons:
FREE!!! but you need a GPS enabled Nokia or smart enough to make it work on a Symbian platform.
easy to use and the website interface is pretty good to view the workouts later and share with friends.
Auto lap feature doesn't work for me. Nor does pausing and re-starting. It doesn't stop if you do.
Heart rate monitor can be a little tricky and the battery dies quickly if you forget to disconnect it. (more a user error than a fault)
No cadence or power ability.
No way of mounting the phone to the bike easily.


While the Garmin is the choice for dedicated cycle computers, I think Sports Tracker is a pretty good alternative for the recreational user.

[chamois]

nice write up.

the one big downside to these apps (i have the similar, though not nearly as comprehensive mytracks for android) is that it's awkward or ill-advised to mount nice smartphones on your handlebars. i've seen a few guys with their garmins on their top tubes which is a good idea but it's a long way to be looking down with any sort of regularity. the datalogging is awesome, but being a realtime display replacement would win. not sure how best to solve that one...

also, what protocol does the HR strap work on? is it bluetooth, or what? i've been thinking for a little while that if i could get a hold of a bluetooth HR strap i could write a decent program for android that would not only record my data but also log the stuff that i need directly via wifi rather than me having to run 2 sigma units and then manually key all my training data into a spreadsheet...

^^edit: just did some further reading, apparently there are already several android devices with ant+ compatible hardward built into them, but at present 1) the android kernel does not support them (they are an un-utilised feature) and 2) there are no native libraries for them yet. ant+ seems the way to go though...

[aussieidiot]

It uses the Polar Bluetooth HR device.

Can be purchased here (http://shop.sports-tracker.com/)

I bought an N79 Polar Pack from Virgin Mobile to get the HR for free.
At the time that was the only way to get it. I used to run a separate Polar kit and Sports Tracker but now its great to combine all the data in one place.

[TOU93]

I got Sports tracker working on my old samsung I8510. It was quite a struggle because Symbian is the worse OS ever to try to hack.

The samsung I8510 was more accurite than my old n95 was.

[Iceman]

Great review, unfortunately hardly anyone has Nokia's anymore...

[mtb5150]

I use Cyclemeter http://www.abvio.com/cyclemeter/ which looks very similar but is free and works on the iPhone. Looks to provide the same data but doesnt have the HR interface which would be cool.