# Does Strava work with the Spot Tracker?



## BCTJ (Aug 22, 2011)

I'm considering riding the 65 mile Cathedral Valley bike loop next weekend. I was thinking that I may need to buy a Spot tracker for this trip, as the GPS on my phone may cut out. However, I was also wanting to record on Strava to boost my ever-fragile and in constant need of nourishment ego. I was wondering, does anyone know if I can just use the Spot tracker for Strava and, therefore, would not need to use my phone GPS?

Thanks.


----------



## Wherewolf (Jan 17, 2004)

*Cut out what?*



BCTJ said:


> ...as the GPS on my phone may cut out.


You are afraid of losing a GPS signal? Are you going to be in a dense forest? Doesn't the Spot Tracker also use satellites? So if you lost one don't you think you'd lose both?


----------



## heyyall (Nov 10, 2011)

I don't think it will work like what you want it to. I believe spot trackers only get a GPS fix every 10 mins or so. You may not get a gpx file readily out and if you did, it wouldn't have much resolution, especially for strava. 

If your goal is safety and rescue, spot is perfect.


----------



## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

Assuming that your concern is the mobile phone battery running out of charge whilst recording the route you can get a small external battery charger so that your phone won't go flat.

Eg:

http://www.amazon.com/Astro-Lipstic...=8-1&keywords=iphone+battery+charger+portable

That external battery plugs in and keeps the phone charged, so that it should last the entire length of your ride with the GPS and Strava app running.

In terms of a Spot Tracker and Strava it looks like you can only share your GPS track through the Spot website, along with linked pictures. It doesn't seem to have export options apart from that so I don't think it will go to Strava.

https://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=111

Here's an example of the Spot shared route with some public ones:

https://www.findmespot.com/spotadventures/


----------



## BCTJ (Aug 22, 2011)

I used to ride out in Arizona, particularly, on the Black Canyon Trail and my phone would sometimes lose the GPS signal. I was thinking that maybe Spot would have better GPS capabilities but, based on this thread, it sounds like it would not. I called up a lady at REI and she said that Spot doesn't upload routes to Strava...so, I guess I'll just stick with my phone GPS. Spot would be nice to have if I get stuck out there though as there is generally poor phone reception. I guess I can just tell my family where I'm going and give myself a time frame to be back.


----------



## heyyall (Nov 10, 2011)

Why not get a regular GPS (cycling specific like an edge 510 or a hiking style one)?


----------



## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

no. SPOT is not for this kind of use. It is not an activity tracker. The periodic locations are individual points, not connected except on SPOT's website. And they don't last forever.

Yeah, why not use a dedicated GPS receiver?


----------



## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

WR304 said:


> In terms of a Spot Tracker and Strava it looks like you can only share your GPS track through the Spot website, along with linked pictures. It doesn't seem to have export options apart from that so I don't think it will go to Strava.
> 
> https://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=111


Reading that link again you can download the Spot GPS track from their website to your computer as a GPX file. You might be able to get that into Strava.

https://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=209

The main limiting factor to consider is the transmission rate of the Spot Tracker. A cycling GPS device such as a Garmin Edge records your track at 1 second intervals. With a Spot Tracker you have different annual subscriptions (additional to the $169.95 USD Spot Gen 3 purchase price and $149.99 USD basic annual service subscription required for the device to work) for how frequently your location is transmitted.

https://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=103

The Basic tracking subscription $49.99 USD per year automatically transmits your location every 10 minutes.

The Unlimited tracking subscription $49.99 USD per year can be set to automatically transmit your location every 5,10, 30 or 60 minutes.

The Extreme tracking subscription $149.98 USD per year can be set to automatically transmit your location every 2.5 minutes.

First year subscription costs for a Spot Gen 3 with tracking:

Basic service + Basic tracking = $199.98USD per year
Basic Service + Unlimited Tracking = $199.98 USD per year
Basic Service + Extreme tracking = $299.97 USD per year

The problem with these long gaps for Strava is that compared to a 1 second recording rate any segments will most likely be missed and average speeds will be way out. The Spot Tracker will be ok for tracking your approximate location but not for a detailed track of your ride. Even at 2.5 minute intervals there will be a lot of information missing.

For the price of a Spot Tracker subscription you could easily buy a cycling GPS computer, saving battery on your phone for emergencies. The cycling GPS will work far better for Strava too.


----------



## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

WR304 said:


> Reading that link again you can download the Spot GPS track from their website to your computer as a GPX file. You might be able to get that into Strava.
> 
> https://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=209
> 
> ...


They've changed the tracking intervals some, and the download function is new, compared to the last time I looked at these.

The huge gaps in tracking are still a problem for a fitness tracker website. Once every 2.5 min is even giant for mtb terms. Not to mention the expense of getting even that tracking interval, compared to the ongoing costs of a dedicated GPS - nothing.


----------



## JoePAz (May 7, 2012)

You can extend batter life on phone by turning off all the connections. Airplane mode or manually turning off wireless, bluetooth, wifi etc. Most phones will still record the track and will use less power. Most of the time power is drained when the phone powers up to try to get a signal. I have had my iPhone 5 work for 9 hrs in remote areas with connection features off. Once I got back to a place with cell signal I let strava upload the ride an all was good. Plus I never removed the phone from the camelback so screen was off the entire time too. screen use burns power. 

You can also bring a small power back up just incase. This might be best if you need to turn the phone on for help and have low battery.


----------

