Two Fun Products

[meput]

JB,

If you get the uclear blue tooth helmet speakers, give us a follow-up. Looks like an interesting product. It might work well with the HeyTell app that my daughter talked me into getting. HeyTell sends a voice message that a smartphone handles as a text message. Think of a walkie talkie communicator that you can replay the message as need be.

meput

[SnowHot]

I found this I phone (and other smart phones as well) App. It's called ski tracks. It costs .99 and it tracks your vert, avg speed, max speed and will map out where you have been all over the mountain and it will do this for each individual run as well. You can check it out at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ski-tracks-gps-track-recorder/id365724094?mt=8

The other one is a blue tooth app for ski helmets. I have not tried this and I saw this from a review that Phil did on Epic. What I like about this is that it is adaptable to any helmet and everything is hands free (or you can also go manually). Phi's is the only reveiw that I have seen. It looks like a nice product.

Here is the link:
http://www.uclear-digital.com/HBC120snow.html

Phil had a chance to do an early product test on the UClear 100 in the spring. 
http://www.epicski.com/products/uclear-hbc100-bluetooth-helmet-communicator

[meput]

Thanks SnowHot,

That Epic post is the first I have read that I can understand the terminology and language used    . Neat.

I wonder how the uclear 100 that Phil reviewed is different from the uclear 120 snow skiing / snowboarding version?

[HighAngles]

My Tracks for Android does a great job (and it's free  )

[jim-ratliff]

I will give it a try. Thanks.

[SnowHot]

Thanks SnowHot,

That Epic post is the first I have read that I can understand the terminology and language used    . Neat.

I wonder how the uclear 100 that Phil reviewed is different from the uclear 120 snow skiing / snowboarding version?

I'm not sure about the difference, but I can ask the rep.

[jim-ratliff]

My Tracks for Android does a great job (and it's free  )

HighAngles:  Thanks for that recommendation. I downloaded "My Tracks" to my HTC Evo last week and took it on a bike ride this weekend, and it does work quite nicely. I had been looking for something like this. 

Color coded average speed and above/below.  We were just doing a ride out and back on the same roads, it split the tracks into side by side rather than blurring them on top of each other. Good summary of total altitude gained as well as high and low altitudes, although I hear the altitude precision isn't as great on phones as the 2D precision, but still very worthwhile.  Waypoint pins are nice.

Didn't seem to take a lot of battery, and as you said "it's free".  I wasn't able to see the track until after I stopped recording, but I also didn't think to "pause" and imagine that's the key.

Thanks.

[HighAngles]

I also hear that the altitude precision supposedly isn't there, but I've double-checked My Tracks many times and it's always pretty much spot on.  I doubt I'm off by more than a couple hundred vertical feet on any given day.

[LivingProof]

Thought I would bump this to talk abut Ski Tracks app for I phone.

I've used now for 6 days. It's a neat to sit back at the end of a day and see your performance. Two issues.

1) Some of the speeds for individaul runs are off the charts high. I've never gone 62 mph on skis in my life. No rhyme or reason, next runs are normal speed.

2) On my home mountain, I ski one lift only. It frequently does not catch the peak and/or bottom of the lift as back to back runs differ in total elevation. If my mountain statistics are correct, it underreports total vertical feet of the mountain by about 10%, sometimes as much as 20%.

3) Make sure your phone is charged 100 percent.

For less than a buck, it's fun to use.

[jbotti]

Agree, I have definitely gotten my money's worth (hard to say if I have gotten more because the novelty wears off quick!).

On the other front, I sent back my UC Clear helmet bluetooth unit. There are just too many exposed wires for me with the amount of tree skiing that I do. If you can mount with the mount piece that they send you right on the helmet at chin level, you can eliminate the exposed wires. My wife did this and she is still using it and likes it (she also doesn't ski in trees). That spot on my helmet is rounded and it won't accept the mounting piece which meant that I had to mount on the goggle strap, and this is really bad with regard to exposed wires. I really feel like it should be a completely wireless system and if so it would be great.