Exact Location and Time in the field

Several tools (e.g. TheSkyX - or especially T-Point) need the exact location and time. With an internet connection it's not a problem at all:

• Android Phone for location
• Dimension 4 for exact time

But how to get this when we are in the field without an internet connection. I'm always surprised how many Android apps need an internet connection - even if their functionality doesn't really need them. And Dimension 4 will not work at all as it connects to Internet Timer Servers.

The best solution I found was describe in Using GPS Receivers to Set Computer Time for In-the-Field Logging by Gene Hinkle. It requires:

• GPS device that connects via USA (I used GlobalSat BU-353-S4 USB GPS Receiver), and
• NMEATime2 from VisualGPS

Setup of GPS device is simpl: install driver, plug in device, install and start GPSInfo program. It might take a couple of minutes until the program found enough GPS satellites to determine its location:

(It should automatically detect the right COM number)

Now, close GPSInfo and start NMEATimePanel. It will first synchronize:

... and then after a while, it will lock to the satellites:

And now it will correct the computer time. Usually it gets it down to a few milliseconds.