Anyone use an app for measuring hole distances? I'm thinking there has to be one where you can drop a pin at different locations and then measure the distance between the two. Thanks for your help!
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App for measuring distances
- Thread starter S.Cann
- Start date
R-Ogre
Double Eagle Member
Udisc
How accurate do you want to be? If you're happy with +/- 16' accuracy UDisc is the way to go. If you want to pin it down better than that nothing beats the cost effective 300' tape and a buddy.
S.Cann,
fwiw...
Udisc has one of my courses' distances off by 17% on average. 5 of their (Udiscs') values were too high; 13 too low. Closest was off by 2 feet (0.8%); furthest was off by 100 feet (52.1%). IMO Udisc's distances (as posted) are pretty much useless. And yes, I'm one of those people who own, use, and believe a 300' steel tape is second only to a theodilite.
fwiw...
Udisc has one of my courses' distances off by 17% on average. 5 of their (Udiscs') values were too high; 13 too low. Closest was off by 2 feet (0.8%); furthest was off by 100 feet (52.1%). IMO Udisc's distances (as posted) are pretty much useless. And yes, I'm one of those people who own, use, and believe a 300' steel tape is second only to a theodilite.
I'm a road construction tech so...
tl:dr = measuring with tapes good - measuring with phones not nearly as good
I think that has nothing to do with UDisc. I'm fairly certain that's an issue with the location accuracy that the app is getting from the phone itself. The issue being that GPS tech requires direct line of sight to the satellites to be effective. I said +/- 16' earlier but that's in an open field away from any structures so it's no surprise to me that some UDisc distances can be off by as much as 100' in length which can easily happen when you're using it in thick foliage. And when a phone can't get enough sats for GPS it relies on cell towers to triangulate which is also notoriously inaccurate.
I'm pretty familiar with GPS tech because I use it all the time at work. We have a survey grade GPS rover that can get to 1/8" horizontal accuracy when the connection to the ground station and sats are good.
It amazes me that when this topic of measuring hole lengths some folks have such an aversion to using a 300' tape. It takes 2 people to do it quickly and WAY more accurately than a phone or a wheel plus they only run for about $30 at your big box store.
And by the way - a fiberglass tape is the way to go. Steel tapes are $$$ and require you put a certain amount of tension on them - which is why hardly anyone uses them anymore.
I use Google Maps for my local courses. I keep mental notes on sidewalks, baskets, lamp posts, this tree, that tree, etc.
But I'm not really sure what you're trying to do, so my idea may be bogus.
But I'm not really sure what you're trying to do, so my idea may be bogus.
Go out to a football field, walk off 100 yards counting every other step. Try to be consistent with your normal stride. Once you have your stride length you can be as accurate or more than UDisc. If you practice you can get within a few percent error.
gooberau
Birdie Member
I agree with txmxer above. My normal stride is 92cm or 3'. My extended stride is 1 meter. It seems very accurate when compared to Udisc.
Nice. A class I took in college was heavily focused on pacing. (I don't even really remember what the class was, GIS or mapping of somesort), and yes, pacing can be a very accurate way to measure distance, and is how many early surveys over the years where conducted.
In scouts, during a JLT outing, we did a lot of pacing work. And on my Quest beyond Eagle, we did a LOT of pacing work, as well as mountaineering, orienteering, and map and compass work. That was fun. At one point, they pretty much just dropped us off somewhere in the mountains, and left us to navigate back home. All we had was topo map and compass. No GPS allowed.
zontar
Double Eagle Member
I got kicked out of Webelos.
A good buddy taught me to use paces instead of yards for setting the pins on my bow. His reasoning was that it's easier to imagine paces to the target instead of actual yardage.
Plus we always practiced it in the warehouse we worked in by picking an object, calling out the paces, and see who got closest. I would also do it in parking lots with shopping carts.
Plus we always practiced it in the warehouse we worked in by picking an object, calling out the paces, and see who got closest. I would also do it in parking lots with shopping carts.
...if it's in your favor.
On the other hand, if you're throwing 300', I have a hole that you couldn't dream of being inside C1 in one...and it's "192 feet". Means you're really only throwing 150'+.
Thanks for all the replies! I'm trying to measure distances at my backyard course. I have a wheel and I think I'll just use that.
That's probably the best choice for ease + accuracy. But, you do the step thing for a while and you will find it is surprisingly accurate.
I was wrong. The phones do have a GPS chip in them, but they use everything available including cell towers and wifi hotspots to dial in a location.
UDisc does say in the FAQ that if the blue dot is accurate, then the GPS location is accurate even if the "BEST" reading is +/- x feet.
Agricolae
Eagle Member
To echo what others have already said, there are many ways to measure distance that are applicable to disc golf; GPS phone apps are not great if you want reasonable precision. For reasonable precision and reasonable $$, go with a 300ft surveyors rope. These things are not really rope, but fiberglass, thin and slide easily over grass, brush, around obstacles. Two people can work very quickly. Generally more precise than a wheel, depending on ground cover.
This. Thanks to all who brought up it. I used to suggest this but had a hard time convincing folks how easy it is and how accurate one can be. I did this stuff for a living for over 30 years ... before (and after) GPS. It isn't hard and I'll still bet anyone that, on reasonably open ground, I can be within +/- 2%.
Tricks to getting consistent are: (1) don't try to force your pace to a distance (i.e., trying to make sure each step is 3 ft or 2.5 ft, etc.), just walk at a pace that is natural and that you could maintain over time; (2) re-calibrate from time to time with a precisely known distance, after awhile you'll find 'operator drift' becomes less and less. I've been 36 steps to 100 ft, casual pace, for a long, long time.
Warning: Once you start doing this you'll find yourself measuring (counting steps) all the time. Probably, as txmxer said, some kind of OCD thing.
This. Thanks to all who brought up it. I used to suggest this but had a hard time convincing folks how easy it is and how accurate one can be. I did this stuff for a living for over 30 years ... before (and after) GPS. It isn't hard and I'll still bet anyone that, on reasonably open ground, I can be within +/- 2%.
Tricks to getting consistent are: (1) don't try to force your pace to a distance (i.e., trying to make sure each step is 3 ft or 2.5 ft, etc.), just walk at a pace that is natural and that you could maintain over time; (2) re-calibrate from time to time with a precisely known distance, after awhile you'll find 'operator drift' becomes less and less. I've been 36 steps to 100 ft, casual pace, for a long, long time.
Warning: Once you start doing this you'll find yourself measuring (counting steps) all the time. Probably, as txmxer said, some kind of OCD thing.
