Mt. Whitney Hiking 2018 (5) ~ All day heart rate data during hiking

All day heart rate on August 18, 2018

All day heart rate on August 19, 2018

What does heart rate trend looks like during hiking days?

The last a couple days, I reported overall walking time and heart rate for this hiking.
Today, I looked into a trend of heart late all day during hiking other than walking time.

Here is what I did for this hiking, I left home early in the morning on August 18, 2018 and came home late on August 19, including 6~7 hours driving one-way.

The first day (August 18th), I woke up around 3 am and left home at 3:40 am.  Heart rate during sleeping is around 55~65 (bpm).  During driving, it is somewhere 80 (bpm).  When I took a rest, I was moving around.  The heart rate a little jump to around 100 (bpm).

Time to arrive the visitor center in Lone Pine to pick up the permit around 9:30 am and left there before 10 am.  The elevation of trail head, Whitney Portal is somewhere around 8000 feet.  However on the way to trail head, the heart rate started up to more than 90 (bpm).   When I was preparing hiking near trail head, the heart rate reached 100 ~ 110 (bpm).

During hiking, that was what I reported last few posts.  As soon as I started walking, the heart rate hit more than 150 (bpm) as I mentioned in the previous posts.   When I took a rest with sitting, the heart rate got lower, but it was up to 120 (bpm).  It seems that the heart rate stay a little higher even I completely stopped and rest.

After setting up tents, the heart rate was stable somewhere around 110 (bpm).  However, it hit 150 (bpm) when I took water near the camp sit with a little walking.  After that I took the watch off for charging.   When I prepare meal in the tent, the heart rate was getting a little higher whenever I moved.  Overall, it was slowly getting lower, it was around 100~110 (bpm).  During sleeping, it was continue to be lower and right before waking up was somewhere around 70 (bpm).

However, whenever I started moving in the tent, the heart rate was getting higher again.  It was around 90 (bpm)

The second day, I carried minimum stuff for the summit attempt and I managed my heart rate less than 140 (bpm) as I mentioned in the previous posts.  Overall, the heart rate during hiking was 135 ~ 145 to the summit and the rest was somewhere around 120 (bpm) and the peak was a little more than 130 (bpm) during descending.

On the way back to home, the heart rate stayed higher than usual, which was around 100 (bpm).  When I came home, it was 84 (bpm).   I did not show a data during sleeping after coming back, but the heart rate was higher than usual, the starting was 80 (bpm).  However it was back to normal in the next morning which is somewhere around 50 (bpm).
My typical heart rate during sleeping is 45 ~ 55 (bpm) and heart rate during desk work is somewhere around 65 (bpm).  So it is obviously higher heart rate when I stay higher elevation during the hiking even in the tent.   Also, the data shows it took longer time to be back to normal even if the elevation is getting lower.  It is different from a regular training (running).  It is back to normal after a few hours.

Only one data, but....

This time I collected heart rate date all day during hiking.  However this is only data I have now.  It is hard to conclude anything.  However, the heart rate when I stay in higher elevation is expected.  It is just higher than usual.   On the other hand, the recovery time to back to normal was taking much longer time than what I was thinking.

It is still a speculation, however, I guess it takes much longer time when people are in lower oxygen situation.  With other data such as pace / total time, I think it is probably better to minimize the consumption of oxygen during hiking.  It is probably less impact overall.  Once people walk higher pace to consume a lot of oxygen, it might be hard to recover especially lower oxygen environment.  So that it might help to walk slowly to minimize oxygen consumption.

(To be continue)

Mt. Whitney Hiking 2018 (2) ~ Data analysis for the first day

Heart Rate trend for the day 1

Walking Speed trend for day 1

Elevation trend for day 1

Data for the first day

As I always do for each hiking, I captured GPS / HR data by a GPS running watch.  Here is the analysis result for the first day of the hiking to Mt. Whitney this year.
As a result, the total time from the trail head (Whitney Portal) to Trail Camp where I camped was:

• Total Time:    271    minutes (including resting time)
• Resting Time   14.2 minutes

The distance based on the GPS data is 7.4 miles (11.9 km).
To compare data from different years, some reference point (location) is picked from a map with latitude and longitude.  Based on the location data, a program looks for the GPS data entries within 50m from the reference point.  Then, the program will check the minimum duration for each section.  Since GPS and distance calculation in the GPS device has some error, the measured distances are not the same for each year.  The average distance of this section (Trail head - Trail Camp) in the past years is about 6.5 mils (10.5 km) .  So that the distance measured this year is about a mile longer than the average.  However, this is not an important parameter for this comparison.  This comparison is focusing on the total duration, therefore it is not a problem.

The following is the past duration in the same section:

• 2011: 264 (min) (Resting: 56 min)
• 2014: 276 (min) (Resting: 65 min)
• 2015: 266 (min) (Resting: 64 min)
• 2016: 310 (min) (Resting: 81 min)
• 2018: 271 (min) (Resting: 14 min)

(*) Note: The definition of resting time is the walking speed is less than 20 m / min.

Based on this data, this year is 3rd fastest after 2011 and 2015.  The big difference is much less resting time this year.

Actual feeling?

Here is what I felt during hiking this year.  Overall, my condition was pretty good.  I had 4 hours sleep at home before left home.  Just thinking about long driving during night, this would be a better than other years and it was not too bad at all!

However.......

When I started walking from the trail head, the heart rate jumped to more than 160 bpm right away even if the walking pace was not so fast.  I guess this is probably due to lack of training for ascending before the hiking.  I think my muscle strength was not enough and it was easy to increase the heart rate.  Therefore, I was very carefully manage the heart rate with slower pace from the beginning of this hiking.  The target range I set was somewhere around 140 ~ 155 bpm. 

Duration for each key section

Let's look into more detail!  A section from Whitney Portal to a branch to Lone Pine Lake, I took about 103 minutes.  I thought I was walking very slowly.  However it is very similar time as year 2014, 102 minutes  which was the fastest duration in the past.  The difference between the years are resting time, it was 12 minutes in 2014, but only 6 minutes this year.  It is the half of 2014.

The next section is from Lone Pine Lake branch to Outpost Camp.  It is relatively flat section and the fastest duration in the past was 28 minutes in 2011 which includes 3 minutes resting time.  This year was 30 minutes without any resting time.

The next section is probably the most tough section in the first day which is from Outpost Camp to Trail Camp.  The best duration in the past was 125 minutes in 2015 with 37 minutes resting time.  This year was 132 minutes with 9 minutes resting time.

Please note, the sum of duration for each section does not match the total time I showed in the beginning.  This is because, each reference location is defined within 50 m range and calculated the duration with the shortest duration between each reference point.  This means the moving time with in the 50 m range for each section does not include the time.  Thus, this is not an error.

Distribution of heart rate zones

The heart rate zone distribution for the first day, almost 80% of time, it was less than Zone 2.  Except 2012, that I hiked a friend who did not have a lot of experience in high elevation, therefore the overall pace was significantly slowing down.  The rest of years, Zone 3 distribution was more than Zone 2.  That is the major difference for this hiking.   This is a similar experience from Trail Camp to Summit in the other years that I kept my heart late below Zone 2 and I did not have to take resting time a lot.  I think if I keep my heart late below Zone 2, I could move without much resting for long time.

Overall, the total duration was not taking long time I originally thought during the hiking even if the walking pace was relatively slower than the other years since the resting time was significantly shorter than the other years.  Also, I felt it was one of easy hiking comparing the other years.

Summary of the first day

I think I am pretty sure that walking pace management based on the heart rate is really efficient method to manage the pace during hiking especially in higher elevation.
This year, the heart rate was much higher than usual and I intentionally kept slow pace and it helps overall duration in day 1.

(To be continue)

Help to minimize resting!

99-Switch back on Mt. Whitney Trail

Better to avoid resting in some sections

During hiking, there might be some sections where we'd better to avoid resting.  It might be hard to find out a good safe place to take some rest during hiking.   One of example is 99-switch back on Mt. Whitney Trail.  This section is steep and it might be hard to find out wide enough safe place.  In this case, one of options is to avoid resting such section.

I think to manage the pace with heart rate helps to minimize resting time.

Total Time from Trail Camp ~ the summit

This is chart shows walking time and resting time in a section from Trail Camp to the summit.  This section includes 99-switch back I mentioned above.
In 2011, I walked as fast as I can and I really exhausted.  In 2012, I walked very slowly to wait a friend who did not have much experience of hiking.  So it took the longest from Trail Camp to the summit.  In 2014, I also walked slowly since a friends got some symptoms of a mild high altitude sickness.  In 2015 and 2016, I intentionally walked very slowly to minimize the resting.  However the total time is probably similar or smaller than 2011.  Even I walked slowly, the total time could be the same or shorter.  That is one of interesting data from my hiking.

In 2012 and 2014, since the pace was very slow for me, I did not feel it was hard at all.  However, in 2011, I was really exhausted.   Unfortunately, I do not have heart rate data in 2011.  But I have heart rate data for other years.

Distribution of Heart rate zone

(From Trail Camp to Trail Crest) 

This data is a distribution of heart rate zone from Trail Camp to Trail Crest where is the most steep portion between Trail Camp and the summit.  As you can see, in 2012, I walked in zone 1 for the most of time.  In 2014, zone 1 is more time than zone 2.  In 2016, my condition was not very good and I walked in zone 2 for the most of time.  Even though, I took more time than 2015.  But the time difference is very small (about 10 minutes).   Also, I did not feel it was hard.
So as long as I can maintain the heart rate zone less than zone 2 (or zone 1).  I did not feel it was hard.  So the key is keep the heart rate less than zone 2, then I might not need resting much.

The actual walking pace was very slow.  I felt I could walk much faster, but I watched my heart rate and I kept the pace based on the heart rate.  I guess I might walk much faster if I had not monitored the heart rate.  So it is probably beneficial to monitor and manage the pace.  Just using "feeling", it might be hard to keep a good pace for hiking.

This is another good example to use heart rate to manage the pace.

Smart Hiking (9) ~ Target heart rate

What is the target HR?

Based on the past data from my hiking, it is possible to manage walking pace by heart rate.  However, the question is what heart rate would be a good target to manage the pace.   That was a big question when I apply this method to hiking.

It is slightly different from running.  Because many runner has a goal or target time for a specific distance.  So many people probably look for a pace to maximize the performance.  However, hiking is not competition and it does not have to be maximize someone's performance.  Probably 30 minutes difference might not be a big deal.  So I stared "try & error" approach.

Try & Error!

I started to pick an average HR during a running activities.   I think I mentioned this before.  A typical average during running activities, my average HR is somewhere around 160 bpm.  So I picked 160 bpm as a threshold to slow down the working pace.  Since I can continue to run with this HR up to 3 hours.  Therefore, I think I can walk to manage HR below 160 bpm.  The answer was, yes, I could do it.  But it was really tough.  It was probably possible to continue, but it was not easy.  I did not have much room to enjoy the hiking.

Then, the next year, I set the target as 155 bpm.  It was a little bit lower than I can maintain.  It was much easier than the previous year and I had some time to enjoy the hiking.  But it was getting harder in the end of a day.  So I found out it might be better to set a little more lower.  Then, I picked 150 bpm the next hiking.  It seems to be an optimized pace for hiking.  It was not really hard and not too easy.  Also, the total time which included the resting time was very similar as using 160bpm or 155bpm.   Slower pace helped to reduce the resting time and the total time to the same destination is almost the same.

This was how I found out my target heart rate for hiking.  It works well for me.  However, this number could change especially my age (around 50 years old).  The fitness level is probably getting worse year by year.  So I was looking for a better method.

(To be continue)

Smart Hiking (8) ~ Strength of activity for hiking

Example of heart rate trend

(Whitney Portal ~ Trail Camp in 2015) 

Impact of elevation

The above chart is an example of heart rate trend in higher elevation.   As you can see, the heart rate except resting above 9,000 feet (3,000 m) is more than 150 bpm.  This is a sort of high side.  Here is another data as a reference.

 Heart Rate during long run

This is a data when I ran for 3 hours.  The pace is not very fast, but the average heart rate is somewhere around 150 bpm.  To compare those two activity is not really easy.  During hiking, I had a backpack with all camping gears, however, the walking pace was really slow.  The strength is probably higher than the long run.   The heart rate is close to 160 bpm in some part.

What I try to say here is the impact of elevation, or lower oxygen environment, is probably much higher than people think.  The key is we need to understand this impact of elevation and manage the heart rate (pace) is really helping for better experience during hiking.

Also, the running example shows that I can run longer if I can maintain the heart rate somewhere around 150 bpm.

(To be continue)

Smart Hiking (7) ~ Pace and resting time

Total time from Trail Camp to the summit of Mt. Whitney

This is another interesting data from my experience.  This is break down for walking time (moving time) and resting time (time not to move).  Again, in 2012, I hiked there with a friend who did not have much hiking experience and I need to stop and wait the friend often.  Therefore the total time is taking more time.  In terms of walking pace, in 2011, it was fastest.  In 2014, it is probably moderate.  In 2015 and 2016 were slower than the other years.

Especially in 2015 and 2016, I tried to maintain the heart rate less than 145 bpm.  Then, I did not have to take a rest or stop so often.  Then the total time to the summit is much less than the other years.

This section is above 3,700m.  The summit is close to 4,500m.  Therefore even if just a little faster pace is a cause of increasing the heart rate.  To lower the heart rate, I needed to stop or slow down the pace.  If I can maintain the heart rate lower than 145 bpm.  I did not have to do that.

In 2011, I felt really exhausted.  However, in 2012, since the pace is so slow and I felt it was really easy.   I had a similar feeling in 2015 and 2016.  Probably around 140~145bpm is probably my optimized pace.   The pace in 2015 and 2016, I thought it was really slow.  But it was a right pace in the elevation.  However it might be a little difficult to maintain such slow pace without knowing the heart rate.  I probably tend to walk faster if I do not have such indication.

This is one of good example of pace management with heart rate in higher elevation.

(To be continue)

Smart Hiking (6) ~ Total Time with different pace

Total time from Whitney Porta (Trailhead) to Trail Camp

I went hiking to Mt. Whitney a several times in the past years.  I hiked some different pace on Mt. Whitney Trail.  Trail Camp is one of major camp sites on the trail.  From the trail head, the distance to Trail Camp is about 6+ miles.   The total duration in this section is 264 ~ 346 minutes.  Actual walking time which excludes the resting time is from 202~243 minutes.

In 2012, I went there with a friend who did not have much experience for hiking.  Therefore the overall pace is very slow and we took longer resting.  The other years, the actual walking time is probably very similar 202 ~ 229 minutes.   However, the feeling was very different.  In 2011, it was obviously over pace and I felt very exhausted.  However, the rest of years, I did not feel exhausted at all.  I felt something much easier than 2011.  Primary difference between 2011 and the other years was walking pace.

In 2011, I tried to maintain the original pace as well as I can.  However, I could not keep the same pace due to high altitude sickness and I was slowing down significantly and it was very very slow near Trail Camp and I was really exhausted.   However in 2015, the total time was almost the same as 2011, but this year I did not feel exhausted at all.  After 2014, I tried to set a target heart rate and tried to maintain my heart rate below the target.   In 2014, the target was somewhere around 160 bpm, in 2015 somewhere around 155 and in 2016 somewhere around 150.

This is very interesting data I found from my records.   Yes, it is much easy to slow down the pace.  However, it does not seem that there is not much difference for the total time and the feeling is very different.   So, I realized there is a way to "optimize" the pace.

(To be continue)

Smart Hiking (5) ~ Heart rate base training

Running Watch (device) with GPS and Heart Rate Monitor

I wrote about relationship between elevation and heart rate in the previous post.   Today, I am talking about heart rate base training in running world.  This is slightly different topic from hiking, but it is better to know the concept of heart rate training.

Running device

Many runners use a running device which has GPS, heart rate monitor and other nice function nowadays.  It is really convenient to track all activities with a lot of data during the activities such as where they ran, distance of running, pace, heart rate and etc.  It also help to tell actual pace when they run in real time.

Since such device is getting very popular in running world, many people using the device to manage running pace and training.  There are so many training menu using heart rate since depending on what performance people try to improve, the intensity of the training is different.   For example to burn fat in the body, the intensity should not be high.  Low intensity with longer time of running would be much more efficient to burn body fat.  However to improve speed and lactate threshold, it usually require high intensity like interval training.  To set a target, "pace" was used in old days, something like 6 minutes per mile x 5.  However, it is hard to set a right pace for many people who is not really serious athletes.  Then the strength / intensity might be too high and it is due to an injury.  Or it is too easy to improve the performance old days.
Now many training many using "target heart rate" instead of "target pace".   It is much easier for many people to set a reasonable goal based on heart rate.

Heart rate zone
To set a target heart rate, there is a definition called "heart rate zone" which is a range of heart rates based on the maximum heart rate, sometime maximum heart rate with the resting (minimum) heart rate.  As long as people knows the maximum (and resting ) heart rate, it is easy to tell which heart rate range people need to maintain for each training.

One of simple example is based on ratio of the maximum heart rate:
- Zone 5 - 90% of the maximum heart rate ~ maximum heart rate
- Zone 4 - 80% ~ 70%
- Zone 3 - 70% ~ 60%
- Zone 2 - 60% ~ 50%
- Zone 1 - 50% ~ or less

Then to burn the body fat, zone 2 would be a good zone.  Typical marathon pace for many people is probably zone 3 or zone 2.   Many interval training can be zone 4 something like that.

The maximum heart rate can be find in a real high intensity activities or using an equation to estimate the maximum heart rate by age.  (A popular formula is "220 - age" [bpm])

Based on such heart rate zone definition, it is hard to maintain zone 4 for a long time.   Even zone 3, it is probably possible to maintain the range longer than zone 4.  But it is probably not easy to maintain zone 3 very long time.  To continue to maintain for very long time, it is probably better to stay in zone 2.   That is the idea.

Based on my experience, it is similar in hiking.  If the heart rate reaches zone 4, it is obviously impossible to maintain such high heart rate for long time.  Therefore, if we can maintain a pace in hiking based on this heart rate zone.  I think we can find a better pace for hiking.

This is the concept for "smart hiking" in higher elevation with heart rate.

(To be continue)

Smart Hiking (4) ~ Example Heart Rate data on Mt. Whitney Trail

Heart Rate trend in 2015

(Whitney Portal ~ Trail Camp)

Here is one of examples for heart rate and elevation.
The chart above shows heart rate trend from Trail Head (Whitney Portal) to Trail Camp.  Since I took some rests on the way to Trail Camp, there are some drips.  However the overall trend is increasing the heart rate significantly.

Walking Speed trend in 2015

(Whitney Portal ~ Trail Camp)

This is a trend for walking speed.  Since resting, there are drops as well.  However, the overall trend is decreasing the speed.

Slope (Elevation / Distance)

Slope of the trail is close to linear.  It is probably okay to assume the slope is almost constant in the section.  The weight in the backpack is also almost the same from trail head to Trail Camp.
Those three chart shows that the heart rate is increasing even if the walking pace is slowing down.  The rest of factor might impact, which are slope of trail and weight of the backpack would be very similar.   The only factor would be elevation.

Elevation of trail head is around 2,500m and Trail Camp is about 3,657m.   The biggest depth on the heart rate and the speed is Outpost Camp where is about 3,170m.  Roughly, below Outpost Camp, the peaks are reached a similar speed.  However after Outpost Camp, the peak speed is clearly much slower than the lower parts.  Also, I did not feel any clear symptom I can recognize below Outpost Camp.  Based on the data above, here is what I found:

• Blew Outpost Camp, I did not feel any clear symptoms for high altitude sickness
• Blew Outpost Camp, I was able to maintain a similar speed as I hike lower elevation.
• Blew Outpost Camp, heart rate is getting higher even if the speed is a similar.
• Above Outpost Camp, I cannot maintain the same speed as lower portion
• Above Outpost Camp, the speed is getting lower

This experience shows even I was not aware of any impact of high altitude sickness, the heart rate stats getting higher somewhere near 3,000 m (or 9,000 feet).  Also, above 3,000m (or 9,000 feet), the heart rate gets higher even if the speed is dropped.  Clearly, heart rate could be a good factor to see an impact of elevation.

Heart rate in running

When I am running, the heart rate I can run for longer distance / time would be below somewhere around 150~160 [bpm].  If the heart rate beyond the point, it is hard to continue or maintain the pace for longer.   That is typical maximum marathon pace I am usually targeting.   The chart clearly shows, the heart rate after Outpost Camp (or 3,000m / 9,000 feet) is higher than this.  Therefore it is considered as "over pace" in running world.

Apply to hiking for pace management

From the running experience, I think we can apply a similar concept to hiking.  That is where the idea is coming from.

(Continue)

Smart Hiking (3) ~ How to recognize "sign"

Difference between casual hiking in high elevation and Himalaya expedition?

One thing I can tell is that there is some difference between a casual hiking in high elevation, which is somewhere around 9,000 ~ 15,000 feet and mountains in Himalaya.
A major factor is "duration".   In general, those expeditions can be long enough to acclimatize the altitude up to some elevation.   However most of casual hiking could be done within a few days.   I think it is probably not long enough to acclimatize the elevation.   This means some symptoms for high altitude sickness is probably given and I think the key is probably to minimize the impact of the elevation.  That is a big difference.

On the other hand, most of strategy people believe is a similar way as those expeditions.  Something like staying higher altitude in a previous night....   However, I personally do not believe it helps a lot.  Based on my experience, I did not really realized that I was getting some symptoms until I really have obvious symptoms.  I think that is difficulty of such hiking.

Need some clear factor to quantify the impact to human body

Especially in early stage or the elevation is probably not high enough to see very clear symptom of high altitude sickness, most of people think "I am good".  Then people tend to walk a regular pace as lower elevation based on their experience.   People who has a lot of experience in that elevation, they might have a better idea how they can manage the pace with the elevation.  In this case, it is probably less problem.  The problem is many people do not have a lot of experience above 10,000 feet.   Therefore, they might walk over pace and exhausted.

If people can have a good factor to recognize the impact, it might help to adjust the pace.

One of popular factor for high altitude hiking / climbing is probably SPO2 (Peripheral Oxygen Saturation).   The value can be measured by pulse oximeter and many expedition might use it as a reference for altitude acclimatization.   If people measure SPO2 in lower elevation like lower than 1000 feet, then the value is typically more than 95%.  However if people is getting higher elevation, this value is getting lower.  Based on my experience, SPO2 valur in 14,000 feet was sometimes less than 80% which is really low value.   It is probably a good factor to show some impact to human body in higher elevation.  This value could be lower once people acclimatize the elevation and it is a good factor for acclimatization.   It is probably very useful for the expeditions.  But it is probably a little hard to use for hiking in a short period.

Another one is probably heart rate.  I am also runner and using a running device (watch) with GPS to track all race and training data.  Many devices nowadays can capture heart rate during the activities.  I also collect heart rate data during hiking to Mt. Whitney which is more than 14,000 feet.  I realize that the heart rate is getting higher if I am in higher altitude even waling pace is slower.
Also, heart rate is one of very good factor to manage the strength of a training and manage running pace in running world.   Therefore, I believe a similar idea can be applied to hiking.   That is the idea to manage walking pace in higher altitude during hiking.

I will show some examples which indicates some impact of higher elevation.

(To be continue)

Smart hiking (2) ~ Hiking over 9,000 feet

Hiking over 9,000 feet

When people hike over 9,000 feet, they might start feel some symptoms for high altitude sickness.  There are some popular destinations over 9,000 feet, such as Mt. Fuji in Japan, Mt. Whitney in California / USA, Mont-Blanc and etc.   Depending on seasons, but it is probably not so difficult in summer time and many hikers are there.  The symptom is typically not really serious in many cases for those destinations, I guess it is something wrong / different for many people and they might be able to reach the summit and come back without major problems.

However, many people feel this is different from hiking in lower elevation.  Therefore there might be some tips such as stay higher elevation in the previous night, walking slowly and etc.  They might be coming from strategy from expedition to mountains in Himalaya.   Basic idea is taking more time to acclimatize the elevation.

My experience on Mt. Whitney trail

I had a several experiences to hike to Mt. Whitney in past years.  I also tried to stay higher elevation in a previous night like many articles suggested.   However, I did not feel any clear difference.  On the other hand, I had very different feeling in a few different hiking.  I felt really exhausted once, but I felt really easy in other.  The major difference is probably walking pace.   It seems to be common sense if people walk slowly, it must be easy.   However, after I collect heart rate data during hiking, I think there is a better way to manage the walking pace.  Obviously, it might be impossible to avoid any symptoms for high altitude sickness, but I believe there might be a way to optimize the pace to minimize the impact of high altitude sickness.

This is the topic I will post as a series to this blog.  I wrote a book about this experience in Japanese and I plan to publish English edition after this series.  After publish the Japanese Edition, I got some extra data / thought, therefore I will reorganize the contents and post in this blog.

(To be continue)

APRS - sending SMS message

SMS message from APRS

I was looking for a way to send a text message in the both direction from / to amateur radio.  The one I mentioned in the previous post is one-way communication from an amateur radio to a mobile device via E-mail.   We cannot reply to the message on the mobile device side.   That is a big limitation for the communication.

After I checked the web site of APRS, there is another service through SMSGTE (APRS/SMS Gateway).   This method provides communication in the both direction with some limitation.  I think it works.

Here is how it works:

1. Using "SMSGTE" instead of a call sign when people send a message
2. In a message body, inserting "@xxxxxxxxxxx " (xxxxxxxxxx is a phone number) to specify the destination of SMS message.

As long as the packet is going through to APRS-IS via IGATE station, a message can be delivered to a mobile device.   Also the person who received the message can reply to the message with in 30 minutes from the last message.   I tested this scheme in some different location with disabling cellular network data.  Now this might be a way to send a message even if a cellular network is out of the range.  Now APRS is probably very useful on a trail during hiking.

If you carefully look into the site, the service is provided in limited region.  The United States is one of countries where the service is available.

• We can send out a location information periodically and people can trace the location from the internet.   (To trace the location history, no amateur license is required)
• We can tell stations who is close to the current location.   Call-signs are listed and they can exchange messages each other.  It is probably useful to contact those station in case people needs some assistance.
• We can send SMS message to any mobile device. (limited countries)

To use APRS, people need to get amateur radio license, but I think it worth to get it.   It helps a lot in case something happens during hiking in an area where a cellular service is not available.

APRS ~ Test from home with rubber ducky antenna

   Today, I tested APRS with BAOFENG/iPhone from home in daytime.
   There are two digipeater near my home.  Based on information on "https://aprs.fi", one digipeater is about 5.3 miles from my home and the other is about 16.1 miles from my home.  Since I do not have any base station antenna, therefore I just use the rubber ducky antenna in a room and set the output power as a low power (1W).

   It seems the both digipeaters can pick up my APRS packet and I can see some packets from other station through those digipeaters.  At least it works around my home with low power setup.  Also, today, I did not see any unexpected transmission at all.   I guess some setup yesterday might not be right.

The current setup is:

On PocketPacket:

• VOX trigger is 400msc

Radio:

• VOX setup value on BAOFENG UV-5R is "10"
• The volume is middle position

iPhone:

• Volume setup is the maximum on iPhone

It has been running more than 2 hours and I saw some stations near home.  The next step is trying to use this on a trail.

APRS with BAOFENG UV-5R ~ I just order a cable from Amazon!

   As an experiment, I confirmed that transmitting a APRS (AX.25) packet and the location shown in a map.   I am looking for a solution to receive packets from the other stations.  The problem is the cable connection between iPhone and the radio.   I do not have any extra cables to get the connectors.

   After some web search, I found a cable on Amazon!!

BTECH APRS-K1 Cable

I just ordered the cable on Amazon and it is expected to deliver on Friday.   Once I get the cable, I will try it and to see if it works or not.

APRS ~ BaoFeng UV-5R + iPhone app "PocketPacket"

Pocket Packet can be used with a 2m radio
   The previous post was talking about two smart phone applications which send the information through cellular network.   During its research, I found some information on the internet that "Pocket Packet" application can be used as TNC (Terminal Node Controller) and BaoFeng can send out the information from audio output from iPhone.  With this solution, it does not depend on the cellular network.   A smart phone is only used to get the GPS or the location information and generating a packet information as the audio output.   No data is going through a cellular network.

Pocket Packet Setup, BaoFeng setup and cable connection

   First of all, disable APRS-IS connection.   As a smart phone application with a cellular network, this function is the path to APRS-IS server.  Width disabling this portion, the application won't send any data to APRS-IS server.   It is also OK to disable "Cellular Data" on iPhone.

Disabling APRS-IS connection

(Turn off "Enabled" and "Transmit")

  Second, enable "Audo Modem" setup on "PocketPacket" setup.  This is a function to create audio output which includes the location information.

Enabled Audio Modem

(Turn on "Enabled" and "Transmit", see the green switches)

  They are the key setting to use a radio to transmit via amateur radio.  Then the last thing is connection between iPhone and a radio (transceiver) .   The article I mentioned above is using a custom hand-made cable for this connection which has a connection from "audio output" to "microphone".

   Since I do not have any extra head set to get connectors on the both end.  I just using a stereo audio cable with 3.5 mm standard jacks on the both side.   I put it to the iPhone ear-phone jack and BaoFeng microphone jack.  Then enable VOX function on the BaoFeng side.

   The frequency for APRS in north America is 144.390 MHz.  In my case, I set iPhone volume as the maximum and set BaoFeng VOX to 5.  Since this is just 1-way connection and no incoming packet is routed to iPhone.  So this is just a test to see if we can send out APRS AX.25 packet through amateur radio.   (My iPhone is an old iPhone5 which has audio jack.  Newer models (after iPhone 7), it is requires to use a short cable to connect audio cable.

   With above setup, it was successful.   I can see my data on aprs.fi.

Trace when I was driving

  It is a good news, we can use iPhone as TNC with most of handheld radio with VOX function.  "PocketPacket" supposes to get incoming packet if we have connection from the radio.  I have not tried this yet.  But I will try it and post the result.

   I guess this might be a good low cost APRS solution through amateur radio!

APRS -- Easy solution ~ iPhone App

   I mentioned about APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System) a few weeks ago.   I am looking for a solution for my future hiking to trace my location during hiking.   In case something happens to me, it can be a way to help to find out where I am.  That is my motivation to use APRS.

   There are some handheld radios which has built-in APRS features, but the price of the radios are expensive.   For long term, I am considering to get such radio in the future.   However I am looking for something low-cost solution for short term.

iPhone App - "aprs.fi"

   I think one of lowest cost solution is a smart phone application.   There are some applications in AppStore.   My smart phone is an iPhone and I did not search Android apps.   "aprs.fi" is the one which is listed as the first app when I search "APRS" in AppStore.   It is USD $6.99.   It is an application on an iPhone to send the location information through cellular network, not through amateur radio.   Therefore, it won't work if a location is not covered by a cellular network.  It is different from one going through amateur radio.   Even though, it is still useful to use in local trails where majority of trails are still covered by a cellular network.

   There is a limitation that the location information is not really report to APRS-IS servers.  Therefore if people is not using the application or "https://aprs.fi" site.  The location information is not shown on the other application for APRS.   As long as people use those application, it is not a problem.   The setup is easy and this is probably an easy solution for most of local trails.  Since this is using a cellular network and utilize its data plan.  I think each data size is not really big, however if the interval to send the location information is short and long hiking, it will use some amount of data. 

Another App - "PocketPacket"

   Another iPhone application I tried is "PocketPacket" which is USD $4.99.   I think this application would be lower cost and better.   The setup is a little more than "aprs.fi".  However this application sends the location information to APRS-IS servers and any application can see the location.   So this is less limitation.   However, to send the information APRS-IS servers, it might requires "passcode".  (I am not really sure, but I think I get error without the passcode.)

   I just did an internet search and a site can generate a pass code with a call-sign.  The URL of the site is "apps.magicbug.co.uk".   I found it by a Google search with "APRS passcode".

The next post will talk about a way to send the location information through amateur radio!

APRS for hiking and back country skiing

Tracking locations with APRS 

   The other thing I am interested in using amateur radio is APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System), especially GPS information.   There are many similar system using the mobile network.   However, there is still a lot of area in mountain where any network is not covered.   Using amateur radio to sending out the location information and tracked by somebody else.  I think it helps rescue in case something happens during hiking and back country skiing.

   Since I sometimes went hiking / skiing alone and avalanche beacon might not be very useful if anybody does not see the accident.   However, this APRS GPS information might help to find out a rough location where the accident is.  It might be too late to rescue a person...... 

   Based on my research recently, there are a couple amateur radio hand held transceivers which can support APRS with GPS information.   The price is a bit expensive with the feature, but I am really interested in the feature.  So I am considering to get one some time and tried how it covers in areas I often go.   There is some digital transceivers made in China have GPS feature, but it is not very clear if they ca support APRS.  Some articles on the internet says it works, but it is not very clear it is really works.   The price for those Chinese transceivers are not very low cost like BAOFENG analog transceivers I got.   So I might need to do my research more.  Please advice if anybody has a better experience to use the location service with APRS.

Progress of heart rate based training ~ Comparing result in 4 months ago

Doing a training plan in Garmin Connect!

I have been doing training regular basis for Marathon and hiking.   Unfortunately, I got injured in April and stopped training for 6 weeks this year.  Now, my fitness level is getting better after the injury.   I have done "Full Marathon - Level 1" in Garmin Connect from August till November and I started over the same menu December and this week is the third week.

Comparing the result on the same menu....

I compared two different training menu from the third week.  One is "threshold run" and the other is "long run".
Threshold run is warming up for ten minutes and 4 sets of high intensity (heart rate zone 4) for 4 minutes and resting for 20 seconds.
Long lone is 3 sets of brisk working for 10 minutes and slow jogging for 25 minutes.

Following tables are comparison of the results

 Comparison of threshold run

Lap	Time	December 13, 2017		August 23, 2017		Remark
		Distance	Average Pace	Distance	Average Pace
1	10:00	1.40	7:09	1.36	7:20	Warm-up
2	4:00	0.81	4:57	0.70	5:43	High intensity
3	0:20	0.04	8:07	0.04	9:06	Rest
4	4:00	0.75	5:19	0.74	5:24	High intensity
5	0:20	0.04	8:33	0.04	8:36	Rest
6	4:00	0.69	5:45	0.66	6:04	High intensity
7	0:20	0.03	10:49	0.03	12.50	Rest

Comparison of long run

	December 16, 2017	August 26, 2017
Distance	13.60	12.73
Total Time	1:48:19	1:46:08
Agerage Pace (min/km)	7:58	8:21

Those distributions of heart rate zones are very similar and they indicates I can run faster with a similar heart rate.  Now I am doing the same training plan and my pace is faster than the previous.  I expects to get more improvement with this menu.

This is a good thing for heart rate based training.

I just wonder if I need to step up to "level 2".  But it seems that the same menu (level 1) would be good for now.  Especially, it is better to stay and getting a small improvement without over training.

Pace management with heart rate (4) ~ Heart rate during hiking

   The previous post was talking about required endurance for hiking.   Without enough endurance, it might be hard to achieve some hard hiking just managing the pace.   Today, I assume a person has enough endurance for a hiking, then how he / she can manage the pace for hiking.

   First of all, a target heart rate which is the upper limit of heart rate during hiking needs to be set.  As the previous posts are talking about heart rate zones to define a target heart rate zone.   Of course, the idea is to maintain the heart rate below the target, however there are some tips.  It is probably better to set an actual target 5 ~ 10 bpm lower than the upper limit since it is typically increasing the heart rate slowly even if a person walking with a similar pace.  In many cases, the intensity of hiking is typically high and it is probably hard to maintain a similar heart rate even if he / she walk a similar case.  Also, the trail slope can be vary and it is hard to maintain the heart rate in some steep sections.  It is probably better to have some extra margin not to reach the upper limit based on my past experience.
   It is also better to slow down significantly or stop if the heart rate reaches close to the upper limit or beyond the limit.  Once it is not immediately lower the heart rate with slowing down / stopped, then it is a time to take a rest with completely stop walking.  You may need to take a rest till the heart rate is get lower than "zone 1".  If it is not getting into "zone 1" in a short period of resting, it is probably better to lower the elevation if you hike higher elevation more than 12,000 feet in general.  If you want to walk without taking reset for a long time, you might need to set the actual threshold to adjust the heart rate much lower.  If your target zone is "zone 2", you might need to close to be lower threshold of zone 2 or zone 1.
   Another tip is to try keeping a constant heart rate as well as you can for easy hiking.   If your heart rate range during hiking is big, it is typically really high intensity when the heart rate in upper side.  In this case, you might feel hard in many cases.

(This is a summary for pace management with heart rate)

For detail, I will be almost ready to publish a Kindle Book about this topic very soon.  It is under review now.   I try to complete this this months and I will be announce it when it is ready.

Pace management with heart rate for hiking (3) ~ Are you ready for hiking?

Fitness Level

   I was talking about heart rate zone definition in the last post.   I think it is probably good to use “zone 2” as a target heart rate for hiking if you are doing training regular basis.   It is probably possible to maintain the heart rate within the range during hiking.   For my case, I may be able to push myself to use “zone 3”.   Based on my experience, a good target zone for hiking would be zone 2 or 3.

   Now, let’s think about people who do not do training regular basis.  I think some people still can be a good fitness situation even if they are not doing training.  I think this type of people are a similar as people who is doing training.  The other group would be people who are not good fitness condition.  I got some feedback that the idea to use heart rate to manage hiking pace.  It seems that the scheme does not work very well for some people.   I think the idea could still help, however, the essential problem is that they are not really ready especially a long hiking.

   Even myself, if I stopped training for a while, it was hard to run even if it was really slow pace.  The heart rate is easy to jump up and hard to continue running.   However, a few weeks after I resumed running, it was getting much better and I was able to maintain heart rate even if it was a little higher pace.

   Therefore, I would say if people who are not ready for a hiking, they need to improve their fitness situation first for a better hiking experience.

Test / Adjust the target heart rate

   So I would suggest people to do “test” once they sets the target heart rate.  Let’s say using one of method to define your heart rate zone.   Let’s pick “zone 2” if you are the first time to use heart rate based pace management.   Then let’s try to do some exercise to check if the heart rate zone is reasonable for you.  Please keep in your mind that “exercise” may have some risk to get injury or the worst case it could be a cause of a critical conditions in your life, especially people who do not do training regular basis, older people and etc.   It is probably better to check with doctor / trainer what type of “exercise” you may start based on your situation.

   Assuming you are ok to do some “exercise”.   You may start with “walking”.   You may try brick pace walking around 30 minutes and check your heart rate.  If it is flat load and the heart rate is over or close to the upper limit of zone 2.  You might need to improve your fitness level.  If you can maintain the heart rate within the range for more than an hour, you might want to do slow jog to see if you can maintain the heart rate within the range more than an hour.   You may use this is an initial target heart rate for hiking.  If it is too easy for you, then you can set a bit higher.  You may want to walk hilly trail to get a similar situation as hiking for further adjustment.