Reducing tolerance

[Leigh]

My phone is beeping when I'm too far from the control site. Is there any way of reducing the tolerance for all controls in the event?

[MichaelRaz]

Hi Leigh,
The answer as far as I know is - it depends.  The tolerance is set by the person who set up the event. I believe the default is 15m. There is an option also to allow this to be user changeable but the default for this is False.  If, however, this option has been set to True, when you load the event on your phone select 'Options and Settings', scroll down to the 'Events' section and just pass the 'Tracks Display to:' section is the 'Punch Tolerance' option where you can check is it is changeable or not.
In my experience the option is normally kept locked, especially for a serious event, as otherwise it would allow a runner to set a really large tolerance (so cheat).
Events I have set up have always tried to strike a balance on this setting as you have participants with really accurate GPS devices and some much older stuff (the latter can actually cause early or late punches).  So many advantages to a MapRun event but there will also be some disadvantages.

[Peter Effeney]

Leigh,

A good summary from Michael.

If you would like to email the details to [e-mail] we can check the specific options in your case.
(Runners details, event name, and out of interest the phone model)

Peter

[Leigh]

Thanks for the responses. I should have clarified that I’m working in Checksites mode. Following your suggestions I’ve ventured into options and found a way of adjusting the tolerance. But certainly not an option to give to competitors once the event is published

[Peter Effeney]

Leigh,

If you are using CheckSites as part of setting up a subsequent MapRun Event, and experiencing punching well away from the control Lat/Lng, it may be worth exploring the root causes.

MapRun receives a location point from the phone GPS, generally every second, and it then computes the distance to controls, and punches if the distance is less than the tolerance value that has been set.

If the GPS signal is weak/noisy/irratic you can get location points that are some distance from where you are actually standing at the time. These can trigger a remote punch.

The signal can be weak/noisy if the control site is "GPS-unfriendly" eg under dense tree cover, next to a tall building, down in a deep gully etc. If this applies in your CheckSites testing, it may be best to move the control site.

It can be interesting to look at your GPS track after you've finished to see what the track is doing near where you had issues. Is it bouncing around, or is there a single spike, or is it generally offset from where it should be?

I hope that helps. But send us the details if you would like us to investigate.

Peter