DetectLogPro User Manual

1. Introduction

DetectLogPro is an advanced tool for Metal Detectorists giving you a place to record and manage your finds, and with the Premium upgrade, plan trips using historic maps and Lidar, and reports and labels. The premium edition also provides synchronisation with your Google Drive account to back up data and share with other devices you may have.

2. Maps

The Maps screen is the default and allows you see all your finds where you found them (centre of the thumbnail). Ribbon icons from left to right are:

• Cloud Sync (currently only Google Drive) – connect in the Settings screen if using for first time.
• Overlays visible. Overlays are only available when one of the 'URL' maps is selected, not the native Google maps. If you are not on one of these map types or don't have loaded Overlays (see Overlay section), then this icon won't appear.
• Route Tracking. This is not visible on desktop versions (see the mobile screenshot lower down), but when on will track you and stop automatically if you start travelling faster than a human is designed to go (so will stop when you drive home). When it stops, the route is saved and can only be seen by toggling 'show routes' in the menu.
• Filter. This option allows you to select what is loaded from your database. When data is filtered the icon changes to solid (in case you wonder where your finds have gone!)
• Menu. Allows you to select the map you prefer, manage route tracks, and access Settings.

Figure 1: Desktop view of map screen

Figure 2: Mobile view of map screen

3. Adding Finds

Finds can be added in the field by pressing the waypoint icon, but also by selecting a point on the map and long pressing to get the add find prompt.

By default, the Add find form keeps things simple so you can quickly capture the name, target ID and a picture in the field. But you can expand out the form to capture more information if needed (or when back home).

Note if you add a PAS reference against your find, when viewing your find a button will automatically be enabled that will allow you to launch the page on finds.org.uk (If you are not in the UK but have a similar system you can edit the URL in the Settings screen to use your countries search). It is also possible to add a web URL – DetectLogPro will then use this instead of mapping to the PAS format.

If you have an iPhone and Apple Watch you can also add finds using the watch using dictation and avoiding the need to get your phone out with muddy gloves!

4. Custom 'URL' Maps

In the Settings screen it is possible to add your own custom maps using XYZ format URL's. In the UK, the best source is the National Library of Scotland MapTiler service (https://cloud.maptiler.com/tiles/) where you can sign up for free and copy the URL into the URL field on the settings form.

Figure 3: NLS MapTiler maps

You can add up to six custom maps and toggle their availability on/off to make visible in the Map screen menu drop down (note depending on your phone the menu could grow to be bigger than the screen, but it will be scrollable).

You will need to copy the 'Raster Tile XYZ' URL from MapTiler and then paste it into DetectLogPro as below:

Figure 4: Raster tile URL (you need the 2nd one to paste into the settings screen)

Figure 5: Configuring the 'URL' maps

5. Finds Tab

Figure 6: Finds Tab

The Finds tab is where you can search for Finds, share with friends and delete the duds (up until you sync this can be reversed by filtering on deleted finds in the map tab). It is possible to add new finds from this screen, but this can also be done from the map screen.

Long pressing on an entry will trigger selection mode where a number of finds can be selected and then used in Reports such as finds labels.

The search at the top of this form will search for text in each find but will also automatically recognise if you input a find ID.

6. Pictures Tab

Figure 7: Pictures Tab

The Pictures tab shows all pictures and from where you can click to open the find record and see the full image.

To manage phone memory the app will only initially load a limited number of images, but scrolling down will automatically load more.

7. Overlays

Figure 8: Lidar overlay on the Map screen

The app can support overlays in the format of MBTiles files. These can be exported from the excellent open source QGIS application. You can also download from the PageTech website a simple tool that will convert TIF files downloaded from the UK DEFRA website (as seen above). For a detailed description of how to download and convert a Lidar tile from DEFRA see Appendix A – Generating MBTiles Files.

On desktop and Android versions you can load MBTiles files directly from the Overlay tab. On Apple iOS (iPhone and iPad), you will need to use the Apple Files app to share them with DetectLogPro.

8. Reports

Figure 9: Reports screen

In addition to printed reports the app also offers counts on hashtags which you can record against each find. These totals are for the current filter (see map section), so can be used to report for instance on the finds this year. The PAS count is driven by the PAS field on the Finds form.

Several standard reports can be printed (scroll down). Apart from the Storage & CSV reports you need to select finds first in the Finds tab (press and hold to start selection then tap as many as you need to print).

2D Label Printing

The 2D labels are intended to print on 3 x 7 standard labels. The 2D barcode can be scanned by the mobile camera and will launch the app, finding the record in the database.

To print labels, you will need to print test prints (I recommend on paper rather than labels themselves) and adjust the settings to match your device (unfortunately I have found the mobile prints smaller labels compared with the Mac) and printer.

Label Printing configuration is in the Settings section:

Figure 10: Label printing configuration

By comparison I had to set a Horizontal gap of 40 for the same report on a Samsung S23 Ultra.

To save label stock this report can start printing at the next space on your label sheet by specifying which label it should start printing at.

9. Import from GPKG

It is possible to import your finds from other apps that support export to GPKG (these contain the finds record and photos). For desktop and Android this can be done via the section in the Settings screen. iOS devices you will need to use the Apple Files app to find your export and share with DetectLogPro. It is possible to select more than one GPKG file at a time. The app will not allow you to import the same file twice, so it is safe.

On iPhone it is also possible to 'share' a file by downloading from an app like OneDrive and then 'sharing' with DetectLogPro. However, this method will only work one file at a time so I recommend using the method above as you will probably have a few exports to load.

10. Cloud Sync

First time you intend to Sync you need to connect to your Google Drive. It is possible for the DetectLogProSync Folder to be shared with others if you want to work as a team (their finds will show with a blue surround on the map screen if you each set a different username).

First time use you can either export all the local database with the cloud or import all from the cloud. In the latter case this will delete everything on your local database and replace with records from the cloud – so take care! Exporting all to the cloud will push a fresh record of everything in your database to the cloud folder, which in turn will trigger a refresh in other devices.

Figure 11: Cloud sync in Settings screen

11. Apple Watch App

If you have an iPhone, you also have access to the DetectLogPro Watch app.

Once installed (via the Apple Watch App on your phone) it will give you two useful field functions:

• Add finds using your voice – dictate find descriptions without getting your phone out with muddy gloves!
• Map view – see a copy of the current map on your iPhone, including Lidar Overlays

12. Appendix A – Generating MBTiles Files

To create an MBTiles file you first need to download a tile set from https://environment.data.gov.uk/survey and after zooming into the part of the country you need Lidar for, draw a polygon over the area you need.

Then after pressing 'Get available tiles', download your datasets. I use the LIDAR Composite DTM type and go for the highest resolution. This will download a zip file with amongst other things a TIF file (it will be the biggest thing in the zip file). This is the one you need to then convert to MBTiles.

As mentioned earlier QGIS is brilliant but complex.

Another option is to use the Hillshade Converter which we will shortly be making available — see Hillshade Converter for updates.

13. Frequently Asked Questions