CalTopo Bridge

Aware Outdoors can update your location in the mapping tool CalTopo. CalTopo offers two methods of tracking device location:

For Pro level CalTopo subscribers:

Read the documentation at CalTopo Training: Live Tracking and Locators

Step 1 — in CalTopo

  • Add a Locator to a saved map
  • Under Live Tracks, click on Live Track - Fleet, Email, Other
  • In the Call Sign field, enter the whole call sign, in a form similar to MYGROUP-01, then click OK. The part before - is your Group and the part after - is your Device ID. Multiple devices can be tracked in the same map using different call signs.
  • The Call Sign and the Label are not the same thing. This is the easiest step to get wrong. The Call Sign is how CalTopo knows which locations belong to this track, so it needs both parts together, like MYGROUP-01. The Label is just the name you see on the map, so you can call it anything you like, such as Dad’s inReach. If you put MYGROUP in Call Sign and 01 in Label, it will look right and your locations will never show up.
  • Use only letters, numbers and underscores, and only one -. If you use a second one, CalTopo ignores the rest without telling you: MYGROUP-MY-DEVICE quietly becomes MYGROUP-MY.
  • Check what CalTopo shows you. After you click OK, CalTopo shows a Track Details box with a long web address in it. Your Group and Device ID appear near the end of that address. Make sure they are spelled exactly the same as what you enter at Aware Outdoors below.

Step 2 — at Aware Outdoors

  • In your account, click the Edit button for the device you want to bridge to CalTopo
  • Check the box next to Enable CalTopo Location Bridge
  • In the CalTopo Group or Connect ID field, enter your chosen Group (in this example it's MYGROUP)
  • In the CalTopo Device ID field, enter your chosen Device ID (in this example it's 01)
  • Click Save

Step 3 — test with your device

Send a location from your device, then look at your CalTopo map to check that it arrived. Please do this before you rely on the bridge in the field — see Check That It Is Actually Working below for why this step matters.

For CalTopo Teams:

Read the documentation at CalTopo Training: Live Team Tracking

Step 1 — from your Team admin

Your CalTopo Team admin will give you two pieces of information: a Connect Key and a Device ID. These come from the Teams Administrator Trackable Device area and Add Other Device.

Step 2 — at Aware Outdoors

  • In your account, click the Edit button for the device you want to bridge to CalTopo
  • Check the box next to Enable CalTopo Location Bridge
  • In the CalTopo Group or Connect ID field, enter your Connect Key (for example, UZfuuJmD_wiRXRWOwTRhz7M6qTI3ZPfCnY85NQ4__zC89)
  • In the CalTopo Device ID field, enter your Device ID (for example, 01)
  • Click Save

Step 3 — test with your device

Send a location from your device, then look at your CalTopo map to check that it arrived. Please do this before you rely on the bridge in the field — see Check That It Is Actually Working below for why this step matters.

Location Updates

Every time you send a command message to Aware Outdoors with a location (latitude and longitude), or a ZOLEO Location Update, the CalTopo API will be called with your Group or Connect Key and your Device ID and the location.

Check That It Is Actually Working

Please send one location and then look at your CalTopo map. This is the only way to know the bridge is set up correctly, and it is worth doing before you rely on it in the field.

CalTopo tells us your location was received even when the call sign does not match anything on your map. So we can tell you that we sent your location, but we cannot tell you that it arrived. If the call sign is wrong, everything looks fine on this site and nothing ever shows up on your map.

In Aware Outdoors, in your account, click on your device to see:

  • Last location send — the date and time we last sent a location to CalTopo for this device.
  • Last location send status — whether that location reached CalTopo. As above, this does not tell you it showed up on your map.

Tracks Stop After About A Day

If CalTopo does not receive a new location for about a day, it stops recording your track and turns it into a plain marker or line on your map. When you click on the track, CalTopo shows you the date this will happen.

This is how CalTopo works, and nothing on this site will tell you it has happened. If your track stopped updating after a quiet day, add the Locator to your map again.

Turning Off CalTopo Bridge

To stop sending location updates to CalTopo, edit your device and uncheck Enable CalTopo Location Bridge.