====== GPS, weather, clock, timer and theme parks ======

These tabs turn location, weather, time, ride data and timers into things you can use during a live stream.

Overlay builders are mentioned here only so you know they exist. How to add, show, hide and place overlays is on [[dashboard:overlays|Overlays]].

===== GPS =====

The **GPS** tab shows where the router thinks you are, how good the fix is, and what the moving rig has done so far.

At the top you see:

  * the map
  * **Position**
  * **Speed**
  * **Heading**
  * **Altitude**
  * **Accuracy**
  * **Satellites**

The map has **Following** / **Follow off**. Leave it on when you want the map to keep recentering on you.

==== Getting a fix ====

StreamHelpers can use three location sources.

^ Source ^ What to know ^
| USB GPS receiver | A small USB GNSS puck plugged into the router. This is the usual source. |
| Router built-in GNSS | The Mudi's built-in GNSS engine has no usable antenna in this setup. Do not rely on it. |
| StreamHelpers.com Companion | An Android phone running the Companion app can supply GPS over the router Wi-Fi. |

When a USB receiver is plugged in, the **Receiver placement** card matters. Keep the receiver a few inches away from USB hubs, the router and power banks. They can make the receiver go deaf even while its data cable is working.

When the fix comes from the Companion app, the tab shows **GPS from the Companion** and names the device. Everything that uses GPS uses that phone position too: overlays, map, weather and the theme-park tools. A USB receiver takes over automatically once it is plugged in and locked.

==== Lock and satellites ====

The status chip tells you what state the receiver is in.

Common messages:

  * **3D fix** means the USB receiver has a usable position.
  * **Companion GPS** means a phone is supplying the position.
  * **Acquiring GPS…** means the receiver is talking but does not have a fix yet.
  * **No USB GPS receiver detected — plug it in or re-seat it** means no receiver is seen.
  * **GPS receiver not responding — no data for Ns** means the receiver stopped sending.
  * **No satellites — check sky view** means the receiver is alive but cannot hear the sky.
  * **Signals too weak** means satellites are overhead but not strong enough to use.

Satellite count is not the whole story. A receiver can know satellites should be overhead and still hear none well enough to lock. Move the receiver first; do not just wait forever.

==== GPS activity ====

**GPS activity** shows:

  * **Distance**
  * **Estimated steps**

Press **Reset** to start those from zero. The dashboard also resets them when the configured stream starts. Steps are estimated from GPS distance, not from a pedometer.

==== Share my location ====

**Share my location** controls publishing to the StreamHelpers Pro live map.

Publishing includes position, speed, heading, altitude, satellite count and estimated accuracy, plus the hosted trail. It does not include the phone's motion or environmental sensors (such as g-force, airtime, steps or temperature). See [[pro:live-map|Pro Live Map]] for public readout controls and privacy zones.

Options:

  * **Only share while I'm live-streaming** pauses publishing when the Director Mini is not streaming.
  * **Publish to my StreamHelpers Pro live map** sends your position to your public Pro map.
  * **Link wording** chooses which version of the map address is shown.

Every available address has **Copy URL** and **Open** controls. Open uses a new window/tab. Copying or opening does not select different wording; the active map address also has its own controls.

The map updates every ten seconds. That is deliberate: most live streams are already several seconds behind, and a faster map would get ahead of the video.

The public map is a StreamHelpers Pro feature. See [[pro:features|StreamHelpers Pro features]] and [[pro:live-map|Pro Live Map]].

==== Tell me about this place ====

**Tell me about this place** uses your GPS fix and your own AI provider key to make short lines you can say on stream.

Buttons:

  * **What's around me**
  * **Tell me facts**
  * **Tell me the history**
  * **What's on here**

When the Theme parks tab knows about nearby rides or shows, chips appear so you can ask about one named place instead of a raw coordinate.

An answer does not go on stream by itself. Press **Put on screen** beside a line, then style it with the **Place card overlay**. Overlay details are on [[dashboard:overlays|Overlays]].

The Place card editor is inside this section. Other GPS editors sit with their matching controls: Map address under Share my location, GPS readout under GPS activity, Motion under Motion & g-force, and Map under GPS map.

==== Where am I? name overlay ====

The separate **Where am I?** overlay automatically names a nearby ride, show or restaurant, then falls back to a park or resort. Choose your destination or park on **Theme parks** first. No AI key or Pro subscription is needed.

  * **Automatic** prefers a location within 100 metres, then a park within 500 metres of a mapped point, then the configured resort within 3 kilometres of a mapped point.
  * Adjust those distances, or choose **Park, then resort** or **Resort only**.
  * A changed name must stay the best match for 15 seconds before replacing the current one, reducing GPS flicker.
  * Missing or expired GPS, unavailable/stale directory data and out-of-range positions hide the overlay.

This is **proximity**, not exact boundaries or proof of being on a ride or in its queue. Only your configured ThemeParks.wiki destination is searched. Coverage and available coordinates/hierarchy determine how specific it can be.

Style its text, heading, resort context, source credit, colours, background, border, corners and animations. Drag the preview to position and size it. The preview uses a sample name; **GPS match** reports the live candidate. Keep the ThemeParks.wiki credit enabled. Show/hide it from the Overlays tab or Quick Commands; say //show the location name// or //hide the ride name//.

**Picture → Show** offers **Location name only**, **Logo/image + location name**, or **Logo/image only (name when there is none)**. In picture-only mode the name hides after its picture loads, but missing or unreadable pictures leave the name visible. Choose **Picture source** from the images saved on **Theme parks → Pictures & logos**: **The named place** (else its park, else the resort), **The park** (else the resort), or **The resort**. Choose its **Height** (or **Match the text**) and **Side** (left or right). It works in every layout; the preview shows your park's picture or a dashed sample logo. A location put in a land uses the land's picture when it has none of its own. Old settings keep showing both when a source was enabled, otherwise text only.

==== Motion and g-force ====

**Motion & g-force** is included with StreamHelpers Pro. It also needs the StreamHelpers.com Companion app, because the readings come from the phone's sensors.

Press **Turn on** to start measuring. Press **Reset peaks on all phones** before a ride or run when you want fresh records.

It shows:

  * **g right now**
  * **Peak g**
  * **Lightest**
  * **Airtime**
  * **Lateral**
  * **Vertical**
  * **Spin**
  * **Heading**
  * **Height change**
  * **Tilt**
  * **Steps**
  * **Measuring for**
  * **Phone**

The phone samples quickly and keeps the peaks itself, so short bumps and airtime moments are not missed by a slow dashboard poll.

**Height change** comes from the phone barometer. It is a change since the last reset, not your absolute altitude. That is what you want for a hill, lift, drop tower or ride: how much you went up or down.

The **Motion overlay (g-force, airtime, height change)** can put selected readings on stream. It is still a Pro feature and draws nothing until the router is paired. See [[pro:features|StreamHelpers Pro features]] and [[dashboard:overlays|Overlays]].

===== Weather =====

The **Weather** tab shows current weather and the next 12 hours.

The **Weather location** card decides where the forecast comes from:

  * leave it on GPS to follow the stream
  * type a location override when you want a fixed place
  * press **Set** to save the override
  * press **Use GPS** to go back to the live fix

The **Right now** card shows:

  * condition
  * temperature
  * feels like
  * humidity
  * wind
  * precipitation
  * UV

**Next 12 hours** shows the hourly forecast.

Weather follows the GPS when there is a fix. If there is no GPS fix and no override, the tab falls back to its default location and says so.

==== Optional on-location temperature and humidity ====

The forecast is from Open-Meteo. For measurements at the rig itself, the Weather tab can also read a **SwitchBot Outdoor Meter (W340001X)** over Bluetooth:

  * [[https://www.amazon.com/SwitchBot-Hygrometer-Thermometer-Bluetooth-Refrigerator/dp/B0BVLYPYT1/|SwitchBot Outdoor Meter on Amazon]]
  * No SwitchBot Hub is needed. A nearby Android phone running a compatible StreamHelpers.com Companion app receives the meter's Bluetooth broadcasts and forwards its readings through the router.
  * **To activate the sensor:**
    - Put the batteries in the meter.
    - Hold the button inside the battery cover until its light flashes, then let go.
    - Keep the meter within Bluetooth range of a phone running Companion 0.9.88 or newer, with Bluetooth on.
  * The readings appear in the **On-location readings** card by themselves, usually within a minute.
  * **Leave everything on Automatic.** The settings under **Options** don't need changing. Automatic picks the listening phone (the active director if it can, otherwise any online phone with Bluetooth and Companion 0.9.88+) and shows the first meter it hears. Use **Options** only to stop listening, to choose a particular phone, or to pick your meter if a neighbour's meter is being picked up instead.
  * The **Measured temperature** and **Measured relative humidity** cards show the sensor's latest readings and freshness. These are separate from the forecast values above; wind, rain and UV are still forecast data.
  * The meter is rated IP65 for outdoor use. Mount it in a shaded, ventilated spot; direct sun can heat the enclosure and make the air-temperature reading misleading.

Weather overlays are built from the Weather tab, but URL options and placement belong on [[dashboard:overlays|Overlays]].

===== Clock =====

The **Clock** tab builds a clock/date overlay.

Open the cards in order:

  * **Show** chooses **Time**, **Date**, **24-hour**, and **Seconds**.
  * **Timezone & date format** chooses **Device local**, a named time zone, or **UTC**, and the date style.
  * **Style** chooses **Layout**, **Accent**, and **Text**.
  * **Background** sets colour, opacity, or **No background**.
  * **Border** sets colour, width, corner radius, or **No border**.
  * **Live preview** shows what the overlay will look like.

Use **Device local** when the screen showing the overlay should decide the time zone. Use a named time zone when the stream must always show one place's time.

===== Timer =====

The **Timer** tab controls a timer overlay and can also use theme-park data when that tab is enabled.

==== Stream timer ====

The separate **Stream timer** shows how long you have been live as hours, minutes and seconds. Its own overlay is available in [[dashboard:overlays|Overlays]] under **Clock & timers** and works in Companion, Director Mini and other streaming apps.

It is the last section in Timers. Queue/countdown templates, overlay switch, styling, placement and preview now fold inside **Timer control**. Editors do not show overlay addresses; output setup stays on Overlays. [[dashboard:macros#stream-timer-and-chat-celebrations|Quick Commands / voice]] also has stream timer start/stop/reset, show/hide, mode, status and appearance controls. Say //show the stream timer// or //hide the stream timer//; hiding only changes visibility, not timing.

  * **Automatic: detected stream** follows the router's existing RTMP/bonded-traffic stream detection. Confirmation takes two readings (roughly one to two minutes). Brief connection drops keep the same timer; idle detection has a 30-minute grace period. **Stop stream** ends the detected session. A new session starts from zero.
  * **Manual** gives you **Start / resume**, **Stop** and **Reset to zero** when automatic detection is not appropriate. Stop freezes the display; Start resumes it; Reset while running starts again from zero.
  * **Reset to zero** only resets this displayed duration, not stream statistics/history or the queue/countdown timer.
  * Use the stream timer's own overlay switch to show/hide it. Change its title, colours, digits, background, border and position independently, then **Save appearance**. Drag/resize in the preview saves placement automatically.

The live address is stable: ''%%timer-overlay.php?stream=1&ovid=irl-stream-timer%%''. It polls its separate state/settings endpoint, so saved changes reach an already-loaded source. Preview stays visible while idle; live output hides until running. Backups include its appearance and mode, never a running clock or reset baseline.

==== Timer control ====

Choose **Count up** or **Count down**.

For count up, press:

  * **Start**
  * **Stop**
  * **Clear**

For count down, choose one of:

  * **For a length**
  * **To a time**
  * **Pick a show**

Then start it, unless you picked a show from the show picker. Picking a show is a complete action and starts the countdown.

The **At zero, hide every overlay** option hides all timer overlays when the countdown ends.

==== Title ====

The timer title has three parts:

  * **Before**
  * **Text**
  * **After**

They are joined with spaces and empty parts are skipped. For example, **Before** can be ''Waiting for'', **Text** can be a ride name, and **After** can be ''so far'' or a posted wait.

When Theme parks is enabled, press **What am I near?** to fill the title from nearby rides, shows or dining.

==== One-tap theme-park actions ====

When the Theme parks tab is enabled, the timer gains quick actions:

  * **Entered queue** offers the three nearest rides; tap yours and it fills the title, starts counting up, and switches the timer overlay on.
  * **Select show** offers nearby shows with future start times, fills the title, counts down to the selected start time, and switches the overlay on.
  * **Pick a show** inside Count down does the same from the full countdown controls.
  * **Find shows near me** refreshes the show list.

For parades, the posted start time may be when the parade steps off, not when it reaches you. Use **Reaches me N min after it starts** when you know the delay. If an AI provider is configured and the selected item looks like a parade, **Estimate with AI** can try to fill the minutes.

==== Timer appearance ====

The timer builder includes:

  * **Time Display**
  * **Appearance**
  * **Animation**
  * **Position & behaviour**
  * **Live preview**

Use those to set colours, text size, font, background, border, enter and exit animation, placement, and what happens when the timer stops.

When Theme parks is enabled, a **Picture** section adds a saved picture from **Theme parks → Pictures & logos**: **The location in Text** (the location image, matched by name however the title was set — picked, typed or started from Quick commands — and falling back to the park's picture) or **The park**. Set its **Height** in pixels and **Place** it left, right, above or below the timer. **Show** picks **Location name only**, **Logo/image + location name** or **Logo/image only (name when there is none)**; logo/image only swaps the location name for the picture once it loads, and keeps the words whenever there is no picture. With logo/image only, tick **Keep Before text** and/or **Keep After text** to keep those words, so the picture sits where the name was: **Waiting for** [logo] **so far**. It is off until you choose a picture.

**Layout** sets the order of the timer's pieces. **Classic** uses **Place title** and the Picture **Place** setting. **Custom order** lines up **Before text**, **Picture**, **Name (Text)**, **After text** and **Timer digits** in whatever order you drag them into (or move them with the arrows), **Side by side** or **Stacked**. For example, Before, Picture, Timer digits, After reads **Waiting for** [logo] 12:34 **so far**. Empty pieces and a missing picture are skipped, and **Logo/image only** with its **Keep** ticks still decides which words show.

For general overlay setup, see [[dashboard:overlays|Overlays]].

===== Theme parks =====

The **Theme parks** tab builds an overlay from live ThemeParks.wiki data: wait times, show times, dining, status, distance from you, and more.

Turn the tab on in **Settings → Menu bar → Show the Theme parks tab**.

The data comes from [[https://www.themeparks.wiki/|ThemeParks.wiki]]. The tab and overlay credit it. Leave the credit on unless you are naming ThemeParks.wiki somewhere else on screen.

==== Build the theme-park overlay ====

The tab has three sections. **Settings** holds the ThemeParks.wiki notes and steps 1 and 2 (destination and park), which the Heading to overlay uses too. **Theme park data overlay** holds steps 3 to 7 and the preview. **Heading to overlay** is the third. The seven steps are:

  - **Choose a destination** — pick the resort.
  - **Choose a park** — pick the park inside that resort.
  - **What do you want to show?** — choose **Attractions**, **Shows**, **Dining**, or a mix.
  - **Which details?** — choose fields such as name, type, status, standby wait, return window, next show time, all show times, table availability, operating hours, distance, and last updated.
  - **How should it appear?** — choose **Ticker**, **Scroller**, **Static rows**, or **One at a time**, plus sorting and filters.
  - **Heading & text** — set heading, colours, size, labels, separators and distance units.
  - **Panel** — set background, border, size and the ThemeParks.wiki credit.

**Theme park overlay** shows the overlay while you edit, with its **Showing on stream** switch (the same one as on the Overlays tab) right above the preview.

==== Heading to ====

From 2026.10.09.5 the Theme parks tab has its own **Heading to** section. It lists the park's rides, shows and restaurants **nearest first** from your GPS fix. Pick one and the **Heading to** overlay shows a title, where you are going, how far away it is, an estimated arrival time and the wait you can expect when you get there (the forecast wait when you are 15 minutes or more away, otherwise the posted wait). Switch any of those lines on or off and design the panel like any other overlay. **Destination: show** chooses **Location name only**, **Logo/image + location name**, or **Logo/image only (name when there is none)**. Pictures replace the emoji; picture-only hides the destination name after loading and restores it if the picture is missing or unreadable. Distance, waits and the timer are unchanged.

The ETA uses your GPS speed when you are moving at 1.5 mph or more, otherwise a walking pace of 2.5 mph, allowing for paths that are not straight lines.

When you have been within about 40 metres for a few seconds, the overlay can turn into a timer: its own, or the dashboard's stream timer, so viewers see how long the queue takes. **Mark arrived** starts that early if GPS is slow to agree, and **End trip** takes it off.

The Companion app (0.9.97 or later) does the same from its Theme parks screen with **Go here**. Show, hide or clear it from macros, too. Its settings are included in dashboard backups.

==== What the theme-park data can do ====

Depending on what the park publishes, the overlay can show:

  * live wait times
  * ride status
  * show times
  * dining availability
  * distance from your GPS fix
  * operating hours
  * forecast waits

The timer also uses this data for **What am I near?**, **Entered queue**, **Select show**, and **Pick a show**.

The Restream.io title builder can use it too, with **Suggest from where I am** on the [[dashboard:publishing#titles|Titles]] card.

If ThemeParks.wiki is rate-limiting or unreachable, wait and try again. The dashboard keeps cached data where it can, but live waits can be stale just like the boards in a park.

===== Related pages =====

  * [[dashboard:overlays|Overlays]]
  * [[dashboard:publishing|Publishing]]
  * [[dashboard:audience-games|Audience games]]
  * [[companion:start|StreamHelpers.com Companion]]
  * [[pro:features|StreamHelpers Pro features]]
  * [[pro:live-map|Pro Live Map]]