jenjen...
I know how you feel about having a long cycle, not only is it harder to track when you ovulate, I especially hated having to wait much longer until being able to try again the next month if it hadnt worked! So frustrating!
We first went to see our doctor last dec 08, so 3months before we started trying. This was because we would be conceiving artificially so I wanted to make sure everything in my body was working properly before we tried (as it is expensive as far as flights/ accommodation interstate) I wanted to be sure before wasting our money trying if something was wrong. I had ultrasounds every few days to track ovulation (this was called a follicular activity test) and blood tests later in my cycle to check that ovulation had occurred. All was good so after that it was a matter of timing it right.
I bought a basal body thermometer off ebay and took my temp every morning before getting out of bed. I sometimes still do it now out of habit! I got heaps of the opk's and I wouldnt stop testing all month until I got my positives. I usually started testing around day 17 onwards (they are cheap to buy on ebay so I had heaps to muck around with).
Then in July I thought I may as well try the cervix thing as we had still got nowhere. We tried in July but failed as we left flew back home a few days too early. But August we tried again and were there the exact day I felt that my cervix was open, and got lucky. It took 9days after that to get a positive hpt. Early days still but Im trying to keep positive thoughts.
I definately do recommend getting to know what your cervix is doing through the month. I really hope it works for you soon and hope this has helped you in some way. I would advise going to the doc anyway, just to check things out. Good luck! Let me know if you need anymore advice