gps systems

KEITHHASLER said:

lets please have some advice good or bad
best makes , bad makes are the below £100 ones
ok for the average walker or is it best to pay a little more
answers please
could save the rest of us some money

First up you need to define what it is you want from it. Until you're
sure of that then it's impossible to give a useful answer. For example,
if the limit of what you want to know from a GPS is your current
latitude and longitude then just about any unit ever built will satisfy
that, but if you want to record large amounts of track data, interface
with PC mapping software, have a reliable altimeter included, use
inbuilt maps, etc. etc. then different machines may or may not look
attractive. The Garmin eTrex I have is available for less than £100 now
and does everything I personally want from a GPS, but it doesn't
fulfil the needs of others. Depends what you want.

If you really want to save money I would say that the "average walker"
can get by very well without a GPS unit at all. I rarely take mine
walking as it doesn't really help me when I'm on foot (love it for ski
touring in whiteout though!).

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 11:46:39 +0100, "KEITHHASLER"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

|
| Im thinking of getting GPS system
| some of you must have one
| lets please have some advice good or bad
| best makes , bad makes are the below £100 ones
| ok for the average walker or is it best to pay a little more
| answers please
| could save the rest of us some money

It all depends on what you want it for:
Do you need mapping included, if so what scale?
Would you be able to use the tiny screen as a map?
Do you use National grid map references? Some GPSs do not use them.
Do you just need to know where you are in the middle of a moor, and expect
to use a real paper map to navigate.

--
Dave Fawthrop <dave hyphenologist co uk>
The London suicide bombers killed innocent commuters.
Animal rights terrorists and activists kill innocent patients.

KEITHHASLER said:

Im thinking of getting GPS system
some of you must have one
lets please have some advice good or bad
best makes , bad makes are the below £100 ones
ok for the average walker or is it best to pay a little more
answers please
could save the rest of us some money

I'm in total agreement with Peter & Dave. It sounds really boring but
you need to state your requirements. A £90 GPS could be just what you
require however equally it could be a complete waste of
money......Difficult to judge until you state the purpose?

David.

KEITHHASLER said:

Im thinking of getting GPS system
some of you must have one
lets please have some advice good or bad
best makes , bad makes are the below £100 ones
ok for the average walker or is it best to pay a little more
answers please
could save the rest of us some money

I have a now discontinued Garmin GPS III Plus and to be honest I've
never needed it in the UK as a navigation aid.

I've used it to good effect in the Yosemite National Park and other
out of the way places where the landscape can be a bit featureless. On
a few occasions I've used it to record a track log which I then upload
into Memory Map and on others I've marked a route out on Memory Map
and downloaded into the GPS, however, I find that this isn't really
necessary in the UK, I did it mainly because I could.
--
Regards

Nick

Nick Mason said:

" I find that this isn't really
necessary in the UK, I did it mainly because I could."

Not necessary but I was really thankfully when in poor visibility on
the top of Bleaklow to have my GPS. The ability to aim for my
previously recorded track was invaluable.

David.

Quoted message said:

Nick Mason said:

" I find that this isn't really
necessary in the UK, I did it mainly because I could."

Not necessary but I was really thankfully when in poor visibility on
the top of Bleaklow to have my GPS. The ability to aim for my
previously recorded track was invaluable.

David.

I have no doubt in such a situation it's better to have one than not.

We all seemed to manage in poor visibility before GPS though, and I
try to maintain my compass skills and not get to reliant on
technology. You can bet anything that the first time you really need
your GPS the batteries will die. :O)

With prices coming down as they have it's almost reached the stage
where you can't afford to be without one.

My trouble is I can never resist a gadget! :O)

--
Regards

Nick

On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 16:46:17 GMT, Nick Mason <[email hidden]> wrote:

|
| We all seemed to manage in poor visibility before GPS though, and I
| try to maintain my compass skills and not get to reliant on
| technology. You can bet anything that the first time you really need
| your GPS the batteries will die. :O)

I carry two sets of fully charged rechargables

--
Dave Fawthrop <dave hyphenologist co uk>
The London suicide bombers killed innocent commuters.
Animal rights terrorists and activists kill innocent patients.

Dave Fawthrop said:

On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 16:46:17 GMT, Nick Mason <[email hidden]> wrote:
I carry two sets of fully charged rechargables

It's totally overkill but since extra rechargeable batteries were
purchased from Tescos I've got one set in the GPS and three fully
charged rechargeable sets in the sack. As they are only AAA they're
really light and take virtually no space!

David.

Bitstring <[email hidden]>, from the
wonderful person Dave Fawthrop <[email hidden]>
said

Quoted message said:

On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 16:46:17 GMT, Nick Mason <[email hidden]> wrote:

|
| We all seemed to manage in poor visibility before GPS though, and I
| try to maintain my compass skills and not get to reliant on
| technology. You can bet anything that the first time you really need
| your GPS the batteries will die. :O)

I carry two sets of fully charged rechargables

/AOL that .. I mean what would I do if my MP3 player ran out of juice 15
miles from nowhere. 8>. Oh yeah, they fit the 60C too ...

--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
Contact recommends the use of Firefox; SC recommends it at gunpoint.

On 23 Sep 2005 10:05:05 -0700, "[email hidden]" <[email hidden]>
wrote:

|
| Dave Fawthrop wrote:
| > On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 16:46:17 GMT, Nick Mason <[email hidden]> wrote:
| > I carry two sets of fully charged rechargables
|
| It's totally overkill but since extra rechargeable batteries were
| purchased from Tescos I've got one set in the GPS and three fully
| charged rechargeable sets in the sack. As they are only AAA they're
| really light and take virtually no space!

They are the same size AA rechargables as used by my camera, so I swear
blind that one of for the camera and one for the GPS.

--
Dave Fawthrop <dave hyphenologist co uk>
The London suicide bombers killed innocent commuters.
Animal rights terrorists and activists kill innocent patients.

KEITHHASLER said:

Im thinking of getting GPS system
some of you must have one
lets please have some advice good or bad
best makes , bad makes are the below £100 ones
ok for the average walker or is it best to pay a little more
answers please
could save the rest of us some money

I've got the Garmin Geko 201 and been playing around with it for a week
or so. Cost about 90 quid. It's small, it's light, it's luminous green.
I would never rely on it to tell me where to go (even though it can do
that). Similarly, I'd never use a GPS device that had a map display to
navigate by. It's useful for recording where I've been, so long as I
don't spend all the time in a forest.

So in summary, a GPS can be useful and fun, but it wouldn't be my first
port call for navigation. I'd still need to know how to navigate by map
and compass if the batteries ran out!

Oh, and it thinks (earlier this week) that I live at -9m above sea
level. If I was really that low, I'd be worried about even the slightest
bit of rain! (I actually live at 7m ASL.)

--
Jonathan Stott
Canterbury Weather: http://www.canterburyweather.co.uk/
Reverse my e-mail address to reply by e-mail

Totally agree with everyone else's comments. My GPS (a Garmin Geko
301) has been very useful (especially when wandering off path on
Margery Hill in the Peak District in thick fog after I'd lost
concentration for a bit). I have always used it in conjunction with
yer good ole OS map though. I've had a look at the posh colour ones
with built in mapping & frankly they're not up to the job. Buying a
cheaper GPS and an OS Explorer map will save you money and probably be
a lot safer.

As everyone's said, even the cheapest GPS unit will let you determine
what grid reference you're at and which way you're facing - this should
be enough to stop you getting lost.

For hillbagging (as Johnathan has found out) GPS units aren't too good
at altitude unless they've got a built in barometric altimeter to work
with the GPS one (hence I went for the Geko 301) - even then they won't
be bang on.

For walking weight is a consideration, and the Garmin Geko's win easily
on this. However, the small screen size would make them no use
whatsoever for driving or if you've got sight problems.

One thing I'd add - for a bit of future-proofing, make sure it's WAAS
enabled and has a PC interface. And like everyone's said, always take
spare batteries and a compass.

Cheers

Anth

PS. Please link to www.wheresthepath.com

KEITHHASLER said:

Im thinking of getting GPS system
some of you must have one
lets please have some advice good or bad
best makes , bad makes are the below £100 ones
ok for the average walker or is it best to pay a little more
answers please
could save the rest of us some money

I think it is wise to use GPS sparingly. You shouldn't let it replace a
compass and map, indeed, if you use them carefully you might find that it
enhances your non-technical navigation techniques.

I am not convinced about the benefits of putting whole routes into a gps. I
tend to use them to check an actual position on the map. On longer treks I
might put one or two key locations into the gps so that I can simply get a
fix to that point. This is very similar to the usage that Chris Townsend
describes in the current edition of TGO.

So, I don't think it is worth paying out a lot for a GPS. The more basic
machines from either Magellan or Garmin would be fine. A couple of years ago
I bought a top range Magellan GPS and, in all honesty, I only ever use it to
do sport checks of where I actually am.

I do have a friend who does all of his walking with very detailed routes in
his GPS - this worries me more than a little. During the summer, in the
Pyrenees, I came across a young French couple who were only following GPS
co-ordinates. They'd had to change their route and were completely lost, and
had to borrow my maps to input a new set of waypoints. A offered to let
them keep the map and they refused!

--
Andy Howell
Birmingham, UK

To mail simply put back the dots ...

On Sun, 25 Sep 2005 10:02:38 GMT, Andy Howell
<andy.howellNOSPAM@ecotrendDOTorgDOTuk> wrote:

| I do have a friend who does all of his walking with very detailed routes in
| his GPS - this worries me more than a little. During the summer, in the
| Pyrenees, I came across a young French couple who were only following GPS
| co-ordinates. They'd had to change their route and were completely lost, and
| had to borrow my maps to input a new set of waypoints. A offered to let
| them keep the map and they refused!

I rarely walk the route I had planned, interesting looking places intervene
;-) , so my GPS is only a very useful backup to Explorer map and compass.

--
Dave Fawthrop <dave hyphenologist co uk>
The London suicide bombers killed innocent commuters.
Animal rights terrorists and activists kill innocent patients.

Andy Howell said:

"During the summer, in the
Pyrenees, I came across a young French couple who were only following GPS
co-ordinates. They'd had to change their route and were completely lost, and
had to borrow my maps to input a new set of waypoints. A offered to let
them keep the map and they refused!"

Madness!!!!

My philosophy is to refer to the map and have the GPS as backup and/or
confirmation I'm where I think I am!!!!! Also have a compass and spare
compass but in truth haven't used a compass in anger since in the
Scouts (nearly thirty years ago!).

David.

On 25 Sep 2005 03:57:08 -0700, "[email hidden]" <[email hidden]>
wrote:

|
| Andy Howell wrote:
| > "During the summer, in the
| > Pyrenees, I came across a young French couple who were only following GPS
| > co-ordinates. They'd had to change their route and were completely lost, and
| > had to borrow my maps to input a new set of waypoints. A offered to let
| > them keep the map and they refused!"
|
| Madness!!!!
|
| My philosophy is to refer to the map and have the GPS as backup and/or
| confirmation I'm where I think I am!!!!! Also have a compass and spare
| compass but in truth haven't used a compass in anger since in the
| Scouts (nearly thirty years ago!).

I used my compass this summer. I needed to go roughly north, on my
beloved moors without landmarks, the compass is easier to use than the gps.

--
Dave Fawthrop <dave hyphenologist co uk>
The London suicide bombers killed innocent commuters.
Animal rights terrorists and activists kill innocent patients.

Dave Fawthrop said:

| My philosophy is to refer to the map and have the GPS as backup and/or
| confirmation I'm where I think I am!!!!! Also have a compass and spare
| compass but in truth haven't used a compass in anger since in the
| Scouts (nearly thirty years ago!).

I used my compass this summer. I needed to go roughly north, on my
beloved moors without landmarks, the compass is easier to use than the gps.

Also, a compass is less likely to run out of batteries 😉 Having said
that, I too have hardly ever used a compass - they just aren't necessary
in the south-east where you can easily navigate by field boundaries and
other landmarks shown on a map. We don't have much in the way of
wilderness here!

--
Jonathan Stott
Canterbury Weather: http://www.canterburyweather.co.uk/
Reverse my e-mail address to reply by e-mail

On Sun, 25 Sep 2005 12:48:17 +0100, Jonathan Stott <[email hidden]>
wrote:

| Dave Fawthrop wrote:
|
| > | My philosophy is to refer to the map and have the GPS as backup and/or
| > | confirmation I'm where I think I am!!!!! Also have a compass and spare
| > | compass but in truth haven't used a compass in anger since in the
| > | Scouts (nearly thirty years ago!).
| >
| > I used my compass this summer. I needed to go roughly north, on my
| > beloved moors without landmarks, the compass is easier to use than the gps.
|
| Also, a compass is less likely to run out of batteries 😉

I charge my batteries before starting and carry spare rechargeables, which
gives me about two days use.

| Having said
| that, I too have hardly ever used a compass - they just aren't necessary
| in the south-east where you can easily navigate by field boundaries and
| other landmarks shown on a map. We don't have much in the way of
| wilderness here!

Commiserations. :-(

--
Dave Fawthrop <dave hyphenologist co uk>
The London suicide bombers killed innocent commuters.
Animal rights terrorists and activists kill innocent patients.

Bitstring <[email hidden]>, from the
wonderful person Dave Fawthrop <[email hidden]>
said
<snip>

Quoted message said:

| My philosophy is to refer to the map and have the GPS as backup and/or
| confirmation I'm where I think I am!!!!! Also have a compass and spare
| compass but in truth haven't used a compass in anger since in the
| Scouts (nearly thirty years ago!).

Quoted message said:

I used my compass this summer. I needed to go roughly north, on my
beloved moors without landmarks, the compass is easier to use than the gps.

True on =moors=, but try finding the stile from one field to the next in
arable/pasture land without benefit of a GPS loaded with waypoints for
all the ROW/field boundary intersections. No fun. None at all.

So the answer, as usual, is 'it depends' .. it depends in what sort of
walking you are doing, where, and how prepared in advance you happen to
be (or 'like to be'😉. Navigating 'cultivated'/'Industrialised' areas, or
in fog/whiteout conditions, a compass is less use than a chocolate
teapot.

--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
Contact recommends the use of Firefox; SC recommends it at gunpoint.