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Science Forum Index » Geology - Satellite Navigation Forum » Basic questions about GPS devices...
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 Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 10:56 am |
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Guest
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Hi, I've never used a GPS device of any kind before so I have some
basic questions. I tried googling but somethings it's hard to find
answers to basic, general questions that way.
I am going to purchase a portable GPS device soon for a hiking trip to
the Adirondack mountains in New York State, USA. I will be doing on-
trail hiking, nothing to adventurous. I would like to be able to get
my position in relation to the trail...so I can see how far along I
am, in case I wander off, etc. I don't really care about making my
own maps, just using my GPS with existing maps. So in this context my
questions are:
1. How are maps made available to GPS devices? Do they come with pre-
loaded map data, do you typically download it from the device
manufacture for free or for charge, do you typically download it from
a 3rd party company for free or for charge, or do you typically get it
free from "the community".
2. Specifically for hiking trails as opposed to roads, are trails part
of most maps? Or is there third-party trail map data available? I
will be hiking on well-known "official" trails maintained by the state
government (I believe).
3. How good is GPS reception in a heavily forested/mountainous area
these days?
4. Any other advise/information I should have.
Thanks a lot!
Dave |
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| Bruce Stemplewski... |
| Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 5:05 pm |
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Guest
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UncleStoner at (no spam) gmail.com wrote:
Quote: Hi, I've never used a GPS device of any kind before so I have some
basic questions. I tried googling but somethings it's hard to find
answers to basic, general questions that way.
I am going to purchase a portable GPS device soon for a hiking trip to
the Adirondack mountains in New York State, USA. I will be doing on-
trail hiking, nothing to adventurous. I would like to be able to get
my position in relation to the trail...so I can see how far along I
am, in case I wander off, etc. I don't really care about making my
own maps, just using my GPS with existing maps. So in this context my
questions are:
1. How are maps made available to GPS devices? Do they come with pre-
loaded map data, do you typically download it from the device
manufacture for free or for charge, do you typically download it from
a 3rd party company for free or for charge, or do you typically get it
free from "the community".
2. Specifically for hiking trails as opposed to roads, are trails part
of most maps? Or is there third-party trail map data available? I
will be hiking on well-known "official" trails maintained by the state
government (I believe).
3. How good is GPS reception in a heavily forested/mountainous area
these days?
4. Any other advise/information I should have.
Thanks a lot!
Dave
You won't have trails on the stock maps. If you buy Garmin. You can't
get the topo maps pretty cheap that "should" have those trails.
With the newer devices, reception should be fairly good. I often get
such good reception in my upstairs office that I need to cover the GPS
with aluminum foil to simulate loss of signal.
--
Bruce E. Stemplewski
GarXface OCX and C++ Class Library for the Garmin GPS
www.stempsoft.com |
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| Bruce Stemplewski... |
| Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 7:13 pm |
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Guest
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Bruce Stemplewski wrote:
Quote: UncleStoner at (no spam) gmail.com wrote:
Hi, I've never used a GPS device of any kind before so I have some
basic questions. I tried googling but somethings it's hard to find
answers to basic, general questions that way.
I am going to purchase a portable GPS device soon for a hiking trip to
the Adirondack mountains in New York State, USA. I will be doing on-
trail hiking, nothing to adventurous. I would like to be able to get
my position in relation to the trail...so I can see how far along I
am, in case I wander off, etc. I don't really care about making my
own maps, just using my GPS with existing maps. So in this context my
questions are:
1. How are maps made available to GPS devices? Do they come with pre-
loaded map data, do you typically download it from the device
manufacture for free or for charge, do you typically download it from
a 3rd party company for free or for charge, or do you typically get it
free from "the community".
2. Specifically for hiking trails as opposed to roads, are trails part
of most maps? Or is there third-party trail map data available? I
will be hiking on well-known "official" trails maintained by the state
government (I believe).
3. How good is GPS reception in a heavily forested/mountainous area
these days?
4. Any other advise/information I should have.
Thanks a lot!
Dave
You won't have trails on the stock maps. If you buy Garmin. You can't
get the topo maps pretty cheap that "should" have those trails.
With the newer devices, reception should be fairly good. I often get
such good reception in my upstairs office that I need to cover the GPS
with aluminum foil to simulate loss of signal.
And that should be You can get the topo maps pretty cheap that "should"
have those trails not "can't" Duh!
--
Bruce E. Stemplewski
GarXface OCX and C++ Class Library for the Garmin GPS
www.stempsoft.com |
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| Jack Erbes... |
| Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 6:01 am |
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Guest
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UncleStoner at (no spam) gmail.com wrote:
<snip>
1. How are maps made available to GPS devices? Do they come with pre-
Quote: loaded map data, do you typically download it from the device
manufacture for free or for charge, do you typically download it from
a 3rd party company for free or for charge, or do you typically get it
free from "the community".
Most handheld GPS receivers (that is the most appropriate type for what
you want to do) come with a basic base map. That shows major roads and
highways and geographical features and has some points of interest (POI)
in a database (airports, etc.).
The assumption is that the mapping needs will vary from one user to
another so detailed mapping of various types is sold as an optional
purchase.
Quote: 2. Specifically for hiking trails as opposed to roads, are trails part
of most maps? Or is there third-party trail map data available? I
will be hiking on well-known "official" trails maintained by the state
government (I believe).
They are generally not shown on street and highway detail mapping but
are shown on topo mapping.
Quote: 3. How good is GPS reception in a heavily forested/mountainous area
these days?
The newer GPS receivers that have the better GPS chip sets and good
sensitive antennas do a pretty good job under moderate to heavy cover.
And external amplified antennas can be added to many of them. In use
people mount the antennas in a more visible positions atop caps and
backpacks.
Quote: 4. Any other advise/information I should have.
I'd recommend looking at these Garmin handhelds as the best candidates
for what you want to do:
60Cx or 60CSx, 76Cx or 76CSx
You can choose and compare the various models here:
http://www8.garmin.com/outdoor/compare.jsp
And look at the online viewers for these mapping packages to see the
kind of detail you'll see and difference between street and highway and
topo mapping:
City Navigator North America NT
http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/mapSource/citynav.jsp
Topo 2008 (full U.S. 100K coverage)
http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/mapSource/topous.jsp
U.S. Topo 24K (selective coverage)
http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/mapSource/topo24knpeast.jsp
If you compare the views of known locations in the online map viewers,
you can quickly see what is missing or how it compares to the real
world. I consider the 100K topo (U.S. Topo or Topo 2008) do be adequate
for casual hiking needs. If I want better detail and a backup against a
failed receiver or poor reception, I would also have a 24K paper USGS
topo map and a compass with me when hiking.
Garmin has a new line of handhelds, the Colorado series, that may be
candidates for your use. My initial impression of them from early
reviews is that the the older models have more features and much better
battery life and I'm not interested in Colorados for that reason. You
can read a comparison review here:
http://garmincolorado.wikispaces.com/Colorado+vs+60csx
Jack
--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA - jackerbes at adelphia dot net
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine.com) |
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| the Moderator... |
| Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 11:03 am |
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Guest
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<UncleStoner at (no spam) gmail.com> wrote in message
news:c04085ff-f0f4-4774-90e4-00e52b9325f5 at (no spam) 24g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
Quote: Hi, I've never used a GPS device of any kind before so I have some
basic questions. I tried googling but somethings it's hard to find
answers to basic, general questions that way.
I am going to purchase a portable GPS device soon for a hiking trip to
the Adirondack mountains in New York State, USA. I will be doing on-
trail hiking, nothing to adventurous. I would like to be able to get
my position in relation to the trail...so I can see how far along I
am, in case I wander off, etc. I don't really care about making my
own maps, just using my GPS with existing maps. So in this context my
questions are:
1. How are maps made available to GPS devices? Do they come with pre-
loaded map data, do you typically download it from the device
manufacture for free or for charge, do you typically download it from
a 3rd party company for free or for charge, or do you typically get it
free from "the community".
2. Specifically for hiking trails as opposed to roads, are trails part
of most maps? Or is there third-party trail map data available? I
will be hiking on well-known "official" trails maintained by the state
government (I believe).
3. How good is GPS reception in a heavily forested/mountainous area
these days?
4. Any other advise/information I should have.
Thanks a lot!
Dave
I had to learn a lot more about maps in order to maximize my GPS for
backpacking. I always used the USGS topographic paper maps when I was
navigating with a compass. I still use USGS topographic maps, because they
are published in 24K resolution versus the 100K topo maps in Garmin
Products.
Map Datum/Map Format!!! What I didn't know (or care) about with the paper
maps was the Map Datum used to create the map. USGS topo maps use NAD27
datum. The default for most GPS systems is WGS84. Changing the map datum
in the GPS is easy, but not very intuitive.
In addition to using paper maps I purchased MapTech's Terrain Navigator
mapping software. I cannot upload maps to my GPS, but I can swap waypoints,
tracks and routs between my map and the GPS and print my own maps.
If you are hiking the AT, garman does sell topographic mapping software with
24K resolution. I still carry the paper maps and compass, but navigating
with a GPS is so much easier and will actually improve your map and compass
skills. |
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