Reply to: Best GPS?

[mudskipper]

I installed c:geo (free) on my Android the other day and found it a pretty good app. I wanted to see well my 'phone' GPS faired for this kind of thing and it worked pretty well; found two caches using it without a problem. Works nicely off-line, I downloaded a load near me for off-line use.

Excellent! The phone is pretty good for caching, but last time I went I dropped my Oregon in a river and it survived. Pretty sure my phone wouldn't have fared so well. Also use the Oregon on the bike - it was our primary navigation for both Lejog (again in all elements) and London to Paris, so, for me, well worth the investment.

[TimberWolf]

My Foretrex 301 has arrived, I'd primarily bought it as speed data logger for my blokarting but I'm also looking forward to some treasure hunting with the kids.

Is Geocaching.com the only site I need to be looking at?

I installed c:geo (free) on my Android the other day and found it a pretty good app. I wanted to see well my 'phone' GPS faired for this kind of thing and it worked pretty well; found two caches using it without a problem. Works nicely off-line, I downloaded a load near me for off-line use.

[OwlHoot]

Big and expensive? I only need something basic. ...

Guys, when offering advice do bear in mind that TW buys his Christmas presents in the Pound Shop.

[TimberWolf]

I shall take a look for a serial cable in my junk box for you.

I've already checked my junk box and discovered almost every kind of connector* except a serial one.

I might buy one from Amazon next time I order something.


* well about half a dozen

[Paddy]

Pass. Might be easier with kids though as you won't look like such a loony rooting around in bushes etc.

I'm still pleased with my entry level Garmin. The DIY data cable I made is kaput now though and I can't work up the enthusiasm to make another as the serial connector end is so fiddly. So I input co-ords manually until such time as I get a serial connector.

I shall take a look for a serial cable in my junk box for you.

[TimberWolf]

My Foretrex 301 has arrived, I'd primarily bought it as speed data logger for my blokarting but I'm also looking forward to some treasure hunting with the kids.

Is Geocaching.com the only site I need to be looking at?

Pass. Might be easier with kids though as you won't look like such a loony rooting around in bushes etc.

I'm still pleased with my entry level Garmin. The DIY data cable I made is kaput now though and I can't work up the enthusiasm to make another as the serial connector end is so fiddly. So I input co-ords manually until such time as I get a serial connector.

[gingerjedi]

My Foretrex 301 has arrived, I'd primarily bought it as speed data logger for my blokarting but I'm also looking forward to some treasure hunting with the kids.

Is Geocaching.com the only site I need to be looking at?

[TimberWolf]

I have seen a few people camp in the shrubbery of roundabouts. A good place not to be disturbed by dog walkers.

Lol. I've eyed those places up in the past, in more desperate times. Would be possible stealth wise with a bivvy bag I suppose, which is one of my more recent purchases. A relatively safe option perhaps for a female armed with a whistle too, where my forest antics wouldn't really be a sensible option.

[Paddy]

I assume the same for the continent and don't camp as such, by pitching late in as isolated spot as reasonably possible, leaving early (dusk till dawn) and definitely make no fire. And leave no trace. My hammock doesn't even mark the trees. Toilet if possible in MacDonalds, public utilities such as a library toilet or as a last resort public toilets. These places can be handy sources of water too. This timing unfortunately also coincides with the working hours of mosquitoes and the little blighters got me several times while pitching in semi darkness, which wouldn't be so bad if the little bleeders didn't leave behind a noxious combination of chemicals causing inflammation that probably causes more damage than the bite itself, and itching.

A wood near me has several tents erected that have been there since at least spring and I suspect people sometimes sleep rough in a local park, as I sometimes see people with rucksacks sitting on park benches as dusk approaches. I use a stealthier sports bag and don't hang around like that, but sleeping out in Britain probably needs more equipment than a sports bag would provide.

I have seen a few people camp in the shrubbery of roundabouts. A good place not to be disturbed by dog walkers.

[TimberWolf]

Had you tried that in the UK anyone spotting you would had alerted the police and you would have been raided.

I get enough bother from the plod if I try a kip in the car for a few hours on a long journey yet on the continent it is taken to be quite normal.

I assume the same for the continent and don't camp as such, by pitching late in as isolated spot as reasonably possible, leaving early (dusk till dawn) and definitely make no fire. And leave no trace. My hammock doesn't even mark the trees. Toilet if possible in MacDonalds, public utilities such as a library toilet or as a last resort public toilets. These places can be handy sources of water too. This timing unfortunately also coincides with the working hours of mosquitoes and the little blighters got me several times while pitching in semi darkness, which wouldn't be so bad if the little bleeders didn't leave behind a noxious combination of chemicals causing inflammation that probably causes more damage than the bite itself, and itching.

A wood near me has several tents erected that have been there since at least spring and I suspect people sometimes sleep rough in a local park, as I sometimes see people with rucksacks sitting on park benches as dusk approaches. I use a stealthier sports bag and don't hang around like that, but sleeping out in Britain probably needs more equipment than a sports bag would provide.

[Paddy]

I got busted in my hammock abode in the forest on my last morning. I had just alighting out of 'bed', which had involved wriggling like a spastic from cocoon of sleeping bag, inner sleeping bag liner and bivvie (it had been a cool and windy night), always being mindful not get impatient and break something, to emerge to a fresh day, at which point two ladies emerged from some bushes, walking past grinning. Took me a bit by surprise so after the requisite expletive I greeted them good morning before remembering that they were foreigners and might have preferred Johnny foreigner talk. I was a bit late up that morning (sunrise usually), but even so 8 a.m. is a bit of an ungodly hour to be creeping around in the woods. A nutter with a dog is more what I would expect at that time of the moring. Seems a bit of a coincidence that they emerged just as I did too. Maybe they had been watching the emergence and were wondering whether I would make it out or whether a butterfly would emerge. Anyway, I did emerge fully dressed that morning...

Had you tried that in the UK anyone spotting you would had alerted the police and you would have been raided.

I get enough bother from the plod if I try a kip in the car for a few hours on a long journey yet on the continent it is taken to be quite normal.

[TimberWolf]

Lol

The wonders of modern gadgets. And free software.

I took my GPS with me on holiday (or it took me) and not only did it log everywhere I went like a spider on hallucinogenics (or caffeine), but I switched it on on the aeroplane and recorded the flight too. It was interesting to watch journey's progress on the GPS screen, and not less so when later uploaded into Google Earth (my dodgy DIY serial cable connection still works) to be viewed in three dimensions. The return leg was close to the outward leg direction wise, with no more than 20 km separating the routes projected on flatland, though height profiles differed quite significantly. Unfortunately we crashed according to my stored flight path (this looking more dramatic in the 3D view, not shown below), must remember to set sample rate to more often for take-offs and landings, rather than stick to a default setting that's perhaps more ideally suited to hiking and walking rather than landing a 737-800. I didn't record the take-off.


The red line is the height with its scale on the left, blue line speed with its scale to right. The spike near the right is probably when I put my GPS in my pocket when the seat belt sign came on and a data point or two went missing.


I got busted in my hammock abode in the forest on my last morning. I had just alighting out of 'bed', which had involved wriggling like a spastic from cocoon of sleeping bag, inner sleeping bag liner and bivvie (it had been a cool and windy night), always being mindful not get impatient and break something, to emerge to a fresh day, at which point two ladies emerged from some bushes, walking past grinning. Took me a bit by surprise so after the requisite expletive I greeted them good morning before remembering that they were foreigners and might have preferred Johnny foreigner talk. I was a bit late up that morning (sunrise usually), but even so 8 a.m. is a bit of an ungodly hour to be creeping around in the woods. A nutter with a dog is more what I would expect at that time of the moring. Seems a bit of a coincidence that they emerged just as I did too. Maybe they had been watching the emergence and were wondering whether I would make it out or whether a butterfly would emerge. Anyway, I did emerge fully dressed that morning...

[chineseJohn]

I have a Garmin Oregon 450t. I have the O/S maps for it and they're pretty good. But the main point is you can download OpenStreetMaps and use them on this GPS.

I've used the GPS in a lot of countries with OSM.

P/S I'm a big geocacher and this unit is pretty good for this.,

[TimberWolf]

I'm content with my bottom of the range Garmin etrex, especially now that I can up/download tracks and routes from Google Maps using my flaky DIY data transfer cable. I don't need minuscule maps, it works accurately even in the pocket and could serve as a basic Sat Nav if required (it's easy to create routes in Google Maps/Earth). And no extras for maps or perpetual internet data connection needed.

[Waldorf]

Avoid NavMan - what a load of rubbish