|
|
OT: GPS (hand held)
|
What is the group's preferred hand-help GPS, sensible price and one that
web-search Earth likes would be nice.
What feature should I look for?
|
I've got one from the Ordnance Survey people - cost around £5.
Only works for the New Forest area though.
|
I was a GPS sceptic until recently. My TomTom Rider proved its worth on
the recent trip to Spain though. Firstly it got us from the airport to
the hotel. I could probably have got to the resort OK with a printed
map, but finding the hotel in the dark was easier with Jane's help.
The 'walking route' mode in conjunction with the 'points of interest'
facility was very useful in Tarragona and Reus, which both feature a
maze of ancient streets.
When driving, Jane's lack of up to date knowledge of the odd one way
street was a bit of a problem though. Her best faux pas, however, was
taking a particular route to cross the river Ebro. I though the road she
turned us down was a bit narrow. It ended at a one at a time car ferry
that seemingly only ran during the tourist season. Fortunately we were
just driving round admiring the views so it wasn't an issue.
|
|
|
I am in the process of buying a handheld GPS, and the choice is a
Garmin eTrex Venture Cx. You must ask yourself which are your needs.
Mine were:
- I have got lost 85% of my off-road enduro/mountain bike trips (not
trekking as it is not that fast). Garmin has a 150 EUR cartography of
all my country with lines of altitude and anything I could find in a
1:40000 map.
- I have never get lost riding/driving in 15 years, but door to door
navigation can be a plus. That Garmin Venture can do it if loaded with
City Navigator cartography at an extra price and there you are a
SatNav (cf. Ben's Garmin Legend).
- Also, in brief I'll start the courses for getting a leisure boat
"driving license" (patron de embarcacion de recreo, boats under 12
metres). BlueChart cartography from Garmin can be a nice bonus.
- The Garmin is waterproof and resists several G strength impacts.
That helps.
- It also has a waypoint manager that tells you about speed cameras,
etc.
|
|
Do you want a GPS or a SatNav?
|
Something to take trekking with me, both to plan a route before to go, and
to look at where I went when I get back.
|
I use a Garmin eTrex Legend
Tracklogs displays OS maps on your computer and allows you to plot
routes (called tracklogs unsurprisingly) directly on the map. These
tracks can then be loaded onto the GPS for navigation. The GPS will
display the track on a very basic map on the screen and show your
position. Then you just follow the direction it points an arrow in.
It'll also record were you've been as a track that can then be loaded
back into Tracklogs and overlaid on a map.
Tracklogs have a demo you can download and play with.
Be aware that it isn't SatNav, so you can't just tell it to get you
somewhere and it'll work out a route. It can only navigate along a
preload track or navigate in straight lines to pre-set waypoints
(lat/long coords). And the built in maps are a very simple set of
lines, although newer models have better built in mapping.
You should still carry a map and compass though.
|
|
|
|
|