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Gps (1 Viewer)

Steve Keen

Well-known member
With GPS locations increasingly replacing (or supplementing) good old fashioned maps in trip reports was thinking maybe I should be looking to invest - forthcoming trips to Colombia and South Africa seem to be particularly well "blessed" with GPS points, and really could've done with one in Brazil recently.
Don't rally want to be spending a fortune though (would rather it went on the trips themselves!), but was hoping for recommendations; cost v quality, etc, etc.

Oh, and in idiot speak as far as is possible please.

Cheers
 
With GPS locations increasingly replacing (or supplementing) good old fashioned maps in trip reports was thinking maybe I should be looking to invest - forthcoming trips to Colombia and South Africa seem to be particularly well "blessed" with GPS points, and really could've done with one in Brazil recently.
Don't rally want to be spending a fortune though (would rather it went on the trips themselves!), but was hoping for recommendations; cost v quality, etc, etc.

Oh, and in idiot speak as far as is possible please.

Cheers


I am not sure what you mean by "...GPS location increasingly replacing...trip reports..."?
 
I think there are maps available where you can enter GPS coordinates and be shows where the location is. So unless you really need to give those coordinates in a report you write, do you actually need a GPS? (I agree a GPS can be good to have for other reasons).

Secondly, there is a level of GPS built in to many phones these days. The problem here is best described by an anecdote: A friend received an email from a phone purporting to be containing a GPS location on the east coast of Dominica. Plugging those numbers into google map resulted in a location near Marie Galante, a neighboring island not visible by eye from that location. Possibly the phone was reporting the GPS of a tower it connected to?

Niels
 
I second njlarsen that smartphones have built-in gps.

It is also possible to prepare a file with gps coordinates and download to offline street navigation app on your phone (again, pick a free app and free offline use after downloading the map, not requiring internet connection abroad).

You need to know there are 3 ways to write gps coordinates, and, unless you have few records and just type in, there are programs to convert them, and make the kind of file which your particular navigation app wants. I use GPSBabel (free) and had lots of fun in Morocco driving to others' GPS locations. Details I don't recommend, for I did it very ineffectively (took me lots of time in preparation).

The biggest problem now is that many trip reports and especially online databases of sightings like Observado or Ebird have unreliable observations. You can waste time going to place where a bird was misidentified or coordinates were wrongly put. But this is not related to gps in particular.
 
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The most basic GPS devices like Garmin eTrex 10 are not expensive and do the job in recording coordinates of locations, or help you find points from coordinates as you mention.

Most smartphones work fine as well.

It helps to understand a few basics on coordinates and GPS:
- as Jurek writes, there are different formats how to give coordinates, and most mistakes happen when entering the coordinates in the wrong format (e.g. not converting minutes and seconds to decimales or inverting east and north).
- GPS works purely passively, the reciever collects signals from satellites and calculates the position from that. Being in a narrow valley, indoors or under dense canopy can make reception difficult or impossible and result in imprecise coordinates. Dedicated GPS recievers like the Garmin or a good app on your phone can tell you about these issues, the usual apps on phones don't really, so you don't know exactly how good the position is you get.
- phones usually also use the mobile network information for giving a position. This is faster than GPS, but less precice.


Secondly, there is a level of GPS built in to many phones these days. The problem here is best described by an anecdote: A friend received an email from a phone purporting to be containing a GPS location on the east coast of Dominica. Plugging those numbers into google map resulted in a location near Marie Galante, a neighboring island not visible by eye from that location. Possibly the phone was reporting the GPS of a tower it connected to?

The problem here was either inprecise coordinates given, or most likely some conversion mistake when entering the coordinates to your phone.
 
Many higher-end DSLR Cameras capture GPS coordinates in the image metadata - assuming here that you take picture though? With Adobe Lightroom, this then embeds a pin in the map using Google Earth data to show you where the images were taken.

In the past I've also used a cheap device the size of a match-box called I-gotU that I got from my local Maplins. This can be used to track route travelled over time and if wanted, where photographs are taken which can then be uploaded to the PC for map representation. If device & camera clocks are synchronised, I believe data can be imported to align automatically with images held in LR although I've not attempted to do this personally.
 
It would probably be good if Steve would tell us what he really needs. I do not have a good smartphone and my ipad is wifi-only, so I purchased this one some time ago to allow me to have GPS functionality: http://bad-elf.com/collections/gps-products/products/be-gps-2200

It can more than I have figured out how to use, but it works for what I need. It connects with the ipad using bluetooth. There is a cheaper device for direct connection, but I found this one to be more convenient.

Niels
 
I'm no longer sure what I want :-D

Don't have an ipad, a camera or a good smartphone, and a lot of what's been written (don't get me wrong, none of it is any of your faults and I'm very grateful nonetheless!) is off the scale of what I understand!!

Given the few locations I'd need it for, it may be just as easy for me to cross-refer some locations, look up maps online and draw myself some nice sketch maps!!

Thanks again for the help, not sure as I'm not a little beyond it though ;-)
 
So if you do not intend to buy a smartphone, but still want to buy a GPS that helps you find the locations based on coordinates in trip report, the most simple GPS reciever should do it.

You can get the basic Garmin etrex, or something similar from other brands: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garmin-eTre...id=1447362100&sr=8-1&keywords=garmin+etrex+10

You can type in your coordinate and then let the device show you the direction to go and how far it is. You can also record coordinates of the location where you are, so you can share the info or find the location back later.

In case you want to stay with paper maps and sketches, a simple way is to use google maps, where you can copy the coordinates in the search field, which gives you a marker on the map for the location. You can then print out the map or the satellite image.
 
So if you do not intend to buy a smartphone, but still want to buy a GPS that helps you find the locations based on coordinates in trip report, the most simple GPS reciever should do it.

You can get the basic Garmin etrex, or something similar from other brands: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garmin-eTre...id=1447362100&sr=8-1&keywords=garmin+etrex+10

You can type in your coordinate and then let the device show you the direction to go and how far it is. You can also record coordinates of the location where you are, so you can share the info or find the location back later.

In case you want to stay with paper maps and sketches, a simple way is to use google maps, where you can copy the coordinates in the search field, which gives you a marker on the map for the location. You can then print out the map or the satellite image.

Thanks Dalat,

that now makes a lot of sense!! :)

I will invest in a smartphone at some stage, but with my contract still extant I will weigh the advantages of investing in one in the meantime or going for the Garmin.

Can you (or anyone) recommend an app (not necessarily free, but good value) should I take the smartphone route?

Thanks again

Steve
 
Depending on which smartphone (at least probably): as I said, I have an ipad (mini) with an external GPS, with which I use the app maps.me. I think that app cost me about 5 US$ in purchase, but that also means that so far, all updates and all map downloads have been free. I have used it quite a lot for navigation when I am driving from place to place; it does not yet have verbal turn by turn, but it has worked well when either we are two in the vehicle or there is room to pull off a couple of times along the way. I have seen quite a lot of added functionality during the last couple of years. Any position you find during pre-reading can be fixed to the map as a pin, and any place you are during travels can be marked in the same way.

I do not know if this app is available for android. I chose i-products based on availability of birding apps such as Sibley at the time I purchased.

Niels
 
Can you (or anyone) recommend an app (not necessarily free, but good value) should I take the smartphone route?

Good question.

Google maps can be used to find locations, this does work well.

Apps made for hiking often contain good topographical maps, but these are country specific, and I don't think any offers global coverage. You'd need to look if there is sth for the countries you want to go.

I've been looking for a simpel but reliable app that does help find coordinates and allows recording coordinates and tracks. Tried a few but not yet found anything really liked.
 
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