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jonesy2
29-01-2003, 09:31 AM
Looking at buying a Handheld GPS.
Anyone have any suggestions on what type to buy.(or what NOT to buy)
Will be using it offshore and in the 4wd.

Thanks

Lachie1
29-01-2003, 12:28 PM
G'day Jonesy2, me old man bought a gps about 2 years ago and its been real good so far. Its a MLR i think they made in france but its written in english 8)???. Anyway its one of the best i've seen as it has all the features and costs about $280 or so. The instructions are impossible to understand so we just figured it out for ourselves.

I would strongly recommend it, Lachie

Jewmaster
29-01-2003, 12:44 PM
Buy a Magellan 315 or similar, I have had this for over 2 years now and have found it very accurate, I use it to map out the road too and from fishing spot and upload it over a map of the NT, I mark rivers and bad sections of raod and have it up in frontof me when driving at night and Im aware of bad gutters ect a km or 2 before I hit them.

I have used it to makr a reef about the size of a car and have no problems runnig back over the top pf it each time I go back, Don't go cheeper thanthe 315 becuase they don't have alot of the features that are usfull.

charleville
29-01-2003, 02:52 PM
About two weeks ago, I bought one of the new Garmin GPS 72 handhelds. I also bought the mounting bracket to mount in the boat plus cigarette lighter lead and computer interface lead.

The GPS itself cost $399 from Johnny Appleseed.

I have never used a GPS myself before so I am not qualified to offer comparisons but this is a little ripper from my perspective. I whizzed about 100km around Moreton Bay yesterday with it and it was great - good sized screen - all of the expected functions - waterproof - a rubberised edge all around so it resists damage when dropped (which i have done a couple of times) - uses two AA batteries or the boat power - various alarms - 500 waypoints etc etc etc.

Very pleased with it.

Charleville

Wesley_Pang
29-01-2003, 02:56 PM
Jonesy,

I've got a Garmin GPS12. Its fairly basic, with waypoints, routes, speed, calculating estimated time of arrival. I've had it for a couple of years and I've not had a problem with it.

I save the waypoints to my PC. I think this is an important function, because it takes a lot of time to build up and enter these points.

When out on my brothers boat. He has a GPS176. This GPS has a maps stored in it. Great to see all the beacons, and contours on it.

Wes

charleville
29-01-2003, 03:00 PM
Just thought to mention...

There is some great software around to use with the GPS to make it easier to set waypoints and add basic outlines of shorelines etc.

The basic versions are free but for more accuracy you can pay for the upgraded version.

The one that I use lists Garmin amongst its presets but not all GPS brands. It may be important for you to check which brands are most accessible with such software.

Charleville

Kerry
31-01-2003, 05:19 AM
Just thought to mention...

There is some great software around to use with the GPS to make it easier to set waypoints and add basic outlines of shorelines etc.

Now that sounds like your adding basic outlines of shorelines with this great software to use with the GPS.

What might that software be #???# (doesn't sound like Mapsource, which is rather limited in Oz anyway) but you do mean secondary computer based software, don't you #???



The basic versions are free but for more accuracy you can pay for the upgraded version.

The one that I use lists Garmin amongst its presets but not all GPS brands. #It may be important for you to check which brands are most accessible with such software.

Charleville

;D Sounds like you've come a long way in the past 2 weeks, not ever having used a GPS before and all that #;).

Cheers, Kerry.

charleville
31-01-2003, 09:39 AM
Yes Kerry., I am talking about using Oziexplorer on a PC on which I can scan in a map and trace basic shore outlines using tracks and then download onto the GPS.

Actually, I did not trace in a map but just copied some maps from websites. What that told me was how few of those maps are to scale.

Of course, the accuracy is a bit ordinary anyway for the unpaid version of Oziexplorer as I can only calibrate the map with two points versus three for the paid version.

It might seem a bit basic but I have found it useful to see roughly where I am in Moreton Bay, such as in traversing the bay from the Tangalooma wrecks to Green Island.

I was originally thinking about getting a mapping version of GPS but it was your posts that talked me out of it given the price/benefit considerations and my limited travel ambitions.

Now that I have loaded my major points of interest, I am wondering why anyone would bother paying for the full mapping version unless they do a lot of exploring or are a commercial operator.

A mate of mine who flys aeroplanes told me of his panic when relying on the GPS and it gave the alarm for losing satellite contact. So of course, I have the compass, charts and Brownie's as well.

Charleville

whiteman
31-01-2003, 09:48 AM
I posted a couple of questions last week about Oziexplorer without much of a response. So I'll try a different tack....

Does purchasing the full system greatly improve the accuracy of overlaying waypoints onto a scanned 1:150000 survey map? The free system is soooooo inaccurate with 2 points of calibration I'm concerned that I'll spend $150 and not be happy.

Kerry
31-01-2003, 05:41 PM
Charlie, so just to confirm that, you're uploading (or downloading in your terms) a track file (multi track file)?

Whiteman, I'd be vary of any scanned map/chart calibrated using 2 points and even 3 for that matter.

It's not something one would want to rely on but does give some added "general" background.

I thought there was a map data set available on CD that was compatible with that type of software and already in digital format.

Cheers, Kerry.