Recommend me GPS unit all you Gurus....

[4wdnuts]

hi all

im resonably new to the whole gps thing. i just brought some mapping software off trademe with all of nz on topo maps. what i want now is a gps unit to record tracks that i go on etc.

as im running all this on a laptop i need it to have a usb connection, would like the ability to power it from the car and maybe even have street maps on it? what models are out there and what sort of price are we talking?

cheers

scott

[petefj40]

hi all

im resonably new to the whole gps thing. i just brought some mapping software off trademe with all of nz on topo maps. what i want now is a gps unit to record tracks that i go on etc.

as im running all this on a laptop i need it to have a usb connection, would like the ability to power it from the car and maybe even have street maps on it? what models are out there and what sort of price are we talking?

cheers

scott

I'm no guru. But I recomend anything Garmin.
Goodluck!

Pete

[kiwipete]

As has been said, anything Garmin will do nicely.
I would suggest that you look on Trademe for a cheap used Garmin Etrex Vista or similar. I have one of these and am using it as you plan to. It is not USB, but DSE sell a cheap serial to USB cable you can use on your laptop.

[petefj40]

As has been said, anything Garmin will do nicely.
I would suggest that you look on Trademe for a cheap used Garmin Etrex Vista or similar. I have one of these and am using it as you plan to. It is not USB, but DSE sell a cheap serial to USB cable you can use on your laptop.

I use a waterproof hand held Garmin 76C. It links up to USB and sync's up to my Mapsource software no problems. I think it sells new for around $300 but second hand should be cheaper. it's solid coz I've dropped it heaps and still works fine. =)

[SMOKEY]

Hi Scott,

I have just last week been asking the same questions and purchased a Garmin Gps 60 CSX on the advice of ORE" BrentC", he put me on to a good trader with a good price, and then helped me out with his mapping program, Thanks BrentC.

Since then I have found a CHCH Garmin guru, Tony Savage, google kiwigps , he has a good site.
Good luck.

IF IT WASN'T FOR BAD LUCK, ---- i WOULDN'T HAVE ANY,

FITZY

[4wdnuts]

thanks for all the fast reply guys. some good info in there. have looked at those websites and will get in contact with Tony tommorrow

As has been said, anything Garmin will do nicely.
I would suggest that you look on Trademe for a cheap used Garmin Etrex Vista or similar. I have one of these and am using it as you plan to. It is not USB, but DSE sell a cheap serial to USB cable you can use on your laptop.

so i really dont have to worry about the usb thing? i can just get a serial to usb convertor?

[rangimotors]

yea converters are cheap as chips and work no problems

[BrentC]

hi all

im resonably new to the whole gps thing. i just brought some mapping software off trademe with all of nz on topo maps. what i want now is a gps unit to record tracks that i go on etc.

as im running all this on a laptop i need it to have a usb connection, would like the ability to power it from the car and maybe even have street maps on it? what models are out there and what sort of price are we talking?

cheers

scott

go to DSE and buy a quest if you only want in car mapping - nice talking auto-routing gps and real cheap at $398 plus you can connect by USB

http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/46b0f2d70097438a2740c0a87f330716/Product/View/D4117

Not sure what Jerry is on about below - however the quest is excellant - having owned about 20 GPS's and currently still own 10 and having made GPS maps commercially for 6 years etc - plus leading 4wd expeditions all over the place , what would I know

[Jerry]

http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storef ... View/D9063

If you want to use it on and offroad then one of these

or one of these
http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storef ... View/D3533

you can use the free maps http://gwprojects.org/forum/index.php or you can get off the shelf ones.

If you want a talky street one then a garmin or a navman is good, but not really usable for mapping tracks offroad.

[wopass]

Not sure what Jerry is on about below - however the quest is excellant - having owned about 20 GPS's and currently still own 10 and having made GPS maps commercially for 6 years etc - plus leading 4wd expeditions all over the place , what would I know

nobody really knows mate

i use a garmin ETREX VISTA for my hunting/fishing/4x4ing. does everything i need it to and cheap as chips, would have liked to get the vista cx which has mem card but decided that the extra cost diddnt really warrent it.

works great,tough as nails which is a good thing in my truck

[wjw]

I have an Etrex Vista... which has a busted screen... was great! would have bought one again to replace it, but I bought a Quest, for $400 they can't be beat. Just need to buy brents maps now so I can get topo on there. But as I have Tumonz subscription + Garmin Worldmap, NZ map and Topomap? V2 Its difficult to justify!

[Sunit]

I have a Holux GPS for laptop that I am not using and is spare. The idea was to plug it into my laptop which would be loaded with maps.

In the end I bought a walking talking Garmin and so the Holux is a bit redundant.

Contact me if interested. About NZD 150 or so.
021 144 8181
- Sunit

[kiwipete]

thanks for all the fast reply guys. some good info in there. have looked at those websites and will get in contact with Tony tommorrow

As has been said, anything Garmin will do nicely.
I would suggest that you look on Trademe for a cheap used Garmin Etrex Vista or similar. I have one of these and am using it as you plan to. It is not USB, but DSE sell a cheap serial to USB cable you can use on your laptop.

so i really dont have to worry about the usb thing? i can just get a serial to usb convertor?

You are welcome to come over in the weekend and have a look at my setup if you wish, just txt or ring the number below.

[4wdnuts]

so say i drive from chch to the coast, and have the quest pumping out the directions, and on the way i go offroad and do some driving up river beds etc. can i take this route off the quest and copy it to the topo mapping software on the computer?

and also i see it has a rechargable battery in it. so when i go hunting, can i take it out of the truck, and use it like any other gps unit to record a track then take it home then copy it to the mapping software on the computer?

cheers guys for answer my noob questions!

[4wdnuts]

thanks for all the fast reply guys. some good info in there. have looked at those websites and will get in contact with Tony tommorrow

As has been said, anything Garmin will do nicely.
I would suggest that you look on Trademe for a cheap used Garmin Etrex Vista or similar. I have one of these and am using it as you plan to. It is not USB, but DSE sell a cheap serial to USB cable you can use on your laptop.

so i really dont have to worry about the usb thing? i can just get a serial to usb convertor?

You are welcome to come over in the weekend and have a look at my setup if you wish, just txt or ring the number below.

thanks pete, will give you a call over the weekend :thumright:

[BrentC]

so say i drive from chch to the coast, and have the quest pumping out the directions, and on the way i go offroad and do some driving up river beds etc. can i take this route off the quest and copy it to the topo mapping software on the computer?

and also i see it has a rechargable battery in it. so when i go hunting, can i take it out of the truck, and use it like any other gps unit to record a track then take it home then copy it to the mapping software on the computer?

cheers guys for answer my noob questions!

yes not as handy as a handheld

also not sure how long the battery wil last

[kiwitonita]

... can i take this route off the quest and copy it to the topo mapping software on the computer?

Yes, it will record up to 10,000 track points for loading to your computer later. The points are automatically spaced by default (so it does not waste points on a dead straight road) or can be made to be either set distance or time intervals.

... and also i see it has a rechargeable battery in it.

Yes, the rechargeable Lithium Ion battery gives up to 20 hours life according to the specs.

The Quest is waterproof like the usual hand held models but is not so sturdy - the antenna is on a flip out panel at the top rear so would not handle rough treatment. Also, this model is getting on a bit so has a fixed 115MB memory, not a memory card like the newer units. It's not a high sensitivity model either so will lose the plot in bush and forest. But at under $400 it's a bargain for a colour screen Garmin. For 2 days this week they had it at $320! The included official Garmin City Navigator map CD alone is worth $300 to buy separately.

The 115MB memory limit should not be a problem though as the Open Project Auto-Routing street maps for NZ are only 33MB while all NZ Topo for Garmin is 280MB. Maps are divided into tiles for easy partial selection - NZ Topo for example is made up of 930 tiles. So it's just a mater of choosing the areas you want and loading them. Tiles do not have to be all joining either and you can choose parts of each map - like bits of Topo + bits of Streets as suits.

[mudmike]

My 2cents, the garmin 60cxs or any of the 60 have the best hand held reception, will work under heavy bush cover, alot of the SAR groups are going to them, great maping to. the top model also does altitude so can do 3d maping of a track ang give a better indication of track than 2d line, but like anything the more toys it has the more it costs.
I use the 60 and after the etrex worth the extra money,
Only my opinion.
And kiwigps is great to deal with, he sorted me out and loaded a base map and will also load topo(at extra cost).
good luck with the shopping

[4wdnuts]

hi guys

i got in contact with tony savage. after a few emails and alot of explaining on his behalf to answer my many thousand questions, i have ordered the Garmin Legend HCX.

we decided on this one because it has the high sensitivity ariel, colour screen and has expandable memory to store as many maps as i need. it also does automatic routing to! tony has ordered it and should be here in a couple of weeks. will let you all know how it goes when i get it. and thanks to all those that voiced there opinions

[Swaney]

My 2 cents.

If you are going to use it outside of the car for tramping / fishing etc then go for the new model Vista HCx (released mid july of this year) - has the high sensitivity chipset like the 60cx / 76cx and is waterproof and extremely portable plus it also does the auto-routing.

Also has an altimeter so you can find out how high you have climbed.

And you can get them landed for under $400NZD if you buy from ebay.

[4wdnuts]

the one im getting has all those things execpt the fancy altimeter and compass. i have bee told that these things chew up the battery. the legend still has an altimeter, its just not as accurate as that fancy one.

[dazza85]

Thread Hijack ...sort of...
Are these any good ???

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=112822962

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=113293315

And is it possible to get software to allow my palm life-drive to talk with one ??

[adventures_more]

I would'nt go too crazy with buying GPS reciever's as the GPS network is being dropped ( US Government )& new system will be coming in around 2008 - 2011 . bit like the old "analog" mobile/cell system was dropped for "Digital" ! I wanted to get a flashy Suunto GPS watch , until i found out this !

[4wdnuts]

so what your trying to say is that every boat, plane, surveyor search and rescue and every handheld unit in the world is going to be useless by the end of 2011

[mike]

I would'nt go too crazy with buying GPS reciever's as the GPS network is being dropped ( US Government )& new system will be coming in around 2008 - 2011 . bit like the old "analog" mobile/cell system was dropped for "Digital" ! I wanted to get a flashy Suunto GPS watch , until i found out this !

Yeah i dont think this is about to happen as the US airforce (the ones who control the gps satalites) is just upgrading the whole gps system from their old mainframes to a new server architecture as we speak. Infact quoted from the article gpsIII satalites will be launched within the next decade.

As GPS satellite technology has improved over the years, however, the ground control system has been tasked with being interoperable with all generations of spacecraft. While the Air Force hasn't wanted to mess with the system's performance, with this latest series of satellites being prepared for launch and GPS III satellites coming within the next decade, it has become necessary for an upgrade to ground control to take advantage of the signal and navigation improvements offered by modern satellites, Hamel said.

Whole article here, quite an interesting read.

http://mg.gpsworld.com/gpsmg/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=450006

Mike

[BrentC]

I would'nt go too crazy with buying GPS reciever's as the GPS network is being dropped ( US Government )& new system will be coming in around 2008 - 2011 . bit like the old "analog" mobile/cell system was dropped for "Digital" ! I wanted to get a flashy Suunto GPS watch , until i found out this !

I won't be selling any of my 7 GPS's on the strength of that article.

AF Prepares To Transition GPS To New AEP In Sept.
Aviation Week, August 17, 2007

The U.S. Air Force has completed final preparation for transitioning its Global Positioning System (GPS) ground segment to the new Architecture Evolution Plan (AEP). The modernization plan has been slowly evolving over the past few years, with a targeted early- to mid-September 2007 transition date."The importance of this transition is significant," Lt. Gen. Michael Hamel, commander of Air Force Space and Missile Command, said Aug. 15 at a media roundtable.
"Changing out the ground control system is like changing the engine on a car while it's speeding down the freeway going 65 miles per hour." The Air Force says the transition will be "seamless and transparent" to GPS users. If there is a problem, the service can step back into the legacy system. Three full-scale rehearsals have already been held, and a fourth will occur sometime before the real-world changeover. Hamel says the Air Force is "applying the same rigor for this transition as we do with our launch systems. If at any point there's a problem, we have the ability to transition back."
The transition will take about four hours, during which each satellite will be switched over individually. Although the Air Force would not divulge the exact date the transition to the AEP would take place, it will inform the public 48 hours after its successful completion.
The new ground stations will enable total visibility of GPS satellites, which, in the old architecture, suffered from blackout or blind periods. Eight additional ground sites have been added to six existing sites, bringing the total to 14, and enabling total coverage as well as triple redundancy in a number of cases.

I suppose the US Defense wouldn't spend 100 mill on a redundant system? Then again - maybe they would :rocketwhore:

Collins gets $100 million GPS order
16 August 2007
Cedar Rapids Gazette
CEDAR RAPIDS - Rockwell Collins has received a $100-million order to supply the Department of Defense with an additional 43,093 Defense Advanced GPS Receivers and accessories. Rockwell Collins spokeswoman Pam Tvrdy confirmed the "follow-on" DAGR order, announced by the defense department on Aug. 11. Follow-on orders exercise rights to order additional units under a previous contract. Defense Advanced GPS Receivers (DAGRs) are made at the company's facility in Coralville. The DAGR, essential equipment for most United States troops headed to Iraq, is the Department of Defense replacement for the Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver.
Army members of the Space and Missile Systems Center Navstar Global Positioning System Joint Program Office visited the Coralville plant in February 2006 to celebrate delivery of the 50,000th DAGR. Advanced features of the DAGR include a tamper-resistant GPS SAASM (Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module) security module, and a Precise Positioning System. The hand-held units weigh less than a pound. The production will be complete in September 2008. b a- Contact the writer: (319) 398-8317 or david.dewitte@gazettecommunications.com

[adventures_more]

thats funny , the source i got that from was from a statement made by the US Military , actually from one of the head people in control of armed forces . you don't reck'n the US would waste 100 million buck's on a 3-4 yr project , then how many Billions of $$$ have they wasted in Irag ! 100 million is bugger all money for the US government , like loose change !

[Steve_t647]

I think the US Millatary are looking at a better setup for them, additional satalites making the existing network more accurate (they can see more satelites so they can hit more of the wrong targets better) .

The current network supposedly is not as accurate and has good and bad areas most land areas are fine, well populated countries too, shipping and sea areas are not so good as is large unpopulated areas (why waste the bandwidth and the satelites are usually multi purpose).

they will not be pulling out the existing network, but it will be private and government satalites with multi roles replacing the ones that go out of service, the US enhanced network will not be open from what I have read and ther is the possibility that for yearly (large) licenceing fee's use for governments not individuals may be allowed.

[4wdnuts]

sounds like no one really knows whats going on so at this stage, ill stick with the legend hcx that has been ordered. 2 weeks it should be here

[adventures_more]

GPS recivers will be fine for a few years eitherway , Electornic stuff like mobile phones . computers , etc are ancient histrory after a year or 2 , so won't really matter as most people try to buy the latest fang dangled stuff anyway !