Let's talk GPS

[imdoo'n]

The iPhone does not need coverage for the GPS function to work. It has "enhanced GPS" which uses cell tower triangulation to get a location quicker. With regular GPS it has to acquire satellite info which takes a couple of minutes. Using GPS on iPhone would use battery faster.

I am looking at GPS software for iPhone so I can use it as the only device I take with me. Being a phone, camera, video etc etc.

sounds good, but what ya gonna do when ya got no cellphone coverage. i've seen the accuracy of the cell phone gps leave it at home, get the proper gear. unless you do all your riding in the city.

 

[Marley]

sounds good, but what ya gonna do nwhen ya got no cellphone coverage. i've seen the accuracy of the cell phone gps leave it at home, get the proper gear. unless you do all your riding in the city.

Can you give me some back up to how inaccurate the cell phone GPS is? What brand etc.
I have have used iPhone in BC while dirt biking where there is no cell coverage and it was accurate. I have a Garmin unit but rarely use it anymore.
iPhone has a good quality GPS chip built in unlike a lot of other cell phones.

 

[imdoo'n]

was out west of caroline ab. the gps on the cell phone was telling us we were north of the river 400 m. when we were more likely 100m south of the river. also how will your phone gps work if ya got no cell phone coverage, about 40% of alberta. i know telus/bell says not so . but i know so. drive a few oilfield bush roads.

 

[f7sp]

garmin 650 works good so far. no complaints and is easy to use. got the bushmap from sky base. offroad maps from ab and northeast bc.touchscreen is working well to.

 

[Marley]

was out west of caroline ab. the gps on the cell phone was telling us we were north of the river 400 m. when we were more likely 100m south of the river. also how will your phone gps work if ya got no cell phone coverage, about 40% of alberta. i know telus/bell says not so . but i know so. drive a few oilfield bush roads.

Not sure of what brand you are using but they are all different in the tech they use. Some use just cell signal for location others like the iPhone actually have a high quality GPS chip inside but you still need software that can access the hardware to make work correctly. Google maps on smart phones requires a data connection to access map info. If you have maps loaded on your phone, and you have the GPS chip, then you are good to go. Cell phone GPS (not cell tower triangulation locating) rely on a good 'view' of the sky as they do not have large single purpose antenna like dedicated GPS units do.

 

[Marley]

Adding to the previous post: cell phone GPS such as the iPhone will work fine without cell coverage but must be in a location to see the sky. If they are put deep in a backpack covered with stuff then the view is obstructed and you won't get accurate location or no location at all. The stronger the signal the better results. My Garmin is the same way - if it's on the floor in the truck it doesn't do so well but put it up on the dash and it's fine.

 

[LID]

I think you guys were talking about using the iphone GPS while driving the truck or quad. Don't forget in winter that a cell phone that is on messes with an avalanche beacon signal.

 

[takethebounce]

Adding to the previous post: cell phone GPS such as the iPhone will work fine without cell coverage but must be in a location to see the sky. If they are put deep in a backpack covered with stuff then the view is obstructed and you won't get accurate location or no location at all. The stronger the signal the better results. My Garmin is the same way - if it's on the floor in the truck it doesn't do so well but put it up on the dash and it's fine.

If you want to download a good GPS map program for cell phones, check out Backcountry Navigator Pro. I think it was $5 for my Android. Operating on my Android htc Sensation it is accurate to 3m. I have taken it dirtbiking and such and has performed very well far from any cell coverage. I haven't used it for winter as mentioned, cell phones could interfear with transciever signals.

I don't know if the Backcountry Navigator is available for the iphone OS but check it out if you want more funtionality from your phone.

My Garmin GPS and even my old Magellan have worked even when packed away in a bag in the back seat of the truck. No line of site required. I sometimes have taken my new Garmin out of the Ram mount and tucked it away and it still tracks me everywhere.

I am always trying to reduce the gadget count. At some point having a quality GPS that can transmit and track real time using sat signals and possibly take a decent photo or even a quality video and have gmrs radio functions is something I would pay $500-600 for.

If you could pair the new Garmin Rino with the newly released inReach systems I think you would have a winner for the most part.

 

[X-it]

I agree with marley about the cell phones, however the newer garmins have high sensitivity receiver and do pick up signals way better than the old ones did. Look for an h in the unit. If it does not pick up your location in the house it is not high sensitivity.

 

[X-it]

Well i paid the 29 dollars for the google earth quality maps for the gps. They allow you 1gb per day of downloads any where in the world, you choose either high mid or low quality imagery. It is not long before you use up all the memory on the gps and switch over to the sd card. This is pretty dam cool to have google earth quality on the gps, especially for tree riding. It is not clear enough imo to make out what type of vehical is in your driveway. But you can count how many trees you have to go through to get to the next open area.