GPS apps

[morerpmfred]

What apps is everybody using on there smart phones ?  For trail mapping and topo . There are numerous free ones and some you pay for. Just got an iphone 4 .

[FiEND]

nothing.  if there was anything worth using, i would certainly have a ipad by now.

i haven't looked in a long time though.  happy with my netbook / usb gps antenna.

[BlackAura]

What software are you using on the Netbook Al?  I have the USB GPS antenna and the laptop, but haven't done much looking into software yet.

[morerpmfred]

What i,m looking for is a toppo that i can overlap with other map programs .  I.ve found three differnt programs that i can take pictures with a tag that has the gps coordinates on it . And can print of the whole trail with an icon that shows where the picture was taken . Now Just need the topo or trail map to work with it . What gps programs does every one use ?

[w squared]

I'm running a Garmin 60Csx (for the time being) with the Garmin MapSource (I like it better than the newer BaseCamp software from Garmin). It's not as capable as some of the other packages out there, but the price is right and it meshes transparently with the hardware that I own.

[FiEND]

garmin sucks for GPS apps.  they used to be the best.

i cannot stand basecamp ... even more so since it doesn't do tracking.  but i'm gonna have to get used to it at some point.
i use mapsource and topo canada / topo USA v4 on my home computer
i use nroute and topo canada v2 on the netbook.  it is the only one that allows gps tracking but isn't updated anymore and doesn't support ver.4

mapsource used to be the best for everything until they removed gps tracking from it.

so in a nutshell, their Topo maps rock, their software is a royal pain.

[cLAY]

I don't think the gps for your Iphone works when out of cell range. Its uses a combination of cell towers, internet connection(google map)  and gps to work. Completely useless in the bush.


For myself I have a laptop mounted in the jeep with a usb reciever and am running Oziexplorer for software. Powerful program for managing and editing tracks but is a bit lacking when used the moving map portion of it.

[morerpmfred]

Google maps is there own so you can not save so you can only use when on cell phone tower range . As where a downloaded topo map and software program can be accessed on your smart phone or notebook or laptop . Gps signal waves use the same waves as cell phones. So every cell phone has a gps antennea .

[FiEND]

basic cell phone uses 800/1900 [telus] and other carriers use frequencies close to them.

hspa uses 850 / 1900

gps uses 1500 / 1200

not all phones are gps enabled.

gps works fine outside of cell phone range.  the only reason they use cell phone towers and wireless netorks is for assisted gps and battery saving.  it uses a lot of battery to have the gps running all the time, similar to bluetooth.  it give a decent location within 10 seconds while gps powers up which can take 30 seconds to get a good fix.

programs like tomtom or navigon (street maps) download up to 1.5GB to your phone and work without cell phone coverage.  just haven't found a good topo program yet.

[i_go_commando]

I thought I read somewhere that the US military is not maintaining the GPS satalites any more, is there any truth to this?

[w squared]

I thought I read somewhere that the US military is not maintaining the GPS satalites any more, is there any truth to this?

I would be truly shocked if that was the case. They have increased their use of GPS in the last ten years, not decreased it. Applications like the JDAM have proven very cost effective, so it's unlikely that they'll stop maintaining it any time soon.