Thinking GPS for your Trip?
Submitted: Friday, Sep 16, 2005 at 22:38
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howesy
Just finished a trip from western
Sydney to
Broken Hill ,South Aus. , N.T. up to
darwin and back down accross to Mt Isa and through to
Cairns and
port douglas and then Zig zagged through outback queensland taking in Longreack
Winton roma etc.
Took a
well known GPS with their latest maps and software and from my experience I would advise save your money. maybe other brands are better but the mapping was so inaccurate that it delegateed it to a yuppie toy category and definately no where near a serious navigational aid as they claim. Several times it had me either turning into a fenced paddock or a property driveway with no other oad in sight it often told you to do a U turn only to ask you to do another one and go back the same way, It said there was no navigation available by road from
Townsville to
Cairns. The list goes on. It is very helpful for finding steets in areas where the mapping is accurate but as a serious aid leaves much to be desired.
Still it didn't really tickm me off it gave us a good laugh sometimes (one of the propoerties had a
sign saying it was not an acces road for the town must get a few GPS people through ) was a great trip did 13000km. Internet
routes obviously use GPS too because a couple a old ladies on a track that went nowhere got the road off the internet as the shortest route to the town.
Reply By: Member - Jay Gee (WA) - Friday, Sep 16, 2005 at 23:04
Friday, Sep 16, 2005 at 23:04
Well don't just leave us there hanging in suspense with half a story. Tell us the make and model of the GPS.
If there is definetly a problem with that model - you could save someone money by not buying it.
If it turned out that you were using it incorrectly (and I personally don't think that would have been the case) - the give someone else the opportunity to correct it.
But to leave us with half the story is unfair.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: howesy - Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 at 00:04
Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 at 00:04
The unit was a 635 model with latest version 3 software and maps. If you still cant work out the brand it wasn't Garmin or or magellan.
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Reply By: Bob of KAOS - Friday, Sep 16, 2005 at 23:12
Friday, Sep 16, 2005 at 23:12
Howesy,
you are the first person I have heard of to use a city turn by turn navigator to go bush. I am sure you paid quite a lot for it. An ordinary mapping GPS like a Magellan Map330 (minmum) would be a better proposition. Most people would use a GPS feeding a device running OziExplorer to go bush.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: howesy - Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 at 00:03
Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 at 00:03
It wasn't exactly going bush. It was all tarred roads shown on all maps travelling an average 500km on days travelled. I quite often change my mind on journeys to take in extra sights and thought it may be handy to get me saving K's by taking me more direct
routes.
Having said that it was mainly for finding addresses in towns once I got there and was often on merely for me check the distance to go till destination as this helped with planning on the move. however when they sell these items they do say that they cover 99% of Aust. and they stated that if I wasn't leaving sealed roads then it would be 100%. The unit was a 635 model with latest version 3 software and maps. If you still cant work out the brand it wasn't Garmin or or magellan.
Other brands and models may be better but as for being promoted by sellers as a serious navigational aid, which is their claim, It definately does not quite go that far.
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Reply By: Member - Mungo Explorer (NSW) - Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 at 00:16
Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 at 00:16
GPS tells you where you are, and which direction you're going, that's all. The rest is software, maps etc. Don't rely on it.
I us e a plain vanilla, no map Garmin 72. I plot my intended route using OziExplorer, and insert my own POIs (towns, petrol stations, motels, repeaters etc). But to work out where to go next I use paper maps, much safer.
GPS is somehwre between navigation aid and toy, good fun and useful at the same time. But it's no substitute for mapreading and navigation skills.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 at 09:41
Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 at 09:41
"GPS is somehwhere (sic) between navigation aid and toy"
Not really - GPS is a navigation aid just like a map and a compass are...and can therefore be regarded as a lot more than a toy. Different knowledge and skills are required to efficiently use any navigation aid…though there is of course considerable overlap and therefore map reading and navigation skills are still required when using a GPS (and the more knowledge and skills you have the better off you’ll be). GPS is, in a lot of circumstances, a far better option than using a paper map and compass. It all depends a lot of course on where you're going what your doing and the type of GPS setup you have (these days saying "I have a GPS" is being very general). I use a GPS all the time for work, generally coupled with airphotos - at the scale I require there are no paper maps with sufficient detail (unless I made my own). I also need to record accurately where I’ve been and specific points. Bit hard with a compass and map, especially, for example, - on foot, at night, in the rain....easy with my "toy" GPS (Ipaq + CF GPS + OziExplorerCE + eXplorist 600 + compass for backup) and quite obviously the ideal substitute for the "old fashion" way.
Cheers
Greg
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Follow Up By: Member - Mungo Explorer (NSW) - Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 at 17:53
Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 at 17:53
Well a useful toy of course :-)
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 at 19:29
Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 at 19:29
And therefore, by definition, not a toy:))
| I sent one final shout after him to stick to the track, to which he replied “All right,” That was the last ever seen of Gibson - E Giles 23 April 1874 Lifetime Member
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Follow Up By: Member - Mungo Explorer (NSW) - Sunday, Sep 18, 2005 at 23:03
Sunday, Sep 18, 2005 at 23:03
Depends. For someone who has a use for all the features, no. But for most weekend campers, I suspect a colour map GPS is a toy rather than a necessity.
Which I suppose was my point. Most of them would be better off learning how to read maps properly...
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Reply By: Blaze - Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 at 02:01
Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 at 02:01
Well Howesy, I have used about 4 different models of the Garmin product and had no troubles, hooking them through software on some occassions using Oziexplorer. My latest is the Garmin Quest which is a voice control unit, just so the other half who is a septic
tank can find her way around the cities. This unit even without being hooked up to Oziexplorer is very acurate and shows all the roads etc, around the area's you have mentioned even quite a lot of the 4X4 tracks, as mentioned above, it depends on the software, Garmins latest version 6 is pretty dam good. Off Off road you are still better to use Topo Maps with Oziexplorer
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Reply By: Pluto - Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 at 03:39
Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 at 03:39
Howsy,
I think you chose the wrong GPS for the type of travel that you want to do. The units that only provide autoroute functions and no manual route handling will always bring you unstuck when outside metro areas, because the auto route maps available in Australia only cover the metro areas.
You would have got a far better result from a basic unit like a Garmin Etrex and some supporting software like OziExplorer. You would have saved yourself a bucket load of cash in the process.
I will be picking up a new GPS next week. After doing my homework on it I chose a Garmin 276c, for 3 reasons.
It has the auto route capability for around town.
It has a completely manual navigation mode for off road
It's capable of handling Tracks4australia map sets, so I have good topographic map coverage for the whole country.
The 635 doesn't come close to that sort of capability.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Bonz (Vic) - Wednesday, Sep 21, 2005 at 10:47
Wednesday, Sep 21, 2005 at 10:47
you'll find the 276c with CN6 will navigate pretty accurately all over the place not just the towns, my 60CS does it really
well
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Reply By: howesy - Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 at 07:23
Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 at 07:23
Thanx for the input guys. I have a magellan for off road stuff where I plot way points , the other was merely to give distance by road instead of straight line and to perhaps save me stopping so often to refer to the road map. They will improve in time when the mapping gets better but as this brand stands now with current mapping it is as you say unreliable outside main cities and even some of those are a bit how ya going. the main inaccuracies seem to be Queensland roads and towns.
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Gunnell - Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 at 08:38
Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 at 08:38
Pluto,
I dont mean to hijack this thread but I suggest you give the 276C a good run before you purchase if turn by turn is important to you. I purchased one last week for all the same reasons but the search engine to locate streets for auto routing has some issues with citynav 6. About 10% of the time it cannot identify streets that other current garmins find easily ( 60cs and 2610)
Other than that it is a brilliant unit, screen is excedllent but limited on field of view.
I am currently talking to Garmin about the matter but not getting any sensible answers.
Regards,
Peter
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Pluto - Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 at 10:30
Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 at 10:30
Hmm. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks Peter.
What firmware version are you using? I've downloaded v3.50 upgrade in preparation.
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Follow Up By: Member - Tim - Monday, Sep 19, 2005 at 11:55
Monday, Sep 19, 2005 at 11:55
What I found with
mine is that for anything outside of
Brisbane itself (even some of what I would consider outer suburbs) I have to choose the Metroguide maps rather than the City Navigator. To do this use the menu when in the normal map page, choose map options and uncheck the city navigator. Also there are a few interesting things like the fact that a couple of roads I know that are called "The Esplanade" show up as just "Esp" in version 6. If you manage to work that out then you can find the addresses ok.
Despite the mapping I still use it in conjunction with the laptop and Oziexplorer when it's internal maps run out of coverage. I can use Ozi to put waypoints on all the offroad intersections or other points I am going to be looking for and then load them down to the GPS .
I will have to have a look at the tracks stuff Pluto posted but I am not keen on joining Yahoo as I hate spam.
Tim.
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Follow Up By: Pluto - Wednesday, Sep 21, 2005 at 14:20
Wednesday, Sep 21, 2005 at 14:20
Tim,
You don't have to be a member of the T4A group to contribute or get the maps. The Yahoo group correspondence is largely about obtaining the best quality tracks for contribution.
You can get the info you want by sending a query to the email address on the main page of the group.
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Reply By: Rokkitt - Sunday, Sep 18, 2005 at 21:52
Sunday, Sep 18, 2005 at 21:52
Hi,
Now for my two pence worth, I swear by my GPS! Bugger trying to read huge paper maps, fumbling in difficult conditions and/or light with huge paper maps that often tear. I dont understand how your GPS could display you whereabouts as being so far off track, did you record and
check the GPS co-ordinates? does this unit display actual coordinates? - this would suggest a problem with your maps.
I am not the greatest map reader of them all but maps can be very inconvenient, I use Oziexplorer on both a laptop and a PDA. I understand these have their flaws such as power availability but it removes the greatet flaw of them all - human error.
I have been so happy with my "toys" that I am currently fitting an indash system that can run Oziexplorer, I can plot routes before leaving
home and then enjoy voice navigation throughout my journey - so far this has been totally accurate insuring he maps are correctly calibrated.
Rokkitt
AnswerID:
130731
Follow Up By: howesy - Sunday, Sep 18, 2005 at 22:34
Sunday, Sep 18, 2005 at 22:34
Different unit different maps. They are only as good as the mapping software and my brand obviously has maps that leave a bit to be desired and thats the point I try to convey is they are not 100% reliable dfepending on supplier. I will be writing to the manufacturer of my unit and challenging them on the accuracy of their mapping.
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Follow Up By: Pluto - Monday, Sep 19, 2005 at 14:39
Monday, Sep 19, 2005 at 14:39
You'll find that the maps on all auto routing GPSrs are Sensis Whereis. The problem with these maps outside of the metro areas is they don't cover it. Any info that is in these areas can't be relied on.
You need a map set for the unit that does cover these areas or you will inevitably come unstuck, as you found out.
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