GPS

Info here:
gpsinformation.net/

Place to buy here:
www.ja-gps.com.au/

It's bad Karma to travel at night in the bush, but we sometimes have to. Get one with some form of backlighting.

Holly, still rely on the paper, but you should have the capacity to buy a decent one with your budget. Guess you have looked here Site Link but I suggest you buy ahead of the trip to acquaint yourself of the learning curve.

You would get a good one for that price on ebay. Garmin gps map 60cx for example. Has moving map capabilities and can be loaded with Tracks for australia off the net. They do come with a USA map that is overwritten with any mapset you choose to upload.

You paper maps could be very useful if they have any indication of Latitude and longitude on them. A basic gps will show you where you are on the maps and save you a lot of money on fancy software.

Study the instruction book and see if you can learn about basic map reading using contour maps and if you become fascinated with navigation like I did, have a look at the Natmap collection that comes on dvd. Obviously you need a computer hand held or laptop or print out the maps on your intended route.

I have found gps very useful as a compass because it shows which direction you are moving in. Some of them show direction without you having to move.

Get a cheap compass at the very least so you can orientate your maps but remember that a magnetic compass is useless in a car because of the all the metal.

Have a look at oziexplorer where you can assess their software free and learn a bit more.

Users have described the popular street directory gps as less than useful off the beaten track but I lack experience in that are so cannot advise.

Remember that you are never lost, just temporarily displaced. Old army saying.

I could go on for hours but this aint the place to start a book. Someone out there has written the book so look around. Your local TAFE might even offer courses. Next Destination offer a gps course for novices after they sell you one of their Magellan series of gps. They have the franchise in Australia but unless you live near Perth you might have to navigate by the stars to find them. (just kidding)

Hope that helps a bit.

Owen

Holly

We are also travelling up that way june - August and I have been looking at similar methods. Am looking for a basic GPS unit, without all the wizz bang items, but one I can use in the bush for naigation, also be able to connect to the PC Notebook and also have 12 volt charging

if its for outback use get one that has UTM, so you can check your position against a map

Holly.I have a Garmin +2 which was outdated and up graded to a
Magellan XL. I found the Garmin more user friendly. As said above the Garmin 60cx
would be a good start.

My old Garmin GPS72 works well for me. Main reason I bought it is because its waterproof and floats - something to consider if you're going to use it in a boat. I'd also suggest ensuring you get a power lead with what ever you get as they can be heavy on batteries.
500-600 will proabably buy you more handheld GPS than you really need, for that sort of money you can easily buy a 2nd hand laptop and a USB mouse GPS if you really want to get into it with mapping software etc. $250-300 wil buy a good quality hand held unit with more features than most people need.
Shop around, prices can vary a fair bit, some of the on line retailers are hard to beat.

Whatever you buy, get one that has the ability to connect to a 12 volt power source - such as car ciggy lighter socket. And gte the cable that connects it to 12 volt - usually that's an optional extra.

Beleive me, you will get entirely fed up putting batteries in it otherwise........and they always go flat JUST when ya really need 'em.

Bilbo

Look at Mio P350, 400MHz processor, 512mb flash ROM & 64mb ram, comes with mapping etc for under $500.00 or around $300.00 with no mapping. You can retro install Oziexplorer etc.
I have just ordered one & will probbaly be looking for help here soon!

PS. I also have a Garmin GPS 2.