Smart phones and remote navigation using GPS?

Hi John,

I run CoPilot 8 on my iPhone and it works well.
This is a voice guided navigation app and as such you don't really need to see too much on this screen.

For Moving Map type navigation however, I don't believe a smart phone is appropriate, due to the relatively small size of the screen.

A device with a 5" screen or bigger is necessary to be able to view a displayed map as you travel and therefore something like a Hema Navigator, Garmin Nuvi, or similar type devices are much more practical.

As for voice guided city navigation vs moving map country travel, two devices are still the best solution in most cases, as very few devices run multiple applications concurrently.

I have previously run both OziExplorerCE and CoPilot Live 8 concurrently on a PDA and the ability to run both at the same time and flip back and forth between them was very good , but the screen size was just too small for my aging eyes.

I generally use the Hema Navigator to run OziExplorerCE for moving map display and a TomTom for voice guided city navigation.
The reason I loaded CoPilot onto my smart phone was an inaccuracy I found recently with both TomTom and my mate's Garmin to find a specific destination on the Adelaide side of the Murray. Both these applications wanted me to cross over the river on the ferry, even though I entered the co-ordinates which were on the Adelaide side of the river.
Only CoPilot, a 2 year out of date app on the PDA gave the correct result, so I searched for and found this app still available for purchase and installation on smart phones, so I paid $50 to have it on my phone as a "backup" , or when I don't have Tomtom with me.

I use Navigon Navigator on an iphone. It doesn't provide a replica paper map like Hema etc but it has a built in set of maps similar to tom tom. I used it on a trip along Mulga Park Rd on the NT/SA border. It fell down on Mulga Park Rd because it located me about 50 to 100 metres to the side of the road, but my Magellan Meridian also located me off to the side of the road when I uploaded my track to google earth, so I think the maps are inaccurate in that area.
I am happy using my combination to navigate between towns in rural areas, but would not rely on it in an off road scenario because Navigon does not work well when you are not on what it recognises as a road. It does however give auto routing which the Magellan does not.

I've got various mapping apps for my iphone for both on land and on water. For the price you pay for the maps you get fantastic bang for your buck. If I wasn't doing proper 'off piste' remote touring I'd think about using just a phone, but I have a dedicated portable mapping gps for the boat and car.
For proper navigation (setting up waypoints, sorting 2000 + fishing marks etc.,) a phone won't cut it. For touring on roads where you aren't going to die if the gps fails, they are o.k. but they are power hungry, and in places where you have to 'navigate' they are at best a toy that could get you into trouble. Good as a backup, not my first choice to be relied upon.
Obviously the standard caveats apply - carry paper and a compass etc etc.

Hi

I use Garmin nüvifone A50 and, unlike almost all other smart phones the GPS in these do not use the mobile network, but are instead a fully fledged gps unit. The only down side is it is a 3.5" screen. Also although it says on the box they atre networked locked to optus they are unlocked. I have 2 of these one on Vodafone and the other on Amasyim.

Hi John
Maybe the Find A Park iPhone app is worth a look. It has great mapping and direction finding capabilities from your location to caravan parks and campgrounds anywhere in Australia.
Regards David

There seems to be persistent confusion about AGPS.

It's called ASSISTED GPS because it's a normal GPS which can get a faster fix when it has internet access to instantly download the Almanac data that normally takes over a minute after switching on the GPS.

If a phone has no GPS receiver, it can still estimate position if it can receive several phone base stations - this is NOT AGPS.

For many years people have been using OziExplorer when they want topo maps or aerial photo maps when travelling away from cities. This can be run on laptops, handheld computers or large-screen GPSs.

Des has now released a Beta version of OIziExplorer for Android

It doesn't yet have the full set of features in OziExplorer CE e.g. design your own screen layout, but it's very usable as a Moving Map GPS.

It runs on phones with 3in screens or Tablets with 10 in screens !

At last we can use the big collection of OziExplorer maps many of us have built up over the years.