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Rich1972

Hi folks

I'm torn between a purpose made GPS unit and an iPhone app for navigation. From what I've read it seems a bad idea to put an iPhone on a mount on the bike as its too big a risk, but can anyone advise on an app I can use on the iPhone in my pack or pocket that can tell me where I am using just GPS so that it still works when there isn't a signal? Or should I just get a bike GPS? And if I should can anyone recommend a good one?

Rich

YeehaaMcgee

Learn to read a map. Mountain rescue guys are getting pretty fed up of scooping up the corpses of people who use their smartphones to navigate.

chrisw333

but for day to day navigation Viewranger is good. You can download (paid for) OS maps onto your phone and they are there with or without signal.

The maps are quite affordable when purchased as individual tiles or groups of tiles.

Obviously if you are going into the wilderness then you need a back up for obvious reasons, but as a tool Viewranger is fantastic once you get to know it.

You can import gpx routes to follow etc too. Got us comfortably over Dartmoor, Exmoor & the Quantocks earleir this year.

stubs

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Learn to read a map. Mountain rescue guys are getting pretty fed up of scooping up the corpses of people who use their smartphones to navigate.

This.

A mobile is to a proper GPS, what waterwings are to a life jacket.

chrisw333

Look, if you are sensible a mobile is a really helpful tool (need a back up mobile battery charger). It's not a replacement for proper safety precautions and maps, but as an extra gadget with the right app they can be fantastic. As said above, we navigated across Dartmoor & Exmoor with one (in very poor conditions) and it worked perfectly. And yes we had proper maps and compasses in the rucksack just in case, but to get a quick fix on where you are and where you are going next it was perfect.

I don't see what the problem is here?

raldat

stubs wrote:

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Learn to read a map. Mountain rescue guys are getting pretty fed up of scooping up the corpses of people who use their smartphones to navigate.

This.

A mobile is to a proper GPS, what waterwings are to a life jacket.

That is a fairly gross generalisation. A smart phone ‘GPS’ is like all GPS receivers (remember GPS is global positioning system, i.e. the whole system of satellites etc. What you hold in your hand is a GPS receiver) i.e. it is a GPS chipset, an aerial and some operational and potentially mapping software. Not all GPS receivers had mapping software with older ones simply displaying long/lat plus speed, direction of travel, distance to waypoint etc.
 
Like everything in life and remembering that a smart phone is a whole lot of devices in one and many of these are compromises, smartphone GPS receiver components may or may not be of lesser quality and performance than that of dedicated GPS receivers and they may or may not be more or less accurate. I do remember one trip some years ago when doing a delivery of a yacht I was navigator on back after a 3 day race. We dropped anchor one night in a little bay in the lee of a little island. The very expensive and comprehensive GPS receiver plus navigation software on the chart plotter had us right about 100m north of the bay on the other side of the island while my Nokia E72 I was using at the time with some third party mapping software had us right in the little bay to the island’s south. Whether the cause of the error on the chart plotter was GPS receiver error or map error (i suspect the latter) is unknown, but the key point is that any GPS receiver can have error and sometimes a smart phone might be better.
 
One statement I can’t disagree with is ‘learn to read a map’ or at least have some situational awareness, like where is the sun and which way is it to the nearest main road.

YeehaaMcgee

You can use a dedicated god receiver all day long however, in the pouring rain.

cooldad

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

You can use a dedicated god receiver all day long however, in the pouring rain.

Might be good for your evil blackened soul, but I doubt it'll help you navigate.

YeehaaMcgee

Haha! That, is autocorrect-gone-wrong-awesomeosity.
I wonder if that's how religion started?

stubs

raldat wrote:

stubs wrote:

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Learn to read a map. Mountain rescue guys are getting pretty fed up of scooping up the corpses of people who use their smartphones to navigate.

This.

A mobile is to a proper GPS, what waterwings are to a life jacket.

That is a fairly gross generalisation. A smart phone ‘GPS’ is like all GPS receivers

Wasnt saying that one is more accurate than the other. Waterwings and a life jacket will both help you float but which one would you rather be wearing in the Oggin. A smartphone can be just as accurate as a proper GPS but try dropping it or getting it wet. Plus its getting dark your miles from home and oh carp I have 10% battery left because I have been using my smartphone to text, check facebook, take pictures and chat to Auntie Nellie.

Chunkers1980

Just follow the light. You'll get 'home' in the end.

cooldad

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Haha! That, is autocorrect-gone-wrong-awesomeosity.
I wonder if that's how religion started?

I have it on good authority that Stonehenge is the remains of an early cellphone mast - my first one weighed about the same as a large chunk of rock.

Rich1972

Thanks for your ideas, I can read a map, just wanted to be able to get a quick fix on where I am if needed and to be able to download some routes to follow.

YeehaaMcgee

Chunkers1980 wrote:

Just follow the light. You'll get 'home' in the end.

Guidence from the heavens eh?

felix.london

I've gotta Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Offline maps mode is awesome. Just DL the area you're gonna be riding in before you leave and it's stored locally on the phone - no internet required to view maps, plan routes, zoom in/out etc (as well as just, plain see where the hell you are!) And it's not my main phone so just sits in my pack in flight mode til I need it.

Still looking at this Garmin eTrex 20 though for route planning/following;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garmin-eTrex-Outdoor-Handheld-Unit/dp/B00542NVDW/ref=lh_ni_t