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#Post#: 5612--------------------------------------------------
Re: The demise of the GPS receiver
By: SangueG Date: September 30, 2013, 7:41 am
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Hear is a link
HTML http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=310962&view=findpost&p=5255080<br
/>to the first big trial I did using the phone for caching, whic
h
describes the battery life. I have not noticed the battery
worsen in the following months, but I have not found that many
caches in one hit since either.
You might look at the battery life that I described there and
decide it is poor. But compared to my GPSr it is good. With a
set of Duracells in my GPSr they would of been used up almost
completely by the end of that day. I have to say though that my
GPSr is not a modern one.
#Post#: 5613--------------------------------------------------
Re: The demise of the GPS receiver
By: walktall Date: September 30, 2013, 11:59 am
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[quote author=SangueG link=topic=401.msg5611#msg5611
date=1380543965]
This subject has many topics that can be discussed / debated.
Nice one Griff Grof for bringing up :D
I'll pick one point made for the moment to explain how I use /
get around, and that is this one brought up by walktall:
I have a 250mb per month included with my basic phone plan.
Since the beginning of the year when I got the phone I have not
used more than 100mb per month, and so have not paid any extra.
How I have got around this is two fold, but both by using the
wifi. When I am out in places like Tesco's for example, I
connect to their free wifi. For the times I am not in the range
of such free wifi, because I have BT broadband I can tap into
free wifi spots all over the country (and the world apparently),
and so use this to check on new caches and check email
notifications. The BT wifi hotspots are extensive and I have
been surprised where I have picked up a signal, for example when
I placed the Ciren Movable Cache in the farmland behind our
house yesterday I was connected where I hid it which was over
500' from the nearest building.
[/quote]
My issue is £10 a month is toooo much, I can't justify that cost
for something I would use effectively just for geocaching and
the odd (very odd) need to make a phone call. It would also need
to be Windows based mobile, as Memory Map on Android is no where
near as good :(
I do make use of wifi hotspots, which is great. I remember being
in Letterkenny logging a TB to make sure the history stayed
correct, as I was on holiday for another six days after dropping
off the TB :)
#Post#: 5614--------------------------------------------------
Re: The demise of the GPS receiver
By: walktall Date: September 30, 2013, 12:03 pm
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PS I do think in time the technologies will merge but what might
take longer is battery power. So using 'AA' batteries for a GPS
is much easier to carry spare power or buy some if you ran out
unexpectedly.
#Post#: 5859--------------------------------------------------
Re: The demise of the GPS receiver
By: The Wombles Date: October 23, 2013, 4:10 pm
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Personally I prefer a separate GPSr but since upgrading my
smartphone I can now actually find caches with it!
Going in the other direction, Garmin are about to launch an
Android based GPS which has everything apart from a phone (but
will connect to WiFi). Garmin Monterra.
HTML http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/122006-garmin-monterra-outdoor-gps-pictures-and-hands-on
It's even got a smartphone price!
#Post#: 5861--------------------------------------------------
Re: The demise of the GPS receiver
By: tarmacjohn Date: October 23, 2013, 4:15 pm
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£600
I would want it to sign the log for me as well at that price
#Post#: 5866--------------------------------------------------
Re: The demise of the GPS receiver
By: SangueG Date: October 23, 2013, 4:29 pm
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Being based on Android I guess then that you can stretch the
screen to make what you are viewing larger? That would be handy
for me. When we did that night cache a little while ago I held
Yorkshire Yellow's GPSr for a while, but without my glasses on I
did find the display a bit small to see. With my phone I can
stretch the screen so that I can view it a bit bit easier.
The dedicated GPS does still tend to have that bit more
ruggedness about it though. I was out the other night for a few
hours in constant rain, only walking, not caching, but was
checking out places for possible caches. It's the first time
since I mostly moved to my phone over my dedicated GPS that I
felt a bit nervous keeping it out in the open. Only got it out
of my pocket when I needed to check coords of where I was.
#Post#: 5867--------------------------------------------------
Re: The demise of the GPS receiver
By: walktall Date: October 23, 2013, 4:29 pm
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[quote author=tarmacjohn link=topic=401.msg5861#msg5861
date=1382562944]
£600
I would want it to sign the log for me as well at that price
[/quote]
:D
#Post#: 5879--------------------------------------------------
Re: The demise of the GPS receiver
By: Mashcast Date: October 24, 2013, 4:01 am
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I'm caching on my phone (Samsung Galaxy SII) - using the c:geo
app and I think it's pretty good so far.
Phone caching has it's advantages especially for urban caches
where you can paperless cache and also log your visit from GZ.
No need for any planning if you have a decent network
connection.
Also c:geo has allowed me to save any number of cache details
offline as a basice member (i thought this was a premium perk
but the app does it anyway) - going offline just using the GPS
part of the phone saves a lot of battery.
For longer walks and rural areas then I suspect a GPSr would be
more ideal. My 6 year old likes navigating to the cache and I do
worry that my phone will break if she drops it. They're of more
use for premium members too who can download PQ's. I'll be
looking to get a cheapish GPSr from ebay soon to try it out.
It's also more convenient to replace batteries.
So I would say both have advantages and disadvantes still, so
GPSr is not dead yet :)
#Post#: 5880--------------------------------------------------
Re: The demise of the GPS receiver
By: SangueG Date: October 24, 2013, 7:27 am
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[quote author=Mashcast link=topic=401.msg5879#msg5879
date=1382605319]
They're of more use for premium members too who can download
PQ's.
[/quote]
Do you know that you can download PQs to the phone you are using
c:geo with, as long as you receive email on your phone too, just
like you can with a dedicated GPSr? In fact maybe easier than
some as you don't need to connect it to any computer via a
cable.
- Create a PQ, it will be sent to you by email.
- Open your email and download the attachment.
- Open c:geo and press 'Stored'.
- Press 'Menu', then 'Manage', then 'Import GPX. c:geo will
search your phone for any GPX files and list them for you.
- Select the one you want to import, which will just be the one
if you haven't tried before. The phone will then process the
file, this could take some minutes depending on how large the PQ
was.
You've then got details of a host of offline caches in your
pocket. And one good thing with a phone like that one is that
you can store many more caches than many dedicated GPSrs can. If
you've you've had the PQ in your phone for a long time and you
want to check if any certain caches are still available and
don't have any issues, then just select the cache and press
'Refresh' to updated the individual cache details.
If you knew all that then sorry, but it might be useful for
someone else who is reading here :)
#Post#: 5881--------------------------------------------------
Re: The demise of the GPS receiver
By: walktall Date: October 24, 2013, 8:53 am
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I've used c:geo as well on my Windows smart phone but much
prefer using a device that has OS maps on it and c:geo doesn't
interface with Memory Map on the mobile. Or does some one know
how?
I would used my smart phone more but the resolution of the
screen to select an object on the map is very poor, my old iPaq
was far better and usable. I normally give up on my smart phone
after I've managed to select everything on the map except what I
want to :o
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