Since my Garmin 12CX appears to be toast, I need to buy a new handheld GPS for recon work. Something that would also double as a car navigation tool would he great. The range of units available is a little overwhelming, so I welcome suggestions from those with a surveyor's perspective.
Thanks!
A Droid in an environmental case; ie a plastic bag. 🙂
Seriously though, I do find that with the built in camera and the myriad of apps, the Droid can be a powerful recon tool.
The REI website lists reviews from people who have bought various units. The Geocache website also has extensive reviews of various units.
A fair numbe of the people reviewing on the REI site, while not surveyors, are in outdoor related occupations, foresters, search/rescue etc.
I've got a Garmin GPSMap 60CSx that has given me excellent result. It was a little spendy when I got it a few years ago, but it works well, good battery life and expandable memory.
Good Luck!
DJJ
I was told that Trimble just released a new handheld unit that claims 0.3' accuracy. I haven't checked it out myself. A coworker is the chp rep for our chapter of the state society and he said that one of the guys at the state meeting last weekend had four of them and loved them.
> I was told that Trimble just released a new handheld unit that claims 0.3' accuracy.
The only handheld (GIS) grade GPS Trimble has that claims sub decimeter accuracy is the GEO XH. It's $6000
Jim,
We've been using the Trimble Juno with good luck for trail recon in fairly thick stuff. I don't know if it will work as a car GPS or not. It's around $700 which is pricy in relation to a consumer Garmin or the like, but it does work with Trimble software, has a camera, geo-references and has a much larger screen than a Garmin or Magellan.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that if you insert a micro SD card, you can upload TOPO (.tpx and the like) maps to it as well.
Last night I read an article about common things that would be mostly gone by 2020. The type of GPS device you mention was on that list. (Along with cheap digital cameras, cd's and any cell phone that was nothing more than a phone.)
The logic of the writer was that smart phones are getting more and more sophisticated. They believe that people will just use a phone instead of getting a special device to do that job.
I know my son (freshman in college) has a GPS app on his smart phone. He uses it to go Geo-caching on the weekends.
Something to think about.
Larry P
Motorola Atrix 4G
This is an awsome piece of equipment. I use it as a hand-held GPS device; a GPS Navigator; I read my business emails; I review drawings with the Autodesk WS viewer application; It has Quick Office which allows me to read PDF's, Word Documents, Excel Spread Sheets, Power Point Presentations; I view TIFF files, and more.
It it even much more powerful than that.
There is no more need for everything else, unless you just want a dedicated device.
AS3
I love my Garmin Rino 530hcx but the main thing I enjoy is how it pairs with other Rino users when im in the woods hunting.
For navigation I use my Moto Droid 2. Google maps is unbeatable on the droid for navigation.
Jim - Find another Garmin 12 on ebay. I have three and love everything about them.
I own a Garmin and was disappointed to discover that for "User-Defined Coordinate Systems" it can only accommodate Transverse Mercator projections. If you need Lambert Conformal Conic for some State Plane systems, you're out of luck. I think the shirt-pocket Magellans will work with Transverse Mercator AND Lambert Conformal Conic projections.
Got a link to that Trimble hand held?
Ditto Doug Jacobson on GPSmap 60CSx. We also recently got a Montana 650t, and are finding its touchscreen inconsistently responsive, but its accuracy impressive.
Cheers,
The least expensive Trimble GeoXH is $7,695.00 and that does not include software. In order to get decimeter level (~4") accuracy you would need a connection to a RTN. The MobileMapper 100 is also capable of this accuracy, but also takes it a step further and offers 1cm level accuracy for the same price of a GeoXH with all the bells and whistles with less accuracy.
I have been using my Motorola Droid X with a waypoint program lately and it works well. I also just install the Geo Cam app, but haven't used it yet.
I'd be interested in hearing some user reports on the iPhone 4S. Apparently the GNSS chipset can leverage the GLONASS constellation and Apple has turned that capability on in the OS. It probably won't improve accuracy all that much, but should improve signal availability.
It seems that Russia has some stiff import duties on GNSS-enabled devices that do not or can not make use of the GLONASS constellation, so to stay cost competitive in the Russian market Apple made sure the capability was turned on.
Now what the iOS field needs are some better GPS apps more attuned to the needs of surveyors and GIS professionals. Why can't I get a readout in State Plane? Or have the ability to upload my own local coordinate system definition? The processing power is there, we just need a developer to step up.
(Trimble, you reading this?)
The best way to acquire a program just the way you want it is to write it yourself:
http://www.appinventorbeta.com/about/
Heck, you could even charge a couple dollars for it once it's up and running...
That assumes I have the time and skills to do it 🙂
However, if I could find someone to do the development...
Hmmm, now you've got me thinking.
The beta is a utility that allows a person to program without needing to know a programming language. You just drag and drop features into your program and it codes it for you.
There is, as always, testing to be done but at least the process is sped up a bit.
No I don't really know anything about it Clark. Ross mentioned it to me after he attended the state society meeting last weekend. I will ask him.
