Google for Garmin eTrex Vista HCx. It's about =A3100. It's a discontinued= model with a micro SD card slot. It's successor loses the card slot for s= ome unknown reason. Install OS maps on the SD card. It's also great for r= ecording track logs to the SD card for fireside trip reviewing :-)
But, as has been said by others, paper maps and compasses don't stop workin= g when batteries fail. Stamping around in a white-out under the guidance o= f a SatNav is OK until it loses signal.
If you have money to burn, this device seems popular
not as fast or tolerant as a "real" GPS (gets upset in London sometimes with the high buildings) but has been excellent in the open countryside.
The only downside is it eats battery - but one or more spare charged batteries would be cheaper than a dedicated handheld GPS. I even use it as my car's GPS now and it's been fine at that.
I have the full set of UK 1:50000 Anquet maps plus selected 1:25000 ones, eg all of the peak district and surrounding bits plus my local area. I can transfer data between the Etrex and maps easily
For walking the 1:25K OS is quite a lot better - showing walls makes a big difference. Trouble is the OS seem to be gits about how much they charge for it.
The latest version of Google Maps (free) lets you download areas for offline use. Just drag a box around the area when you have network or wifi access and save it for later.
Still, as we have some of the best walking maps in the world (OS Explorer) it's a shame not to use them. I don't think OS have made the
1:25000 series available for any phone or GPS use, so their maps lack useful walking features like field boundaries.
True enough but Google Maps are hopeless if there aren't any roads. And =
you don't get any topographical or much other information either. Round =
here Google Maps is just vast areas of blank screen.
The OS haven't very much directly but there are third party software makers that sell the mapping for thier apps. Having seen ViewRanger mentioned in this thread in conjunction with OS 1:25000 and offline I've= downloaded it, seems to work very well on a 7" android tablet.
What I haven't found a simple page that says how much each "tile" of the=
1:25000 (10 sq miles) OS maps costs though. It's tangled up with credits= =A315 buys 1000 credits and 630 sq km of 1:25000 mapping. So maths sugge= sts that 1000 credits is about 24 "tiles" or just over 60p/tile.
You can't install OS maps onto this unit (if you can let me know how, cos I wasn't aware you could)
For uk use I think options either the Garmin GB topo map (ok for contours and features etc. not so good for footpaths etc. It doesn't show ROW, but does mostly tracks and paths) or putting OSM on it (free of course)
Compared to OS maps on a nice big screen then using the maps on the Etrex can be a bit frustrating, but it works well enough with another map solution (paper or on bigger screen). It's a tough unit and will run for a lot longer on a couple of AA's
Yup.
I'm use my Etrex Vista HCx and my android phone with Viewranger + OS maps and googlemaps if I have a data connection, moslty cos sometimes the areial photos are useful
I have a P550 Windows PDA with GPS and Memory Map/Ozi Explorer. Maps are bought, downloaded or paper maps scanned and calibrated. The internal battery life is a bit rubbish but I have a battery extender that runs it off
4 x AA batteries for many hours. If you need longer, just replace the AAs.
Works in car, whilst hiking and also on aeroplanes.
As a long-term user of Memory Map on Windows Mobile I was looking for a sui= table replacement having moved over to Android.
I have found MM Tracker to be excellent, and it will read all my old Memory= Map maps (i.e. OS's 25k and 50k series). Unscrupluous web citizens will kn= ow that the entire OS map range is widely available via bittorrent (several= hundred maps weighing in at around 27GB) which is why Memory Map have conv= inced Google to pull the app from the market. Further info at
formatting link
(as discussed it is now available via other= markets).
We use MM Tracker regularly and given we've always got at least two devices= with us feel confident with its availability. This came to bear during our= last walk in the Brecons where, as is common, the weather turned swiftly a= nd left us enveloped in cloud on the top of the ridge. A compass and map wo= uld have been useless given the complete absence of any visible landmarks h= owever the digital map provided much comfort knowing exactly where we were = and that we were indeed heading in the right direction! Battery life could = be an issue for some that perhaps go for longer walks than us (this was 5 o= r so hours) however you can always mitigate this by not using the app conti= nuously.
I may get a waterproof case for my Nexus tablet as its 7" display shows the= maps extremely well as you might imagine. Battery wise it'd easily last al= l day.
On 17/08/2012 21:29, Mathew Newton wrote: ... snipped Unscrupluous web citizens will know that the entire OS map range is widely available via bittorrent (several hundred maps weighing in at around 27GB) which is why Memory Map have convinced Google to pull the app from the market. Further info at
formatting link
(as discussed it is now available via other markets).
... snipped
It seems that I may not be unscrupulous enough for my own good ... can you elaborate on how to find the 25k maps ... ?
Having looked-around I'm tempted by the MemoryMap Adventurer range, or maybe an Etrex 20/30. I already have some older MM 25k maps and if they could be used with the MM Adventurer range it would be a clincher - has anyone used one, or tried using older 25k maps on one?
Also, with a paper map you can see 30 miles at 1:50,000. To see 30 miles on an electronic device you have to zoom out to 1:500,000 or so; to see at 1:50,000 you can only one or two miles.
Until I can spread an electronic device out on a table and see a full
40-50km all in one go at 1:50,000, *and* fold it up and put it in a pocket, *and* let me scribble on it, paper maps are the only suitable technology.
ICBW but I don't think there is such a thing as a satnav for hill walking. GPS, yes. Satnav, no.
This isn't a suggestion as such because you've decided to go for a dedicated device, but I thought about one then decided on trying an iPhone app first. I found that the iPhone works much better than I expected. I use the OutDoors GPS app with 50k maps for all British National Parks and 25k for the areas I usually walk in.
The ease of whipping the phone out of my pocket and glancing at it means that I've completely abandoned paper maps while actually walking, though there's one in my pack of course. I speak as a map enthusiast and can hardly credit how quickly I've taken to an electronic map. (The same goes for the Kindle, but that's another story.)
Having said that things do go a bit awry when it's raining, because the touch screen can't tell the difference between a raindrop and a finger. Which brings me back to your plan for a ruggedised device. If I were you (which I'm not, obviously) I'd be looking for a phone case. And my question would be, does a waterproof case allow a touch screen to work properly even when there's rain falling on it?
You are of course correct about not meaning "satnav", but "GPS" isn't correct either and "GPS receiver" is a bit long-winded. I use the OS maps on my Android HTC Desire but with with the GPS receiver ON the battery life isn't very good and I'd prefer something more rugged.
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