[talk-au] GPS recommendation

[Peter Ross]

On Thu, Sep 11, 2008 at 11:17 AM, Stephen Hope <slhope at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm looking for a new GPS, optimised for OSM data collection.  As
> such, long battery life would be a plus (that's the main problem with
> my current one).  High accuracy is good, but I'm not looking for one
> of the professional quality ones (Currently have SIRF3 chip).  Adding
> waymarks is not a real plus, I never used it on my old device, so I
> wouldn't miss it.  Large amounts of logging memory is good.  I don't
> even really need a screen/map display - a pure data logger would be
> OK.  As long as it tracks my movement once per second (minimum) and
> allows me to download it to a computer easily, I'll be happy.  If it
> used AA or AAA batteries, that would be a plus, but not essential as
> long as the battery life is long enough.  Oh, and I'd prefer to source
> it in Australia, for ease of shipping, maintenance etc, but I'm
> willing to go overseas if need be.
>
> I'd prefer to use one that somebody else has used so I know it will be
> suitable for OSM.  Any suggestions?
>
I currently have a etrex legend, which lacks the high sensitivity
receiver but does have a screen. A plus is that you can upload the OSM
maps to it, which means you can see what is missing from an area when
you are tracing it.  I use it mainly from my mountain bike to trace
mtb paths and for that I generally get a good enough trace, even under
trees.  I think that is because having it mounted on the handle bars
gives better reception than when I'm just walking around and its on
one of my backpack straps.

So for me, my ideal would be to upgrade to a Etrex Legend HCX, which
has high sensitivity and plus it can also route using the uploaded OSM
maps.  Which are both advantages over the etrex legend.

Interested to hear others opinions on what they use, and what they
like about it and what they don't.

Pete