[OSM-talk] GPS Units for the Foundation

[Andy Robinson]

Robert Scott wrote:
>Sent: 05 September 2006 3:28 PM
>To: talk at openstreetmap.org
>Subject: Re: [OSM-talk] GPS Units for the Foundation
>
>On Tuesday 05 September 2006 10:13, Mikel Maron wrote:
>> I ideally want to get to a dozen spare GPS units. Since there are no more
>> NaviGPS units for sale in the UK, I'm thinking of ordering some Garmin
>Geko
>> 201 units, which is at a similar price point. How do Geko's compare to
>> NaviGPS? Any pointers on a good place to order from?
>
>Is there a reason you're looking at gekos rather than eTrexes? The classic
>yellow eTrex seems to be about £5 cheaper on amazon, and, though slightly
>bigger, has better battery life due to the use of AAs over AAAs, has a
>clearer screen and (I think) is slightly better built. Other than that, the
>two are near identical, right down to the user interface.
>
>One thing I would look out for though is that etrexes/gekos need a little
>bit
>more experience to get a good signal with. If you're going to be giving
>these
>to newbies who don't know how to get the best signal from them (keeping
>them
>horizontal, not putting them in your shirt pocket, giving them the best
>skyview etc.) and then these people are going to be going around urban
>areas,
>you (and they) might be disappointed with the results.
>

I'll second that point. We had really bad results from the various Etrex
used by new GPS users at Mapchester. Not all of the problems were down to
multipath issues, a lot were to do with inexperienced users looking at the
scenery rather than making sure the GPS was doing what it needed to do.
Etrex (basic or otherwise) seem to be fine for new users on bikes (good
success in Bath - just remember some rubber bands) but not it would appear
on foot.


>NaviGPSs will generally do better in these circumstances due to their
>decent
>sirf II chips.
>
>
>robert.
>
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Cheers

Andy Robinson
Andy_J_Robinson at blueyonder.co.uk