Post by lizs on Feb 19, 2009 1:41:11 GMT -5
This stuff should get pulled out into its own GPS thread, geez! Good info. I have to go look at that website mentioned above (and treasuredude, I was just in your town over Thanksgiving!)
I have the Garmin Etrex Legend; the blue basic model. It does not have topo maps, nor extra memory to put in maps. On the other hand, I've always thought that I could potentially load Garmin Mapsource maps into it, but I would lose the base map it comes with - then again, I suppose I could save that somehow, somewhere... perhaps (Red Green type qualifiers there). The Mapsource disks and maps I have are old; someone shared them with me. I rarely use. A newer version is available.
I really like using National Geographic TOPO! mapping software. I almost bought a Magellan GPS last fall (had a coupon for 40 percent off at Best Buy!) because Magellan is supposed to allow their use (why, oh why won't Garmin set up something with NG??!?!? ggggrrrr!!!!!). BUT I read online reviews that Magellans were not user friendly and had other not so favorable issues. So I bought nothing instead (Welllllllll.. I bought the netbook computer and aircard, heheheee)
I geocache. It can be aggravating at times because without a topographic map, you can't tell which side of a river a cache is on... or if it's valley or hillside at times. I also have become a "paperless" geocacher. I purchased a Palm Pilot and two software programs, GSAK and Cachemate. GSAK lets a person put information from the geocachimg.com website (cache name, code, lat/long, hints, last few "found" logs, etc), I believe in a .gpx format (?). Then it can be translated into any number of formats. I take it into a database to run in Cachemate, which makes a file with a different extension. That is then 'synced' and put onto the Palm, where the Cachemate program is. Took me a bit to get it down, but now it's slick! I mention it because perhaps that GSAK program could be used in some manner to crunch some waypoints and info to suit our needs??? If anyone wants to check that program, I could help ya out.
I also use my Legend as I drive, just for fun, to see the route, towns and speed. While hiking, I'll have it run a track or log (I forget which is which). Then I can import those into the National Geographic TOPO program (just can't put an actual TOPO map into the Legend). So I can print nice topo maps with waypoints and routes on them. I like the elevation profile feature of TOPO, too. You can label things, place notes and photos on... Updated National Geographic TOPO also has a flyover feature, which is cool. Kinda like Google Earth.
Do you guys use degrees lat/longitude or UTM? I use the former, but can certainly see the value of UTM. If you're interested, there was a recent debate about that on the Backpacker magazine forum, when the map editor posed the question. UTM sounds way easier, putting an actual meter measurement on everything. But.... we are all slow to change!! lol. But Backpacker mag does do its waypoints in UTM.
I have the Garmin Etrex Legend; the blue basic model. It does not have topo maps, nor extra memory to put in maps. On the other hand, I've always thought that I could potentially load Garmin Mapsource maps into it, but I would lose the base map it comes with - then again, I suppose I could save that somehow, somewhere... perhaps (Red Green type qualifiers there). The Mapsource disks and maps I have are old; someone shared them with me. I rarely use. A newer version is available.
I really like using National Geographic TOPO! mapping software. I almost bought a Magellan GPS last fall (had a coupon for 40 percent off at Best Buy!) because Magellan is supposed to allow their use (why, oh why won't Garmin set up something with NG??!?!? ggggrrrr!!!!!). BUT I read online reviews that Magellans were not user friendly and had other not so favorable issues. So I bought nothing instead (Welllllllll.. I bought the netbook computer and aircard, heheheee)
I geocache. It can be aggravating at times because without a topographic map, you can't tell which side of a river a cache is on... or if it's valley or hillside at times. I also have become a "paperless" geocacher. I purchased a Palm Pilot and two software programs, GSAK and Cachemate. GSAK lets a person put information from the geocachimg.com website (cache name, code, lat/long, hints, last few "found" logs, etc), I believe in a .gpx format (?). Then it can be translated into any number of formats. I take it into a database to run in Cachemate, which makes a file with a different extension. That is then 'synced' and put onto the Palm, where the Cachemate program is. Took me a bit to get it down, but now it's slick! I mention it because perhaps that GSAK program could be used in some manner to crunch some waypoints and info to suit our needs??? If anyone wants to check that program, I could help ya out.
I also use my Legend as I drive, just for fun, to see the route, towns and speed. While hiking, I'll have it run a track or log (I forget which is which). Then I can import those into the National Geographic TOPO program (just can't put an actual TOPO map into the Legend). So I can print nice topo maps with waypoints and routes on them. I like the elevation profile feature of TOPO, too. You can label things, place notes and photos on... Updated National Geographic TOPO also has a flyover feature, which is cool. Kinda like Google Earth.
Do you guys use degrees lat/longitude or UTM? I use the former, but can certainly see the value of UTM. If you're interested, there was a recent debate about that on the Backpacker magazine forum, when the map editor posed the question. UTM sounds way easier, putting an actual meter measurement on everything. But.... we are all slow to change!! lol. But Backpacker mag does do its waypoints in UTM.
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they
;D
