Date: Thu, 12 May 2011 08:33:25 -0500
Reply-To: Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Free Topo Map Sources
In-Reply-To: <BANLkTin3p9TcJ+SFa4in=-XbtLmDWksc3g@mail.gmail.com>
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I use these apps for my job as executive director of the Alabama Scenic
River Trail almost daily. At least weekly.
I use MotionX GPS. Kind of a goofy game-type interface with goofy sounds,
but once you get past that, the functionality is superb. There is a learning
curve of a couple of days with it, but it is a really great GPS. If you are
going somewhere that won't have wireless or cell phone service, you can
download maps for the place in advance. And what a choice of maps you have.
You won't be disappointed in that.
I am told that GPS kit is a better GPS app, said to be the best, but a) I
can't figure out how to use it prperly I guess, b) it has a difficult user
interface and poor documentation (what they say doesn't match what you'll
find when you try to use it and c) when you drop a waypoint, you can't see
anything but the pin. You have to go to a table to find the name of the
waypoint. I like to see the waypoint names on the map.
If you are into trails, there is cyclemeter for iPhone and backcountry
navigator for droid. Both are great. They will show you everywhere you went,
and will drip a mile marker at every mile of your travel on a route. When
you are doing maps for others to follow, it doesn't get any better than
this.
If you want turn-by-turn directions for your iPhone (and I presume droid)
you can't be the FREE mapquest app. You can pay a lot more, but you won't
get better maps. I have had both my iPhone and TomTom stuck on the
windshield, navigating together, and really can't see any difference except
that the tomtom is much louder (you can hear it in a diesel westy without
earphones or without running it through the van's audio) but the mapquest
app has much better maps. And the updates are free, of course. Both seem to
find the same amenities nearby. They navigate together when they work like
you want them to, and they fail equally when they don't know some backwoods
destination.
The other thing I highly recommend is making use of the iPhone 4 (the droid
probably does it too) geotagging. In your photo app where you view your
pictures, you can tap Places and see a pushpin everywhere on the map you
have taken a picture. Tapping the pin shows you the picture taken at that
place.
I trued to use topopoint for a while. It's a good competent backcountry
guide, but if I had to pick one GPS right now it would be MotionX GPS.
On ebay, for three or four bucks you can get a really nice windshield mount
for the iPhone. You can use your phone through the headset earbuds with
build in mike (where it's legal) and listen to music or radio or listen to
the navigation commands. When a call comes in, the phone hands the call to
you, then when the other person hands up it hands the navigation back to
you. Nice. I'm not trying to sell iPhone but that is what I know about.
Everything I have mentioned here is under five bucks if I recall correctly.
The one thing I am certain of is that the mapquest navigation app, which I
use the most and which has replaced my tomtom, is free.
Jim
On Wed, May 11, 2011 at 11:19 PM, Loren Busch <starwagen@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, May 11, 2011 at 7:58 PM, James Felder <jim.felder@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Get over garmin and their ilk. They have cut out universal protocol like
>> NMEA. They charge outrageous prices for second-rate maps. Get an iPhone or
>> droid and get a better GPS with much better functionality and much better
>> maps for free, and let the GPS corporations die the death they deserve.
>>
>
> Jim, you seem to have found something that has eluded me, a good FREE GPS
> map base and routing app for Smart Phones. The only ones I've found so far
> are mediocre or you have to pay a monthly fee to use the full featured
> version. Please point me to what you have found.
>
>>
>>
>>
>>
