OpenStreetMap
Hi there Mappers!
I would like to start giving my contribution to the community. I would like to find a decent handset, not too expensive, possibly to fit on the bike, although this is not strictly necessary. I would like it to have a screen and be Mac-friendly. To be bought in the UK.
I checked the wiki but can't make up my mind, as I don't know the differences in the handsets.
Any suggestions?
Thanks guys
Discussion
Comment from Donald Allwright on 5 September 2008 at 14:11
I have recently bought a Garmin etrex Legend HCX, and am finding it to be excellent. It's £170 or so but there are cheaper models in the etrex range, which should be fairly similar. The HCX means 'H' - High sensitivity receiver, 'C' - colour display, 'X' - External memory card. There are cheaper models which lack one or more of these features. I can't comment on Mac compatibility, but the Micro-SD card file system is mounted automatically in Ubuntu Linux, I would expect similar functionality in any other decent operating system. I've got a handlebar mount for it (bought on ebay) which is great, the colour display is good quality and it's relatively intuitive to use. What's more, I've downloaded an OSM map onto the memory card, which it then uses as its base map. Great for seeing which streets/paths are already on the map!
Comment from palmamod on 5 September 2008 at 14:20
Thanks Donald, although I'm looking for something cheaper for a start. Any other suggestions?
Comment from Mark Williamson on 5 September 2008 at 14:42
I've been using a Garmin GPS60 (not to be confused with the GPSmap 60, which is a different model), which cost me maybe a bit over £100. The other main option I looked at was an £80 Garmin eTrex. The eTrex model in question had, according to the chap in the shop, a more sensitive receiver chip - but the difference here was supposed to be mitigated by the larger antenna on the GPS60. Also, the GPS60's antenna works at different orientations whereas the eTrex needed holding face up for its antenna to work correctly.
A big difference for me, though, was the cabling. The GPS60 supports USB directly, using a standard cable. The eTrex I was looking at used RS232 serial through a non-standard connection and did not come with the special cable required. The price of the special cable + an RS232 to USB adaptor ate away most of the price advantage of that eTrex *and* reduced the convenience factor.
On this basis, I bought the GPS60 and have been rather happy with it. It also has a larger screen and more on-device functionality although to be honest I don't make much use of this whilst I'm mapping - not many people falling overboard whilst riding a cycle path. The GPS60 doesn't have much internal memory so you can't put large maps on it, the screen is black and white but has a decent backlight for night work.
I'm using it with Linux using a piece of software called gpsbabel. This is a command-line app, but you can probably get a Mac GUI for it if that's your preference. I'm not sure all features of the device are supported (e.g. I have yet to make uploading routes work right) and I don't think it was on the official "supported" list for the software. Nevertheless, it works OK for dumping out track logs, which is all I really need.
Other nice things about the GPS60: as a hiking GPS it's waterproof, it's fairly solidly built, the battery life is pretty good, the Garmin bike mount is well designed.
One further downside: its appearance makes people think I have a huge, yellow mobile phone.
Comment from NicRoets on 5 September 2008 at 18:38
You can buy a WinCE based GPS and then run Gosmore on it. If it has an SD card slot, you don't need any MS software, like ActiveSync. There's a long list of devices, many of them under GBP100 on the website at http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Gosmore
Comment from palmamod on 5 September 2008 at 18:41
Thank you guys.. I'll try to make up my mind in the next couple of weeks.. for any other suggestions, well, you're welcome!
Comment from amm on 5 September 2008 at 20:20
If you are looking for a cheap solution, then perhaps getting a simple GPS mouse and connecting it to your mobile phone is a good solution. You can get GPS receivers for about 20 pounds on ebay (although it is probably worth spending a few pounds more to get a decent receiver). Assuming you have a already a phone with a big enough screen, thats all you need apart from some software for the phone which you can get for free. There are a bunch of options available (http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Making_Tracks_with_Homebrew-ware#Mobile_Phones_.2F_J2ME) from which you can pick which fits best to your needs and your phone.
Comment from Richard on 6 September 2008 at 01:25
I'm a Mac user too and would second Donald's recommendation for the HCx. I spent my first few years' surveying (before OSM existed, even!) with a yellow eTrex. I then bought a Geko 201 for the extra tracklog memory. But last Christmas I got an HCx, and the difference is enormous.
Not just in the recording capability - good resolution and, with a £15 MicroSD card, pretty much infinite capacity - but the ability to upload OSM mapping is something you really don't appreciate until you've tried it. If you think you're going to be remotely serious about this OSM thing, the HCx is definitely the unit to get.
Comment from LivingWithDragons on 6 September 2008 at 18:30
I was using a £15-£30 bluetooth GPS receiver with my mobile phone (favourite program so far is GPSMid). But as I am serious I knew it was worth upgrading and this week got a Garmin etrex Legend HCX like Donald.
As he says it is around £170 (microSD card not normally included), but do some research before going into a shop so you can say but so and so has a cheaper price. I went into ASK(in London http://www.askdirect.co.uk) and told them the same GPS was £15 cheaper online than the shelf price. He checked online and agreed that price. Then I thought it was silly it didn't come with a card and the shop sells 2GB ones for £20 but I asked him how cheap he could do, he did a bit of looking around (I think at other shops online) and said the best price he could do was £12. Of course I needed some batteries to try out my new gadget as soon as I left, by this point he knew to throw some in for free.
So £161 for eTrex HCx + 2GB microSD card + batteries (including a spare couple).
In short, it's good to do some homework and to ask for a cheap price.
Comment from marscot on 6 September 2008 at 21:53
I am using a satmap, satmap.com , its not the cheapest out there but its pretty powerfull,
Comment from smsm1 on 11 September 2008 at 16:50
I currently use a Sony Ericsson k850i with a cheap bluetooth gps from Amazon. I use TrackMyJourney, which has the ability to export waypoints into a .osm file for loading into JOSM, and uploading.