GPS!

[redpowerd]

i try to use the forums search feature for finding most of my wanted information, so as not to post unnessary threads, but it seems that 'GPS' shows up in many many threads.
 what im looking for is a fairly affordable gps unit to mark spots in the feild and forest, something a moron farmer can use quickly without much fuss. id like to store points such as cull trees or rocks to be picked, and it would be nice to have it compatible with my pc. can someone point to some threads or mabie share their uses, problems,ect.. thanks!

[biziedizie]

I think you need a usb port for that one :D :D :D

  Steve

[redpowerd]

NICE! >:( :D :D :D :D

[biziedizie]

Repowered if your gonna get a gps don't spend alot of cash for one. From what you say you want to do with it I think that a $300.00 one would do the trick. Make sure it has a good memory or like the one that I have on the boat has memory cards just like my kids playstation
  They are very cool and can pin point things with in a few feet.
  The most important thing to do is to read the instructions!
  
     Steve

[redpowerd]

yep, 300 bucks sounds like my range. what kind use them playstation cards? them tings mus be good for sumpin! thanks, biz!

[johncinquo]

If you are patient, you can get a garmin GPS III plus off ebay for about $210, if you like ot use ebay too.  I bought several for Christmas presents last year and everyone loved them.  They'll usually have the box or at least the instructions too.  Wanna have some fun, check out geocaching.com   , they give you coordinates and clues and you go out and find "treasure".  Kids absolutely love it, heck I do too.  Cheers, JB

[SawInIt CA]

Check out the Garmin Etrex line They have them from $100 to $350. I have the Vista and it works great. Simple to plug into the PS and transfer the data to it. If you can afford it get the one with downloadable maps, you will find that it makes it much more useful.

Dave

[Tillaway]

Redpowered
I have been using GPS for about ten years.  Both pro units and lately consumer units.  Most consumer grade models will do what everything you want.  The consumer software available will do allot of mapping but have some serious short comings regarding data manipulation.  

Garmin has the most freeware and specialty programs available to do more complex tasks such as post processing or integrating with GIS.  These capabilities though are greatly restricted from what the pro models can do easily.

Here is a link to give you allot of info on GPS and consumer grade units.

http://gpsinformation.net/



  

[RMay]

redpowed get one that will do acres .  ;) I use one that will do acres in the field its one of the newer Garmins  8)

[redpowerd]

lots of good info, thanks! spose i should get the one that does acres? i figgerd they all would. freeware is importnt, too. thanks mucho!

[Tillaway]

There is allot of free software floating around on the net that will give you acreages, although it is not always very easy to use.  One of the problems with consumer units giving acreages is that may only be able to store one area at a time before you upload into a computer.  Also you can't edit the data.  The track feature availabe on most consumer GPS is used to collect the raw position data then it just connects the dots.  One problem is that you are not able to edit out individual dots (positions) so any position errors or errant data it collects can't be taken out.  This can greatly skew the data and give you incorrect acreages.

A real world example:

You go out and want to know how large a field is so you walk around it and collect a track to determine the boundary and acrerage.  OK done, while you are still there you want to map or collect a track of the the rocky area in the middle.  In order for this to work you will have to upload the data you just collected before you can start on the rocky area.  If you don't the GPS will just continue the line where it last stopped messing the whole thing up.

Lets say you do each individually and load the track into the GPS suppliers brand mapping software.  You can see the line where you went but it has a bunch of wierd spikes of one or two positions way off from where you know you were (multipath, sometimes 1/4 mile or more).  It is very hard to remove these with the consumer grade mapping software, usually you have to look at a text file and try to find the offending positions and delete them, then reload the file.

Another problem you will find is that say you GPS traverse two fields on opposite sides of the typical farm or county road.  When you look at this data (lines) I will guarantee you that the adjacent boundaries will cross each other and may look like a couple of snakes intertwined.  There is no easy way to edit and seperate these with consumer software.

If there is any specific info you need feel free to ask?

  

[BW_Williams]

Red, I have been happy with a Garmin Etrex for what I do.  I've called in air tankers, med flights and know the lat/long on every critter I've packed out of the woods.  Don't know much about the acres and what not, but for $120 it sure is fun to mark the spot my 10 year old caught a rainbow this morning.  BWW

[Kevin]

The only thing I don't like about my Etrex is the small navigation numbers at the bottom of the screen.
They could have made them larger.

[Slofr8]

I bought a magellan Map 330 a few years ago and love it.  I use it all the time , hunting, canoeing, etc... I even used it to plot a piece of land I considered buying and with the GPS was able to discover that a small portion of a road trespassed onto an adjoining property owner and I was able to negotiate a lower price as a result.  Paid for it self many times over there.
I wasn't sure how much I would use the mapping feature but I'm real glad I have it.
I paid about $260 for mine (best money I ever spent) and a friend ordered one on line last year at Sams club, I think, for around $150.  The 330 is no longer Magellans latest model so prices have droped considerably.  I'm sure the newer ones have more bells and whistles but I can't see where I would ever need more of a unit.
Good luck.  Slofr8.

[johnjbc]

I bought a Garmin GPS III Plus and  got 2 GPS 100's on a HP Printer rebate program.
The first software I purchased was the  Garmin TOPO package for loading into the GPS III
($100) It works OK but with the little screen it gets confusing. So I bought Delorme Street Atlas and their TOPO  program. This works fine on the cheaper GPS and has a lot more capability. You don't need a real fast computer to run it.   Pentium 100 from a swap meet would work OK

In my car I connect the GPS to my portable computer. Plot a route and start tracking. A green arrow appears on the map on the portable that moves as you drive. Every time you come to a turn on your route the speaker in the portable tell you to turn left or right. Real nice when you are going some where you have never been before. The page up and down keys let you very the detail of the map. It even shows the dirt road in the state forest

When I bought the land for my camp I walked the boundaries and took a plot at every pin using the average function. Typically this is accurate to 15 ft. At hone I connected the GPS to Street Atlas and retrieved the plots.  I then exported them to a text file and edited them, changed the symbol and imported them back in
I then used the draw tool to connect the points giving a printable map of my ground. The acreage in the draw tool is within .2 acres of what the survey shows in 166 acres.

The next step is to walk all the logging roads with the GPS and then retrieve the tracks so that the roads are on my map.

I have versions 4, 5, & 7 of street Atlas. Would be nice to have the new version  for the new road and points of interest databases.  Need to sell some figured wood.

The Delorme Topo  is sold by the state and requites you to have the CD for your area to run. I was able to export the boundary and logging roads from Street Atlas and import them into the TOPO package. I can print out a TOPO map showing all the features to carry or give to guests.

Was going to use the system to inventory my timber but couldn't find a barcode tag that would hold up to the weather .
https://forestryforum.com/cgi-bin/board/YaBB.pl?board=general;action=display;num=1031864108;start=3

  Am currently looking for info on the radio tags that stores use to prevent theft.
John

[Tillaway]

A little more clarity on what John says is that his DeLorme maps will not load onto your GPS.  He uses the GPS as an engine, probably set to NMEA, and plugged into a computer.  The program on the computer uses that data link to show your position while driving.  All the newer models can do this.

The TOPO maps that you can load onto your GPS are proprietary to those units.  Garmin TOPO maps will only load on Garmin same with Magellan.  These maps are generally pretty poor so unless you feel you really need to have a Topo map showing on your GPS display screen they are generally not worth the money.  Also they are very limited on functions.

MapTech Terrain Navigator is considered to be much better than the Delorme Topo maps. We have both where I work and there is no comparison.  The professional version is even better so the sales guy tells me, but its $300 bucks.  For that price I can do much better.

There is a fully functional Coordinate geometry program that is used for surveying available for free on the internet.  It has limited GIS ability and supports limited map projections.  With this program I am able to get the coordinates for one property corner and using the survey notes draw the boundries, get acreages, and load the lines and corners onto a comsumer GPS.  You have to use another program and hassle a bit but it works slick.  

[johnjbc]

I agree don't waste your money on the Topo maps to load into the GPS or spend extra for a GPS that can be loaded.
I'm running the Garmin protocol  although both the GPS and the software support NMEA as well as several others. MNEA is the industry compatible protocol but it doesn't define some of the record types that come over in the data stream when set to manufacture's  propriety protocol.
The connection between the GPS and the portable is a propriety 3 ended cable. One to the GPS, one to the COM port on the portable, and one to the cigarette lighter for power.
If you were to get a differential receiver you could have 4 ends.
A differential receiver receives a signal from a transmitter containing a GPS at a known location. Because it knows where it is It can calculate the atmospheric drift and transmit a correction to the differential receiver you are carrying. If you are close to the coast you can probably receive a differential signal transmitted by the Coast Guard.
As for witch TOPO program is best its going to depend on when you buy it. The venders all keep adding features so the latest release will usually have something the outers haven't invented yet.. The basic TOPO data all comes from the USGS so that part is the same.
If you want to know more about GPS follow the links on these sites (may take you 6 months}
http://gpsinformation.net/
http://www.gpsy.com/gpsinfo/
http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter/index.html

Tillaway could you please post the link to the free Coordinate geometry program I would like to try it.

[Tillaway]

Here ya go John,
CogoCAD 2.3 is the free one, works good when you figure it out.  Look in software.  The free GIS software will let you open .shp files but thats about it.

http://www.cmtinc.com/