PDA and Gps suggestions .

[Varuna]

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I use a higher-end PDA (Palm T3) with a Bluetooth GPSr for driving directions ....

<p>what is your program for street directory / mapping do you have in your PDA, may I ask?<p>Thanks.

[Papa Bear_Left]

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I use a higher-end PDA (Palm T3) with a Bluetooth GPSr for driving directions ....

<p>what is your program for street directory / mapping do you have in your PDA, may I ask?<p>Thanks.

TomTom, which has voice prompts (with some great add-on voices, which are fun occasionally but get old real quick!) and the option to add-in Points Of Interest (POI) databases, which GSAK can generate.

It's generally quite good, although it makes some route choices that seem a little sub-optimal, and doesn't know about a few one-ways and dead-ends.

I pair it with a Holux GR230 GPSr that performs well enough for the purpose.

I'm still working on a good holder for the Palm, though...

[Papa Bear_Left]

(map data are expensive )

Someone used "data" as a plural noun. I'm so happy, I could

[JackHenry]

One thing you do need to be aware of is that like proponents of Apple Macintosh versus Windows PC, PDA's come in two flavours. Either Palm or PPC (Pocket PC) based. Software that will run on one won't run on the other.

You will get opinions for and against both types, but it is something you need to think about.

[alpha993]

I highly recommend the HP4700 PDA (with a SirfStar III BT GPS)

640x480 screen, dual slots, lots of memory, etc. etc. etc.

bluetooth, wireless.

Anything. Everything.

what cached said

[Mr Router]

We use an Ipaq pda with Ozi & globalstat bt338 . Maps are stateview,lpi topos 25th & 100th 2005 series & ratsta 250th all on sd card. And we load html files from GSAK & open with IE, we have gpxsonar but think it's not good.This has taken over duties from the lappie in the car,but it's still there for emergency.

I forgot to add yesterday that we also use the pda as a camera for all cache shots, and we write our notes in word.
Most of the time when we are out and about we log or caches & check for new ones at either maccas hotspots or if we find a connection for free while roaming(or other fav hobby,hehe)So in a nut shell one little pda and a heaps big sd card(4GB)is all you need to nav and still have the gps to locate the cache(sometimes).

[If]

Personally I navigate using a Garmin 76CS with Mapsource maps. No voice prompts so I have to actually think about where I am going It fits nicely on the pushbike handlebar too
To check on what the cache I am heading for is all about I now carry a Palm T3 with cache logs 'Pluckered' from the web. Very handy as it shows all cache info with picture clues and recent logs as well. Great for Multi's and Puzzle caches.
As a bonus the PDA has a ton of games and music to pass the time when camping out

[THENANKS]

Thankyou all for your many and varied replies .I got a note from Wingaap to look at previously posted forums to see if there was any more stuff .I have spent lots of late hours reading your previous imput .Thanks again.Can anyone tell me if the Garmin 60csx is still proving to be as good the few early tests a few geocachers did .I am refering to lots of cover above etc .Also does this unit pick up more satellites because its more powerfull or what ? I have had too many hunts recently with my old Garmin 72 where the accuracy was up to 60m off target .

[Cached]

if I was buying a new Garmin, it would DEFINATELY have an X in the title - Sirf Star III is the only way to go!

[swampgecko]

Thankyou all for your many and varied replies .I got a note from Wingaap to look at previously posted forums to see if there was any more stuff .I have spent lots of late hours reading your previous imput .Thanks again.Can anyone tell me if the Garmin 60csx is still proving to be as good the few early tests a few geocachers did .I am refering to lots of cover above etc .Also does this unit pick up more satellites because its more powerfull or what ? I have had too many hunts recently with my old Garmin 72 where the accuracy was up to 60m off target .

Just a question for you, THENANKS, you say you are having an accuracy issue with a GPS 72,( which by the way is a later model than my now discontinued GPS 12) you don't have WAAS enabled do you?

Having WAAS enabled could be an issue, WAAS isn't available here in Australia, and the discussion of which is covered in full in another thread. WAAS being Wide Area Augmentation System, where they use a coded ground signal to supply a correction to your GPS, don't ask me how they do it, It is white man magic as far as I am concerned, and I use to play with Milspec GPS, and avionics.

Before you upgrade, ensure you have WAAS turned off and try a few caches to see how you go.

[THENANKS]

Hi Swampgecko,I dont know about the WAAS but I will play around tomorrow ,its worth checking .Thanks for the tip .

[Navigull]

Thanks again.Can anyone tell me if the Garmin 60csx is still proving to be as good the few early tests a few geocachers did

I have a Garmin 76CX (same inards as 60CX) and it is as good as claimed. I switched the new toy on in my lounge and it had a new location six satellite fix in about 30 seconds. My old 76C very occaisionally managed to find 3 sats in the same chair.

Initially there were a few bugs or glitches but the latest firmware upgrades have improved/fixed most of them. One "bug" that worried me was the position wandering when stationary, but that now seems to be fixed.

I have just paid a maintenance visit to several caches that were in difficult reception areas, (gullies with heavy bush cover) and the GPSR held lock amazingly well. My old 76C even with external antenna only had lock about half the time on one approach track while the new model dropped from a 3 metre EPE to 7 and momentarily to 11 metres at its worst, then recovered to 4 metres at the cache. The 76C managed 16 metres at the cache site with external antenna.

On Friday I walked a 8 km bush walk in steep bush clad country and never lost lock once. The old model's recorded track had several gaps some over 200 metres even with the external antenna.

The ability to store large maps and save tracks to the Micro SD card is a great convenience as well.

[If]

I would turn the WAAS off as it isn't generally available in Oz. It is an American system generally for use on aircraft, which may become more available down under. Works on aircraft GPS quite well. Another tricky little feature most moving map GPS have which will cause some confusion till disabled is the 'Lock to road' function (as Garmin calls it). If this feature is turned on and you're within cooee of a road, then on the road is where the GPS will tell you it is

[Mr Router]

Personally I navigate using a Garmin 76CS with Mapsource maps. No voice prompts so I have to actually think about where I am going It fits nicely on the pushbike handlebar too
To check on what the cache I am heading for is all about I now carry a Palm T3 with cache logs 'Pluckered' from the web. Very handy as it shows all cache info with picture clues and recent logs as well. Great for Multi's and Puzzle caches.
As a bonus the PDA has a ton of games and music to pass the time when camping out

We can put 6 full lenght DVD's on the card as well as the essencial Ozi goodies!

[THENANKS]

Mr Swampgecko,I just found my manual and confirmed that the white mans magic "WAAS" is disabled . Thanks for your idea.
Cheers MR THENANKS (David)