GPS - Sensitive handheld GPS for in-forest / in-valley navigation

Author

Sensitive handheld GPS for in-forest / in-valley navigation

Erik Egerer

2007-01-19, 7:33 am

Hello Community,

I want to get serious about associating digital photographs
to GPS recorded locations and need a handheld GPS with very
good reception / very sensitive internal antenna.

The unit should provide the following features:
- lightweight and easy to carry
- at least splash water proof, better immersible
- able to obtain and keep a GPS fix in thick forest
and steep valleys
- rechargeable battery that lasts at least 10 hours
- ideally 5V charging voltage
(compatible with USB and existing equipment)
- serial data output
- warning (acoustic) when GPS fix gets lost
- configurable tracklog (per adjustable time or distance)
- mapping capability is not mandatory, if present I
prefer Garmin img map compatibility

History:

I just came back from a hiking trip in the Caribbean rainforest.

I used two GPS units to track my movements and associate
photographs to the locations:

1) Garmin Foretrex 201 - The tiny wrist thingy that I
wear practically all the time
2) Royaltek BlueGPS RBT 1000

Now the Foretrex is excellent for it's size and usually
very reliable, but under the thick and high cover of the
tropical forest, it tends to loose the GPS fix quite
frequently and sometimes takes too long to re-aquire a fix.
The BlueGPS was a little better, maybe because it was
located on top of my backpack, not on my wrist or upper arm.

Best thanks for any tips and opinions,
E. Egerer

zulutime

2007-01-19, 12:33 pm

Erik Egerer wrote:
>
> Now the Foretrex is excellent for it's size and usually
> very reliable, but under the thick and high cover of the
> tropical forest, it tends to loose the GPS fix quite
> frequently and sometimes takes too long to re-aquire a fix.
> The BlueGPS was a little better, maybe because it was
> located on top of my backpack, not on my wrist or upper arm.
>

You might try placing the Foretrex on top of your head, such as on or
in a hat. With the strap removed it is small and light enough.
Tracking should greatly improve versus being worn on the wrist. It
would be an easy experiment.

Also, supposedly someone sells a Foretrex-style GPSr with a Sirf
chipset which may be sensitive enough for you.

Good luck.

nospam@nospam.com

2007-01-19, 3:33 pm

I used my Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx in a temperate rain forest and it does not lose
it's signals there. My Etrex Legend always lost it's signals in the same
places.

On 19 Jan 2007 10:22:33 -0800, in alt.satellite.gps "zulutime"
<DoNotUse@altavista.com> wrote:

>Erik Egerer wrote:
>
>You might try placing the Foretrex on top of your head, such as on or
>in a hat. With the strap removed it is small and light enough.
>Tracking should greatly improve versus being worn on the wrist. It
>would be an easy experiment.
>
>Also, supposedly someone sells a Foretrex-style GPSr with a Sirf
>chipset which may be sensitive enough for you.
>
>Good luck.

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