 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi, does anyone here use any of those fancy gps apps on their phones. What value do they add? I posted it on a different forum and it soon started to look like an infomercial.
Please do share your experiences. If you have any commercial association with those product makers, please clarify in the disclaimer.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I've been looking for some GPS software for my windows mobile HTC HD Touch. Tried out http://navicomputer.com/index.php yesterday. Has a good feature in that you can download quite decent maps that cover the mountains including lifts, piste, huts, etc. Though the features of the software are a tad lacking. Doesn't show you you current location co-ords, no decent ascent summary, no max speed etc. Outputs gpx files. Also zapped the battery. It is free.
On a positive note I did find a website that does a good job of analyzing the gpx logs,
http://utrack.crempa.net/
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I bought Satski for my Android powered HTC Hero for my trip last week.
Unfortunately no matter which settings I used I couldn't get the damn thing to work. So, waste of a fiver.
It may be that I'm just stupid and missed a really obvious setting or it may be my phone but I did play around with settings extensively and nothing worked.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I used Motion X and iTrail in Tignes last week. They both eat cold phone batteries very quickly. You would be lucky to get 2 hours from a full battery.
If you really are so heeled that you must digital record your movements on the planet, get a battery monkey. It's not for me, other than to once get an idea of my max speed.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Do any of them show you where you are if you can't work out where you are on the map? Seems like the only really useful use for GPS.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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snowball, The Satski one does (or should!). It also lets you plan routes from A to B allowing you to select if you wish to avoid reds and/or blacks.
Just a pity I couldn't get mine to work!
I saw the review of Satski on the Gadget Show and it got a big thumbs up. Possibly worth getting bearing in mind it's only a fiver or so. I'd probably have a spare battery to hand though.
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All apps that use maps will download the map to show where you are. This means a data roaming charge of approx £3 every time you turn the programme on.
If you can't work out where you are by using a paper piste map and piste signs, you should return your rental skis and tell the shop you are too thick to use them.
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| bar shaker wrote: |
| All apps that use maps will download the map to show where you are. This means a data roaming charge of approx £3 every time you turn the programme on. |
Motionx lets you precache maps to avoid the need for a network connection at all. You can still use the track recording feature without having downloaded maps for the area you're in.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I used it without having downloaded any maps. This won't show you where you are, it will only give GPS data (lat/long, speed, distance, duration etc).
The biggest use i can see for these things is if you are in serious back country and need to phone for help (assuming you get a signal). You can use the Lat/Long to guide rescuers right in. Otherwise, its all a bit pointless.
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I've used Satski for the last 2 years and it seems to be great - and the price has really gone down since last year as a WinMobile program and now allows access to every workd resort for less than one week in one resort last year. The 3Valleys and Espace KIlly are superbly mapped but smaller resorts (was in La Clusaz last week) dont seem to be mapped as well to the piste map so your GPS coordinates show you in the middle on a forest on the piste map when you're in a bubble lift for example.
The only problem is that the internal GPS in most phones often loses the fix, (i've tried 3 different phones on the last 12 months and this happens with them all) so it's necessary to keep checking that the thing is stil recording your position accurately.
The maps are preloaded from your PC so in fact there is no charge for data downloads (at least not 1 MB's worth as bar shaker, suggests.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| bar shaker wrote: |
If you can't work out where you are by using a paper piste map and piste signs, you should return your rental skis and tell the shop you are too thick to use them. |
Since I ski almost entirely off piste and use 1:25,000 paper maps to follow where I am, the piste signs may be the other side of the mountain and don't help this thick person at all.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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number9dream, I haven't used Satski so if it stores the maps that's a plus. Remember, a download of 100Kb will incur a charge for the first Mb, upon each connection.
snowball, That's a fair point but if you are going into unknown back country, do you really want to rely on a phone with a low grade GPS aerial to tell you where the cliff edges are?
Personally, I would rather rely on a guide.
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bar shaker, well yes, I normally take a guide for 6 days, but we find our own way the other 2 (or more when we were at Jackson Hole - using a map rather than guides since the guides are not allowed to guide in the main Back-Country).
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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My Tracks (written by Google) works really well on Android.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Another factor in this, if using GPS to tell you where you are... GPS signal is seriously degraded by heavy snow, making it very unreliable at the one time you are likely to need it. Trees will also shield the unit from the satellite output signals. Battery life will also be short, especially on a cold phone.
Dedicated GPS units are more reliable but none are infallible. Doing a tight wooded valley, when its chucking down, is likely to result in no fix at all. Plenty of fun to be had from tracking yourself on clear slopes with good weather, but please don't go out hoping your phone can be your primary source of back country navigation. GPS should only ever be used to confirm where already you think you are on a map.
Garmin's Oregon unit looks good for backup nav in the back country, having detailed terrain maps a compass and a 3D map view.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well I certainly wouldn't go out somewhere I didn't know, away from the piste, unless it was good visibility.
I was curious about GPS apps but not very serious, to be honest. I might use a proper GPS as a back-up though.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Is there much use for them unless you are into back country and trying to mark off glaciated areas or routes?
I suppose they could be good to work out how far you travelled ina day / speed...
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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FAQ
and like to be able to look at you ski stats and be able to zoom in and see just how you tackled any section.
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