Camera and GPS

[marie-angelique]

GPS to mark your hotel? Lovely. You made my day.

dude, if you can't find your hotel without gps that is pretty sad.

i have one but have never used it. the only time i ever wished i had it was climbing mt elbrus, a tricky route that when you go off gets downright dangerous.

not a problem unless a whiteout comes in.

learn to use a damn compass before you start playing with this technology. it should be your backup.

[media]

A few suggestions from media:

60CSx I use it as well. The best handheld GPS under $500 USD. It can get wet. Dont take it SCUBA diving but rain and beer wont destroy it.
Also no matter where you are GPS is cool but always have a local map as updated as possible and a compass. This is mandatory that you have these just as important as a GPS. In the jungle or in the urban areas. Several reasons. GPS can break fail what ever, map is good to draw on make notes see things on a larger scale, also to ask a local to point out a location plus after the trip makes a great visual later when telling stories at the bar back home.

As far as power. Batteries are a pain to keep up with and drain fast. If size isnt an issue go to your local marine/boaters supply stor and look for one of these:


I have seen them even glued to the back of a laptop. You can rig it with some stuff from radio shack to charge anything

[flipflop]

Media is dead right, a GPS is only an aid to navigation - learning to map read, from topographical maps to tourists' glossy cartoon street plans is essential. And, If you're lost ask somebody where the fuck you are - don't be shy - save your shoe leather walking around in a daze.

I also firmly believe having the ability to know where you are all the time is a skill passed on in genes more than a skill taught, but even the dumbest navigator can improve their know-how by learning to use the kit available - leave the 10 figure grid references to the experts, but simple 6 fig grids and even Lat/Long should be easy to pick up.

In foreign cities I will always, when walking about, turn around and look at the street from the direction I will have to travel on my return - I mentally file the obvious markers - signs, prominent buildings etc - and I'll have the map out every five minutes (discreetly) to corroborate what my eyes are recording. Most of the time I just use the GPS for recording the Lat/Long and names of hotels etc, for the memories and nothing else.

At work the GPS becomes a lot more important, but it still ranks third behind eyes/brain and maps

Cheers

[marie-angelique]

In foreign cities I will always, when walking about, turn around and look at the street from the direction I will have to travel on my return - I mentally file the obvious markers - signs, prominent buildings etc - and I'll have the map out every five minutes (discreetly) to corroborate what my eyes are recording. Most of the time I just use the GPS for recording the Lat/Long and names of hotels etc, for the memories and nothing else.

excellent point, flipflop.
in the woods i do the same thing. i call it backsighting. things look different from the other direction.

sometimes i wander around a city and Try to get lost and see if i can find my way back....just for fun.

i had a lot of fun in the medinas of Morocco, with just a compass, wander in for an hour and see if i can find the way out without asking for help.

i do believe some people have a better internal compass - but anyone can learn if they really try.

[redharen]

True, FF, about some people having a knack for it. At my job I have to teach people to understand and map out detailed land descriptions, and certain people just seem to get it. Others are hopeless.

Women tend to be hopeless more than guys, but I believe there are studies out there that back up my observation. Of course there are female exceptions, the M-As of the world, who do as well as any guy. And there are guys out there, too, who can't even visualize a rectangle on a map.

But you can train yourself; while the innate sense may be inherited, the rest is essentially math, and not impossible to grasp. Do your best, SSB, to pick it up before you leave. Go visit a Boy Scout troop and -- wait, no, you'll scare the kids.

[flipflop]

Ha! A lot of it can be down to childhood - I was always looking at maps and atlases and imagining what it would be like in loads of places (most of which I've now had a chance to visit), I was so quiet in my room with books and maps my Ma used to check up on me to see if I was alright - I'm not so fooking quiet now!

When I was travelling with my Missus I'd show her a map and/or the GPS and say things like "Look, here's where we cross the Andes and enter Argentina from Chile, look how high up we are" My wife would say "Yes great, I'm happy for you" and go back to her iPod/sleep

Even when we'd walk around in a new city I'd leave it a few blocks and then say "Could you find your way back to the hotel from here?" "No way, if you weren't here I'd be totally lost and would probably freak out and shit myself!"

I couldn't be so uninterested in my actual physical location at any given time - no matter where I was I'd have to know where I was. I'm lucky too - if you can navigate through Baghdad and now Kabul, you can do it anywhere.

Cheers

[Woodsman]

Woodsman is this something like what you are talking about?

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-eTrex-Summ ... 619&sr=1-2

I just need to:

1. Mark points
2. Mark my hotel so I have some guidance for coming back

That will probably work. It's not as good as the newer models, but you aren't going to find their latest and greatest for under $100.

I have been in some places where GPS is very cool to have to find your hotel. In some metro areas getting around is not exactly intuitive. Particularly when an area has lots of topography and meandering one way streets and your focus is deviated from paying attention to where the hell you just came from.

[Woodsman]

Ditto on the map and compass, although walking around with one in an urban area probably makes you look as touristy as a camera around your neck while wearing a fanny pack.

One of the more fun things I've done is run the GPS on the airplane to see the cruise speed. I did that recently and we were running at 480 mph.

I started out with a Lowrance unit in 97' before the selective availability was turned off - then got a map76 unit (B&W) because you could attach an external antenna to it - then when I broke the connect of the external antenna off in the jack during a mapping project, I had to send it into Garmin to have it serviced and briefly replaced it with a Garmin iQue, which had shitty battery life, so I returned it (Garmin customer service is the best by the way).

I later purchased the GPSmap76C and used the 76 as a backup, since I already had the RAM cradle for the 76 (and found out later that they take different RAM cradles as the 76C is slightly thicker).

Anyway, they keep adding to the technology. The latest ones have the flash memory card slots in them - Not particularly necessary for my work, but definitely handy.

GPS can leave you hanging in downtown skyscraper, cliffy/ravine and forests with heavy canopy environments (this is where external antennas help drastically - no jacks on cheaper units though) as the GPSr will not be able to receive satellite signals, which is why compasses are so nice to have - however, even compasses can be screwed up by heavy iron deposits in the bedrock. The moss grows on all sides of the trees, and if you can't see the sun or the stars, well have fun. :-)

GPS/GIS technologies have saved me a shitload of time in my line of work. They are a wonderful luxury.

[Woodsman]

Nobody has an internal compass.

Nobody.

Such thoughts have been proven incorrect. It's simple to test: Place a person on a merry go round with a blindfold on and spin it a few times until it stops and ask that person which way is North.

They will be right 25% of the time (if you are using quadrants as your criteria).

:-)

The only way a human is able to orient him/herself is through observation.

You travel along and observe landmarks as you go and remember them. A truly observant person really never needs any navigational aid.

This entire concept is readily apparent when you are in flat land on an overcast day in a homogeneous landscape. Thats a good place to have a compass.

[media]

Also an additional note nothing says "Mug me I am a rich Westerner" than pulling out a $399 GPS to try and find your 4star hotel! LOL.

I will pull it our where cab drivers cant see and make sure we arent driving in a circle. My goal is always to be able to get around on my own and do currency exchange rates in my head without aids BUT it doesnt mean I dont have them in my pocket.

Also you almost bet on this; most maps you get in a growing/changing area will be out of date. Roads change, buildings dissapear, rivers move, so the GPS is the solutioin right? Not always, sometimes the software is not up to date. Always leave a room for error in maps and GPS. The place I find GPS a must is on the ocean and in the desert where everything looks the same no matter what you do.

There are plenty of tricks for finding out direction:
Get a blade of grass, or something to use as a pointer.
Hold your watch horizontally, with the hour hand pointing in the sun's direction.
Lay the blade of grass or match across the middle of your watch, halfway between the hour hand and the 12. The grass blade or match will then be pointing south.

I am sure some folks on here have many other ways to do it at night and during the day.

[marie-angelique]

i don't really see the need for gps unless you are in the middle of a storm where visability is zero.

I have been in some places where GPS is very cool to have to find your hotel. In some metro areas getting around is not exactly intuitive. Particularly when an area has lots of topography and meandering one way streets and your focus is deviated from paying attention to where the hell you just came from.

if you aren't paying enough attention to your surroundings to be able to find your hotel you shouldn't be going to dangerous places.


it is a cool toy. marking waypoints is fun and all, but learn to rely on your common sense.

that is a cool trick with the watch, media.

[redharen]

Nobody has an internal compass.

But some people have the ability to easily comprehend where they are on the ground in relation to a map. It has to do with spatial understanding, not sense of direction. Some people get it and some people don't.

In regard to finding direction, even a real compass doesn't help much if you don't know the degree of declination in the part of the world you're in. In lots of places, that compass won't be pointing north. Polaris is as good a guide as any, provided you're far enough north.

[ktrout]

I think if you generally know your way around it's not a problem.
As a lad growing up in the middle of the woods I could set off through the trees in the general direction of where I wanted to go and be pretty certain of getting there.
This might have helped develop this skill as an adult. I can still do the same sort of thing. If I set off by myself I can keep track of where I'm at in relation to where I came from and get back to it.
It's a fun game to play :).
But, if someone blindfolded me, threw me in the back of a windowless pedophile van and dropped me somewhere randomly I'd be screwed.

[Woodsman]

i don't really see the need for gps unless you are in the middle of a storm where visability is zero.

That's because you don't map wildlands for a living. If you did, you would see a whole other side of just how awesome these tools are
(and likewise a whole other degree of frustration choosing to rely on them). I could show you how this stuff is used between the office GIS here and on the ground out there and you would no longer think of this technology as a "toy".

Sure, lots of people use them as toys (yuppies with tom-toms for instance - how can they stand those ridiculous voices...?), but I assure you that was never the initial intent of the technology. I use the technology for my living - and have since 97'. I'll just say that most of the time, this technology is unbelievably useful and valuable from my standpoint. Thank you DOD!!!

I have been in some places where GPS is very cool to have to find your hotel. In some metro areas getting around is not exactly intuitive. Particularly when an area has lots of topography and meandering one way streets and your focus is deviated from paying attention to where the hell you just came from.

if you aren't paying enough attention to your surroundings to be able to find your hotel you shouldn't be going to dangerous places.

Likewise, if you're in a seriously dangerous place, M-A, you may soon find yourself running for your life in whatever direction looks less scary. Who is going to care where their hotel is when it's either run or die - NOW! ?

If you're lucky enough to live through it, you may quickly find a new value to that little GPS receiver...assuming that you want to find your hotel and not a health care place first...

Despite that, most of us are not in seriously dangerous places all that much. Any place can be dangerous, but some have a higher probability of death and dismemberment.

It is very nice to have a nav tool like a GPS to help orient oneself to a new area. It is a great aid for exploring.

I can remember but 3-4 years ago when my wife and I were on vacation thinking the same thing: We should have brought the GPS. You find enough cool places and want to keep going and the path from you to your hotel continues to gain in distance and complexity...Yep, sometimes those luxuries are nice to have.

[Woodsman]

Nobody has an internal compass.

But some people have the ability to easily comprehend where they are on the ground in relation to a map. It has to do with spatial understanding, not sense of direction. Some people get it and some people don't.

IF there are landmarks. You know, you can see the sun, or a star, or some differences in topography, some roads, even an orchard or a riparian zone - without landmarks there is nothing.

In regard to finding direction, even a real compass doesn't help much if you don't know the degree of declination in the part of the world you're in.

Absolutely.

In lots of places, that compass won't be pointing north. Polaris is as good a guide as any, provided you're far enough north.

...and if you can see the stars... :-)