GPS for orienteers in NZ

fraser Posted: 13 July 2007, 4:05 AM   GPS units are now available from VeriFind from 99c per day. Sounds like they are accurate to within about 5 metres, recording where you have been. You can then see where you have been on a google satellite map afterwards. Requires GSM coverage for real time updates but this sounds like it has plenty of potential for orienteering. http://www.verifind.co.nz/about.html   Michael Posted: 13 July 2007, 10:16 AM   A bit suspicious. How often is there good satellite coverage through trees, AND the cellphone cover for the corrections. And the Google photos appear to have distortion, perhaps height-related, perhaps random because they must have a huge variety of sources. However I'm sure its on its way, and in preparation for it we should be relating our maps to real-world coordinates.   mark Posted: 16 July 2007, 1:59 AM   My GPSr doesn't work at all in the trees. But you can get GPS units that work ok in the trees.   Svend Posted: 16 July 2007, 9:49 AM   The best you can get is probably Trimble Pro XR according to reports and tests, but the cost is approximately US $ 10,000.00 You would have to do a lot of mapping to recover the cost. I'm not investing in a GPS until the accuracy improves and the price comes down. I do have a cheap GPS unit and I will be hitting it with a sledge hammer one of these days. So far, I have found Google photos very useful. Clearings and thickets that would take hours to map in the field can be done in half the time at home and with better accuracy.   nick Posted: 18 July 2007, 3:56 AM   oxymoron   Selwyn Posted: 26 July 2007, 8:22 AM   The Garmin 60 series works well in trees. Also agreed at the Australian Mapping Workshop tha thius was the best reasonably priced GPS for O mapping. In Woodhill, one of the motorbike event organisers has a Garmin GPS 60CSx. He has mounted it on his motorbike and driven slowly around new tracks he has made in the forest. He has emailed me the result implanted on a 1:50,000 topo map. The curves were a bit too generalised to use directly into OCAD, but possibly done at slow walking speed it would register better. Especialy in the southern hemishere, GPS units can take a while to find enough satellites to give an accurate result, so I guess riding on a motorbike is testing it a bit. At least he gave me a very good idea about where his new tracks were. Anyway, this model seems to the one to use in trees and obviously it worked reasonably well in Woodhill. Details of the units can be found at http://www.mapworld.co.nz/60comparison.pdf   mark Posted: 26 July 2007, 8:26 AM   I have a Garmin 60 series GPS. It doesn't work well in the trees.   Selwyn Posted: 26 July 2007, 8:28 AM   Mark, where were the trees?   Selwyn Posted: 26 July 2007, 4:00 PM   Mark, Garmin 60Cs or 60CSx have better sensitivity tha the basic 60 model. I'd like to know exactly which model is not working werll for you.   mark Posted: 30 July 2007, 1:30 AM   GPSMAP 60 The basic model, with maps. Doing a comparison on the Garmin website, the Cx and CSx have a "high sensitivity receiver" and the basic model doesn't. This message was edited by mark on 30 July 2007, 9:32 AM