Re: [NTLK] GPS

From: Ao Loo (ao_at_total.net)
Date: Wed Aug 13 2003 - 08:48:40 PDT


I had toyed with the idea of taking my Newton in some sort of GPS capacity to the Congo last year but ended up with a Garmin Vista instead. After I dropped the Vista in the river twice while travelling in dug-out canoes, I was glad I was
not using the Newton. I would be interested in knowing what NMEA software people are using with Newts.

As an aside, the Vista has 24megs of built in mapping storage that did not display correctly. Garmin has its own line of maps under the Map Source label and they were consistently off by 1 - 2 km! The hotel I stayed at in Kinshasa was
shown on the Vista as being in the middle of the Congo River (at least a click away). I saved this co-ordinate and upon my return, had the mapping folks at Garmin check it and they had the same result. I guess they take their warning to
heart, "not for navigational purposes".

Garmin does make a bicycle mount for the Vista (and other etrex models) and I used it as a bike computer this year instead of springing for a new one. It keeps track of the usual things that bike computers have including elevation,
elevation profile, compass, max/current/average speeds, trip odometer and overall odometer. The mapping does work in North America, in the places that I have tried it. I have also been able to use it with a Mac and GPSy software and
display trips I have taken on Fugawi brand maps. I would NOT go out and buy one for a bike, but if you already have a compact GPS, know that you can use it in this fashion.

Ao

>
>
> Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 12:28:01 -0500
> From: "Peter H. Coffin" <hellsop_at_ninehells.com>
> Subject: Re: [NTLK] GPS (WAS) newtontalk Digest V3 #422
>
> On Tue, Aug 12, 2003 at 10:31:09AM -0400, Donald Wilson wrote:
> >
> > On Monday, August 11, 2003, at 08:52 PM, Matthew Boulanger wrote:
> >
> > > A 199$ Magellan handheld unit will give most people the accuracy they
> > > need for boating, hiking, driving, etc. Couple that with a 20$ serial
> > > cable (or build your own at home!) and it connects right to the
> > > Newton. For my money, it's a much better investment.
> > >
> >
> > So the Magellan units are Newton Compatible?
>
> It depends. Many GPS units have a serial port for transferring data and
> one of the things that serial port can do is send position data in a
> format known as "NMEA". If both the software you're using on the newt
> and the GPS reciever both speak NMEA, then all is good.
>
> --
> It is odd, but on the infrequent occasions when I have been called upon
> in a formal place to play the bongo drums, the introducer never seems to
> find it necessary to mention that I also do theoretical physics. --Feynman

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