[pct-l] Blackberry GPS

[Brian Lewis]

Postholer said:
"I wouldn't use a GPS unit to make a phone call and I wouldn't use a cell
phone as a GPS. With a GPS you'll have zoomable maps, easy to load
waypoints, documentation, etc."

Of course I have to disagree with Postholer on this particular point ... :-)

Certainly it's easier to use a dedicated GPS, no argument there.  The flip
side is that if you CAN make it work, you save the weight, the bulk, the
expense of a separate GPS as well as the requirement to power two different
devices.

One suggestion I would make is to contact halfmile directly (email), as when
I hiked with him for a while in 2008 I'm pretty sure he was carrying a
blackberry, so maybe he has some more specific knowledge of software for
that product line (I don't).  Or perhaps better yet he can suggest an
alternative product to use.

Zooming in or out --- how important that is depends to some degree on (a)
what the default scale is, and (b) whether you carry paper maps of any
kind.  I actually rarely zoom out, but keep my view almost always at
1:25,000.  So if the default view is something like 1:25,000 scale *and* you
carry paper maps that help you put that small screen's worth into context,
maybe not a big deal.  And IMO carrying some sort of paper maps is a good
idea anyway.      Note, btw, that another approach is to just get UTM
coordinates from your device and have paper maps as your only map source.

$30 each --- I hope that you mean $30 per state, and not per quad ...

16 GB for all of California sounds reasonable, and indeed to get all of the
PCT onto the 2 GB card that my phone will accept using NG Topo software I
had to transfer a series of rectangular slices piece by piece to my phone
(reminded me of calculus somehow ...).   Using memory-map software it works
a little better but ultimately the same thing --- designate an area that
includes the trail you want, transfer that to your device, rinse, lather,
repeat.   So to your "has anybody done this" question I reply "Yes, but of
course not with the particular product you're using".   No written
instructions at all --- that really bites.  I presume then, of course, no
built-in help.  You might grope the web to see if other hapless users have
uploaded some notes on how to use this software ...

Importing PCT track and waypoints: have a look at GPS Babel,
http://www.gpsbabel.org/
In particular look to see whether it converts to a format that your software
can import.  Of course, since your software instructions don't exist, well,
maybe GPS Babel documentation mentions this product.

I suggest that before committing to using this software on the trail that
you obtain map and route information for somewhere around where you live and
simulate your experience as close as possible (ideally on a multi-day
backpacking trip where you're really using it) --- and then decide whether
this will work for you or just be frustrating.   Again, as a baseline you
can always print out halfmile's maps or buy PCT Atlas and just get
coordinates from your device --- even if the particular software you list
doesn't do that (which IMO would be another negative point), I bet there's
freeware or cheap shareware out there that will do this.

Best of luck!


Brian Lewis / Gadget '08
http://postholer.com/brianle

(starting on the Appalachian Trail two days from now, so won't be following
PCT-L ...)