[pct-l] Blackberry GPS

[Peter Shaw]

Thanks Halfmile. I checked out the Location Notes app and sure enough it
displays UTM coordinates. I also contacted the developer and he confirmed it
uses the WGS84 datum. I did a little searching and it looks like there is an
iPhone version as well.

Isn't it amazing how this field changes so quickly. Last year when I was
searching for something like this, there were about 16 applications in the
"Maps & Navigation" category of Blackberry App World. Now there are 160 and
Location Notes is a new one.

If I were to do the PCT again with a Blackberry, then I would simply use
Halfmile's maps with Location Notes. Minimum preparation and with that
combination, navigation would be easy. But I would carry the compass as a
backup, just in case. 

I'll do some browsing of the 160 Blackberry apps and if I find anything
useful I'll post another note.

Peanut Eater

-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
On Behalf Of Halfmile
Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 8:56 AM
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Blackberry GPS

I have switched to an iPhone and use an app called Basic GPS app to
read UTM coordinates. This works very well for me on the iPhone.

I never really used the Backberry GPS when I carried one the first
year I hiked, but I also carried a Garmin GPS that I used to log the
trail for my maps, so the Garmin had everything I needed as far as a
GPS. I did a quick Google search and noticed this Blackberry app which
claims to support UTM coordinates:
http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/3089

UTM coordinates work really well but be aware of potential issues with
map datums. Your GPS and whatever paper maps you are using need to be
set to the same map datum (in the US it will be either WGS84 or
NAD27). My free maps at www.pctmap.net use the WGS84 map datum
specifically to make it easier for smart phone users. Smart phone apps
often support only WGS84 (although the Basic GPS app supports NAD27
with a $2.99 add on). Most printed maps (USGS, Forest Service, PCT
Atlas, Tom Harrison) use NAD27. If your use the incorrect map datum
for your maps, you will have a position error of about 200 meters N-S
and about 20 meters E-W along the PCT. If anyone is really interested
in this I can explain it further.

-Halfmile


On Tue, Feb 23, 2010 at 8:19 AM, Peter Shaw <shawonpct at msn.com> wrote:
> Last year I tried to do exactly what Gadget suggests - get GPS coordinates
> out of the Blackberry Bold and use those to geolocate on Halfmile's maps.
> Unfortunately, after scouring the Blackberry App World I couldn't find
> anything that would display UTM coordinates. If you use the refresh gps
> setting on the Blackberry, it generates lat/long in deg / min.min
> coordinates. I did find GPS Tracker which is a free app that is used to
> provide a real time track of your phone on a web site - presumably to
track
> your kids whereabouts. GPS Tracker produces lat/long in deg.deg units. So
I
> bought Topo for the three western states and generated my own maps with
> deg.deg as the coordinate system, not UTM. I was also able to make the
trail
> line much clearer for my aging eyes to see. It was a lot of work -
printing
> Halfmile's maps would have been a lot easier and a lot cheaper. I think
the
> Blackberry apps have expanded significantly over the last year so maybe
now
> there is a navigation tool that can produce UTM coordinates. I met a guy
on
> trail with an iPhone and he had a navigation app that displayed all the
> various coordinate formats.
>
> I also played with Topoexplorer but was so unimpressed with the daft world
> map they provide and the lack of examples of how the software would be of
> any use on the trail I threw it out.
>
> Peanut Eater
>
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