[Novalug] OT?? : GPS-ery (was Re: Best Linux Gadget...)

[Beartooth]

On Wed, 23 Jan 2008, Stephan Greene wrote:

> On Jan 23, 2008 4:14 PM, Beartooth <karhunhammas at lserv.com> 
> wrote:

> OTOH, my BT GPS receiver cost under $50 and is the size of a 
> pack of gum and will run for approx 8-10 hrs on the internal 
> battery.  Longer if I shut it off when I don't need navigation 
> data.  It locks on quickly enough.  No reason to mess with 
> cables and a wired unit.

 	I have yet to so much as get near a tablet; since I keep 
no schedule and hate all telephones, it's been hard to justify. 
All elementary advice welcome.

>>       Also, what sort of linux software do you use with a GPS?
>> Does it do topo maps? Is it subtechnoid-friendly?
>
>
> The OS2008 firmware comes with a Nokia map program, I believe 
> it's intended for road navigation.  I have been using 
> MaemoMapper which works with a variety of online map sources, 
> including google maps.  Not sure if any of the available 
> repositories support topo maps; I've only looked at it so far 
> as a way to play with mobile GPS without shelling out $$ for a 
> dedicated unit.  I also have Delrome Topozone - need to see if 
> it can output a map file in a form usable by other programs.
>
> It was as simple as install maemo mapper from the repository, 
> pair the N800 with the BT GPS unit, and start it up.

 	A little googling tells me I may be clear out of my tree 
here -- not that that's anything new ...

 	[...]

> I'm not sure I would want to bring a tablet PC on a hunting 
> trip - a weatherproof map and compass work 24x7 and a 
> ruggedized GPS receiver is going to hold up better.  While the 
> BT GPS unit is easily protected in a zip lock baggie, I'd want 
> something more substantial for the Nokia.  (When I take this 
> set up on a bike ride as a ride/route logger, I stash it in a 
> padded bag and ziplock in a jersey pocket and resolve to make 
> sure I fall face first if anything bad happens!)

 	Good point in general; I have no idea about the fragility 
of these things.

 	In this case, however, not a relevant problem. Given my 
age and state of health, there are no trips -- only day hunts, or 
half-day hunts, within twenty or thirty miles of home.

 	What's more, I actually avoid foul weather, and 
specialize in squirrels -- geologists to the contrary 
notwithstanding, these old mountains get taller and steeper every 
year.

 	So the physical equipment won't be at much risk. But it 
means I do my planning and daydreaming around individual trees, 
and routes only a couple miles long.

 	And slopes matter. Oddly enough, there are some around 
here too steep to be worth scrambling down -- or even up, unless 
there's another way to get the downed game out. So the maps in 
question absolutely have to be topo maps. Good ones, with precise 
and accurate details.

 	Garmin has such maps; Maptech has them; Topo.com has them 
if you're willing to take the hassle of using them; DeLorme is 
easy to use, but has enough accuracy in some places, and some 
not. (In Northern Virginia specifically, it used to show the 
Appalachian Trail [!] in hopelessly wrong places.)

 	Garmin is supposed to have put its source code into the 
public domain years ago; but if anyone has developed a linux 
version accessible to subtechnoids and capable of topographic 
reliability, I have yet to hear it. Ditto any linux *topo* map 
software from scratch; all I find is either vehicle-oriented, or 
for hotshot specialists only, or both.

 	Otoh, to revert to gadgetry, a thing the size of a Garmin 
GPS that also does other things tempts me intensely ...

-- 
Beartooth Paganus, Staffwright, Sciurivore
What do they know of country, who only country know?