GPS units

29 Jul 2009 17:20 #528 by hartmrol
GPS units was created by hartmrol
I recently got a Garmin eTrex HcX and am wondering what:
- additional "things" I need to buy to get full fiunctionality for berg hiking (eg topographical maps, memory cards etc...) and where the best place is to buy these.
- are there any settings I need to change on the unit

Previously one of the members of this forumn helpfully supplied me with waypoints from the traverse. Are there any other sites / sources where one can get waypoints to download to the GPS?

Thanks for any help

Rolf

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01 Aug 2009 21:04 #531 by Balarka
Replied by Balarka on topic GPS units
Rolf

What I have installed on my Garmin Vista HCX GPS is the GARMAP topo and rec series of maps. You need to pay for these but they are well worth it as they have 20 m contours for the whole of southern africa and quite a few features besides. Have a look at www.garmap.co.za. The topo and rec series also include routable GPS road maps for Southern Africa.

What you do is you buy a dvd with all the GARMAP software on it for about R100 (from any hiking/outdoor shop). Then when you install it on your computer and GPS you need to pay for whatever software you actually load - this amount varies depending on what you already have loaded on your GPS (max R 1300). The payment is made through a the garmap website with your credit card.

You may need to upgrade the memory card in your GPS - the 2008 verion of the topo and rec maps fitted on a 2Gb card.

This site is by far the best I have found for waypoints and tracks for the berg.

Good luck with the traverse.

Balarka

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04 Aug 2009 22:14 #544 by intrepid
Replied by intrepid on topic GPS units
Agree with Balarka - the Garmin topo map is a worthwhile buy if you are into GPSing.

As for other sources of GPS data, more may be found on some of the sites listed in the Drakensberg link collection. Beyond that I'd be careful about fully trusting data from additional sites that may offer it. Sometimes the sources are not very accurate: either its based on the survey maps, or the wrong cave may be marked (for example).

We have much more in store on this site as far as GPS data is concerned. In time the Peak / Khulu data will be expanded, as well as the Lesotho section. We will also be posting data which is theoretical (calculated from maps), which will be clearly marked as such, and which will get updated as soon as the waypoint is reliably verified. We'll also get some creative ideas about track data going. Member contributions and ideas are welcome.

Settings on your GPS: the 2 main ones would be the datum and the grid. Be aware that the data on this site is all based on the WGS84 datum - the hiking maps are mainly the Cape datum and the survey maps are a mixture of both. For now I have kept all data on this site based on the Lat-Long hddd°mm.mmm' grid since currently this seems most consistent with other Berg data and can be directly measured as such on the maps. The hiking maps cater for this grid as well as the South African grid. The UTM grid is more modern and accurate but I won't use it for now to make things less complicated.

You can run on any setting that you want - it just becomes significant when you manually punch data into your GPS that you get from someone else, or when you read it off a map.

Take nothing but litter, leave nothing but a cleaner Drakensberg.
The following user(s) said Thank You: rockafella

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27 Aug 2009 08:10 #591 by hartmrol
Replied by hartmrol on topic GPS units
Balarka / Chris thanks for your help - I am well on the way to figuring out my Garmin and have been using the tracks from the site.

A further question - are there any tracks taking one from the usual start points (eg, hiker's car parks at Catehdral Peak or Monks Cowl)to the start of the passes up the escarpment?

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27 Aug 2009 17:34 #601 by intrepid
Replied by intrepid on topic GPS units
Just narrow it down for me a bit more and, provided I have it, I'll make a new download available.

Take nothing but litter, leave nothing but a cleaner Drakensberg.

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27 Aug 2009 17:40 #602 by hartmrol
Replied by hartmrol on topic GPS units
Thanks - the exact routes I am looking for co-ordinates for is from the Cathedral Peak hikers parking lot to junction C8 (we are planning on going up Organ Pipes via Camels Back) and then from Keith's Bush Camp (having decended Grays Pass) to the hikers parking lot at Monks Cowl.

I have already downloaded these passes.

Much obliged.

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28 Aug 2009 18:01 #606 by intrepid
Replied by intrepid on topic GPS units
This I have and will make these available as downloads soon. Keep an eye out for them in the downloads section. Keartlands Pass is already available, as an alternative to the Sphinx.

Take nothing but litter, leave nothing but a cleaner Drakensberg.

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03 Jan 2010 19:05 #813 by Errol
Replied by Errol on topic GPS units
Im looking at getting a hand held gps, Ive been looking at the Garmin Dakota 10 (that sort of price range. I dont know much about them (normally use a map and compass). Any advice? Also, how do the maps etc work. I was told the Dakota 10 comes with maps for southern Africa but not the Drakensberg?

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04 Jan 2010 16:59 #821 by zen101
Replied by zen101 on topic GPS units
Have a look at the newer Garmin Oregon range , most garmin "outdoor" GPS's have a worldwide basemap included which is pretty useless.
The Oregon is complete touch-screen and water/shock proof and has served me well so far.
(issues regarding average back-light performance has not affected me)

You will have to load the Africa Topographic maps separately (bought from your local camping store or online) , the above model can take street and topo maps simultaneously so can serve in Automotive mode/ Geocaching/ hiking etc..
They have 850MB onboard memory, you can extend this by adding a mini SD card.

Don't forget the legendary GPSMAP 60CSx model - its also a safe choice if you can still get one as these are previous generation.

Cheers

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04 Jan 2010 19:06 #824 by intrepid
Replied by intrepid on topic GPS units
Yep, as mentioned above, the key is buying the topographic map, this will cover the Berg and Lesotho. I've been using an old faithful eTrex Legend Cx all these years and don't have experience with the newer Garmins that are now available. I won't upgrade until the 3D stuff becomes available and more meaningful for the Berg and Lesotho - currently my GPS still does everything I need it to.

Take nothing but litter, leave nothing but a cleaner Drakensberg.

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