GPS units
22 May 2013 08:59 #57025
by ghaznavid
Merged, maybe, but definitely not replaced. It's like cameras and cellphones, cameras on phones are much better than they were on the first camera phones, but a camera on a phone is still far inferior to even a cheap R600 camera.
Just the fact that GPS devices go crazy when near a rock face is enough for me to think they will never be an absolute solution - unless they can find a solution to the bouncing signal problem. My GPS told me I was going downhill while going up the steepest part of Judge Pass and told me I was going uphill while I was descending Rhino Pass (it actually said I was 100m higher than Rhino Peak's summit).
I'm just picturing a person carrying around a 42" TV with a massive solar panel to power it.
mnt_tiska wrote: I wonder if the map will ever be superseded by the GPS alone.
Merged, maybe, but definitely not replaced. It's like cameras and cellphones, cameras on phones are much better than they were on the first camera phones, but a camera on a phone is still far inferior to even a cheap R600 camera.
Just the fact that GPS devices go crazy when near a rock face is enough for me to think they will never be an absolute solution - unless they can find a solution to the bouncing signal problem. My GPS told me I was going downhill while going up the steepest part of Judge Pass and told me I was going uphill while I was descending Rhino Pass (it actually said I was 100m higher than Rhino Peak's summit).
mnt_tiska wrote: This is assuming we won't ever have a GPS device with an enormous screen.
I'm just picturing a person carrying around a 42" TV with a massive solar panel to power it. Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
22 May 2013 20:19 - 22 May 2013 20:36 #57035
by intrepid
It is natural for human conversation to be unsystematic and for it to digress into new topics. At the same time much effort is made to keep the information growing on this site organised in the best way possible to keep it easy to use for future reference. Try stick to the topic but never let it stifle new thoughts which may lead to some really constructive discussions. If a conversation goes off topic just work with the moderators in sorting it out, as it was in this case. Its also great to have a team of moderators around, as this particular case was handled totally fine without me even having had time to keep up here during the day.
I agree that a GPS should be an extension of your own, well-grounded navigational skills and mountain-sense. When a friend first suggested I take along his GPS on a Berg trip my reaction was one of "why would I need it?". Now it's an indispensable toy that I'm never in the Berg without, though I can live without it if need be. I've done my share of hiking in the mist and in the dark without one, these days its a whole lot smoother with one and I get to fulfil my objectives for a trip that much easier.
There are more reasons beyond navigational needs too. I keep an active track-log of absolutely everything I do in the Berg, and this vitally enhances my journals and memories of past trips. At the same time this contributes to an ever-growing pool of data which opens up a whole new world you are into mapping and studying things on Google Earth. It also allows for collection of important data such as positions and measurements of peaks, and locations of alien invasive vegetation such as pine and wattle.
And as a courtesy to Thomas, VE will not publish waypoints of his favourite meditation caves in the Berg.
Take nothing but litter, leave nothing but a cleaner Drakensberg.
Lucky for you VE Forum protocol is actually that nobody gets killedthomas wrote: Moderators, sorry I have blown VE Forum protocol out of the water and I know Intrepid will kill me for it. If someone moves these I will be happy to continue this very interesting thread and leave Gray's Pass to its own devices.
It is natural for human conversation to be unsystematic and for it to digress into new topics. At the same time much effort is made to keep the information growing on this site organised in the best way possible to keep it easy to use for future reference. Try stick to the topic but never let it stifle new thoughts which may lead to some really constructive discussions. If a conversation goes off topic just work with the moderators in sorting it out, as it was in this case. Its also great to have a team of moderators around, as this particular case was handled totally fine without me even having had time to keep up here during the day.I agree that a GPS should be an extension of your own, well-grounded navigational skills and mountain-sense. When a friend first suggested I take along his GPS on a Berg trip my reaction was one of "why would I need it?". Now it's an indispensable toy that I'm never in the Berg without, though I can live without it if need be. I've done my share of hiking in the mist and in the dark without one, these days its a whole lot smoother with one and I get to fulfil my objectives for a trip that much easier.
There are more reasons beyond navigational needs too. I keep an active track-log of absolutely everything I do in the Berg, and this vitally enhances my journals and memories of past trips. At the same time this contributes to an ever-growing pool of data which opens up a whole new world you are into mapping and studying things on Google Earth. It also allows for collection of important data such as positions and measurements of peaks, and locations of alien invasive vegetation such as pine and wattle.
Along a similar thought, GPS data published on this site may merely be one of the channels through which people can find this forum and engage in deeper topics on the mountains...thomas wrote: GPS is merely the door to further Berg enlightenment
And as a courtesy to Thomas, VE will not publish waypoints of his favourite meditation caves in the Berg.
Take nothing but litter, leave nothing but a cleaner Drakensberg.
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27 May 2013 00:00 #57065
by Serious tribe
Replied by Serious tribe on topic GPS units
If anyone has seen the movie 'The Red Planet', and strangly for one who loves the earth as much as i do, one of my favourite movies. Likely it is the adventure and explorer theme.
In it they use a flexible gps map, which can be rolled up. Given enough time, maps will likely get to this point, and then as mtn.tiska says we will be able to see the whole of the map, which is always in my mind a failing of small gps screens. I also like to be able to see the whole picture and then zoom in on a particular area, just by putting my face closer to the map or just moving it around in my hands.
Then, i am old school
In it they use a flexible gps map, which can be rolled up. Given enough time, maps will likely get to this point, and then as mtn.tiska says we will be able to see the whole of the map, which is always in my mind a failing of small gps screens. I also like to be able to see the whole picture and then zoom in on a particular area, just by putting my face closer to the map or just moving it around in my hands.
Then, i am old school
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