I am looking forward to this event. It will be fun.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8494225.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8494225.stm
So you thought traditional navigation was no longer needed?
- Thread starter BOD
- Start date
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Come along to the amazing Summer Moot (21st July - 2nd August), a festival of bushcrafting and camping in a beautiful woodland PLEASE CLICK HERE for more information.
Should be good for veiwing the aurora too. My wife's grandad used to often see it when he worked nights on Workington docks.
I dont trust sat navs, much prefer tarditonal paper maps. (dont use a mobile phone either 
) My younger son is 5 and already has taken a keen interest in maps, I wont do anything to deter him....
) My younger son is 5 and already has taken a keen interest in maps, I wont do anything to deter him....
I have absolutely no time for sat nav...except..
when my cousin died last year and A friend was driving me around London I have to admit to a certain sneaking admiration. I've driven around London a lot in the past with an A-Z in one hand and it's a lot more dangerous than using a mobile phone.
Anywhere else though you can keep 'em!
when my cousin died last year and A friend was driving me around London I have to admit to a certain sneaking admiration. I've driven around London a lot in the past with an A-Z in one hand and it's a lot more dangerous than using a mobile phone.
Anywhere else though you can keep 'em!
I went to Norwich from Folkestone on Tuesday. The guy had a 150 quid satnav in his car. I had a 2 quid map. Map worked fine. Yes, sometimes technology is good - I have an MP3 player and I love it. But sometimes technology is just expensive crap.
Oh really? Now that is something I'd like to see. A good excuse to head out too the hills
Also yes, maps. not directions! Just the map thanks
Maps are for cissies!
Never found a forest yet that I couldn't navigate my way in and out of just by paying attention to surroundings.
Never found a forest yet that I couldn't navigate my way in and out of just by paying attention to surroundings.
Actually if you were to buy maps with the mapping detail that sat navs provide of the entire country (and many have all of Europe too) then you would spend more money than you would on a sat nav (and have quite a mountain of maps).
I'm not knocking maps but I know from driving around with a pile of OS maps, city maps and countrywide atlases what a pain they can be at times.
On foot is a bit different and I prefer a paper map but I like my GPS too.
We definitely should not rely on GPS or think that map reading is a skill that is any less valid than it was. Map reading is still an essential skill and I only enjoy using GPS while it is cheap, reliable and available. If it all goes haywire due to solar activity and failing satellites then so be it. It won't be a major problem for me but it sure will be for many people and services.
The navigational error mentioned in the article was 10 meters.
Hardly an error at all, besides this has happened before without it being any trouble for most users.
GPS units work and does it`s job well (as long as the batteries are good).
That said, I own two gps units and use none.
One was bought when the GPS was "fashionable" and the other one I got from my boss as it was of no use to us at work.
Tor
Hardly an error at all, besides this has happened before without it being any trouble for most users.
GPS units work and does it`s job well (as long as the batteries are good).
That said, I own two gps units and use none.
One was bought when the GPS was "fashionable" and the other one I got from my boss as it was of no use to us at work.
Tor
Extended periods of 10 m or so error but other periods of no fix at all.
This is the forecast for open areas but what about forested areas a and hilly country. Possibly longer.
I came to rely on them for marking dive sites and making maps of areas where no maps were available but don't really like them.
Rely on the Pentagon's satellites? Never
This is the forecast for open areas but what about forested areas a and hilly country. Possibly longer.
I came to rely on them for marking dive sites and making maps of areas where no maps were available but don't really like them.
Rely on the Pentagon's satellites? Never
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forestwalker
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Depends on the size of the forest and your constraints. Imagine walking out at random somewhere east of the Urals, or on Labrador... And even here when things are more modest (there are logging roads cris-crossing the woods every 5 km or so on the average, and I don't think I could draw a straight line much longer than 50 km without hitting a paved road) one could spend a few days walking around. Not so good if you needed to be back for dinner, or work at 8 AM the next morning.
But knowing the general lay of the land it would be quite possible to hike in a moderate loop over a day (but if you mess up it might become an overnighter) with no map, I'll give you that. But for longer trips with firm end dates a map makes life quite a bit easier.
Its been known for a long time that solar flares etc causes errors in GPS function, not least of which is modelling the ionospheric interaction one of the causes of much accuracy loss in precision gps.
Ash some of the baselines i had to re observe when out in malaysia happened to coincide with the eclipse and i was unable to solve integer ambiguities over short baseline. its just one of them things, i wouldnt read too much into to it, the differences in accuracy with a handheld wo make much difference and the diminished coverage will be similar for periods as it was before high gain gps antennas. These things have been happening since GNSS/GPS service started and are closely monitored for modeling algorithms.I would throw away your gps yet but i also would never want to use one for nav without a map
Hi Will,
Throw mine away? Some light fingered person relieved me of the burden of having one
My GPS nav was always a back up except when I made my own user defined grids.
Will probably get a new one one soon since my local knowledge is back to zero since I am moving to Indonesia in autumn
Thought you were on holiday?
Throw mine away? Some light fingered person relieved me of the burden of having one
My GPS nav was always a back up except when I made my own user defined grids.
Will probably get a new one one soon since my local knowledge is back to zero since I am moving to Indonesia in autumn
Thought you were on holiday?
True. Never been put to that kind of test.
Would love to have a go!
I personally find it easier to navigate a forest by 'feel' than many city centers.
Matthew.Passmore
Settler
In my opinion GPS is for Motorways, not Mountains,
except for getting accurate 10 figure grid references which is very handy but they dont work in bad weather; which is when you need them most haha.
I have a watch with built in GPS, its good for keeping distance but only owrks on clear days.
except for getting accurate 10 figure grid references which is very handy but they dont work in bad weather; which is when you need them most haha.
I have a watch with built in GPS, its good for keeping distance but only owrks on clear days.
I have to say (standing back and opening a hole can of worms) i like my GPS!!!!
its great when i get it home i can see where I've been and see where I've marked the places I've taken photos.
I can look at it when I'm completely lost and find out just about where i am.
My son loves maps and he likes to push the buttons on my GPS too. Ow and he loves to plan routes with me using multimap on the PC too.
It's great to use assessing my speed and position on a river.
I put it in the back packs of my student so I can see where they have been when they get back and they can learn how why and where they went off route. using our class rooms interactive white boards
Don't get me wrong a map and a compass are they only tools i need and i would teach kids to use but add a GPS to it and you have a a huge amount of usable data for all sorts of beneficial purposes
its great when i get it home i can see where I've been and see where I've marked the places I've taken photos.
I can look at it when I'm completely lost and find out just about where i am.
My son loves maps and he likes to push the buttons on my GPS too. Ow and he loves to plan routes with me using multimap on the PC too.
It's great to use assessing my speed and position on a river.
I put it in the back packs of my student so I can see where they have been when they get back and they can learn how why and where they went off route. using our class rooms interactive white boards
Don't get me wrong a map and a compass are they only tools i need and i would teach kids to use but add a GPS to it and you have a a huge amount of usable data for all sorts of beneficial purposes
I wasn't bothered about GPS till I did some work in the Manchester area which often means driving down to site (wherever "site" may be) at daft O clock in the morning on busy roads where I don't have much idea where I am.
I would far rather have a GPS system telling me the directions loudly while I look at the road than driving about in the dark trying to read maps or scraps of paper with written directions (which I also have cos GPS isn't perfect) and not looking at where I'm driving.
That ones a complete no brainer I reckon.
Of course for Herbaceous Bordercraft I only use a magnetised steel needle in a cork and put it into a little pool of water (about 20 yards away from the nearest road) whilst not forgetting to put my wolf skins and handmade knife down beside it all so I can take the obligatory digital photo of the process and post it up here via my computer.
Couldn't use modern technology for it as I don't want to ruin the illusion
I would far rather have a GPS system telling me the directions loudly while I look at the road than driving about in the dark trying to read maps or scraps of paper with written directions (which I also have cos GPS isn't perfect) and not looking at where I'm driving.
That ones a complete no brainer I reckon.
Of course for Herbaceous Bordercraft I only use a magnetised steel needle in a cork and put it into a little pool of water (about 20 yards away from the nearest road) whilst not forgetting to put my wolf skins and handmade knife down beside it all so I can take the obligatory digital photo of the process and post it up here via my computer.
Couldn't use modern technology for it as I don't want to ruin the illusion
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