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Mapopolis -vs- Beeline Gps


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I have been researching GPS solutions for PocketPC handhelds (I have a HP iPAQ 6515) and have gained A LOT of knowledge from reading responses in this forum. I've heard a lot about Mapopolis and a little about Beeline.

 

I'm not sure if they are comparable products or not. Mapopolis seems to be a door-to-door application that also will work in geocaching situations. Beeline seems to be strictly a geocaching application. I've downloaded the demo's of each app, but have not yet installed them. If anyone would like to comment, I would appreciate benefitting from your knowledge.

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I use Mapopolis on the road and in the woods. I also overlay all the caches on Mapopolis maps using gpxtomaplet a free program. I set it up using GSAK so when I tap the cache icon I get it's 10 digit smart name, miles from home, D/T, container type, cache type, hider, etc.

 

Don't know Beeline.

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Well, Mapopolis is not designed for geocaching. It is, as you say, for door-to-door navigation. It does, however, work quite well for geocaching. You can 'unlock' yourself from the road so it will show you your true GPS position. Otherwise, it automatically places you on the nearest road. It also has a 'pilot mode' that will route you to any point you choose. It will show you your position on the map, your heading, and distance from the point. It contains some bodies of water, but doesn't contain many bodies of water. It has no topographical information at all. Like Alan2 says, it is easy to dump a pocket query into Mapopolis. I always keep the closest 350 caches to my house in Mapopolis, and use GPXSonar to sort and organize caches, and view the web page as they are all in the GPX file. Very handy when you are out and about. Also handy when you're away from home on a trip. Just remember to grab a query before you go.

 

We found several caches with Mapopolis, but relegated the Pocket PC to car duty only and bought a handheld GPSr that is designed for the outdoors. I know I would have trashed the Pocket PC at some point by taking it out in the woods all the time.

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"I know I would have trashed the Pocket PC at some point by taking it out in the woods all the time."

 

I've been lucky so far take my PDA everywhere. Just slip it into an inside pocket to keep safe. Real danger is heavy rainfall on the open screen. :D

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It (Mapopolis) also has a 'pilot mode' that will route you to any point you choose. It will show you your position on the map, your heading, and distance from the point

 

Those small "pilot mode" icons are on the map page. If you switch to Mapopolis's GPS page, the entire screen becomes a GPS page giving lat and long coordinates, a full compass rose with bearing arrow, altitude as well as speed, heading degrees and range (distance) and name of cache or destination. That's the page I use in the woods. There's also a satellite map that shows the sat ID's or signal strength.

 

My iPaq 2215 is not as strong against the elements as my Vista, but since I use a Sirf Star III gps on my PPC, it's ability to pickup the satellites under the foliage is much better than the Vista. For quick hikes into local parks I use the IpaQ. Longer hikes I take and often use both. (The VIsta has my 100K topo maps although I also have some 24K NG Topo maps on my iPaq)

 

I googled the Ipac 6615 and found it has a built-in GPS. Interesting? Wonder what kind of GPS it is?

Edited by Alan2
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I'm a GIS analyst in real life and so I'm naturally interested in the ppc mapping programs for geocaching. I've tried all of them, GPSTuner, GPSdash, Mapopolis, etc. IMO, Beeline is the best GPS/Mapping program for geocaching. It has all the bells and whistles you could possible need for geocaching. It imports logs, decrypts hints, etc.

 

Another little known program that is fun to use is Backcountry Navigator.

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Thanks "geoduck4"

 

I too agree that Beeline GPS is the best.

 

GPSTuner sounded real interesting, but I found you cannot sort your waypoints from nearest to your current position. For me, it is disappointing to not have that feature. Unlike Beeline, it does however allow you to search your waypoints by keywords.

 

One feature that I wish Beeline would add is to show the bearing to each waypoint from your current position, when it shows the nearest to you list.

 

Also, it would be nice to have the option of displaying the name of the waypoint on its map screen. (Or would this slow things down too much?)

 

And, it still has no restaurant icon. (Sorry, now I'm getting picky.) :laughing:

 

All in all, I really like BeelineGPS.

 

I had not heard of Backcountry Navigator before.

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And, it still has no restaurant icon. (Sorry, now I'm getting picky.) :o

 

 

Well, restaurant = "Food" icon -- maybe it should be called "Food/Restaurant" or maybe Restaurant/Food ? :bad:

 

 

One feature that I wish Beeline would add is to show the bearing to each waypoint from your current position, when it shows the nearest to you list.

 

 

Good feature

 

 

Also, it would be nice to have the option of displaying the name of the waypoint on its map screen. (Or would this slow things down too much?)

 

 

Should show up in the next version.

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