Tell me all you know about Compact Flash GPS

[+Lefty425]

I need info about Compact Flash GPS receivers. I just recently discovered that such a thing exists and I would like to use my IPAQ rx1950 as a second GPS (I have a Garmin 60Csx as my primary true love!) Some things I would like to know about CF GPS are:

• What specs should I look for?
  

• Since they plug into the CF slot, will I have to store my maps on the device's drive? (only 64mg)
  

• Does anyone have experience with BackCountry Navigator and CF GPS?
  

• How is overall accuracy with CF GPS?
  

• Any preffered brands...where to buy to get best deal?
  

• What exactly is included in CF GPS "Bundles"?
  

Sorry if some of this has been covered in previous posts. I'm really a newb at this and need all the help I can get. Any info...pro's & con's etc. would be appreciated.

[+NightPilot]

From the specs I found, the rx1950 doesn't have a CF slot, only an SD slot. They are not the same thing. Make sure you really have a CF slot before you spend the money.

 

CF GPS units use a lot of power, and the sensitivity isn't that great. They use the CF slot, so you can't use it for memory.

[+Steel City Seekers]

• What specs should I look for?
   
  As NightPilot says, it appears that your Pocket PC does not support CF. It does appear that it supports SDIO, however. No, a CF will not work in an SD slot.
  

• Since they plug into the CF slot, will I have to store my maps on the device's drive? (only 64mg)
   
  Not if you get a GPS with built-in memory like this one:
  http://www.buygpsnow.com/globalsat-sd-502-...nabled-465.aspx
   
  It has 512MB built-in. Buygpsnow also has a Haicom SD receiver listed on their site, but it discusses bluetooth quite a bit in the specs. I couldn't figure out if it was a GPS on its own or required an additional bluetooth receiver or what the deal is exactly. Since your device doesn't have bluetooth, I'd steer away from it.
  

• Does anyone have experience with BackCountry Navigator and CF GPS?
   
  Yes, I trialed BCN with a CF GPS and it worked very well. It was very nice software. I'd expect the same results with the SD receiver.
  

• How is overall accuracy with CF GPS?
   
  I'd expect as good as anything else. The above linked receiver has a SirfIII.
  

• Any preffered brands...where to buy to get best deal?
   
  The above was the only one I could find, although I didn't invest much time looking. I've bought all my PDA receivers from buygpsnow and have been very happy with them.
  

• What exactly is included in CF GPS "Bundles"?
   
  It includes a receiver bundled with mapping software. Normally, this software is navigational (turn-by-turn, spoken directions, etc.) and various bundles are created and offered by combining different receivers with different software. It is normally less expensive than purchasing each separately. I didn't look into the avialability of SD bundles, but you can at the website above or semsons.com.
  

[+Steel City Seekers]

Bad link above, try this one:

 

http://www.buygpsnow.com/globalsat-sd-502-...nabled-465.aspx

[+Lefty425]

Hey, thanks for the info and also for catching my CF and SD confusion! I've had the IPAQ for a while and sorta forgot what type of storage it has. (WHEW...that coulda been a costly mistake!) After doing some more research I found this:

http://www.semsons.com/sp2sdgpsrewi.html

I would welcome any input on this one.

THANKS

[+Steel City Seekers]

I know absolutely nothing about it, but it looks good with a SirfIII chip and the same acquisition, etc. times as the GlobalSat. It seems to me, based on watching these things for several years, that GlobalSat is a pretty well-known manufacturer with a good reputation. I've never heard of Spectec, but everybody has to start somewhere, right? An added bonus is that the description for the Spectec specifically states that it was tested and works with your device. Although I'm quite sure the other one would as well, the mention of your specific device should give some reassurance.

 

I didn't see anything in the specs. that would turn me off to it.

 

A little update later on. The only thing that I would advise as I assume you will be walking around with the receiver is to check out the section on "static navigation" as discussed in this review:

 

http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/globalsat-sd502-gps-review.php

 

No idea about static navigation on the Spectec, and I couldn't find any reviews of it at all with some only limited searching.

Edited June 13, 2007 by Steel City Seekers

[+Lefty425]

Informative review...I wonder from reading this line in the review:

 

"...Now there is a feature of SiRFStarIII called static navigation or SN..."

 

if Static Navigation is a standard feature of the SirFStarIII chipset?

 

Two other questions...would 512mb be enough storage if I want to load quite a few detailed street maps and large, detailed (maybe custom) Topo maps? and can they be ovelayed or must they be toggled?

 

Thanks.

[+Steel City Seekers]

I have no idea about whether SN is a standard feature or not. I guess it depends on the manufacturer and maybe even model.

 

I can't definitively answer your question about whether 512 would be enough. I can give you some perspective, though. I have street level navigational maps from Mapopolis loaded on my storage card. I have all of the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. It takes up about 225 MB of space.

 

I don't remember how much space BCN map downloads take up, but I think it is quite a bit since it overlays topo information. If I recall correctly, it can download different degrees of topo details.

 

Given that I can cover a pretty wide swath with 225 MB, I'd think you'd be just fine even if BCN downloads were large.

 

I don't think any software packages allow you to "overlay" in that you could overlay BCN maps onto Mapopolis maps. You could run the programs independently and switch back and forth. If you have Windows Mobile 5, they can share the GPS input. If you have Windows Mobile 2003, you can share using a program called GPSGate. I never used GPSGate, but read where it works just fine.

[+NightPilot]

The SpecTec SDIO GPS, with built-in microSD slot, looks like a nice unit, and I looked at it for my Palm, but they don't make Palm drivers for it. Having the microSD slot, you can put a couple of gigabytes of maps in there, and I recently bought a 1GB card with SD adapter for $9.95. One thing to remember is that SDIO means the GPS is drawing power from the handheld, so it will eat the battery power very quickly. You'll need external power for the iPaq very soon, I would predict within less than an hour, perhaps much less. It should be nice for driving, perhaps not so nice for caching, unless you're doing mostly urban micros.

[+rlridgeway]

My 2 cents worth:

Probably any sirf III SD receiver will work well.

 

I use Backcountry Navigator and think its great but the map download are fairly large (a 20 mile X 30 mile topo only Backcountry Navigator map runs about 25 megabytes). You will be able to use it just fine but it will take a little bit of file management on your part. Since your expansion slot will be taken up by the receiver, you will depend on internal memory. There are a couple of things you can do. First of all you could use smaller map segments, say a 10 mile by 10 mile area. You could also initially download the maps to a SD card and temporally transfer only the maps you immediately need to internal memory.

Edited June 14, 2007 by rlridgeway

[+Steel City Seekers]

It isn't advertised on their page listing SD/CF receivers, but I just noticed that buygpsnow.com has the Spectec SD receiver listed as on sale on their home page for $90. This is about $30 less than I saw at Semsons.

 

One thing to remember is that SDIO means the GPS is drawing power from the handheld, so it will eat the battery power very quickly.

 

Apparently, this had to be said twice before it sank in, but, yes, it is very important to note that you can expect significantly lower battery life using one of these receivers. I compared the power consumption of the GlobalSat SD (95mA) and the Spectec SD (90mA) to the draw that my CF receiver advertises (Haicom HI303III - 90mA). Since they are similar, I can tell you that my PDA suffers significant battery drain. Your iPaq has an 1100 mAh battery, which is decent, but not all that large. An hour seems to me like the absolute low end, and I'd expect more, but not a lot more.

 

It's your only alternative if you want GPS on this PDA, however.

 

There are options such as turning off the PDA/GPS until you get close to ground zero, cranking the screen brightness way down, using a AA battery pack to plug in and charge the PDA, etc. I have to tell you that this just seems like WAY too much effort to me to carry a piece of fragile office equipment into the woods. I don't mean to be rude, but for all the experience I have, research I've conducted, and things I've read about SD, CF, and bluetooth receivers, my Haicom never leaves the truck. I have a rugged handheld receiver for that purpose. It's just one piece of equipment that gets very long battery life that can spend hours at a time in the rain without a complaint. It's true that the PDA will run very detailed topo and aerial mapping and also cache management programs that handheld receivers will not, but the handheld does it for me.

 

I'd simply suggest thinking really hard about how you intend to use the GPS and think out all the pros and cons of each option.

[+Lefty425]

I really appreciate you sharing your observations and information with me. As I mentioned in my original post, if I use my IPAQ as a GPS it would be my secondary unit. When I road travel, my IPAQ is plugged in and turned on anyway (MP3 Player) so I thought it would be great to utilize it as a GPS too since it has a bigger screen. For the rough stuff like bushwacking and kayaking I will always use the 60Csx.

 

I checked the buygpsnow homepage and I found a $90 Spectec but it was bluetooth. My IPAQ isn't bluetooth capable. Did I miss a "non Bluetooth" one somewhere else on the site?...I'm always up for saving a buck.

 

Thanks again.

[+Steel City Seekers]

I checked the buygpsnow homepage and I found a $90 Spectec but it was bluetooth. My IPAQ isn't bluetooth capable. Did I miss a "non Bluetooth" one somewhere else on the site?...I'm always up for saving a buck.

 

Oh, Gosh, Sorry. I just saw the GPS and didn't look at the description to see that it was bluetooth. No, you didn't miss anything. My mistake.

 

The rest is good. I much prefer using the PDA in the car for navigation and find the voiced directions to be indespensible. Actually, if you have the PDA near a power source, then you are good to go. You'll also have to pick up mapping software if you want full navigational capability. Maybe it has changed, but the last version of BCN that I used did not provide turn-by-turn directions. It is awesome for topo and physical details, though.

 

Good Luck!

 

Edit: Oh, I totally missed where you said it would be a secondary unit in the original post. I guess I could have saved a whole lot of (preaching) space a few posts back.

Edited June 14, 2007 by Steel City Seekers

[+Lefty425]

What mapping software do you use?

[+Steel City Seekers]

I use Mapopolis, but would highly recommend against it as they are no longer producing maps for the PDA. I do not have a recommendation for another mapping software because they each offer a different set of features and strengths/weaknesses. Therefore, you have to look at each and figure out which software fits best with the features that are most important to you. The available software can be found at the buygpsnow and semsons sites. I'd suggest reading the descriptions for each package and googling for reviews of each. I'd also suggest planning to do this when you have hours of time, because there are a lot of sotware packages and reviews out there.

 

I can tell you these two things. One, Microsoft Streets and Trips will not provide turn-by-turn directions, so it's a no-go if you're looking for that feature. Two, for as good of a reputation as Delorme has for PC mapping, it has a very bad reputation for PDA mapping. I've read several bad reviews and seen bad user input from it. Maybe that has changed recently, but I'd suggest buyer beware for that one.

 

OnCourse Navigator, iGuidance, TomTom, and Destinator have been around for a long time and anything I've read about them has been largely positive, keeping in mind that they each have different strengths and weaknesses. All the other software packages are new to me and I haven't kept up with it lately to know how good or bad they are.

[+Lefty425]

Hey, thanks for all your help! I really appreciate it.