GPS companion for Palm V (glitch???)

[+Nos402]

So I just got my palm Vx with the Magellan GPS companion, and I noticed that when I enter coords for waypoints, many times it will subtract 1 from my coords. Like if I put 30 14.366, it will change it to 30 14.365.

 

anyone else encounter this or know what the deal is?

[+RayDar_]

I have found that this problem is the result of poor software. The software doesn't internally use enough resolution to accurately represent coordinates with such precision.

 

You should use GeoNiche instead. It uses very high precision numbers and is able to input/output coordinates with 5 places after the decimal point (instead of the usual 3 places).

 

GeoNiche is available at palmgear.com:

 

http://www.palmgear.com/software/showsoftware.cfm?prodID=41565

 

Hope this helps.

[+Nos402]

I'll give it a shot! Admittedly I haven't been real impressed with Navcompanion or MapCompanion. Especially MapCompanion since as far as I can see there's no way to put in coords to show a geocache on the map, and the lack of a nice graphic interface on NavCompanion is kind of annoying too. They get the job done but seem kinda clumsy.

 

I'm extremely underwhelmed by MapCompanion. The street names are hard to read, and by the time you're zoomed in close enough to see them you can't see much of the surrounding area so you have to scroll around a lot.

[+parkrrrr]

Several answers here...

 

First, it rounds the coordinates because internally it keeps the data as degrees and decimal degrees, to five decimal places. When you use a different display format or when you enter data in a different format, it first converts it to DDD.DDDDD. In the process, it occasionally gets a result that doesn't convert back to your original number. I suppose they could fix that if they were inclined to, since DDD.DDDDD has inherently more resolution than DDD MM.MMM, but it's not really that serious: a thousandth of a minute is only about 6 feet or so at most, so it's on the same scale as the error you already get from the GPS. If it bothers you, do what I do: leave the display in DDD.DDDDD but enter the waypoints in DDD MM.MMM. You'll never see the discrepancy that way.

 

Second, more resolution in your navigation program, as suggested by the second poster, will not help. The receiver itself only outputs 5 places to the right of the decimal point (in DDD.DDDDD), so any program that displays more than three or so decimal places in DDD MM.MMM... is lying to you and possibly promoting a false sense of accuracy. That's not to say Nav Companion is the best at what it does, not by a long shot. Personally I use Nav Companion, Cetus GPS, and GPSPilot Tracker (I haven't had a chance to try GeoNiche in the field yet, but if it does something better than one of those three I'll certainly add it to the lineup.) I note that Cetus GPS also saves five places after the decimal in DDD MM.MMM... mode, but only when averaging. That's probably no more legitimate, mathematically speaking, than what GeoNiche does, but it's at least somewhat defensible.

 

As for Map Companion, I think you'll find that if you tap a street it will bring up the name of that street on the screen at a consistent orientation and in a more legible font. I'd check, but my GPS Companion is out in the car and Map Companion won't run without it. You're right about the inability to add waypoints to Map Companion, though; the most common complaint about Nav Companion and Map Companion is that they're not integrated into a single program.

 

If you don't like Map Companion, you might try Mapopolis, but I'm not sure it's any better as far as resolution. There's really only so many dots you can put on the "chunky" screen of the Palm Vx.

 

[+parkrrrr]

Several answers here...

 

First, it rounds the coordinates because internally it keeps the data as degrees and decimal degrees, to five decimal places. When you use a different display format or when you enter data in a different format, it first converts it to DDD.DDDDD. In the process, it occasionally gets a result that doesn't convert back to your original number. I suppose they could fix that if they were inclined to, since DDD.DDDDD has inherently more resolution than DDD MM.MMM, but it's not really that serious: a thousandth of a minute is only about 6 feet or so at most, so it's on the same scale as the error you already get from the GPS. If it bothers you, do what I do: leave the display in DDD.DDDDD but enter the waypoints in DDD MM.MMM. You'll never see the discrepancy that way.

 

Second, more resolution in your navigation program, as suggested by the second poster, will not help. The receiver itself only outputs 5 places to the right of the decimal point (in DDD.DDDDD), so any program that displays more than three or so decimal places in DDD MM.MMM... is lying to you and possibly promoting a false sense of accuracy. That's not to say Nav Companion is the best at what it does, not by a long shot. Personally I use Nav Companion, Cetus GPS, and GPSPilot Tracker (I haven't had a chance to try GeoNiche in the field yet, but if it does something better than one of those three I'll certainly add it to the lineup.) I note that Cetus GPS also saves five places after the decimal in DDD MM.MMM... mode, but only when averaging. That's probably no more legitimate, mathematically speaking, than what GeoNiche does, but it's at least somewhat defensible.

 

As for Map Companion, I think you'll find that if you tap a street it will bring up the name of that street on the screen at a consistent orientation and in a more legible font. I'd check, but my GPS Companion is out in the car and Map Companion won't run without it. You're right about the inability to add waypoints to Map Companion, though; the most common complaint about Nav Companion and Map Companion is that they're not integrated into a single program.

 

If you don't like Map Companion, you might try Mapopolis, but I'm not sure it's any better as far as resolution. There's really only so many dots you can put on the "chunky" screen of the Palm Vx.