Gps companion for visor

[valenrandy]

hi there its me again. I just bought a gps thingy for the handspring visor. I have not bought a pda yet, but i am thinking about it. Is the unit a good one? like is it as accurate as my map 330?. What are the pros to the unit? what about the cons? Do any of you companion owners habve any positive/negative feedback? Is there any ay to enable waas on the unit? thankyou

 

ValenRandy03

[+VentureForth]

First of all, I must congradulate you on a fine purchase.

 

Now, be advised that it will function exactly the same whether you use it on a Visor Deluxe you pick off eBay for $60 or on a Visor Prism in the $180 - $200 range and everything inbetween.

 

I have found the accuracy to be much more reliable than Garmin's yellow etrex. There is no way to enable WAAS on it, but it's pretty darn accurate without it.

 

Pros: Interfaces with Visor, Accurate, compatible with a bunch of cool Palm OS software, 10 hrs continuous use with only two AAA batteries.

 

Cons: Not very rugged or weather resistant; Lags a bit; people don't tend to leave AAA batteries in caches; a little underpowered.

 

A FORMER Con was that it was very difficult to get geocaching data into the machine. Now that 'palmable data' is available to premium geocache.com members, and with the GREAT effort by WarmFuzzies - Fuzzi and Kjeld Jensen of the Cetus Project, you can get your cache listings in mobipocket and your waypoints in Cetus. WAY cool!

 

The biggest advantage of having a GPS Companion over, say a Meridian Platinum, is that I can have the entire US aviator's database of waypoints, nav fixes, airports, and even an EFIS on my little Palm for less cost than the cheapest 'aviation' GPS on the market.

 

---------------

Go! And don't be afraid to get a little wet!

[+VentureForth]

First of all, I must congradulate you on a fine purchase.

 

Now, be advised that it will function exactly the same whether you use it on a Visor Deluxe you pick off eBay for $60 or on a Visor Prism in the $180 - $200 range and everything inbetween.

 

I have found the accuracy to be much more reliable than Garmin's yellow etrex. There is no way to enable WAAS on it, but it's pretty darn accurate without it.

 

Pros: Interfaces with Visor, Accurate, compatible with a bunch of cool Palm OS software, 10 hrs continuous use with only two AAA batteries.

 

Cons: Not very rugged or weather resistant; Lags a bit; people don't tend to leave AAA batteries in caches; a little underpowered.

 

A FORMER Con was that it was very difficult to get geocaching data into the machine. Now that 'palmable data' is available to premium geocache.com members, and with the GREAT effort by WarmFuzzies - Fuzzi and Kjeld Jensen of the Cetus Project, you can get your cache listings in mobipocket and your waypoints in Cetus. WAY cool!

 

The biggest advantage of having a GPS Companion over, say a Meridian Platinum, is that I can have the entire US aviator's database of waypoints, nav fixes, airports, and even an EFIS on my little Palm for less cost than the cheapest 'aviation' GPS on the market.

 

---------------

Go! And don't be afraid to get a little wet!

[+Dan_Edwards]

I guess the deluxe visor model had a issue with RF. I never had a problem with my old deluxe running my Magellan, but I noticed when I got my pro the signal got even better. With the deluxe I could get a lock in my house most of the time and sometimes in the basement. Now with my new Visor Pro I get a nice 3D lock in the basement sometimes and a 2D lock all the time. Same GPS, different Visors.

 

A = A

[platoon13r]

I have the Handspring Prism and the Magellan Companion. I am prior service and general outdoor enthusiast (Army - Artillery). The combination of the Prism and GPS can be very powerful.

 

Regarding the durability ... I simply place the unit in a zip-lock bag The bag will keep dust, dirt and water out. The only issue might be shock-proofing ... for this, I simply purchased a replacement plan from Staples

[platoon13r]

I have the Handspring Prism and the Magellan Companion. I am prior service and general outdoor enthusiast (Army - Artillery). The combination of the Prism and GPS can be very powerful.

 

Regarding the durability ... I simply place the unit in a zip-lock bag:) The bag will keep dust, dirt and water out. The only issue might be shock-proofing ... for this, I simply purchased a replacement plan from Staples:)

[+M-D-M Explorations]

I have an older Visor (Palm OS 3.0) and a Magellan Companion and have been very happy with its performance and accuracy. My only complaint has been the fact that I have not been able to find software that will allow for the importing and exprting of usable waypoints for the mapping and tracking software as well as the ability to download waypoints to keep track of tracking routes. But I am sure there will be something available some day!

 

M-D-M Explorations

MrSki and DogMa

40º 07.874'N

88º 11.647'W

[The Wolfpack]

I guess I should weigh in here too. I have the Visor Prism and I can tell you that color makes a difference when using maps!

 

I have found it to be very accurate and the quad antenna lets me get a lock inside the house. It does a lag a little, but you can compensate for that. There is an ever-growing number of applications for the palm that are specifically written for or are useful in geocaching.

 

Finally, there are other nifty things you can do with it. With the wireless modem, you can access the geocaching.com site while you are on a search and log your find or look up the clue and with the digital camera plugin, you can take pictures of your cache hunt to share with others.

 

All in all, I am very happy with mine!

 

Sea Wolf of the Wolfpack

[+CacheHord(e)]

M-D-M,

 

What software are you wanting to download waypoints for?

 

I'm working on something for this for the Delorme XMap software...

 

Phil

 

Team Hord

[+M-D-M Explorations]

I haven't used Delorme XMap software. I currently use Nav Companion and Quo Vadis.

 

M-D-M Explorations

MrSki and DogMa

40º 07.874'N

88º 11.647'W

[+Dan_Edwards]

quote:

---

Originally posted by M-D-M Explorations:

I haven't used Delorme XMap software. I currently use Nav Companion and Quo Vadis.

---

 

XMap is like Quo Vadis, but it also can download or generate turn-by-turn directions. It can also read Topo Maps exported from Topo USA. I enjoy taking recordings of my Geocaching mis-adventures and playing them back in 3D on Topo USA 4.

 

Dan

 

A = A

[dboggny]

can you download routes from x map created on the desktop from xmap

 

can you create routes on the hand held in xmap or topo using coordinates

 

can you create waypoints from coordinates

 

can you create routes on dowloaded topos on the handheld

 

SR and dboggny. my mother in law rides a broom!

[+VentureForth]

So Xmap can give you directions, eh? That's my biggest gripe about Map Companion (aka Quo Vadis). No addresses. No navigational help. Only a moving map (smooth and nice, but pretty useless). If you know the name of the street, you can select that as a destination but it will only give you an arrow point to the center of the entire length of the street. REAL useless if the street is divided up into two or more sections and you don't know the stretch you're looking for. And if you need a map, chances are pretty good that you DON'T know the stretch you're looking for.

 

Another question about XMap. Does it support waypoints at all?

 

---------------

Go! And don't be afraid to get a little wet!

[+CacheHord(e)]

> So Xmap can give you directions, eh?

 

Yep. It can find addresses, generate road-based turn-by-turn maps, give you "what next?" directions along the way. It's pretty cool.

 

> ... Map Companion ... a moving map (smooth and nice ... )

 

A smooth map? That's my 2nd biggest complaint about XMap. The map is redrawn whenever the view has to change, and the redraws are slow (though better with the update).

 

> Another question about XMap. Does it support waypoints at all?

 

Yes, barely. You can set Waypoints on the Palm but you can't enter Lat/Lon coordinates to do so. You do it by clicking the map. You can supposedly enter waypoints on Topo USA and download them to the Palm, but I couldn't find a way to do it (in the UI anyway) even with help from tech support.

 

So I gave up and now I'm writing a Waypoints converter for XMap. It'll take .loc files and download them straight into XMap... when I'm done. And it will let you enter Lat/Lon coordinates directly on the Palm, too. :-) I call it "WayBetter".

 

Team Hord

[pook]

I've had my Visor for about a year and have no complaints. I got a GPS Companion for it just days ago and, again, have no complaints.

 

I am, however, a newbie to GPS and geocaching (although on my first and second journeys out my girlfriend and I had success).

 

I've never seen GPS-only units so I can't comment on them, but I do love having the ability to download stuff to the Handspring Visor. I just downloaded a Hint Decoder (link at geocaching.com) that'll save me a few minutes. I've downloaded some other software that I'm just now starting to look at.

 

Yeah, the Visor/Companion combo looks a little geeky (not as rugged as the GPS-only units I've seen photos of), but it works!

[osu_trav]

Is there any software that'll give you your position and go to waypoints in military grids? or am I stuck with Long/Lat crap?...many regular GPS units have this functionality, (including my dad's Garmin ), but that doesn't do me anygood if I'm using a military grid map.

[+Dan_Edwards]

quote:

---

Originally posted by osu_trav:

Is there any software that'll give you your position and go to waypoints in military grids? or am I stuck with Long/Lat crap?...many regular GPS units have this functionality, (including my dad's Garmin ), but that doesn't do me anygood if I'm using a military grid map.

 

I thought I remember reading that the military used UTM, if so, then XMap supports it, but that is it. There are calculators that will convert Lat/Long to UTM and other formats.

 

A = A

[+apersson850]

At least the military in Sweden do use UTM, as an alternative to the Swedish grid. Or they did, when I did my army service 20 years ago...

 

Anders