gps

[tree79]

Hi all

Just wondering if any one can recommend a budget hand held gps, which would be used for plotting trees.

 

 

Many thanks

[Bren.]

How Budget?

[Xaltu]

How accurate and in what conditions? The current GPS receiver I use for work is also set up for GLONASS. Using both systems means I am getting a lot more accurate results in woods and valley areas. It is not cheap though. I personally own a Garmin 12 which is very basic but does give a fairly accurate grid reference with no frills. When I bought it many years ago it surpassed some of the more up to date cheep receivers in woodland & valley situations. It really depends how you want to use your GPS as to what would be best suited for your needs at any set price point.

[tree79]

  Xaltu said:

How accurate and in what conditions? The current GPS receiver I use for work is also set up for GLONASS. Using both systems means I am getting a lot more accurate results in woods and valley areas. It is not cheap though. I personally own a Garmin 12 which is very basic but does give a fairly accurate grid reference with no frills. When I bought it many years ago it surpassed some of the more up to date cheep receivers in woodland & valley situations. It really depends how you want to use your GPS as to what would be best suited for your needs at any set price point.

 

 

 

 

No frills is all I need, just needs to be accurate

Price wise, well cheap as possible really

[tz1_1zt]

  tree79 said:

Hi all

Just wondering if any one can recommend a budget hand held gps, which would be used for plotting trees.

Many thanks

 

The GPS chips in decent smartphones are probably the same as you get in most handheld gps devices these days. Why not use a smartphone with a GPS app.

 

I use 'GPS Status' on my old Samsung Galaxy III. It downloads A-GPS data online for faster fixes and better location calculations. It also has a Mark Location function to save points with names etc, but there are loads of apps for saving waypoints.

 

Right now I'm sat inside a big Aluminium building, under a false ceiling and the location accuracy by the window is;

DOP/HDOP/VDOP

1.9/1.1/1.5

So it's seeing loads of satellites and receiving lots of position data, but I don't know how that would convert into a position accuracy in metres.

 

The satellites wander around anyway, so without a known ground fix you will never get anything better than 10m accuracy even if you return to exactly the same spot.

[tree79]

Just down loaded 2 apps and there both good, they average about 3-4m accurate, and you can email the link and coordinates, which when you click on the link will open Google with a way point marker.

 

Might of just saved some money I think

[jamesfwpurdy]

  tree79 said:

Just down loaded 2 apps and there both good, they average about 3-4m accurate, and you can email the link and coordinates, which when you click on the link will open Google with a way point marker.

 

Might of just saved some money I think

 

Could you name the apps please. I'd like to do some mapping but struggled to find a good/free one.

Thanks

[tree79]

Try gps status or gps status+toolbox, both are free but u can upgrade the tool box one to store way points

but as free apps they seem to work well and you still save the info by share option

 

Not sure how it compares to a handheld gps but 3 tom accurate sound okay

 

hope this helps

[tz1_1zt]

  tree79 said:

Try gps status or gps status+toolbox, both are free but u can upgrade the tool box one to store way points

but as free apps they seem to work well and you still save the info by share option

 

Not sure how it compares to a handheld gps but 3 tom accurate sound okay

 

hope this helps

 

If you want a bit more than just waypoints I've always liked Memory Map, been using it on Windows mobile and Android for about 10 years now. The app is free and offers a short complimentary licence for OS maps to test it with. You then buy credit and download the map squares required. The 1:25K OS maps are very useful for walking or driving around the countryside, and might help give a bit of context if you want to plot tree sites.

[Paul Barton]

I would encourage you to try a few before you buy as there these devices really vary in their quality. You can hire devices from James England (link below) and he gives really good advice.

 

Mobile GIS, Tree Surveys, GIS Consultancy, Environmental Consultancy, ArcGIS, ArcPAD, PocketGIS, DigiTerra, ESRI, Web mapping, WebGIS