[pct-l] Halfmile at the kickoff

Thu Apr 16 16:02:49 CDT 2009

Halfmile,

Thanks for the great info.  Do you happen to have a list of the USGS 
topo quads for the pct?  I'm trying to play with iTopoMaps and it's a 
pain to search for the relevant sections. 

As an aside the author of iTopoMaps is apparently working on downloading 
waypoints and entering them using WSG84.  iTopoMaps as of the last 
release will display WSG84 and lat/lon.

I love your maps and will be carrying them on my attempt this year.  
It's a great service to the community! 

For Tobin, I picked up a solar charger for the iphone 
(http://www.meritline.com/solar-power-charger-for-iphone-276---p-33107.aspx).  
It's fully charged battery is enough for about a 2/3 charge of the 
iphone.  One day in the sun in my somewhat shaded back yard was enough 
for about a 1/3 charge of the iphone.  That should be enough for 
occasionally checking location and doing a short journal entry at 
night.  Not enough for rocking the tunes all day long.  But not bad for 
1.5 oz and 16 bucks.

Thanks,
giggles

Halfmile wrote:
> Tobin,
>
> I don't know of any GPS app that will practically do that for a PCT
> hiker but a new iPhone GPS app appears almost daily so something might
> be out there.
>
> Since my maps at http://www.pctmap.net are all pdf files it is
> possible to view them with an iPhone pdf viewer app, however the pdf
> files are not geo-referenced, an no iPhone app supports that either,
> so it's like viewing paper maps in your iPhone.
>
> I have tested several pdf viewer apps and my favorite is Felaur PDF.
> I like it because it's default zoom view is 100% and  when you open a
> multi page pdf file it defaults to the last page you viewed and you
> can download pdfs directly from a url. I have set up this url for
> downloading directly from an iphone:
>
> http://www.pctmap.net/iphone/ca_section_a_map.pdf
>
> Change the "ca"  or "a" part of the url and you can download
> California a - r or Oregon b - c. For example:
>
> http://www.pctmap.net/iphone/ca_section_a_map.pdf
> http://www.pctmap.net/iphone/ca_section_b_map.pdf
> http://www.pctmap.net/iphone/ca_section_c_map.pdf
> http://www.pctmap.net/iphone/or_section_a_map.pdf
> etc.
>
> Downloads will be faster from a wifi connection.
>
> There are several USGS topo quad map viewer apps which look
> interesting to me but they really are limited in usefulness for PCT
> hikers as the PCT usually is not shown on USGS topo quad maps.
> Basically it's like having a paper USGS quad map in your iPhone with
> the added benefit of showing your location on the map. Downloading the
> quads is a lengthy process (2 - 5 min. each). I have used both
> iTopoMaps and Topo Maps apps. If you have never used paper topo maps
> you will probably just think this is strange and clunky compared to
> slick online maps, but if you are into maps it's kind of cool.
>
> The iPhone's GPS can accurately give your position which is very
> useful for trail navigation. UTM coordinates are much easier to work
> with, but you will need a GPS app and good paper maps that have UTM
> grids printed on them for this to work. PCT maps with UTM grids would
> be my maps at www.pctmap.net, Erik's PCT Atlas, or the Forest Service
> maps. Since the WIlderness Press Guidebooks have no UTM (and no
> Latitude and Longitude) they are limited in usefulness for GPS users.
>
> iPhone apps which I have used and accurately display UTM coordinates
> include iGCT, Basic GPS, Motion X GPS and GPS Kit. My favorites are
> Basic GPS (it's very basic just displays your position) and Motion X
> GPS which attempts to be a more full featured GPS with go to
> navigation to waypoints, etc. The only iPhone apps that I have found
> that currently import data are GPS Kit and Trails. Trails only imports
> tracks however and does not understand the concept of true waypoints.
>
> I have been experimenting with GPS Kit's file importing and have half
> mile and other waypoints shared on the GPS Kit web site for California
> Section A - D right now. If any other GPS Kit users are out there I
> would welcome any comments on how this is working. Since the waypoints
> are spaced every half mile it's very easy to see your location even
> without online maps. It works especially well in conjunction with my
> printable maps. (GPS Kit might show your location between A163 and
> A164 which you could easily see on the printed maps). I can share more
> waypoints if anyone is interested.
>
> It's worth noting that no iPhone app I am aware of will accurately
> display coordinates in the NAD27 datum and all the paper maps (except
> mine) use NAD27 (the iPhone uses WSG84). The difference between these
> two map datums varies depending in what part of the country you are
> in, but along the PCT will be a little over 1/10 mile difference. You
> can easily add 80 to the easting UTM number and subtract 200 from the
> northing UTM number to compensate reasonably accurately or just
> eyeball by moving down and to the right once you have done this a few
> times.
>
> Anyway, I have rambled on enough for now.
>
> -Halfmile
>
> On Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 8:21 AM, Tobin Van Pelt <tobin.van.pelt at mac.com> wrote:
>   
>> Halfmile -
>>
>> I will look for you at kickoff.  I have a new 3G GPS enabled
>> iphone ... battery life is not great but I am going to have to
>> deal ... may augment with small solar unit ... still testing.
>>
>> BTW - do you know of any way of preloading maps on to the iphone
>> device?  All of the GPS apps that I have looked at seem to only load
>> when needed and then cache.  I would (for obvious reasons), want to
>> download as much as possible in advance and then use when out of
>> coverage.  Have not researched this a bunch yet ... and don't have
>> time now to write my own app.
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>> Tobin
>>
>>     
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