[pct-l] smartphone as GPS

[Austin Williams]

That is good to know.
Make sure it has 'real' gps.  I'd check to be sure before you buy it.  I
trust cellphone salespeople even less than I trust used car salespeople.  :)

On Mon, Oct 25, 2010 at 10:27 AM, Jim Keener ( J J ) <
pct2010 at ridgetrailhiker.com> wrote:

> Greetings,
>
> If a device is marketed as having "GPS", it will have satellite location
> capability. Smartphone GPS is typically not as accurate as dedicated GPS
> devices.
>
> Many, many hikers have completed  the PCT without any GPS capability. I
> carried an iPhone 3Gs this year and, using Halfmile's waypoints, located
> myself any time I wanted. There is some really good GPS software available
> for almost all smartphones.
>
> Walk well,
> Jim Keener ( J J )
>
> On Oct 25, 2010, at 10:11 AM, "greg mushial" <gmushial at gmdr.com> wrote:
>
> >> Message: 2
> >> Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2010 08:44:13 -0700
> >> From: Austin Williams <austinwilliams123 at gmail.com>
> >> Subject: Re: [pct-l] smartphone as GPS
> >> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> >> Message-ID:
> >> <AANLkTinOvNfuQPZHGGwxJk2BCWN9RR=DTjKCx7wJ9yr6 at mail.gmail.com>
> >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
> >>
> >> Be careful.  Most of the time the 'GPS' in smart phones is based on
> >> cell-tower triangulation, NOT gps-satellite triangulation.  That means
> >> when
> >> there are now cell towers around, the "GPS" on the phone won't work.
>  Make
> >> sure you buy one that uses *real* gps, not the kind that uses cell tower
> >> triangulation.
> >>
> >> Just a heads up.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Austin Williams
> >>
> >
> > Is there any (published) indication of accuracy difference? Seems that
> since
> > generally towers don't jump around, they should be as good as
> satellites...
> > no?
> > TheDuck
> >
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-- 
Austin Williams

www.PlanYourHike.com
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