Volunteer Opportunity in Minnesota Arrowhead

Howard Beye carrying a Trimble GPS unit (photo by jhy)

from Matt Davis Regional Trail Coordinator for MN & ND, North Country Trail Association

Cory Mensen, the Trails/Volunteer Coordinator (West Zone) for the Superior National Forest writes, "We do not have a survey for the Kek. I am hoping to get a good layer of the Kek this summer if I do I will let you know... If you know of someone hiking one our wilderness trails I can give them a quick training with a Trimble that we have and they can gather some useful information for all of us....

The "Kek" is the Kekekabic Trail, the western portion of the NCT route across the Minnesota Arrowhead, about 45 miles.

Matt adds: "Here is a volunteer opportunity for anyone who is interested in hiking the Kek or Border Route Trail this year. The U.S. Forest Service could really use someone detail-oriented and interested in GPS to record some data on the Trail. They'll provide the training and the GPS unit."

Contact Matt Davis Regional Trail Coordinator for MN & ND, North Country Trail Association

Spot 2 GPS Messenger Recall

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from the Spot Messenger web site

Spot LLC will be conducting a voluntary return on any new model SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger™ (SPOT 2) purchased since October 1, 2009. During recent testing, we discovered that some of the new SPOT 2 devices might not meet battery and messaging operating specifications.

To see if your SPOT-2 unit is affected by this issue, please do the following:

• If you have activated your SPOT-2 unit, login to your account at, click on the My GPS Locations tab and a message will display indicating if you have an affected SPOT-2 unit.
• If you have not activated your SPOT-2 unit, do not activate. We highly recommend you return your product for replacement at your earliest convenience.

Replacement units are anticipated to be available in early 2010. If you exchange your eligible unit, you will also receive 1 additional month of your current SPOT service plan and associated services.

See Spot Exchange for complete information.

Java Joe Compares GPS Units

Etrex Legend HCx tracks (on MapSource) at their maximum distance from each other (the yellow line is the measured 82 feet)

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a guest post by "Java" Joe Dabes

Joe Dabes is the Finger Lakes Trail Mapper and has GPSed over 1700 miles in the last 6 years. He spends winters in Florida, and this test was done there. Here is his comparison of three units. JHY

Carrying my three field GPS units, I hiked the same 8.4 mile loop in the Withlacoochee State Forest here in central Florida on two consecutive days. Overhead canopy was light to moderate, primarily live oaks and long leaf pines. The three units all have the Garmin high sensitivity internal antennas that have been available for about three years now. All three were set to gather track points every 4 yards.

1. The Etrex Legend HCx (~$200) mounted on top of the left shoulder strap of my day pack
2. Oregon 400t (~$400, touch screen unit) carried in my left hand about a foot in front of my waist
3. GPSmap 60CSx (~$300) with external amplified Gilsson antenna (~$20) mounted on my hat (Note: when the external antenna is plugged in, the internal antenna is "off")

Note that the Extrex Legend and Oregon do not accept external antennas.

Here are the results for the maximum distance between the two tracks for each unit over the 8.4 mile repeats:

Etrex Legend HCx: 82 feet
Oregon 400t: 37 feet
60CSx with ext. antenna: 15 feet - clearly the best setup

Above is a clip of the Etrex Legend HCx tracks (on MapSource) at their maximum distance from each other (the yellow line is the measured 82 feet): Furthermore the Etrex Legend has been much more inaccurate on four occasions when I carried it in my hand at waist level in repeated loops or out-and-backs: three times the tracks differed by ~500 feet and once ~1000 feet. I have never noticed such great inaccuracies with the 60CSx or Oregon.

Odometer measurements (which are based on readings taken every 1 second) for the 8.4 miles:

Etrex: 8.32 and 8.37 miles
Oregon: 8.29 and 8.33 miles
60CSx: 8.44 and 8.43 miles (I suspect this is the most accurate)

I hope to do this same loop twice more with 60CSx without external amplified antenna attached.

-Java Joe

See Garmin Colorado Review

Garmin 1:24,000 New York Map Download

from posts on the fingerlakestrail email group by Don McClimans and Joe Dabes

There is now a NY state topo map that you can download to your Garmin GPS. The direct link to the map is http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/111/. Once in Garmin Topo, open Garmin Topo and in the upper left corner it will appear as a map choice: pick "New York Topo."

This is a 24,000:1 equivalent map, with 10 and 20 ft contour intervals, showing topography, roads, water (lakes, rivers, streams), and railroads. This new map has considerably more detail than Topo 2008 which is 100,000:1. However, to see the difference you need to zoom in so that the "scale" on your Garmin GPSr or MapSource is 800 ft or less.

You can load this map into Garmin MapSource, and then download the map to your GPS unit. The gpsfiledepot.com site has detailed instructions for how to do this if you need help. This website seems to say you can download Garmin MapSource Topo for free, if you have a Garmin unit, even an automotive Nuvi. This is not the case. You must have MapSource already installed in order to install this latest version. Yup, no free lunch here. MapSource Topo costs about $80 at Amazon (see the link in the right column to place an Amazon order that benefits the NCTA).

Gpsfiledepot.com is a nice site to know about if you have a Garmin GPS. There are 24K maps for many states, as well as road maps, maps for multi-state regions, etc. They are done by various volunteers, so the quality probably varies. Map availability is growing rapidly -- the NY map has only been available since early February.

Excellent tutorials are available at GPS File Depot on how to load these maps into your Garmin and how to switch map sets that are loaded into your Garmin handheld unit. Yes, you can have more than one set of maps on your handheld.

Alltel Wireless Introduces GPS Application For Outdoor Enthusiasts

Trimble Outdoors also captures photos, audio and video, which allows for GPS-tagged online journaling. (photo from Alltel)

a news release of Alltel Wireless

Alltel Wireless customers going over the river and through the woods can now also go wireless. Outdoor enthusiasts can now take full advantage of advanced GPS features directly on their GPS-capable phones with the Trimble Outdoors application from Alltel Wireless, America's largest wireless network.

The Trimble Outdoors application turns a wide range of Alltel GPS-enabled handsets into a versatile, off-road navigation and journaling tool for hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, hunting and many other outdoor activities.

The application, available for a daily rate of $1.99, allows customers to review and plan trips online. It also enhances user safety and navigation by sending trekking routes, maps and waypoints wirelessly to the phone for use as a guide during trips.

Customers can track their current and previous routes with a GPS "bread crumb trail," mark and edit waypoints during their journey, and utilize a built-in digital compass to display coordinates, speed and heading. Maps generated by Trimble Outdoors can be accessed in topographic, street and aerial views.

"Without any additional equipment to carry around, Alltel customers can enjoy the freedom to explore new and exciting parts of the country," said Kristi Crum, director of data and content services at Alltel Wireless.

"With our new Trimble Outdoor application, customers can have more fun while staying safe and connected to friends and family who want to share in the adventures."

Trimble Outdoors also captures photos, audio and video, which allows for GPS-tagged online journaling at trimbleoutdoors.com or for sharing recreational pursuits with other outdoors enthusiasts. Additionally, users can browse an online library of professional and user-generated trekking tips and customize trips done by others.

GPS Data Available for Entire FInger Lakes Trail System

from the Finger Lakes Trail Conference

Over 300 miles of the North Country Trail are concurrent with New York's Finger Lakes Trail. All of those miles are now available on a data disk.

In response to member suggestions, the FLT Conference Maps & Guides Subcommittee studied the feasibility of making FLT track and waypoint data for handheld GPS units available to hikers. The proposal was approved.

You may order a CD containing FLT GPS data, but it must be purchased with a complete set of maps, since GPS data alone is insufficient to provide adequate information concerning the hiking experience (regulations, etc). The cost of the GPS data disk with maps is $65 for members of the FLTC and $52 for members. Sales of maps and data help fund the Finger Lakes Trail.

GPS data for trailheads only is available for free, on the Plan a Hike / End-to-End page of the web site.

For more information contact Joe Dabes, or visit the Finger Lakes Trail Conference web site.

Garmin Colorado Review

by Joe Dabes (FLT Map maker and 5 time FLT end-to-ender)

Java Joe here. I have purchased six Garmin GPS units (3 field, 3 auto) over the last 7 years, and never been disappointed -- until now. I purchased this Colorado 400t (t for topo), in spite of the poor reviews that I had read. I've had it for just three days, testing it extensively, and it is going back to amazon.com tomorrow for a refund. Do not buy this unit, it has many flaws. If you are considering a field (hiking) GPS unit buy the highly reviewed Garmin GPSmap 60CSx, which many of us have.

Problems with the Colorado:

1. The very skimpy manual leaves so much out.
   
2. Battery life (with 2 alkalines) is only 3 - 4 hours, even with backlighting and electronic (magnetic north) compass turned off. GPSmap 60CSx with same batteries lasts 15 - 20 hours.
   
3. After only an hour or two, with new batteries, the unit kept turning itself off when I performed operations on it. Perhaps I had a defective unit, but I have read reviews where this problem is common.
   
4. Screen is pretty, but hard to read, as tiny fonts used.
   
5. Although I couldn't verify this, some reviewers, mostly from geocachers, found that the track of this unit can be off by as much as 400 - 500 feet (they blamed this on a new chipset). I have always found the 60CSx to be accurate within 10 to 40 feet.

And if you are considering getting our soon to be released (hopefully) FLT track (nearly 900 miles) and TH waypoint files, consider the following:

1. Along with active (hiking) track, Colorado can show only one saved track (always violet) at a time, 60CSx can show up to 20 saved tracks at a time (in colors similar to the blaze color, except white blazes shown as black).
   
2. When this FLT track and waypoint data is available for sale, included instructions will be written for the 60CSx, which a near majority of my so far 11 testers have.

Don't buy this dud Colorado, which costs nearly $500; 60CSx is about $300 and a much better unit. Make sure you also get Garmin MapSource Topo 2008 ($80, and yes, now 25' contour lines, instead of 66 foot (20 meter) contour lines!), so you can load FLT track and waypoint data into the unit, and also save your own tracks and waypoints. Also nice: a 1 or 2 GB micro SD card ($10 - $20) so you can load half to all the U.S. topo maps from Garmin MapSource Topo onto your unit.

Cheers, and Happy Trails, Java Joe

P.S. I just read a number of reviews of the newer Garmin Oregon 400t touch screen field GPS unit. Seems it has problems similar to the Colorado 400t, although battery life may be better. The big complaint about the Oregon was dim screen that is hard to see in sunlight.