GPS and mobiles

[shags_j]

Hi All,

 

Not having some wang doozie mobile phone I need your opinions. What is it that I need to look for in a mobile phone to me able to record routes from a GPS. Ie. I have a GPS module so don't need a built in one (but don't care if it does) but I want to be able to record the waypoints of a route travelled and then download the data file.

 

My question really is what do I need to look for in a mobile to be able to do this. Reason I say mobile is that PDA's etc are really not available.

 

Also wouldn't hurt if it had route planning etc for driving on roads (as a side note).

 

Hope that all makes sense.

 

Cheers,

 

Shags

 

 

[Gibbo]

You could become a nerd and get an iPhone and learn to suffer from the iGroan when you see the bills..

 

The iPhone has some really good aviation app's such as moving map GPS (fully featured), Flight calculators etc. Everything in the one package and you get to look like a knob at the same time... Think of the iPhone more as a very portable netbook. (another option good option!)

 

Another option may be a couple of of the windows CE based products.

 

I use a Sat phone when flying to both 'remotely' track my movements (and alert on the web map to detours from flight plan etc) and also provide some verification against the Avmap when crossing very remote areas. Works everywhere.

 

 

[Guest basscheffers]

Never heard of a "normal" phone that would do that; only things like iPhone and other smartphones would do it. With the iPhone having far wand away the best aviation software of any mobile device.

 

Not sure where Gibbo gets his huge bills from, though! Must have gotten his from Telstra... ;-)

 

 

[Gibbo]

The Thuyana Sat phones have some great GPS functions. Works by sending a SMS automatically every X minutes and can also post SMS messages onto the website. SMS rates are fairly cheap and website is free.

 

Sends Alt, TGS, Heading and speed with a historical record. I set mine to every 20mins and when travelling in remote areas get a family member to check it every hour or so.

 

Some of the Nokia Nav phones can also do the same tricks (nextG works nearly everywhere when above 5500' .)

 

By the way.. Kinda stuck with the outgoing cash cow. Tel$tra

 

 

[shags_j]

refuse to buy an apple product. Might get a htc android phone and see what apps are out there.

 

 

[Guest basscheffers]

Wouldn't it make more sense to first see what apps are out there, then buy the phone? :)

 

 

[shags_j]

Common sense plays no part in the purchase of items like mobile phones ;)

 

But yes I will have a look first. I need a new phone anyway and it must be able to connect to my office outlook. I'll find something that fits what I need

 

 

[slartibartfast]

In that case Shags, I use a HTC Touch Pro 2 and love it. It displays the BoM weather and radar pages perfectly. For plotting your track, have a look at TrackMe. It sends the GPS coords from the phone via internet at configurable intervals. If there's no available connection, it caches the updates and sends them when there is one. Your track is stored on the author's server, and you can later display it on Google Earth. Works pretty well, although the speed isn't accurate on the trials I've done. Track is good though, and the software is free.

 

I've tried a few other aviation apps, but none of them are that good.

 

I pay $10 per month for the internet data and never run out.

 

 

[slartibartfast]

Telstra NextG. It's unfortunately the only one with the coverage you need in the air.

 

Yes, a couple of GPS apps come with it. Whereis is not only useful for finding restaurants and pubs when you're out, it can serve as a backup GPS in the air. It doesn't get confused with travelling over 200kph. I think it's possible to get OziExplorer to work on it, but I have 2 other GPS units in the plane, so I don't need to.

 

 

[shags_j]

Ok.

 

So after looking at my options I went with:

 

Nokia n97 mini. Reasoning:

 

- I will be travelling a lot overseas. The nokia now has free naviagtion worldwide (noone else is able to offer worldwide for free).

 

- Nokia sportstracker is a program that will record the various bits of data during the flights I want to record.

 

- It will cost me an extra $30 per month on what I am currently paying. I'm cool with this kind of cost.

 

Thanks for your opinions and thoughts guys.

 

Cheers,

 

Shags

 

 

[Guest mike_perth]

Shags

 

I use an N95 with Nokia Sportstracker and it works really well - just make sure you can put it somewhere in the aircraft were it will get a good signal as min occasionally drops out.

 

Mike