This is a REPOST from Dec 2006. Please, don't waste your money buying a GPS
these days. Get yourself a PDA with a built in GPS - it's also your phone and
everything else. If you want simple mapping software, use Oziexplorer. Amongst
other things, I run all the Australian 1:250,000 scale maps on mine.
___Hi,I've refrained from commenting on this thread until now but since it
overlaps with another recent thread about bird and animal lists, I will do so
now. For my part, I use a Bluetooth GPS with my PDA. Although my Ipaq has a
built-in GPS, this drains batteries quickly. I use a BT338 which boasts a
battery life in excess of 9 hours continual use but 20+ hours on battery saver
mode. It clips nearly to my binocular strap and from a warm start, gets a fix
within a few seconds. More recently I have been toying with customised
databases for storing wildlife records in the field. There is a fantastic piece
of freeware called Cybertracker (http://www.cybertracker.co.za) which was
developed for South African game researchers using EU funding. You just
download it and register. It is amazingly versatile, althoug somewhat difficult
to learn as a beginner. [NOTE - SEE MY RECENT POSTING ON A CYBERTRACKER PELAGIC
DATABASE I HAVE WRITTEN] They include various simple formats but the real
benefits are in the customised databases. For instance, I have produced a
database for recording seabird and cetacean sightings offshore, which includes
a moving map and logs all information with time, date and position. It is
amazingly easy and sychronises with my PC enabling me to download and produce
maps and reports in minutes. I have done the same for dragonflies in Victoria
and would like to do the same for birds in due course. It would take no more
than a couple of hours for instance, to build a database that records data in
BA Atlas format*. Since I travel everywhere with my PDA / phone, I can turn on
and log data anytime any place. Previously I have depended on having a notebook
available and then finding the time later to record data in electronic format.
Ninety percent of what I collect never sees the light of day but that is
changing thanks to taking the effort out of processing the written word**.
*Incidentally, I have had no luck finding an electronic list of birds from BA
including BA Atlas codes. BA have seemed reluctant to provide this, although it
would make me much more likely to regularly submit records. An regularly
updated list codes would be a useful resource. Similarly, I can't believe that
there are not complete lists of species available for other groups. For
instance, who keeps the current formal list of mammal taxonomy in Australia?
And herps, butterflies etc.?**For those of you about to being a tawdry thread
about the relative merits of notebooks vs PDAs, please don't. It doesn't
replace a field notebook, it merely augments the process. My notebook is no
longer full of lats and lons, enabling me to use the space for sketches and
descriptions instead. I could continue on this topic for ages but won't. If
anyone is interested in getting into this themselves, then I would strongly
recommend starting with Cybertracker. You will however need to be familar with
database design and patiently work through various help and FAQ files. This and
a lot of trial and error and you will shortly be able to build a database that
does anything you need. I have only just scraped the surface of its uses to
now. For general mapping, Oziexplorer is cheap and incredibly versatile. You
can georeference any map - easily done with reasonable accuracy by pinning
locations in Google Earth (edit the properties of your pins and it gives you
the lat and lon) and using these as your geo-reference points in Oziexplorer.
Alternatively, you can scan and georeference any map whatsoever or simply buy
the CSIRO 1:250000 maps on CD. For the PDA you need a $10 add-on for
Oziexplorer and you have to save maps in a separate format before using them.
______________> From: > To: ;
; > Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2007
11:24:46 +1030> Subject: [Birding-Aus] GPS units> > Hi Debbie/Peter etc> >
Although it doesn't help the original question re GPS units, if you do have>
one that runs like Peters on a blackberry or PDA, there is a great program>
available on the net called GPS Tuner (V5).> > It allows you to load maps into
it so even if you are out of phone range it> works. It comes with an other
program called Map Calibrator that enables you> to calibrate any map in Jpeg
format. These can be saved off the net as> pictures.> > Look around as it is
available from various sites. I picked it up online for> around $23.> > Now I
just have to find a decent Bluetooth receiver that is a little more>
sensitive..> > Cheers> > Steve Potter> Blackwood SA> > > No virus found in this
outgoing message.> Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.503 / Virus
Database: 269.16.4 - Release Date: 22/11/2007 12:00> AM> >
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