Best Budget/Used Nav System for Beginner

[CTO1Mike]

Not sure how much closer one will want to get than this. These are screen shots from my Ipad of a few Gaia maps.
All are of the same location and pretty much the same extreme close in zoom.
It would all depend on what maps you down load from the Gaia site.
The blue lines are my tracks for the weekend.

 

[M Rose]

I use "Back Country Navigator" on my 2012 Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. I download the maps for the areas I will be in, then when I have cell service, I'll tether to my iphone hot spot to update the map, or add pictures to my waypoints. there is a lot of stuff I can do with the app that I have forgotten since I havent used a gps in a very long time.

 

[Charles M]

I am on a trip right now with a Garmin Montana and it keeps telling me it lost sat reception and I am not able to navigate with it at all. Going miles and miles with not sats. I have nothing but wide open sky here. The other problem with Garmin hand helds is the screen is much to small to read too maps and the maps do not have enough resolution.

 

[oldmopars]

I am on a trip right now with a Garmin Montana and it keeps telling me it lost sat reception and I am not able to navigate with it at all. Going miles and miles with not sats. I have nothing but wide open sky here. The other problem with Garmin hand helds is the screen is much to small to read too maps and the maps do not have enough resolution.

I agree, I have a Garmin Montana and it drives me nuts. It will lose the sats all the time. I never go anywhere without multiple means of navigation.
This weekend my buddy and I headed out to do part of the Washington Back Country Discovery Route. I had my Garmin with the tracks loaded, I had Gaia on my tablet (IPad) 2 cell phones with GPS Apps, Delorme Atlas for Washington State and the Butler WBDR maps specific to the route we were doing.
Needless to say, we did not get lost. He even had his Garmin Montana with him too, but it was fighting to find the satellites also.
I don't think there is ONE navigation tool that is best. I think there are a lot of great tools, and the more you have, the better off you are. Recent paper maps are always the best back up, they always work. A good compass should be in the kit too.

 

[Dana L]

I'd hate to see Conner_Dobbin go down the HAM license path only to find out he won't have the capabilities he thinks he'll have. I got my HAM Technician License a year ago, for the sole purpose of being able to "call for help" when I'm off-roading. I've found out, I probably won't have the capability. The Technician license allows communication on certain frequencies. Those frequencies, for the most part, are line-of-sight, but with limited range depending on the power of the transmitter/radio. Conner_Dobbin doesn't have a very powerful Baofeng radio. I have the BF-F8HP, and it's not that powerful compared to a portable or base station radio. Here's a good example. Today there was a national earthquake test. A HAM operator was located at our hospital where he was broadcasting test communication. I was 3 miles away, outside, and behind a couple of small hills. I could not hear the test communication. Yet when I got home, still 3 miles away but I can actually see the hospital, I could hear the test communications loud and clear. The test signals were on a SIMPLEX frequency simulating the Repeater in town was out due to power outage. Repeaters were mentioned in a previous response. In my town the Repeater is 5 miles from my house, and I can see it. That Repeater is connected to a host of repeaters in my area. I can, for example, communicate on my local Repeater with my Baofeng, and hear people 90+ miles away from me, and behind mountains. To really be able to communicate, a person needs a General License, and expensive HF radio equipment, including a large antenna. My advice to Conner_Dobbin is do your research. If where you go offroad is not within line of sight and range of a Repeater, then you could be wasting your money on false expectations. Any HAM more experienced than I am should comment. It won't hurt my feelings. I'm not an expert. I'm only passing along what I've found in the areas where I offroad.

 

[Charles M]

I'd hate to see Conner_Dobbin go down the HAM license path only to find out he won't have the capabilities he thinks he'll have. I got my HAM Technician License a year ago, for the sole purpose of being able to "call for help" when I'm off-roading. I've found out, I probably won't have the capability. The Technician license allows communication on certain frequencies. Those frequencies, for the most part, are line-of-sight, but with limited range depending on the power of the transmitter/radio. Conner_Dobbin doesn't have a very powerful Baofeng radio. I have the BF-F8HP, and it's not that powerful compared to a portable or base station radio. Here's a good example. Today there was a national earthquake test. A HAM operator was located at our hospital where he was broadcasting test communication. I was 3 miles away, outside, and behind a couple of small hills. I could not hear the test communication. Yet when I got home, still 3 miles away but I can actually see the hospital, I could hear the test communications loud and clear. The test signals were on a SIMPLEX frequency simulating the Repeater in town was out due to power outage. Repeaters were mentioned in a previous response. In my town the Repeater is 5 miles from my house, and I can see it. That Repeater is connected to a host of repeaters in my area. I can, for example, communicate on my local Repeater with my Baofeng, and hear people 90+ miles away from me, and behind mountains. To really be able to communicate, a person needs a General License, and expensive HF radio equipment, including a large antenna. My advice to Conner_Dobbin is do your research. If where you go offroad is not within line of sight and range of a Repeater, then you could be wasting your money on false expectations. Any HAM more experienced than I am should comment. It won't hurt my feelings. I'm not an expert. I'm only passing along what I've found in the areas where I offroad.

I would agree without a repeater or flat ground they can be limited... I have a Ham and I also carry a Satellite phone and most of the time it takes forever to get a call out with it even on flat wide open skies. I think the most important thing is being prepared for the worst and hopefully having another vehicle with you. And be well trained in what it actually takes to survive in the wilderness. It is also good to have wilderness first responder training and some medical gear.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

I just started playing with BCN on my old LePan 8" tablet. It's awesome. Once I get the maps downloaded onto my SD card, I will be set. This app is making me switch to a new huawei p30 pro phone and wear OS wearables, ditching my current iphone and apple watch. BCN IS AWESOME.

 

[M Rose]

I just started playing with BCN on my old LePan 8" tablet. It's awesome. Once I get the maps downloaded onto my SD card, I will be set. This app is making me switch to a new huawei p30 pro phone and wear OS wearables, ditching my current iphone and apple watch. BCN IS AWESOME.

BCN is a great tool. I love the fact I can use the pc software and make my routs and pois, ransfer them onto my sd card and upload them on my tablet. I have quite a few sd cards loaded up with maps of different places I explore.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

BCN is a great tool. I love the fact I can use the pc software and make my routs and pois, ransfer them onto my sd card and upload them on my tablet. I have quite a few sd cards loaded up with maps of different places I explore.

What PC software do you use?

 

[Autism Family Travels]

A little heads up. for someone who wants a decent tablet for nav on a budget, Check out the alcatel a30 8" tablet. It has GPS built in, plus it's also LTE enabled. 256gb storage sd cards work without issue. This is one issue with my old lepan. I am on android 4.2.2 and I cannot move apps to the sd card. I am trying to root it when i get home. If that works then I am good, if not, I am grabbing one of these A30s.

 

[M Rose]

What PC software do you use?

Mobile Atlas Creator (read the article from critter maps, the parent company of BCN, Creating Offline Maps for Android )

 

[Autism Family Travels]

Mobile Atlas Creator (read the article from critter maps, the parent company of BCN, Creating Offline Maps for Android )

I downloaded M.A.C. off their sourceforge website, however it's now asking me to download JAVA from some unknown site, I am not all tore up about that. Any Ideas?

 

[M Rose]

It's not going to JAVA's page?

 

[M Rose]

[Ex XQUOTE="kojack, post: 388463, member: 31045"]
I downloaded M.A.C. off their sourceforge website, however it's now asking me to download JAVA from some unknown site, I am not all tore up about that. Any Ideas?
[/QUOTE]
try going to the M.A.C. reference guide. Under the Requirements Tab there is a link wich sends you to the Java check page. Fallow Install proceedures outlined in the guide.

index

 

[Connor_Dobbins]

@Dana L and @Charles M both great points about HAM! I am planning on upgrading to a true mobile radio rig with a better antenna and not relying on a hf unit. Also the area I am located in a mostly go overlanding in (Northern IL and Southern WI) has pretty good overall cell service and where that fails a better HAM mobile rig should be able to reach a few repeaters that are active enough to reach someone in an emergency. The handheld I have was just to learn about HAM and get familiar to see if it would be viable before spending too much money on a mobile rig that might not have be viable.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

[Ex XQUOTE="kojack, post: 388463, member: 31045"]
I downloaded M.A.C. off their sourceforge website, however it's now asking me to download JAVA from some unknown site, I am not all tore up about that. Any Ideas?

try going to the M.A.C. reference guide. Under the Requirements Tab there is a link wich sends you to the Java check page. Fallow Install proceedures outlined in the guide.

index

[/QUOTE]


Yes, it does send me to that page, I just want to make sure it's ok before I download something.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

I got into MAC. I can only use canada topo in that program. There is no way to access sat imagry etc in that. I will have to do some more reading on it all. Canada toporama does not have alot of the back country routes I know are there.

 

[kivo]

I agree, I have a Garmin Montana and it drives me nuts. It will lose the sats all the time. I never go anywhere without multiple means of navigation.
This weekend my buddy and I headed out to do part of the Washington Back Country Discovery Route. I had my Garmin with the tracks loaded, I had Gaia on my tablet (IPad) 2 cell phones with GPS Apps, Delorme Atlas for Washington State and the Butler WBDR maps specific to the route we were doing.
Needless to say, we did not get lost. He even had his Garmin Montana with him too, but it was fighting to find the satellites also.
I don't think there is ONE navigation tool that is best. I think there are a lot of great tools, and the more you have, the better off you are. Recent paper maps are always the best back up, they always work. A good compass should be in the kit too.

Hmm, had a Garmin GpsMap 60, a 62, now a 64, and do not encounter the problems you folks seem to have with the Montana.
Difference might be in the antenna type/size though, a feature put in the spotlight when it comes to the GpsMap range, but not even mentioned for the Montana.
As for driving, nah, such a handheld is not the best tool, but when it comes to hiking, and find my way back to the starting point of my hike, I rely without a doubt on my GpsMap.