internet & GPS connections while camping

[jon_m]

Trying to figure out best options for buying a laptop & GPS (all new stuff to me).

Know I need java and windows (but I think not Windows 8).

Plan on coming and going from home for a week or 2 at a time maybe, and noticed Telstra has 4g which I could get from a pre-paid plan with their USB. But then noticed some Dell machines can have a mini card broadband and A-GPS.
Are there issues in the differences to be aware of?

I am wondering if the pre-paid USB is the best option and then (if possible) to get some sort of bluetooth'ed handheld GPS to feed some data to/from the laptop.

Am I barking up the right tree?

 

[Village]

save the bush for the bush, do your research before you go. GPS good deals on dedicated units running around, and both garmin and magellan have a computer based program, have a look in general chat, the post that says for slowflow, there are some screen shots of base camp which is garmin.

 

[jon_m]

Thanks Village. If I could pick your brains - just can't get the first word out. Appreciate the knowledge & help I see you give.

No Martian but v green & just setting up for a first outing. Only run pc's from home before and, HAVING to connect to internet while away; just trying to not buy the wrong machinery/create unwanted legacy issues.

Can see the future need for some form of GPS and look for advice re internet connection and associated laptop things (like whether or not to consider mini card type broadband or telstra USB etc). And then whether or not your GPS's can talk to laptops via cable, bluetooth etc.

Think I'll be reading over your 'slowflow' post a few times to learn what I can - but it'll take awhile to change shades!

Thanks, appreciate your help.

 

[Village]

Trust me on this 7 out 10 places you will go, will have no or limited mobile reception, so mobile internet isn't really issue, just not available. Check the Garmin unit, the rhino 650, good unit and you get a 5 watt uhf radio included. Only catch they come two for $599, you will need to find someone to go halves.

 

[casper]

save the bush for the bush, do your research before you go. GPS good deals on dedicated units running around, and both garmin and magellan have a computer based program, have a look in general chat, the post that says for slowflow, there are some screen shots of base camp which is garmin.

yup!...... as village says "save the bush for the bush" If you feel the need to get on the internet whilst in the field you are probably under prepared. By all means take your digital maps with you into the field but download them and install them before you leave home. I'm one of those lepers that owns an iPhone and i upload my my GEOVIC maps to the "Map N Trax" app which allows me to ascertain my position on the goldfield and direct my wanderings - you do not need to be in range of a phone tower for it to work - it works as a regular GPS device.
casper

 

[HeadsUp]

Go for a read on the OzExplorer forum

There are hundreds of posts about GPS and mobile computing

Hema maps or memory maps can be setup on many devices like iPad , tablets , laptops etc

Unfortunately Internet connection is probably still best done through a mobile phone with Bluetooth connection , and sadly the demonic entity called Telstra still has the best coverage

Hema maps can show many fire trails that don't appear on other mapping devices

 

[casper]

this is where i parked my car last tuesday....

casper

 

[jon_m]

Have put a spanner in the works not explaining that my need to have laptop internet connection is not to do with mapping or prospecting, but v important to me all the same. I will not be carrying it into the bush.

So in needing to buy my 1st laptop and GPS (although bought a Navman for the car just a couple of months ago) I'm trying to establish what criteria to go for in a laptop esp regards what hardware to go for re getting good connection, and then for (for prospecting) GPS/mapping which should be delayed until I learn more.

ie Telstra offers 4g usb pre-paid mobile broadband. Would this be considered favorable to Dell's internal mini card broadband, or other devices?

Also, take some small area that is allowable for prospecting (like Thanes Creek SE Qld); what would be a useful entry level GPS that could :-
- display the allowable region (presumably by first downloading a thanes creek map) and
- show the current location on the site so as not to step outside the bounds
- record some waypoints
- latter upload data to the laptop, for use with additional mapping
?

Sorry for my confusing qu earlier, and many thanks to the helpful ideas and insights you have. Village I doubt I'll be buying such an expensive GPS first up. Have to get used to a detector first then mapping and how to put it to use. Casper I'm not up with smart phones - for computing I need a pc to run my apps, need almost no phone calls and so figure on getting a dedicated GPS that might eventually integrate with mapping on a laptop.

Thanks for the OzExplorer forum suggestion HeadsUp.

 

[condor22]

Although I have a laptop and wireless broadband, another option for occasional Internet is a smart phone. In many areas you may have to go for a drive to get a signal anyway and a phone is easier to carry and charge'
I have the Samsung Galaxy S3.

The other thing is that it has a GPS antenna that is independent of Network coverage and I have Oziexplorer for Android, Vic Map is loaded and I've digitised all of the Doug Stone maps to Ozi on my phone.

So generally the laptop gets used for watching movies lol

 

[Keggs]

If your only looking for a GPS via Laptop or ipad or tablet then all you need is a is a device with a Bluetooth connection together with a GPS Receiver, works great. Last year I was going to buy the Hema GPS to the value (depending where you go) of approx $700, but after talking to several people that use this system it was suggested to me to buy an Ipad mini non wifi $400ish then purchase the Hema App another $100 then the GPS receiver another $100ish to the total of $600. Not only cheaper than the Hema GPS but also has more uses than just a GPS Ive used this system on many trips now and find the mapping detail together with the ipad screen size to be absolutely fantastic both on and off road. Plus you can use the tablet for many other uses if you so desire. As for using the internet out bush...............why would you? Nothing is going to give you the internet out bush without a signal, but you can nearly always get a satellite signal

Cheers
Keggs

 

[HeadsUp]

just one point to keep in mind , bluetooth device connections mean battery life gets chopped to bits

that wont matter if youre in a vehicle but if youre hiking on foot then battery life is a major priority

also , the Ipad mini is available with built in GPS , HEMA does run on the Ipad but some of the maps are not the kind of quality to pay $ 120 for

 

[Diggerdude]

Pre paid USB modem is the go mate. You can use it via wifi for a ipad/laptop etc. Get a patch lead, antenna , pole etc from this mob for about $200 and you will get reception basically anywhere.
http://www.telcoantennas.com.au/site/telescopic-aluminium-mast-system-various-lengths

DD

 

[Teemore]

I'm one of those lepers that owns an iPhone and i upload my my GEOVIC maps to the "Map N Trax" app which allows me to ascertain my position on the goldfield and direct my wanderings

Hi Casper, can you elaborate on 'how to' in regards to calibration in MapsnTrax if importing say an old historic map. Do you just do it by lining up 'transparent' layers .. seems unlikely or, as shown in the example attached to these posts by determing 3 or 4 coordinates from geovic and lining them up with whatever map.
If that doesn't make too much sense is there a 'best' way of overlaying an old map over a new topo map where there are a few distinguishing 'landmarks or waypoints'.
Cheers Tom

 

[gcause]

Just picked up a Telstra mobile wifi 4G advanced modem and it allows me to hook up all my devices via wifi so I could cancel the data plans on all my other devices and save a heap. I will let you know how it goes out in the bush. I am going to use it to make my Troopy a mobile wifi hotspot

Thanks for the link DD I may have to invest in an antennae yet depending on how this goes in the bush.

 

[condor22]

Here's my experience.

Both my wife and I use Virgin mobile and I use Virgin Mobile Broadband, which are full cell on Optus.
I also have an old mobile with a 12month $100 prepaid Telstra sim for emergencies, if there is no Optus Signal.

Many of the towns in the GT will pick up both Telstra and Optus. Once out of town Optus drops off and although not as frequent, so does Telstra. Once in a few hills even Telstra drops off.

I am in the GT at the moment, I stayed out bush near Tarnagulla and had no Optus or Telstra. I moved to Dunolly and had full signal on both.

My point being, if you camp out bush, off power and away from towers, you may not get a signal. However, if you stay near a town or in a van park in a town you most likely will.

I did most of my research before I left home, my main need for internet is email, but if there's no signal, I CAN live with out it.

If I can ring home and chat to the wife, she's happy. If I'm out bush with no phone, then I'm happy :lol:

 

[Diggerdude]

I live in the bush and have got reception basically everywhere with Telstra, even in central WA. The other networks are only made for city slickers and don't work unless near a major town, so useless for most prospecting areas.

DD

 

[jon_m]

Hi Casper, can you elaborate on 'how to' in regards to calibration in MapsnTrax if importing say an old historic map. Do you just do it by lining up 'transparent' layers .

Sorry, I'm not casper, but if I have it correct what you are trying to do ("calibrate") is called georeferencing in mapping talk and should quite easily be achieved in Google Earth;
http://www.garmin.com/us/products/onthetrail/custommaps#fragment-1

...not outputting to a garmin but it appears your 'MapsnTrax' reads these files.

 

[Teemore]

Thanks jon_m, will have a good look at this tonight and see how I go, will let you know how I get on.
Much appreciated, Tom