World travel

grahambutler · Occasional Visitor Joined: Feb 13, 2008 Posts: 3

Hey folks,

I need to get hold of a GPS unit relatively quickly as I fly out on the 28th February to begin a bit of a world tour :D

My primary requirement is datalogging, but there will be the odd occassion where I'll be driving (Central America for example). However, some of these areas are a bit dodgy, so I'm not sure of the wisdom of having something on display even when driving.

It won't be something I rely on totally but more as a backup (the datalogging is for retrospectively mapping my journeys for the hell of it, ie to stick through EasyTrail or on my website).

I will have an Asus EeePC with me, which is running Ubuntu Linux (and has several USB ports but no serial)

I mention that because I don't necessarily need a unit that does everything itself - if dataloggers can be used with Linux software to determine one's position at a given time, then the two could possibly be used together in a pinch. That said, I'm not ruling out those with a screen and maps either, if they're recommended anyway.

Battery life is important, as is a preference for non-proprietary batteries - simply because I don't always know when I'll have power available to charge.

Any thoughts? Apart from "could you be any more vague?" :D

Prodnose · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 28, 2005 Posts: 42

Hi,
Consider the ZyCast 289. NMEA data in .txt file format can be recorded to the supplied 1 GB SD card and periodically uploaded to the computer for storage. It does not have the navigational facilities of a hand-held GPS but does display current Lat and Long in WGS84 format and height. The battery can be recharge using the supplied 12 volt cigar lighter plug.

grahambutler · Occasional Visitor Joined: Feb 13, 2008 Posts: 3

Presumably it has a regular plug too? Car's only going to be about 2x1 month periods in the whole 12 month trip :D

Prodnose · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 28, 2005 Posts: 42

Mine came with car 12v input and UK 13A plug - voltage input is 100 - 250 v @ 50/60 hz. If you decide to go down this route, check that AC charger in included as I believe that some kits don't include it. The charger lead is a standard USB to miniUSB but I can't use my PC USB socket to charge the battery.

Prodnose · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 28, 2005 Posts: 42

PS: The battery can be charged from my mobile phone charger which has a miniUSB plug. I suspect that the PC does not meet the full USB implementation cannot supply the current a common problem.

robertn · Frequent Visitor Joined: Feb 06, 2005 Posts: 564

Will you have access to power every night?, and if so, do you want to be bothered plugging in the GPS every night. At many places, you may find power is only availible in communal areas, do you want to be leaving your GPS alone for several hours while it charges, as other people covet your expensive toys?

AA batterys are the only practical soution, you use rechargeables to save time, and can cheaply have a few days or even 2 weeks worth with you, and standard cells are avalible to purchase virtually everywhere when the rechargeables were not recharged because A) you forgot, or B) you could not be bothered, or C) No mains was avalible.

I like the SD storage approach, solves the problem of Linux drivers for propritory interfaces, and means you can keep recording forever so don't need to bother downloading the GPS every day - something I doubt you will want to do when traveling, assuming your laptop batteries are not flat (see above).

grahambutler · Occasional Visitor Joined: Feb 13, 2008 Posts: 3

Probably not, no, hence me mentioning non-proprietaries in the first post ;)

It does look like it's the best bet though, particularly the SD card aspect.

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