Loading up your sat nav.

[Ian_Wannabe]

Hey - might be a silly question but thats what this forum is for but....

I just had a thought. If you have a GPS that you use in your car that has the ability to upload different information onto its database, can you download UK charts and use it as an aid to the normal watch/compass method of navigating?

Is there a website that provides charts that can be uploaded into a "normal" GPS system that you might use in your car?

and before anyone blasts me Im not wanting to use a car sat nav to navigate across the country as soul means of getting from A to B - i'm just curious.

Thanking you =)

[Fly Stimulator]

If you happen to be using a PDA for navigation in your car you can use it to run the likes of PocketFMS (http://www.pocketfms.com/) or MemoryMap (http://www.memory-map.co.uk/) in the air. The latter can display CAA charts and airfield diagrams (as can the former with a bit of home scanning) but I find that typical PDA screen size and brightness means that their versions of real charts are not that easy to read unless you're zoomed in so far that you then have no idea of the wider situation.

BTW, I'm intrigued by the "soul means of getting from A to B" - presumably this wouldn't require an aeroplane at all, although perhaps celestial navigation would be appropriate! ;)

[Ian_Wannabe]

ha cheers

So would I just load say pocketfms onto the memory card in my GPS and install it in there?

[FullyFlapped]

BTW, I'm intrigued by the "soul means of getting from A to B"
Just slap a Marvin Gaye CD in, that'll do it ... :p;)

Ian, read Fly's answer more carefully. As he says, you could only do what you suggest (i.e. with PocketFMS) if you're running a PDA as your GPS.

FF :ok:

[Ian_Wannabe]

Pah - I know bugger all about GPS!! :confused:

[Slopey]

If you've not bought a PocketPC or Smartphone equipped with GPS, but have a TomTom/NavMan/Garmin all in one "sealed box" type unit - then you can't replace the maps (except for uploading additonal countries or road map updates).

Some Aviation/Marine units also include road maps for use on the ground, but it doesn't work the other way - Joe public booting around the M25 in his or her jalopy does'nt want to swap different maps in/out - they just want directions.

Which device have you got? But I suspect it'll be a "nope".

[Cusco]

Can't help thinking that it's better to have 2 separate units: one for aviation and one for the road.

Garmin 296/Tom Tom:.

Job done:

Safe navigating

Cusco.:rolleyes::rolleyes:

[Ian_Wannabe]

Yarp, just curious

[FullyFlapped]

Pah - I know bugger all about GPS!!
Right. Ok then, thanks for taking time to ask the question. :ugh::ugh::ugh:

FF :ugh:

[Ian_Wannabe]

You, fully flapped are whats making pprune a place where you have to think "will I be laughed at?" before asking a question.

I know bugger all about GPS hence asking the questions about it.

Ofcourse you know everything in the world and therefore you have the right to look down at other people for asking questions.

I hope you don't apply this attitude to your flying :D

[IO540]

IW

Ignore those taking the micky out of your spelling mistakes.

As far as I know, none of the car GPS units are any good for aviation. But, as posted already by someone, if you happen to be using a general purpose PDA in the car then there is some software you can run on that which is usable for aviation.

PocketFMS (http://www.pocketfms.com/) and Memory Map (http://www.memory-map.co.uk/) are two examples.

Whether these are usable or not is a matter of opinion, and it does depend on the PDA and how big the screen is. Personally I would not use a normal PDA for anything serious in this respect, on grounds of software reliability (the pocket/pc operating system has a tendency to crash) and ergonomics (little fiddly buttons, etc).

If you want a box which does both road and air nav then look at the Garmin 296 or 496.

[FullyFlapped]

You, fully flapped are whats making pprune a place where you have to think "will I be laughed at?" before asking a question.

I know bugger all about GPS hence asking the questions about it.

Ofcourse you know everything in the world and therefore you have the right to look down at other people for asking questions.

I hope you don't apply this attitude to your flying

OK, we had a little joke at the expense of your spelling. My sincere apologies if your delicate sensibilities have been offended.

As to the rest, I gave you a straight answer to your question, as did several others. The expectation being that you'd then come back and tell us what you've got or were thinking of getting. Your reply

Pah - I know bugger all about GPS!!
implied to me that you couldn't be arsed to tell us whether or not you were running a PDA, Garmin or whatever. If I misread that, I apologise again.

Perhaps you'd care to enlighten me ?

FF :*

[brucek]

My question is on a related matter. I am looking at a navman S80 or S90, or TomTom equivalent for automobile use. If I purchase a product in Australia it comes with an Australian map data base.

I plan to visit Hawaii next Easter but don't want to pay ~A$300 for a North Amercian map pack just for seven days when I only want to use it for two islands (Honolulu and Maui) for a week!

Does anyone have any sugestions as to how I may be able to get arround this problem please?

Cheers

[oscarmike]

Hi Bruce

If you are renting a car in Honolulu and Maui you may find some car rental companies offer satnav units as an optional add-on.

Hope this helps.

[Major Major]

I've got an N95 with the Symbian S60 operating system which rules out Memory Map - unfortunately.

For those of you without Windows phones, this looks good but is OS map only by the looks of things, so no nice CAA charts but very nice OS maps;
http://www.viewranger.com/index.php

PocketFMS also runs Windows o/s only.

Given that the Windows pocket PC o/s has been around for a while and the Symbian o/s is becoming widespread, I rather think it's just a case of waiting around for someone to port over the CAA maps...

[BackPacker]

I plan to visit Hawaii next Easter but don't want to pay ~A$300 for a North Amercian map pack just for seven days when I only want to use it for two islands (Honolulu and Maui) for a week!

Does anyone have any sugestions as to how I may be able to get arround this problem please?

I guess this answer is just a little too obvious... Buy paper maps...! They will cost only 10 or 20 dollars or so (or use the free maps that come with the rental car) and will do the job adequately. I don't think Honolulu and Maui are so large and have such complicated road systems that you cannot drive around them without a satnav.

(On a related note, one of the stories we heard over the holiday period was people in eg. France calling the local Dutch AAA assistance desk with the complaint that their TomTom had broken, they had no idea where they were and needed help. Response from the AAA desk: find a fuel station and buy a MAP!)

[brucek]

Touche'! I didn't count on a reply of this nature. However you are quite right. I'm not buying a GPS to take to Hawaii, it was just part of my own justification for doing so. I agree that a GPS is not necesary, at any time or situ in reality. It is however 'a nice to have'. Although I wonder how many pilots will be able to navigate VFR without one in 10-20 years time?:confused:
I'm still interested to hear from anyone with info about GPS maps and how to negate or reduce the map pack update cost.
Cheers

[malcolmf]

Brucek
I have a Garmin Nuvi 310d with an SD card slot, I have bought a card from Garmin with the US maps on which I can then use in the States. It was about $130 in NYC.
Re: airborne use, I have used it on the flight deck of a 747 and it works fine, it shows all the roads and towns below and lakes and rivers, gives you an up to date position and a groundspeed. Obviously not for proper navigating but could be a help. You can also load custom POIs so I don't see why you couldn't load VORs, airfields etc. Battery lasts about 4 hours.
The max speed log looks pretty good, it's 580mph on mine, beat that Clarkson:)
If the CAA were really serious about avoiding airspace incursion they would supply suitable maps for free.