GPS Devices

[jfc731]

I did a search typing GPS and read many informative posts.

It seems from what I have read that the route for the Camino Frances is well marked and I hope that is true.

QUESTION: Even so, in doing some research, I have wondered if my iPhone will do the trick using any number of apps or is having a hand-held GPS device, i.e., Garmin something necessary? Getting from Point A to Point B is good to know but what about elevation profile?

Any thoughts and/or advice you are willing to share is appreciated. Thank you.

 

[trecile]

Your phone and apps will suffice. Both Wise Pilgrim and Buen Camino apps have elevation profiles.

Here's an example from the Buen Camino app

 

[jfc731]

Thank you for the reply and the information.

 

[duncanwhyte]

A dedicated GPS device is not essential for a Camino, as they are already very well marked and mapped. A phone has all you need.

Where a GPS device becomes useful is in adding extra detail at precise coordinates. If you wander off trail, you can find your way back to the original gpx path. Or if you wish to bushwhack and establish a new trail. The device then logs the new route.

If you can find a basic GPS device second hand or such to use for fun, all well and good. But you won't need to splash out big time for a Camino.

Like many of today's things to get, your imagined use is sometimes more than the device's application.

 

[dougfitz]

I carry a GPS, and will continue to do so. But I generally don't use it for navigation on the camino routes in Spain and Portugal. Modern phone apps are more than adequate for that, either general purpose navigation apps or specialist navigation apps. I do use my GPS on other pilgrimage routes for navigation, as well as for maintaining an accurate record of my walk.

My preferences are:

• general purpose navigation - OSMAnd+ this is the paid for mapping app from Open Street Maps, but I also have the CNIG* (Spanish mapping agency} app and will use Google Maps to find places in towns and cities. I started using the OSMAnd+ app because I was able to download the mapping data and then use the app without having to use a mobile data connexion. These days I buy a mobile plan with a fair amount of data, so that is less important than it used to be. Note that there are many great navigation apps around today for outdoor enthusiasts, and it seems to me that getting something you find easy to use is probably more important than details about functionality, etc.
• Camino specific apps - Wise Pilgrim and Gronze. There are several that I tried, and they all seem to do a pretty good job. The underlying functionality of these apps is pretty similar, but the Wise Pilgrim app worked best for me. There is an Android app for Gronze, but I found it just as easy to access in a web browser.

*edited to correct the acronym, thank you @Jeff Crawley

 

[jfc731]

A dedicated GPS device is not essential for a Camino, as they are already very well marked and mapped. A phone has all you need.

Where a GPS device becomes useful is in adding extra detail at precise coordinates. If you wander off trail, you can find your way back to the original gpx path. Or if you wish to bushwhack and establish a new trail. The device then logs the new route.

If you can find a basic GPS device second hand or such to use for fun, all well and good. But you won't need to splash out big time for a Camino.

Like many of today's things to get, your imagined use is sometimes more than the device's application.

Thank you for the reply and the information as I do intend to go off the beaten path on occasion, and since my use would be for the Camino and limited to this I appreciate the suggestion of buying second hand.

 

[jfc731]

I carry a GPS, and will continue to do so. But I generally don't use it for navigation on the camino routes in Spain and Portugal. Modern phone apps are more than adequate for that, either general purpose navigation apps or specialist navigation apps. I do use my GPS on other pilgrimage routes for navigation, as well as for maintaining an accurate record of my walk.

My preferences are:

• general purpose navigation - OSMAnd+ this is the paid for mapping app from Open Street Maps, but I also have the CNG (Spanish mapping agency} app and will use Google Maps to find places in towns and cities. I started using the OSMAnd+ app because I was able to download the mapping data and then use the app without having to use a mobile data connexion. These days I buy a mobile plan with a fair amount of data, so that is less important than it used to be. Note that there are many great navigation apps around today for outdoor enthusiasts, and it seems to me that getting something you find easy to use is probably more important than details about functionality, etc.
• Camino specific apps - Wise Pilgrim and Gronze. There are several that I tried, and they all seem to do a pretty good job. The underlying functionality of these apps is pretty similar, but the Wise Pilgrim app worked best for me. There is an Android app for Gronze, but I found it just as easy to access in a web browser.

Thank you for the reply and the options available.

 

[Michael Mattalo]

I did a search typing GPS and read many informative posts.

It seems from what I have read that the route for the Camino Frances is well marked and I hope that is true.

QUESTION: Even so, in doing some research, I have wondered if my iPhone will do the trick using any number of apps or is having a hand-held GPS device, i.e., Garmin something necessary? Getting from Point A to Point B is good to know but what about elevation profile?

Any thoughts and/or advice you are willing to share is appreciated. Thank you.

I’ve used the Buen Camino app. It is very good at GPS location and elevation. When in doubt, I did find myself using my phone as somewhat of a divining rod walking in many directions to see if I were in the right path

 

[jfc731]

I’ve used the Buen Camino app. It is very good at GPS location and elevation. When in doubt, I did find myself using my phone as somewhat of a divining rod walking in many directions to see if I were in the right path

Thank you for the reply. I have this app on my phone now as it seems like one of the recommended apps.

 

[pjacobi]

Some stages of the Camino have *multiples* path to the same destination. You need to have some type of guidebook or other information that describes each path and their advantages and disadvantages.

Some blindly follow the main path which is often the shortest along a major road, then complain about the traffic. By choosing the alternate paths carefully, it will yield a completely different peaceful experience, but you may need to walk a few extra kilometers.


-Paul

 

[Jeff Crawley]

From a purely technical standpoint a dedicated GPSr is far better than a smartphone.

A DGPSr has one job and does it well. A smartphone has to share its resources.

I have a 10 year old Garmin which runs on 2 standard AA batteries giving me about 30 hours of use from a set of batteries - say 3 walking days. I load it with freely available Open Street Maps* which include contours - worldwide coverage is available. It weighs 150g and hangs happily on the shoulder strap of my pack. It uses both the American GPS and the Russian GLONASS satellite systems - newer versions use the EU Galileo system too

My Android smartphone will run numerous GPS and mapping apps but runs hot to the touch and will need to be charged every day as it was not designed to be a GPS running all of the time. You can extend the run time of your phone batteries by tweaking the settings - RTM. As far as I am aware smartphones will first use cell towers to locate you and then satellites kick in so it's not as good a system as far as accuracy is concerned if cell towers are sparse - remember the military use DGPSr not smartphone technology to target their munitions!

Having said all that you're not crossing the Gobi desert and unless you're like @dougfitz and I that like to play with recorded tracks there's no need to buy a device specifically for the Camino just "run what you brung" as they say at race meetings - you don't really need any kind of mapping, just follow the trail of toilet paper and you'll reach Santiago.

Either way have a great Camino.

*The CNIG maps Doug refers to are works of art - (CNG just gives you the location of natural gas filling stations)

 

[Rita Flower]

The are a number of options for the ‘map advanced’ people as previously mentioned.
However all I use is the markers in the Way, and the map function on the Camino Ninja app to see where I am. The Camino Ninja app opens up onto where you are at that very moment rather than the beginning of the route every time - as some other apps do. Today it tells me I am in Sydney and the red line of Camino Francés is a long way away.
While a good guidebook will give you the most detailed info, the other Camino apps and Gronze give useful summaries of points is interest and alternate paths.
I have also used Ride with GPS to map my actual walk and record actual km’s.
Buen Camino

 

[trecile]

The Camino Ninja app opens up onto where you are at that very moment rather than the beginning of the route every time - as some other apps do.

That doesn't happen when I use the Wise Pilgrim or Buen Camino apps.

 

[Richard Smith]

We found if we wandered off the CF accidently then locals would call out to us and indicate te way.
And one time when we wanted to walk off-trail and over a hill to answer nature's call with some privacy, all the pilgrims behind alerted us we were going te wrong way.
I did get lost for about 15 minutes in the dark early one morning, just had to backtrack to the last yellow arrow and then find the path forward.

 

[jfc731]

That doesn't happen when I use the Wise Pilgrim or Buen Camino apps.

Camino Ninja app I was not aware of so thank you for bringing that to my attention.

 

[jfc731]

We found if we wandered off the CF accidently then locals would call out to us and indicate te way.
And one time when we wanted to walk off-trail and over a hill to answer nature's call with some privacy, all the pilgrims behind alerted us we were going te wrong way.
I did get lost for about 15 minutes in the dark early one morning, just had to backtrack to the last yellow arrow and then find the path forward.

I love that the locals are helpful as you indicate.

 

[jfc731]

The are a number of options for the ‘map advanced’ people as previously mentioned.
However all I use is the markers in the Way, and the map function on the Camino Ninja app to see where I am. The Camino Ninja app opens up onto where you are at that very moment rather than the beginning of the route every time - as some other apps do. Today it tells me I am in Sydney and the red line of Camino Francés is a long way away.
While a good guidebook will give you the most detailed info, the other Camino apps and Gronze give useful summaries of points is interest and alternate paths.
I have also used Ride with GPS to map my actual walk and record actual km’s.
Buen Camino

I am very familiar with Ride GPS which I use regularly when out for a ride and knowing that it is an option on the Camino is a splendid suggestion. Thank you.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

We found if we wandered off the CF accidently then locals would call out to us and indicate te way.
And one time when we wanted to walk off-trail and over a hill to answer nature's call with some privacy, all the pilgrims behind alerted us we were going te wrong way.
I did get lost for about 15 minutes in the dark early one morning, just had to backtrack to the last yellow arrow and then find the path forward.

Waiting for my walking buddy to get her act together one morning and I noticed an older gentleman dressed in a vest/undershirt puffing away on a cigarette as he stood in the window of his apartment. Every time a walker appeared he'd call out and gesture them to go to the right.
Well that's one way to start the day.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

As far as I am aware smartphones will first use cell towers to locate you and then satellites kick in so it's not as good a system as far as accuracy is concerned if cell towers are sparse

What I've read about this is that absent cell towers smartphone GPS apps may take a while to accurately locate you when you start the app but then things are fine. If the start-up process can connect to cell towers it gets an approximate location quickly and this speeds up the rest of the process of getting an accurate location and the cell towers are not needed anymore as long as the satellite signals are good. I'm fine with being corrected if this is wrong.

Not too long ago I had our home surveyed for elevation. The surveyors used an expensive GPS device and recorded to a tenth of a foot (1.2 inches, 3 centimeters). It may have even been more precise but the data needed to be recorded as feet and tenths above sea level.

On the other side of accuracy was the time I was in a strange city and didn't have GPS reception for some reason. My location using just cell towers was a couple of blocks off. It wasn't too bad though as Maps showed the street names and layout and the street corners had signs with street names.

 

[dougfitz]

On the other side of accuracy was the time I was in a strange city and didn't have GPS reception for some reason. My location using just cell towers was a couple of blocks off. It wasn't too bad though as Maps showed the street names and layout and the street corners had signs with street names.

Dedicated GPS units don't perform well in cluttered urban environments with narrow streets and tall buildings. I think it is because the signals from the 'visible' satellites will get bounced around on the walls, and there will be multiple, indirect, paths rather than one single, simple, direct path from the satellite to the receiver. This already happens to some extent just in the atmosphere, but is aggravated in cities. It is possible that a smartphone using a combination of satellites, cell towers and wifi will work better in those environments because it is able to use those other sources of location information.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

What I've read about this is that absent cell towers smartphone GPS apps may take a while to accurately locate you when you start the app but then things are fine. If the start-up process can connect to cell towers it gets an approximate location quickly and this speeds up the rest of the process of getting an accurate location and the cell towers are not needed anymore as long as the satellite signals are good. I'm fine with being corrected if this is wrong.

Not too long ago I had our home surveyed for elevation. The surveyors used an expensive GPS device and recorded to a tenth of a foot (1.2 inches, 3 centimeters). It may have even been more precise but the data needed to be recorded as feet and tenths above sea level.

On the other side of accuracy was the time I was in a strange city and didn't have GPS reception for some reason. My location using just cell towers was a couple of blocks off. It wasn't too bad though as Maps showed the street names and layout and the street corners had signs with street names.

I've switched off "location" on Google Maps - the monthly report kept showing me as spending an inordinate amount of time in my next door neighbour's house and never in my own . . .

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I've switched off "location" on Google Maps - the monthly report kept showing me as spending an inordinate amount of time in my next door neighbour's house and never in my own . . .

Step 2. Use Google to search for a divorce lawyer ... just in case.