[gps-talkusers] Re: GPS receivers
- From: "Don Bishop" <donbishop49@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 05 Jun 2004 16:37:20 -0700
Mike,
Thanks for your explanation regarding Sendero's receiver selection
considerations.
The various criteria you discuss makes it easier to understand some of the
differences, plusses and minuses, and trade-offs in the receivers. Also, I've
wondered why there are separate receiver option selections, and your discussion
of the Magellan quirk clears this and makes the whole business a lot less
misterious.
Bring on verson 3!!!
Don
On Sat, 05 Jun 2004 13:14:26 -0700, Michael May wrote:
It has been fun to sit back and see what people have to contribute about
the various receivers. I'll add a few points.
We would have just had one generic GPS receiver option in the menu if the
Magellan receivers hadn't had one annoying quirk. When you stop moving, the
direction of travel resets to North 0 degrees. I haven't found other brands
that do this. The others retain the direction of travel, even when you stop
moving.
For the Magellan, we had to write some code which captured the last
direction of travel when a person came to a stop and to maintain that
direction on the BrailleNote until the user started to move again.
Otherwise, all your relative directions where out of whack.
The option that says Garmin actually works with Magellan or any other
receiver I have tried. Try it with a Magellan and you'll see what I mean
about the direction of travel when you stop moving. You'll see some changes
to the GPS receiver section of the Options menu in Version 3.
Chip is correct that we don't want to officially support all receivers
because then we would have to know how to configure them, how the buttons
were laid out, etc. We write a Getting Started guide for receivers we
support as well as converting the PDF manuals into text format. Everyone
should have that copyrighted Getting Started document in the documents
folder of their CF card or it would be emailed if a receiver was ordered
separately.
I first started evaluating the Earthmate after Chip talked about it on this
list. It is a bit more complicated if one uses it with a serial cradle as
BrailleNote users must. An extra cable is required and a means then of
attaching the receiver to the shoulder strap is required. We currently use
an elastic band because that keeps a low profile and it covers the small
receiver so people on the street don't notice it so much. This might
address your issue John G. Size, convenience, reliability, cost and
performance all go into the evaluation of receivers. Using receivers in
bus, train and pedestrian settings are considered.
Not all GPS antennas are equal. Between Gil and I, we have a very large
selection of receivers. Most have flat patch-style antennas, like the
Earthmate, and they are a bit sensitive to their orientation to the
satellites. The omni directional antenna in some of the Magellan receivers
has its advantage. Many of the receivers have friction fit connectors,
which are not suitable for active pedestrian use. We might have used the
Garmin Etrex receivers if they didn't have a friction-fit interface cable
that would come off very easily.
There are a lot of trade offs when it comes to recommending a GPS receiver.
There isn't one obvious solution. The good news is that we are doing this
evaluation for you so everyone doesn't have to own a different receiver for
every day of the week.
Mike
Michael G. May
CEO Sendero Group
Developers and distributors of BrailleNote GPS
Now distributing BrailleNote, VoiceNote, Miniguide, The Tissot Silen-T
tactile watch and the ID Mate, bar code reader
MikeMay@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.SenderoGroup.com
(530) 757-6800, Fax (530) 757-6830, Mobile (530) 304-0007
Sendero Group, LLC
1118 Maple Lane, Davis, CA 95616-1723, USA
Latitude, 38 33 9.239 North
Longitude, 121 45 40.145 West
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