| cheapskate navigation system [message #146133] |
Tue, 11 October 2011 07:08  |
hertfordnc
Messages: 1164
Registered: September 2009
Location: East NC
Karma: 0
|
Senior Member |
|
|
i refuse to have a GPS in my car. I find that people rely on them so much they lose their situational awareness.
I also don't care much for smart phones. My Casio G'zone is indestructible, stays charged for days and is about as stupid as a phone can be.
But every once in a while I think a GPS might be useful.
So i dug out my Old Garmin 76, connected it to my IBM thinkpad running Linux, and downloaded some free GPS software.
It was so easy I thought it might be worth sharing with the group.
Instantly i had a detailed map on 14" screen.
I could see this on the dash of the Revcon.
Dave & Ellen Silva
Hertford, NC
76 Birchaven, 1-ton and other stuff
Currently planning the Great american Road Trip Summer 2021
It's gonna take a lot of Adderall to get this thing right.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Re: cheapskate navigation system [message #146142 is a reply to message #146133] |
Tue, 11 October 2011 08:24  |
 |
Matt Colie
Messages: 8547
Registered: March 2007
Location: S.E. Michigan
Karma: 7
|
Senior Member |
|
|
| hertfordnc wrote on Tue, 11 October 2011 08:08 |
i refuse to have a GPS in my car. I find that people rely on them so much they lose their situational awareness.
I also don't care much for smart phones. My Casio G'zone is indestructible, stays charged for days and is about as stupid as a phone can be.
But every once in a while I think a GPS might be useful.
So i dug out my Old Garmin 76, connected it to my IBM thinkpad running Linux, and downloaded some free GPS software.
It was so easy I thought it might be worth sharing with the group.
Instantly i had a detailed map on 14" screen.
I could see this on the dash of the Revcon.
|
Dave,
Did you find Peter Bennett's website?
I have used a laptop for marine navigation for years (I still have one Win98 Compaq loaded with all the Great Lakes charts in a Pelican case). (A Garmin 76 isn't old, a 38 is old.)
Where did you find charts that are usable?
I tried to do over the road navigation, but the charts available online were so poor that I found it to be useless. So, I scanned and tiled what I could get, but some of them were to distorted to be reconciled.
Thus began my history with number of mapping programs. It finally settled out to Street Atlas and Streets and Trips. The early S&T was made by and for use by programers. That didn't bother me as I got it for free, but then MS introduced their own GPS device, and it was six years before I got it to work again. By that time SA had come many miles along the way. S&T still had better charts for Canada, but SA had usable features I could not find in S&T. I still run both, but I buy a new SA every other or third year, and when we are departing on an excursion, I will get the 60-day free S$T.
As much as I hate Windows, I am sort of stuck. It is hard to find all the Linux drivers for the cheap laptops (water being what it is) that I have to stay with. Now, if Apple had a water proof (like ToughBook), I probably could not afford to buy it.
Matt
Matt & Mary Colie - Chaumière -'73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL, GMCES
Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan with OE Rear Drum Brakes with Applied Control Arms
SE Michigan - Near DTW - Twixt A2 and Detroit
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Re: cheapskate navigation system [message #146165 is a reply to message #146133] |
Tue, 11 October 2011 11:45 |
fred v
Messages: 999
Registered: April 2006
Location: pensacola, fl.
Karma: 0
|
Senior Member |
|
|
i use a Garmin and it keeps telling me to update maps. i can buy a TomTom for less than the map update. is there another way to update?
Fred V
'77 Royale RB 455
P'cola, Fl
|
|
|
|
| Re: cheapskate navigation system [message #146167 is a reply to message #146140] |
Tue, 11 October 2011 11:57 |
hertfordnc
Messages: 1164
Registered: September 2009
Location: East NC
Karma: 0
|
Senior Member |
|
|
I downloaded several but Tango seemed to work right and the others could not see my GPS. I live on a a private lane and until recently Gooogle and UPS had a hard time finding me.
So when I saw they had my street right I figured it was good enough. But i have not tested it beyond a few miles.
I use an IBM Thinkpad T42. It's about 7 years old, it was a serious machine back then. It's takes a beating. This is my second one. You can get one for about $140.
When this one croaks I'll just get another and swap the hard drive.
Ubuntu Linux is as close to Apple Elegance as one can get with a PC.
Everything works, almost every time.
I have to run Win 7 on the family PC for Adobe Lightroom becasue I still can't fit a Mac into the family budget.
Dave & Ellen Silva
Hertford, NC
76 Birchaven, 1-ton and other stuff
Currently planning the Great american Road Trip Summer 2021
It's gonna take a lot of Adderall to get this thing right.
|
|
|
|
| Re: cheapskate navigation system [message #146190 is a reply to message #146167] |
Tue, 11 October 2011 17:23 |
1275gtsport
Messages: 272
Registered: September 2009
Location: Rothesay NB
Karma: 0
|
Senior Member |
|
|
running tango on a asus EEEpc loaded with easypeasy (ubuntu based) just ran first test. made the run from Saint John NB to Halifax NS. maps were very fuzzy and no detail for street level nav. I don't think I downloaded a detailed enough map.
and agreed tango was easy to set up and finds the gps puck almost instantly. could not figure out how to get gpsdrive to see the "puck" liked the screen shots of what gpsdrive should have been.
had the 60 day trial for S&T on a larger windows machine earlier this summer for the trip to NJ. very user friendly software.
Adam Raeburn
Rothesay, NB
1976 Austin Mini
1977 GMC Palm Beach
---------------------------------------------------
Once you replace everything that is attached to something else. It will all be fixed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
GMCforum
Search
Help
Register
Login
Home
