Apolo, is there better imagery on D&G area, I can not access Bing, however I am frustrated with Google Earth that shows the region in very low resulution with a really extensive cloud cover
The problem is not Google, but that none of the companies that Google and Microsoft (and the others) buy the aerial imagery from have not overflown this area and have suitable hi-res imagery to sell them. At least, I am assuming this to be the case since none of the big players has this area in hi-res, and I reckon one of them would have bought the pics first, leaving the other to play catch-up.
Although it doesn't apply in D&G, I would still advise zooming into areas that appear to have cloud cover!
The reason being that the higher altitude may show clouds, but the low-level pics are are taken below cloud level, so the clouds can magically disappear if you zoom in. This is particularly true of Aberdeen and the northeast, which I moaned about for years in the past, until I chanced across a high-res view when writing about one of the old wartime airfield.
D&G will no doubt come - philosophically... somewhere has to be last
Or I prefer Pastmap - but you need to register (that's all, there's nothing else other than an username and password needed) - I tend to fire this up as it hooks into some more info that can sometimes prove useful:
The above are handy since they let you see an area on a map, with all the points recorded shown as various forms of dot - so you can quickly see if there is any point in looking in more detail, or if the area is bare.
Where you can do a simple search, or better, used the Advanced Serch that the offer, where you and input a grid ref and a search radius.
This has also been born-again in ScptlandsPlaces, where you can also do the grid ref and radius search, as well as various text options. so you can target an area:
Canmore and the map are notoriously unreliable. I have come across several shipwrecks on the tops of hills and a deer park in the middle of the Clyde estuary.
A fair number of shipwrecks are not plotted by Canmore, but come from Admiralty and other maritime sources, including amateur divers and sub-aqua clubs, and many date from the time of the wrecks themselves, so any notoriety would not be Canmore's, which merely records historic records.
The only problem I've encountered with Canmore's OWN records is that a number of their GPS fixes for (would you believe, given the original point about D&G) items on airfields, that seem to be metres adrift, which is very odd, since such fixes should be reliable nowadays.
Canmore and the map are notoriously unreliable. I have come across several shipwrecks on the tops of hills and a deer park in the middle of the Clyde estuary.
You often find that if a location is not known then they give it a two digit NGR. This happened with the Fort William Isolation / Fever Hospital. I noticed that it was shown on the other side of Loch Linnhe so started asking around and eventually got a more accurate position (and got coverage in the press!).
The only problem I've encountered with Canmore's OWN records is that a number of their GPS fixes for (would you believe, given the original point about D&G) items on airfields, that seem to be metres adrift, which is very odd, since such fixes should be reliable nowadays.
Quite a number of locations have been got from aerial photographs without anyone actually visiting the site, this is why you often find there is something there even though Canmore says otherwise - the concrete base of a building that I found at Corran has been added to the HER this week.
I have a recurring nightmare - and it revolves around the day I might buy a new GPS unit.
(I have two of the first generation Garmin units that were the first to offer mapping, the first a basemap - that means roads rather then streets- and the second streetmapping with full routing. Even for Garmin, a company based in professional ie aviation and maritime systems, it was a shock to see how relatively dumbed-down the second was.)
For simple pricing info, I use something like Amazon, though I wouldn't necessarily buy from them, just use their info to get current guidelines:
Technically, there are few UK sites to refer to (assuming you want to read more than just any of the manufacturer's own words, so again, I search the American sites that specialize in GPS handheld reviews - the obvious caution is care in comments regarding the mapping that comes in the box, which you need to check of UK/European differences.
The rest depends on your own criteria.
For example, while I'd like to go for the shiny SatNav (spit) with colour LCD and fast processing (it has to be to keep the system updated at the speed a car travels - compared to a walking only handheld, which can't), my choice still lies with a proper handheld unit. The reason is simple practicality from the battery point of view.
Proper handheld GPS are usually powered by AA batteries. I load up with rechargeable, and have a pocket full of them, so am guaranteed a day's use, and if the batteries die - just slap a freshly charged set in and carry on. While car-centric SatNav (spit) is very nice and has lots of desirable features,it will be powere by an internal, fixed, lithium rechargeable of some variety. This will not last a full day if switched on all day (to provide a track of the day's wandering), and cannot be switched over during the day, for a fresh battery. Even if it could, these would be custom lithium batteries, and would cost a small fortune, not the few pounds of a set of AA rechargeables. The other downside would be the replacement of the lithium pack - which will die one day.
I'm still biased for Garmin, but that's only because using a make like that guarantees good service (for me at least, customers service was great when needed, and they even throw trivial parts in the post for no charge), and they units I have do work from AA batteries, and from an external supply, so day's continuous use is no problem to maintain my breadcrumb trail recording the day. They also have upload and download of tracks and waypoints, and a data interface so I can use them as data sources and feed continuous position data to a PC.
Like all things, stop, sit down, think, draw up a list, look and see who makes something that matches it, then... hunt the web for the best price
Other than what you mentioned, do you have any specific or special requirements that would narrow down you choice?
Requirements are that hunting for sites of interest, coupled with OS Maps that I have accumulated over the years , to pin point the Grid reference far a particular site of interest.
I hope tp explore the Cairnryan and surroundings and pinpoint with accuracy the co-ordinates so that I can contribute to SeSco
While they are a tad more expensive than handhelds that use ordinary commercial mapping, it has been possible to get units that offer OS mapping.
Names that come to mind are s the SatMap Active 10, Garmin Colorado and Garmin Oregon GPS devices - this info is from the last time I looked, so it would be worth looking around for updated info and new models. The Garmin maps then came on SD cards, to be plugged in, but I assume they might have updated this, and included the data.
One notable point on the Garmin units was that reviewers then noted that the OS map data was full data, allowing point to point navigation on OS features. Apparently, the others were only showing the OS map as an overlay, and points on it could not be used as waypoints.
So, it's worth checking that units you look at have OS mapping options, if it's important, and you are prepared to pay the premium.
It's not something I ever felt I needed. Provided I had the lat/lon of the intended locations, and the GPS would plot a street level route, I couldn't see any point in the extra expense. One user told it was invaluable when crossing land - I reckoned he should just have opened his eyes and looked up from his GPS, and looked where he was going
Various mobile phones offer similar features, including OS mapping, but as I am not a mobile phone person, I can't offer anything useful, other than mention their existence.
Thanks again Apollo, will invesrtigate the Garmin products, as you are aware the D&G terrain is open, and as have already posted Google Earth, low res.
Memory Map do some GPS that display their OS maps under the Adventurer name. I have an earlier one which was not made by Memory Map but you could send their maps across to it, can't think of the make now but looks as if they might now just be using their own brand name on the range.
I haven't updated my Memory Maps for some years because they seem to have become more expensive than when I originally got the whole country.
I keep dreaming of something like the iPad, A4 size, weatherproof with maps preloaded and built in GPS! Perhaps one day there will something affordable but can't see it happening soon. Though with the easy availability of online maps perhaps the prices will drop to compete.
One important consideration is how easy it is to send waypoints from the PC to the unit, I can very quickly mark positions on a map and send a file to the Garmin. I have a TomTom in the car and it is a PITA to do the same, I have to go through a couple of conversions.
But you might end up paying an arm and a leg as they hold their prices to the catalogue unless you are lucky and there is clearance on - you absolutely must check the web for current prices of commercial goods like GPS or other electronics, as they can nearly always be had for less elsewhere, as prices fall (and the catalogue lags behind).
I'd have to say I bought all my GPS online, and paid a little over half of the retail or "over the counter price".
Don't shoot the messenger. I only offer an alternative to someone who is coming for an all too short holiday and may not want to wait on mailorder. Prices start at less than £20 as far as I remember.
Only alerting about Maplin pricing policy, just in case
But the last post does need to be expanded a little.
The £20 does not refer to a handheld GPS as such, but a "director" with limited functions that gives positions details, and will provide an arrow that point towards a preloaded destination.
Still, not bad for £20 - that would have been over £100 in the mid-1990s, and that £100 in 1990 £s too
Basic handheld GPS with usable functionality would be something like the Garmin eTrex, which will start around £80, is good value, and can be had in smarter version with more toys and features built in, for an increasing price, of course.
For info, the units with the extended mapping facilities, which were raised above, will take you well through the £200 barrier, and quickly reach the £300 level.
Not quite the same but don't forget the various GPS Trackers available for logging where you have been so you Geocode your photographs. You can do this with a GPS but the trackers are smaller and most have an integral rechargeable battery that charges from the PC when you download the track.
There are various programs that will Geocode photographs from the track.
Very good habit to get into so you can always find where you took a photograph.
An interesting development has popped up, with GPS clearly giving a revival to the old system of dead-reckoning.
Starting from a known point, you accurately plot your position using gyros, and other sensors, in order to work out your current position - just like the old days of sailing by the sun and stars, only a bit more high-tech.
In this case, the application is to possibly use the method to keep track of soldiers, as they can lose their GPS signal on the battlefield - these signals are fragile under the best of circumstances, and easily lost, or as we learned a little earlier, jammed altogether, or spoofed. Even tree cover can kill things altogether.
There were various systems tried before, commercially, but they soon lost accuracy, thanks to mapping errors in the pre-GPS days, drift in the gyros, and slip between the road and the tyre (in vehicle applications).
That said, the US used such a system, with gyros that reputedly cost $300,000 apiece, to guide ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) to the targets, and the error reported was in the order of centimetres after a flight into orbit, and return to their earth side target. The makers/builders claimed that there was simply no error in the system, in the sense that there was no longer anything that could be done to improve the system, and it guidance to the target point.
Not surprising when the cost of ONE gyro in the nuclear missile guidance system was $300,000 and you'd need at least three (redundant system design requirements suggest that would be more than that) and then there would still be the cost of the rest of the guidance system, the missile itself, and then the multiple nuclear warheads, and not forgetting the decoys, carried to divert the anti-missile missiles and guarantee the arrival of at least some of the warheads.
Clearly, we can expect to this system fitted to the dreaded SatNav in cars, so they can work in cities with high-rise buildings that block GPS signals, and also tunnels.
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