Gps satnav or smartphone for n africa ? Help please

[Michael A S]

Planning a trip down through Morocco and W Sahara/Mauritania next year I need advice on nav systems please. For these (some tarmac but some offroad) areas what system gives the best coverage on a good-sized screen as I am without a navigator?

I have a small pocket garmin GPS for walking but its hard to read on the move. Would a good Satnav do the job out there? If there is a current thread on this sorry but please point me there! Smartphones - android or apple ??
Confused.

 

[yogi]

Your not the only poor sod still in the dark about all this. I'm still navigating using topographic maps and a compass for walking. And a paper map for driving.

Could anybody also recommend some sort of introductory thing online about GPS, way points, nav systems etc? I just don't really know where to begin

 

[Michael A S]

Great Yogi - thanks for the interest...........But I was really hoping for a reply from someone who knew **se from elbow on these things! Living in hope.

 

[vrecha]

Both, a phone or a specialized GPS system can do the job.
What will be best for you depends mainly on you and your navigational skills and practices.

On the road and well known pistes (described in Chris Scotts books and similar guidebooks) a phone with some reasonable software is surely adequate choice and is a far cheaper option as a system.

For more serious explorations, dedicated GPS systems are the way to go. But then again, if you really needed this you wouldn't be questioning this.

As a question of software and maps, I don't know much about what is on offer in the area of smartphones. I'm using one old old Garmin WorldMap on my Garmin plotter and the map of Western Sahara I'm working on on my Lowrance plotter. And I use printed French IGN and some Russian topographic maps (can be found on net).

 

[yogi]

Hi Vrecha,

I've got to grips with the idea of downloading and printing maps, have done this before.

I don't dispute for a moment that real GPS is the way forward, but I only really discovered the world of computers and the internet in 2006 when all my interactions with the Dept Agriculture suddenly had to be on the inter web not on hundreds of sheets of hand written paper. I'd never even had an email address before that!!

What I've never been able to find is a basic introduction to the world of GPS, terms like 'route marker caching' might as well be in Afrikaans for all they mean to me. I've found lots of resources on line of trails etc but I haven't got a damn clue how you take that information and actually get from A to B via C,D,E.

I understand what GPS is as a location plotter, I can obviously see how that can be tied into getting from point A to point B, I've no problem with that on a map(s).

Where would you recommend to start?

 

[yogi]

Great Yogi - thanks for the interest...........But I was really hoping for a reply from someone who knew **se from elbow on these things! Living in hope.

Sorry Michael, I'm hoping two of us will drum up more interest than one with this question. I think you know more about it than me (which wouldn't be hard)

 

[Michael A S]

Thanks Vrecha - I get the main message - smartphone option seems good enough for most overlanding but GPS better for serious off roading? As I have a small Garmin for emergencies I guess I should investigate smartphone options more. Anyone recommend android or apple phones with maps for that area? And will they work in the desert??

Yogi - we should take turns navigating each other as in blind leading etc! But I am sure there are more people out there with a some ideas on what we need . If I get any more info separately I will pm you.

 

[Cptsideways]

There are quite a few android based mapping systems out there, there is one used in the boating world with overlays of charts I'm sure you can overlay maps too.


Phones generally have very good fast GPS systems too

 

[Olazz]

Tracks 4 Africa cover Morocco & W Sahara. I've used them there and not got lost.
Need a Garmin of course, but then you have one already.

 

[Michael A S]

GPS in phones

There are quite a few android based mapping systems out there, there is one used in the boating world with overlays of charts I'm sure you can overlay maps too.


Phones generally have very good fast GPS systems too

Ah thanks for that. My confusion is that I thought phones needed either a mobile signal or wifi and did not work direct to a satellite system as does garmin. So although campsites etc may have wifi there wont be any in the outback . So whilst I may think I am heading to a campsite but end up in the wrong place.....what then - apart from paper maps & compass which I have but driving without a nav means I would prefer electronic solution if poss.

 

[Michael A S]

Tracks 4 Africa cover Morocco & W Sahara. I've used them there and not got lost.
Need a Garmin of course, but then you have one already.

Thanks Rollence - do you get Tracks 4 Africa from Garmin or where ?

 

[Olazz]

See THIS LINK

 

[SpinDrift]

Tracks4Africa is here. They have some smart phone products as well.

For Morocco you can use these maps. They are free. I don't know what Garmin you have, but if you have Mapsource or BaseCamp with it, you might be able to down load the maps in the link to a memory card and run them on the Garmin. You can do it on (some) normal Garmin street gps's like the Nuvi range - although I dont think you can do turn by turn navigation (like you would normally do with a car gps) with these maps.

 

[Bat21]

Another vote for Tracks 4 Africa

I also use OSM Generic Routable as well as the above as you can actually 'route' at street/track level.

Both of the above I run through Garmin MapSource on a JLT8404 which can also be used to hammer tent pegs in.... well not quite but you get the idea

 

[Michael A S]

See THIS LINK

Great stuff - thanks

 

[Michael A S]

Thanks Spindrift - I have a normal Garmin nuvi satnav and a hand held GPS so I guess I can try both!

 

[Michael A S]

See THIS LINK

Thanks again Rollence. It looks like T4A is the business for me via Oziexplorer probably on the Samsung Galaxy - other threads seem to say this is good kit. I can keep my "pocket" garmin gps in reserve