Why you shouldn’t use Smart Phones for Backcountry Navigation

Well, my grand plan is to take my iPhone 4G and use it as my camera, gps, postholer journaling device, and then for other fun things like music and podcasts. I've decided to get a Suntactics solar charger. It's expensive, but it's powerful enough to charge the phone directly and in less time. I am not an engineer, so I am a little nervous about my solar charger evaluation capacity, but I'm going for it!

I will still bring and compass and Erik the Black's JMT Atlas. I'm mostly using the GPS to obtain my coordinates for my postholer.com journal. I tried the free Gaia and had trouble getting a GPS signal. I also found the topo maps to be a little bit old. I later bought MotionX GPS on sale! I like it better, but the downloading of the maps for longer treks can be tedious.

The journaling of my trip is really important to me and don't feel like I'd finish the project with just a pen and pad, so going high tech is my plan.

Terri,

At 7 oz, that Suntactics sCharger-5 really looks quite interesting. I’ll be very interested in hearing how it actually performs for you.

$140 for a 5-watt solar charger is extraordinarily high-priced.

The standard price for a solar charger is $10 per watt for small ones, and $5 per watt for big ones. Really big ones are cheaper than $5 per watt.

–B.G.–

$140 for a 5-watt solar charger is extraordinarily high-priced.

Also keep in mind that at 5 volt output it has a built in charge controller of some sort, and wiring for USB. Pretty nice looking unit. At almost $30 per watt it is expensive.

If I were interested in a small portable unit, I would take this instead of the amorphous cell crap that people are trying to use for backpacking. If someone is interested in the flexible panels, they are amorphous cells. The cheapest to build, and the output decreases very quickly especially in the first few months of use.

There's nothing wrong with using a smart phone for backcountry navigation if it's used sensibly, which means in conjunction with a map and compass.

I can see the benefits of a smart phone for some people, especially on long hikes… aside from GPS. But I think I could make better use of a Kindle for a thru hike. And I do see the value of a GPS for some trips.

The only app I have seen that would be truly useful to me is this one :)

"If I were interested in a small portable unit, I would take this instead of the amorphous cell crap that people are trying to use for backpacking. If someone is interested in the flexible panels, they are amorphous cells. The cheapest to build, and the output decreases very quickly especially in the first few months of use."

Go ahead and tell us what you really think, Nick!

I agree. Amorphous cell solar panels are less expensive, but their initial performance is less than a mono-crystalline panel. Then, for some reason they seem to age quicker than mono-crystalline, somewhat unpredictably.

Amorphous is better than nothing, but if you are going to the cost and trouble to carry something like that for a couple of hundred miles, maybe you would want to get something with more suds for a given weight, even if it costs a bit more.

Charge controllers can be important. However, on a tiny 5-watt rig charging a cell phone or something, the simplest charge controller is sufficient. Charge controllers get a lot more important on a 100-watt rig or higher.

–B.G.–

The free iPhone app GPS Tracker works as a poor man's SPOT. Friends and family can check your progress or your location live whenever you activate the app. It can update on a map on Facebook, your own BLOG, web page or instamapper page.

Doug, I'll make sure to post my experience.

Nick, I was hoping you would chime in. I knew you understood solar stuff pretty well from my PUX days. I'm an avid researcher, but my electrical capacity has always been low, as demonstrated by my ASVAB score some 25 years ago! You are making me feel better about my choice.

Bob, I know it's expensive, but this is a once in a life time journey for me (leaving family for 3 weeks) and I'm trying to get something that is reliable and can handle a southbound journey. Hopefully it will work out for me. Aside from your opinion about the cost, I know you too understand solar stuff, so any assessment or advice outside of the cost thing is greatly appreciated.

Dale, does GPS Tracker work without data/cell service? MotionX GPS cost me $1, so I'm happy there, but a poor-man's spot would be fun too (since I have the technology). Ok guys, I do use Facebook – don't hold it against me!

1. Do today's new generation Smart Phones get GPS satellite signals DIECTLY from the satellites or does the info still route thru the cellular network as they originally did?

2. Do the Smart Phone GPS apps have the detail of, say Garmin or Magellan maps?

3. Do the Smart Phones' GPS antennas get satellite signals even close to the speed and strength in deep woods as the current dedicated handheld GPS units?

"1. Do today's new generation Smart Phones get GPS satellite signals DIECTLY from the satellites or does the info still route thru the cellular network as they originally did?"

Maybe, or maybe not. Different hardware devices work differently and with different network services. You really need to read the fine print on your device to see what it is doing. Many current Smart Phones do have full GPS receiver hardware onboard. Some of them use network services to 'assist' the GPS receiver and speed it along. One small problem on a Smart Phone is that the user may not know exactly where the tiny GPS antenna is on the device, and it needs to be pointed upward to get the best results. A larger antenna on a dedicated handheld GPS receiver is normally better, and that will show itself when you get into difficult reception situations.

"2. Do the Smart Phone GPS apps have the detail of, say Garmin or Magellan maps?"

Lots of GPS receivers and Smart Phones use the same TIGER map data. Then there are others that have newer maps that are more updated. It's a crap shoot.

"3. Do the Smart Phones' GPS antennas get satellite signals even close to the speed and strength in deep woods as the current dedicated handheld GPS units?"

I will claim that they are close, but the user may or may not see the difference. For one thing, a dedicated handheld GPS receiver has some pretty snazzy software with better heuristics, so it will have the potential to perform somewhat better. Most GPS users wouldn't know good performance if it bit them in the butt, however.

–B.G.–

1. My iPhone can get a GPS lock without cell/data service. I have found that some apps (and iPhone generations) are better than others at getting this lock. My understanding is that iPhone's have both the A-GPS and regular GPS, but I can't confirm.

2. I really like the detail that the MotionX app provides. I'm not a regular GPS user, but it's at least down to 1:24 topo map view. Gaia GPS uses old topo maps, sot it's for sure down to that level. I can provide a JPG, if someone doesn't mind schooling me on how that works?!

3. Can't answer this one, but probably not.

"Dale, does GPS Tracker work without data/cell service? MotionX GPS cost me $1, so I'm happy there, but a poor-man's spot would be fun too (since I have the technology). Ok guys, I do use Facebook – don't hold it against me!"

Terry, CPS Tracker does not need data/cell service nor do most of the hiking GPS apps. I also think you are correct that iPhones have both the A-GPS and regular GPS. Unfortunately MotionX GPS only works with an internet connection.

MotionX works without cell service to acquire your location (and very well at least at Murietta Falls), you just have to have internet service to download the map. Sounds like GPS tracker has the same capabilities.

Thanks for the app info., Dale. I have been looking around a bit. I really want to be able to dowload my map before going in because there is usually not cell service when I am using GPS.

Using Backcountry Navigator on my Samsung galaxy 2 Skyrocket with the accuterra maps is very useful for quickly finding my location without cell reception (GPS receiver only). I also like the Sat images with small tiles.
Extended and extra batteries allow multiple days usage, but I do not track for hours as the battery will drain.
Nice to have the rare occasion of cell reception calling back home.
Nice to have a decent camera.
Can be used for books, but I did not test the battery life.
Can load scans of books, trail descriptions etc.
Can take notes.
Phone with standard battery weighs 4.7 oz, with the extended battery (almost double the charge) its 5.4oz. Screen is 4.5" (very helpful for nav) camera is 8mp.