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Cellphone GPS as alternative
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Home › Forums › General Forums › General Lightweight Backpacking Discussion › Cellphone GPS as alternative
- This topic has 29 replies, 21 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 8 months ago by Andrew z.
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Jun 30, 2018 at 11:45 pm #3544652
Ditto. This is very helpful.
Jul 1, 2018 at 2:24 pm #3544689@ David C. Â Thanks, I was not aware of that Apple program. Â My phone is out of warranty so battery replacement is $29, still way cheaper than a new phone. Â But apparently the replacement battery has to be ordered and will not be here in time for my trip. Â So maybe later.
Aug 14, 2018 at 8:21 pm #3551379I’m looking into a Garmin InReach Mini, largely for significant-other’s peace of mind on my solo trips. At that point does it make sense to just have / carry the larger Inreach rather than have the Mini and be using my Iphone for maps?
I don’t want to buy the bigger device, but I don’t want to carry two devices either….
Aug 15, 2018 at 5:58 pm #3551502I have used my Samsung GS5 as my sole gps on a couple of trips and am totally happy with it’s performance. It is quite water resistant, and has an easily replaceable battery, so you can carry a spare or two at 1.6 Oz ea. With cell connection turned off and using the camera and Viewranger app for tracking during the day, one battery will last for a couple of days. So this is my camera and navigation device. I just bought an InReach Mini, so it is a perfect fit to pair with my phone as well.
Hardware wise, I’m pretty sure there’s not much difference in capability between a cell phone and stand alone gps device. They both use integrated patch antennas on an internal circuit board. You would only be able to do better than this if you had an external amplified antenna, but no mass market devices that I’ve found have such things. Devices that do use such a setup are high-end INS (inertial navigation systems) for aircraft/drones.
Aug 15, 2018 at 6:34 pm #3551505Thanks Craig. I think Ill just breakdown and buy in Inreach Mini as planned. I think I was looking for someone to talk me out of a new purchase even though it seems like a smart decision / pairing.
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