MAPPING SYSTEM

This basically works for anyone who enjoys the outdoors and prefers not to get lost. It's not just for hikers.

A lot of marketing hype is being published around wearable Internet technologies. Many will know about Fitbits, and some will be following what Garmin, Sunto, Huawei and others are doing to add GPS capabilities to their health-tracking watches. They can cost anywhere between 300 and 1000 euros.

Look, if you're a peak athlete and you need to monitor every aspect of your breathing, pulse rate, blood pressure to the most detailed level, then feel free to ignore the rest of this post. It probably doesn't apply to you. Me, I can tell my breathing health by how much puffing and panting I'm doing. If my pulse rate is high, I probably look flushed. So, wear a Fitbit if it helps you - but don't get sucked into paying a fortune for GPS technology.

The Technology is (almost) Free

When people talk about a GPS system, they tend to use that term indiscriminately, generically, to mean their satellite navigation (SatNav) or geographic location system. In reality GPS is just one flavour of geolocation systems (like Hoover is one kind of vacuum cleaner, or Biro is one brand of pen).

1. GPS is the name of a geo-location program that links to USA satellites. It's not the only one. It is probably the most suitable for all those hikers on the AT or the PCT, but it's not necessarily the most suitable in other parts of the world.
2. GLONASS is the name of the Russian geo-location network. BeiDou is the name of the Chinese network. GALILEO is the name of the European Union's satellite network.
3. ALL these geo- location systems are based on networks of satellites that are permanently circling the earth. They are all freely and publicly available. And you don't have to choose between them. You are quite free to access them all at the same time.
4. To access a simple 'ping' signal (which is all you need for geo-location), you don't need a mobile phone signal and you don't need a WiFi signal.  Let me repeat that for clarity. 
• If you don't have a cell phone connection, or even a working SIM card, it doesn't matter.  
• If you can't access a wifi network from anywhere, it doesn't matter. 
5. You don't need to subscribe to a service. You don't need to buy proprietary software. You can be completely off-line and completely off-grid and still ping all those satellites. You don't need to spend much money to access all the satellites in all the major systems. It's (almost) free.
6. All you need is a simple antenna, something to plug the antenna into to receive a signal and something to display the result - basically a (power) charged cell phone would work, or a tablet, or a laptop. If you're hiking, then as long as the battery in your cell phone is okay, then you can use the geo-location system.
7. The antenna I'm talking about isn't bolted on to your house roof, nor is it mounted onto your car's bumper bar. It is tiny. To give you an idea, a very basic antenna is included in the operating systems of all smartphones. It's not very good, but it will usually pick up three satellites, to create a triangle, so it can tell you that you're located somewhere within that triangle. Most of the time, phones use the USA GPS system. A better antenna is about 3cm (just over an inch) in diameter, it weighs less than a coin and can pick up over 30 satellites at a time from all networks  to position you very accurately.
8. My TOPGNSS antenna is just a littler bigger than my watch face. I have velcroed it to the top of my backpack and a lead from it runs down my shoulder strap and into a belt pocket. It comes with a USB connector, to which I've added a small adapter so it will plug straight into my phone. My unit cost me 16 euros  (£14, AUD$25) plus shipping. Here it is, attached to my cellphone, in an indoor setting (so fewer satellites connected) and still showing USA, Russian and European connections. 
   
   My Geolocation Antenna - and the results shown on my cellphone

How To Set It Up

Firstly, remember that when you first take your new phone out of the box, it has already been set up in the factory to use the simple basic antenna within it. So, to make a better antenna work, you have to give your phone permission to use it. It's not hard.

1. You need to make some small changes to your phone's standard options, so that it will accept external geolocation inputs. Instructions are provided with the antenna you buy, and if I can do it, anyone can. It's similar to pairing a new Bluetooth device such as earbuds or a speaker.
2. You'll then need 2 apps. Both are freeware, so there's no cost involved. 
1. The first one (PilaBlu GPS Connector) simply receives the signals from all the satellites in view and does the mathematical work needed to triangulate your position. The difference now is that you will be using over 30 satellites, from all four networks, that together can locate you within a metre of where you're standing - and also tell you which way you're facing at the time.
2. The second app (GaiaGPS Standard) is one that takes all this wonderful mathematics and converts it into a little arrow, on an amazingly detailed map, which you can zoom out, drill down, and even orient towards your direction of travel. In short,. if you move a few steps the arrow will move too, so you can instantly see if you're following the right path.  If you plan on using this tool regularly, it might pay to use the optional subscription service. It costs USD$40 per year. I chose to subscribe because:
3. If you subscribe to the GaiGPS Premium service, you can use it on multiple devices and also save your customised maps offline. I prepared all my trekking maps using the twin screens of my desktop system, saved them into the Cloud, and then logged into the service again from both my phone and my tablet. Then I downloaded my maps onto those systems, so I could use these pre-prepared maps without needing either a phone or internet connection while walking.

Main Benefits

1. How would you get on trying to follow a digital map when the size of your screen is just the face of your watch?  That's what the GPS watch systems offer. When I pop it out of my pocket and plug in my antenna lead, my digital map is the full screen of my cellphone. And I have a Huawei tablet sitting in the top pocket of my pack, effectively giving me a 10" screen at my disposal. I used the tablet when I was in a 'base' situation; planning in detail my next day's walk in conjunction with local weather, transport possibilities, and so on. That made it so easy. Then when walking, I would plug in my antenna to my cellphone whenever I reached a junction or turning point, or sometimes just as a sanity check. It never missed a beat.
2. Do you remember me saying the software is free and the antenna cost me 16 euros? At this price I would expect to see backpack manufacturers building this into the bonnet pack and strap designs of next generation packs, much as they did with hydration systems.

• Phone screen size is about 6 times the size of my watch.
• Antenna receives 10 times the number of satellite signals of inbuilt GPS modules.
• Antenna refreshes 10 times more frequently than the cell phone's internal system
• Cost is about 4% of commercial wearable systems.

I haven't found anything that comes close to providing such a wonderful, simple, reliable orienteering / navigating experience.