[BARC-List] RE: GPS phone and street guide?

[shersey@TheWorld.com]

Before you plan to use a GPS-enabled cell phone for GPS purposes, make
sure you CAN actually use the GPS functions. If I recall correctly, some
(possibly all, I dunno) GPS-enabled cell phones only provide a VERY
limited tracking capability for E911 calls, and don't actually function as
a usable GPS locator for the user. Again, I *might* be all wrong on this,
but it pays to check.

Don't forget, you can get a bottom-of-the-line Garmin eTrex GPS for $99
(but my experience with the eTrex line is that their weak-signal reception
is poor, probably 'cause they have a dinky internal "patch" antenna).
Seems to work when placed on my dashboard, however, and the NMEA serial
interface is intelligible to most PC-based mapping programs.

73 de N1XNX, Steve Hersey