GPS With footpath maps?

Hi,

I'm looking for a GPS, as cheap as possible! I'm wanting it for walking. All I really want is a mapping system, where I can see footpaths. I do tend to deviate from them but if I can see them I shouldn't get too lost! I've seen memory map 2800 which I think fits the bill if the GB map it comes with has that much detail? Oh, and I don't want to have to buy maps. I want something with full UK coverage.

I hope this makes sense. I'm having trouble working out what GPS unit can do what?

Thanks,

Daniel

Satmap Active 10  can be purchased wuth full UK 1:50,000 mapping. Need to shop around for the best price as it can vary alot. As a guide Uttings have one with maps for £315. 1:25,000 maps can also be purchased which are good but expensive

Reliable footpath maps means using OS mapping.
1:50,000 mapping is somewhere in the region of £80-£100 for national coverage, and shows paths but is a bit short on reference info like field edges.
1:25,000 is something like £40-£90 for pre-packaged areas such as the Lake District or Peak District. Pick your own area is about £20-£25 per 800 sq km (20x40km).
Costs depend on what software you are buying the data for.

There is also OpenStreetmap data, which is free, but incomplete in some areas as it depends on people uploading their GPS tracks and tracing over them.
It's fairly readily available for Garmin GPS, but other systems I don't know about.

I guess I'm basing comparisons on the memory map 2800. Less than £200 with full GB 1:50,000 maps.

I don't want to spend more than that.... unless it's a lot better.

Though I don't like the short battery life, and weatherproof issues.. and stylus?

There is a SatMap for sale here on OM: clicky

I thought long and hard about this for over a year! I wrote off the MM 2800 as it had an in built battery and short battery life, I wrote off the MM 3500 due to the bad user reviews. Even though they appear value for money the short comings on both units de-valued the units IMO. I bought a satmap active 10 plus with full GB mapping in the end from Amazon - keep an eye on the price as when I bought it cost me £290.

Very happy with Satmap and would without doubt recommend it.

Define "cheap"

Full uk 25k maps in say a sat map will cost a paltry couple of grand.

£200? Forget the idea.

There is another solution which I find ideal but would not suit everyone. I find the tiny screen of most GPS receivers does not show me enough of the countryside that I'm walking through because the formation, land use and history of the landscape fascinates me.

I use a Garmin Foretrex 401, which is worn on the wrist like a watch. I create routes using Grough software which, for a subscription of £20.00 per annum allows me access to the whole of Landranger and Explorer mapping. Ordnance Survey Getamap offers a similar subscription facility. Wheresthepath? is free (donation requested) but the 1:25,000 maps are not Explorer mapping but enlarged versions of Landrangers. All the software mentioned allows you to print A4-size maps.

I like to follow paths by map-reading but if I want confirmation that I'm following my intended route I just glance at the receiver on my wrist. It is a particularly convenient system when using poles.

I know, I'm odd...

Hugh

Having looked at the Definitive mapping for Hampshire (in order to check the current status of an apparently re-routed/obscured footpath, and report the problem, it occurred to me that it might be a good idea (and OpenData policy) for councils to publish PRoW data as GPX files.  All PROWs are given an identifier, and these could be used to dfine the bounds of the GPX files.

These files could then be pulled in to mapping tools, and cut and pasted to come up with route plans that adhere to the latest definitive mapping.

The problem seems to be that the definitive map is Crown Copyright.  Which, in my book, says 'public data'; gathered by public officials, paid for by the public.

It would be the obvious way to ensure that the published PROW data was bang up-to-date; the PROW data would be 'live', and updated as soon as revisions are made.  It might be necessary to isolate the genuine definitive map data sets from the published GPX files, to protect them from malicious modification, but that should be covered by normal server protection measures.

If all we need is the PROW route data, that should be available independently of OS mapping.

BTW, Hampshire's PROW website is rather good.  The Definitive map is available as PDF chunks.