Satmap Active 10 - Tested

Satmap Activ 10 GPS Tested

The Active 10 is a GPS with a difference. It's designed from the ground up to be outdoors specific, straightforward to use and in a major departure from most other GPS units, to display familiar OS mapping on a screen. In essence it's an outdoors-friendly package that presents you with an OS map with a red dot showing your exact location and a snail trail of where you've been.

It also works as a standalone unit. There's no need to connect it to a PC to use the built-in mapping software, you can plan routes on screen, save tracks onto the unit itself or the SD card with the mapping and read off trip log data showing average speed, ascent and descent and so on.

In short, it's intended as a user-friendly GPS unit that anyone can use for real world navigation.

For more background, see our interview with Satmap founder Richard Calthrop-Owen.

We're not going to go into excruciating technical detail here - if you want the full tech spec, you can find it on the Satmap web site. According to OM's routes and electronic aids guru, Dave Mycroft, the Active 10 uses a state of the art GPS receiver, so should be as accurate as anything else out there.

The rest of the unit is purpose built to work in an outdoors environment. That means a replaceable polycarbonate screen protector over the LCD screen, button rather than touch screen operation, a tough ABS casing and full waterproofing.

Maps come on SD cards in a choice of scales, areas and prices and slot into the side of the unit. As standard the Active 10 runs on three AA batteries and is supplied with top-end lithium cells that last up to 60 hours, but there's an optional rechargeable battery pack that you can referesh from mains or car.

The unit itself also helps you conserve power with a screen sleep mode and controllable brightness .

Let's start of by admitting that we've found conventional GPS units unremittingly user hostile. They're next to useless unless teamed with mapping software run on a PC and even the simplest operation seems to involve 50 sub-menus and multiple button pushes. And don't start us on the near useless comedy on-screen mapping...

The good news is that from first encounter onwards, the Active 10 is light years away from that. Even the packaging is neat and classy in an Apple Macintosh sort of way and the postitive experience goes on as soon as you start using it.

The bottom line is that the Satmap is genuinely intuitive in use. We managed to plan and follow a route without any reference to the quickstart manual. Things are where you expect them to be and both buttons and toggle are positive and straightforward to use - you can even select lefthand operation if you want the commands reversed.

Using one of Satmap's Peak District Park premium mapping packs, we could zoom in and out quickly and the unit switches seamlessly from 1:50,000 to 1:25,000 scales if both are available. Once the GPS has worked out where it is, you're presented with a red dot showing exactly where you are on the map. You can use it pretty much like a normal map complete with built-in electronic compass or opt to follow a pre-planned route. Both are straightforward and, for anyone familiar with OS maps, reassuringly familiar.

Planning Routes

Planning routes is straightforward too. All you need to so is select the 'Create New Route; option then literally join the dots using the toggle. The screen is a little small if you're used to working with a PC monitor, but generally it's workable and Satmap are working on an on-line route planning facility as well.

You can store routes on the unit itself or save them to the SD card, which you can in turn lend to your mates. You can also instantly call up route information, gradient profiles and so on and, if you're feeling industrious, create labelled points of interest along the way, which eventually you could embellish with words or even images or sound files.

The only issues we had were that when you have a lot of routes in the same area, the greyed out trails can be a little hectic and confusing. We'd like to be able to hide all routes other than the active one just for clarity. You can choose a smaller track option or turn the track off altogether for ease of use.

More Advanced Stuff

You can use Satmap on quite a basic level, but it's also versatile enough to cope with more complicated functions. All the basic units and settings can be changed easily using the main settings menu for example. And if you're into geocaching, there's a simple 'Go To' function which allows you to enter a 'Go To' as a grid reference, then navigate to it. Conversely, it's easy to read grid references from the unit in planning mode or when navigating.

Mapping

As we've said, mapping is available from Satmap on SD cards which you can also lend to your mates. Pricing depends on specifics. The individual National Park Premium pack we used is expensive at £99.99, but includes full 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 maps of the entire park.

It's nice having the 1:25,000 detail, but you can generally work perfectly well with 50,000 scale maps, so something like the £39.99 pack covering all the UK's national parks looks like a bit of a bargain. You can also order custom mapping direct from Satmap if none of the pre-packaged options appeals.

Unfortunately you can't use OS mapping from other sources like Memory Map, Anquet or Tracklogs thanks to the OS licencing system, though you should be able to swap routes by saving them in GPX format.

Quibbles

We did have some minor issues. The cover for the USB socket at the bottom falls off easily and we lost two before duct -taping the final one in place, Satmap is working on a solution.

If the unit switches off in mid route, it can get a bit cranky adding strange new straight-lined sections and screwing up your track calculations. It doesn't help that the on-off switch is a swift single press with no Yes/No confirmation or hold down facility. It makes it too easy to shut down the unit accidentally and it happened a couple of times to us when it was stowed in a pocket.

We also had an issue with the battery contacts and had to bend them forwards to keep them connected and the unit switched on, possibly an issue with slightly undersized AA batteries. Otherwise no problems and Satmap can update the software easily using SD cards.

It's accurate, easy to use - even at night when the backlit screen is a godsend - and even self-confesed technophobes had no problems switching the unit on and using it straightaway to plan and follow routes.

The hardware side seems fine as well. Despite some rough handling and the odd bike crash - the optional mount leaves it a little exposed - plus repeated soakings, it's stayed resolutely in once piece although the replaceable screen protector is now a little scratched.

We also love the way that the Satmap is a fully functional stand-alone unit. That really comes into its own if you're away for a week, say, and want to plan routes on the fly without carting a lap-top around with you. Once available, interactivity with both PC and Macs should make route planning even easier using a larger monitor.

We think this is the best GPS unit available for walkers, climbers and other outdoor people and while it's not cheap, the intuitive operation, OS mapping and rugged construction mark it out from anything else on the market. Even an idiot can use it, and I did.

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