> Does anyone out there use their Newt for GIS and GPS work?
> would have sufficed: FieldWorker and PocketGIS (and ArcPad as it
> was supposedly originally created on the Newt). All of these
> appear to be totally unavailable.
Did your google search turn up
<http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dominique/gps.htm>? that would
let you log points from anything with a serial port and NMEA. Their web
page is still up anyway. I think I emailed but never received a reply back.
There is a list at <http://www.panix.com/~clay/newton/query.cgi?gps+index>
that might still have some valid links, and there is one software from a
.edu that I can not find mention of at the moment.
I thought I'd downloaded the demo but searching my CD-R database didn't
turn it up.
The list of Newton software from the GPSy
people:<http://www.gpsy.com/gpsinfo/software.html> mentions Tripmate/emate
which I know people were talking about here at one time; the home page is
dead, someone have it? The Tripmate software is the option most recently
talked about here as 1) available 2) working, IIRC. A google search
turns up the author email; they'll send a demo if you email them.
GPSMap is nice but only the Lite is available anymore, and it's a pretty
large task for the Newton to undertake (plotting). I'd look more for
something that would let you log a point and a comment, then do the
plotting with a tool that's meant for plotting with layers etc., like
Arcview on the desktop. Your plot is thus available for other uses, too.
There's also "GPS Button" sharware from Allpen way back when, 1994,
available in a few web archives:
=======
"GPSButton is a floating button which allows your Newton to place a copy of
your current position obtained from a Trimble Navigation GPS Scoutmaster
product anywhere you can write or type.
GPSButton allows researchers, navigators, and other outdoor-related
professions the ability to quickly and easily annotate any Newton
application's data with their current position.
GPSButton is compatible with the Newton Classic, MP100, and MP110 models.
There is no reason why it shouldn't run on models we haven't heard of,
either...
GPSButton is shareware for non-commercial applications only. Please read
the Warranty and Licensing section below for details."
========
Since it wants a Trimble it might be using the Trimble binary protocol and
not NMEA, the docs are in .pkg format and I've never installed it. Some
handhelds have their "own" often binary format, NMEA is the ASCII standard
format.
Be aware that if you're doing much for scientific work you're looking at
displayed precision but not much for accuracy unless you drop a lot of
money for a solution that's good for 1meter BOTH precision and accuracy
(and add another $1500 for real-time differential correction, so you don't
have to apply the differential correction once you're back at the lab). If
your points of interest are say 10m apart or so then you might be happy
with something in the $200-600 price range. (Yes, even the $40 handhelds
give you supposed placement of 1 or two meters, go back the next day and
with the same reading you can be standing 5 meters somewhere from your mark
from the first day. It's a crap shoot. Read their tech specs, not just
the brochure. I know everyone loves their handheld but when people want
points and notes together it makes me think it's going to be used for
research applications, for which it is not necessarily suitable). To have
precision and accuracy both cost you real money. I have worked a bit with
GPS on very closely plotted points, some things it's good for, some things
you'll just generate FUD without a very nice tool.
If you want to log plants or something in small scale without spending lots
of money best to think about just measuring relative positions with a
rangefinder. Otherwise, a solution that just logs coordinates from NMEA
and you add your own note, plot it all later, is likely what it most
workable and accurate.
Now, after all that, you'll tell me you just want to put a point on the
map for the cities you fly over :)
HTH.
Brian
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