Comments on: DeLorme Earthmate PN-40 in action! http://blog.delorme.com/2008/08/15/delorme-earthmate-pn-40-in-action/ Mapping, GPS, and GIS Technologies — We Bring Technology Down to Earthâ„¢ Sun, 21 Mar 2010 03:58:58 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: BikerVal http://blog.delorme.com/2008/08/15/delorme-earthmate-pn-40-in-action/#comment-1247 BikerVal Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:13:44 +0000 http://delormegps.wordpress.com/?p=137#comment-1247 tom weiss - for a lot cheaper, and smaller for fitting to a dog, get the "CatTracker" by the same fella that sells the fun CatCam. Do an online search for "Mr Lee" and "CatCam" then look in his site for the CatTracker. I have one and it works great. CatTracker is a tiny gps unit with no screen that captures gps coordinates that you download to a PC via usb. You set how often to do the capture via button pushes. The lightweight, waterproof, tiny device (smaller than a matchbox) attaches to the pet (they provide a cat harness) or backpack and records the gps coordinates until the battery runs out (over 8 hours, I think) or you turn it off. Recharge the internal, non-replaceable battery via usb as well as download the data. It holds thousands of track points. I've used it for many different applications including seeing where my cat wanders off to when outside. Very interesting. The CatCam would give you even more information about what your dog is experiencing. You insert the AAA battery, then hang the tiny camera from your pet's collar, and it takes a photo every x (you set). This too is grand fun and runs until the battery gives out (over 8 hours!). It comes with a box with the camera in it and you hang the whole thing from your cat. It's not waterproof so be careful or be creative about making it waterproof. You can set it to take close up or far away pics. I found it interesting to see how much time my cat spends hanging around under our car watching the neighborhood. He is also friendly with many other cats. Anyways, I'd highly recommend you do that rather than attach a $300+ device to your dog. CatTracker is, uh, maybe $70? It's been a while but I'm sure it's well under $100. Have fun! PS. I LOVE my PN-40. Recently took it to Death Valley for its maiden big trip. We had a blast with it. Did quite well in some narrow hiking canyons (ex Golden Canyon/Gower Gulch loop)... it lost the signal a few times but I think it was because it fell off the perch on the top of my pack while we were in a skinny, deep canyon. I recommend if you are going into narrow canyons that you rig up some way to attach it to the top of your pack so it's well exposed under those difficult circumstances. Only little snippets were not recorded so I felt like we got a vast majority of our deep canyon hikes were well documented. tom weiss – for a lot cheaper, and smaller for fitting to a dog, get the “CatTracker” by the same fella that sells the fun CatCam. Do an online search for “Mr Lee” and “CatCam” then look in his site for the CatTracker. I have one and it works great.

CatTracker is a tiny gps unit with no screen that captures gps coordinates that you download to a PC via usb. You set how often to do the capture via button pushes. The lightweight, waterproof, tiny device (smaller than a matchbox) attaches to the pet (they provide a cat harness) or backpack and records the gps coordinates until the battery runs out (over 8 hours, I think) or you turn it off. Recharge the internal, non-replaceable battery via usb as well as download the data. It holds thousands of track points. I’ve used it for many different applications including seeing where my cat wanders off to when outside. Very interesting.

The CatCam would give you even more information about what your dog is experiencing. You insert the AAA battery, then hang the tiny camera from your pet’s collar, and it takes a photo every x (you set). This too is grand fun and runs until the battery gives out (over 8 hours!). It comes with a box with the camera in it and you hang the whole thing from your cat. It’s not waterproof so be careful or be creative about making it waterproof. You can set it to take close up or far away pics. I found it interesting to see how much time my cat spends hanging around under our car watching the neighborhood. He is also friendly with many other cats.

Anyways, I’d highly recommend you do that rather than attach a $300+ device to your dog. CatTracker is, uh, maybe $70? It’s been a while but I’m sure it’s well under $100. Have fun!

PS. I LOVE my PN-40. Recently took it to Death Valley for its maiden big trip. We had a blast with it. Did quite well in some narrow hiking canyons (ex Golden Canyon/Gower Gulch loop)… it lost the signal a few times but I think it was because it fell off the perch on the top of my pack while we were in a skinny, deep canyon. I recommend if you are going into narrow canyons that you rig up some way to attach it to the top of your pack so it’s well exposed under those difficult circumstances. Only little snippets were not recorded so I felt like we got a vast majority of our deep canyon hikes were well documented.

]]> By: rastus76 http://blog.delorme.com/2008/08/15/delorme-earthmate-pn-40-in-action/#comment-1067 rastus76 Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:12:42 +0000 http://delormegps.wordpress.com/?p=137#comment-1067 can u project a waypoint with the pn-40 then nav to it. i am trying to decided between this one and the garmin gpsmap 60csx. can u project a waypoint with the pn-40 then nav to it. i am trying to decided between this one and the garmin gpsmap 60csx.

]]> By: Ronald Saunders http://blog.delorme.com/2008/08/15/delorme-earthmate-pn-40-in-action/#comment-722 Ronald Saunders Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:51:30 +0000 http://delormegps.wordpress.com/?p=137#comment-722 What to do if you have a MAC What to do if you have a MAC

]]> By: Chip Noble - Design http://blog.delorme.com/2008/08/15/delorme-earthmate-pn-40-in-action/#comment-327 Chip Noble - Design Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:23:11 +0000 http://delormegps.wordpress.com/?p=137#comment-327 John Shapland: Good question, I'm going to infer that the speed of the card does make a difference. In a recent project meeting the internal vs external memory discussion came up and one of our engineers said there was only a slight advantage to the internal memory over the SD card when using a high speed card. I can get more details on your specific question though. I personally have had a lot of success with the SanDisc 8GB Ultra II with a 15 MB/s read rate (printed on card, 10 MB/s minimum advertised on their site). The standard SanDisc is Class 2 meaning 2 MB/s and the Extreme III lists 20 MB/s. I haven't tried the standard or the Extreme... Check out our forums for more info on this topic, our users have shared lots of information on SD cards, batteries, and other accessories. We are releasing to retail at the same time as direct. Cabela's is one of our best stores. I don't know exactly when they are going to get the devices but I know its well before the end of the year. Sounds like a great use of your "Cabela's Cash!" Keep an eye on our blog for more info on when the devices will ship. Thanks for the comments, Chip Noble DeLorme John Shapland: Good question, I’m going to infer that the speed of the card does make a difference. In a recent project meeting the internal vs external memory discussion came up and one of our engineers said there was only a slight advantage to the internal memory over the SD card when using a high speed card. I can get more details on your specific question though. I personally have had a lot of success with the SanDisc 8GB Ultra II with a 15 MB/s read rate (printed on card, 10 MB/s minimum advertised on their site). The standard SanDisc is Class 2 meaning 2 MB/s and the Extreme III lists 20 MB/s. I haven’t tried the standard or the Extreme…

Check out our forums for more info on this topic, our users have shared lots of information on SD cards, batteries, and other accessories.

We are releasing to retail at the same time as direct. Cabela’s is one of our best stores. I don’t know exactly when they are going to get the devices but I know its well before the end of the year. Sounds like a great use of your “Cabela’s Cash!” Keep an eye on our blog for more info on when the devices will ship.

Thanks for the comments,

Chip Noble
DeLorme

]]> By: John Shapland http://blog.delorme.com/2008/08/15/delorme-earthmate-pn-40-in-action/#comment-306 John Shapland Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:06:18 +0000 http://delormegps.wordpress.com/?p=137#comment-306 Will the PN-40 be available at retailers soon after release, or will it be available exclusively at DeLorme.com for a period of time? I'm anxious to get one, but I have $190 of "Cabela's Cash" that expires at the end of the year that I would like to use toward the purchase of a PN-40. Will the PN-40 be available at retailers soon after release, or will it be available exclusively at DeLorme.com for a period of time? I’m anxious to get one, but I have $190 of “Cabela’s Cash” that expires at the end of the year that I would like to use toward the purchase of a PN-40.

]]> By: John Shapland http://blog.delorme.com/2008/08/15/delorme-earthmate-pn-40-in-action/#comment-305 John Shapland Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:47:45 +0000 http://delormegps.wordpress.com/?p=137#comment-305 Does the speed of the SD card make any difference, or can even a slow card provide the data as fast as the processor can handle it? (Circuit City has 8GB Sandisk SD cards on sale for $29.99 this week, but they're not even the Ultra II, let alone Extreme III). Does the speed of the SD card make any difference, or can even a slow card provide the data as fast as the processor can handle it? (Circuit City has 8GB Sandisk SD cards on sale for $29.99 this week, but they’re not even the Ultra II, let alone Extreme III).

]]> By: Chip Noble - Design http://blog.delorme.com/2008/08/15/delorme-earthmate-pn-40-in-action/#comment-280 Chip Noble - Design Tue, 16 Sep 2008 03:40:49 +0000 http://delormegps.wordpress.com/?p=137#comment-280 Larry Frazier: This could be a first for me... a tripple link score; sounds like something out of a Scrabble game... I first ran into the "Why the PN-40 se" question on Geocaching.com's forum where I replied with details of how I currently use the available map space on my 1 GB model. I explained how I plan to use my se model with my 8 GB SD card to optimize my device for all the Topo USA, USGS, and High Resolution Aerial Images I want for the state of Maine. The question popped up on our own forum shortly after that so I copied my original post there and included more details. This is the third place so I will include links to the other two so that people can see all the additional comments from people trying to work through how they might use the internal and SD card memory of a 1 GB PN-40 or an 8 GB PN-40se. I hope it helps you consider the two devices! http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?s=&showtopic=197213&view=findpost&p=3639022 http://forum.delorme.com/viewtopic.php?t=15582&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight= Found one more! http://forum.delorme.com/viewtopic.php?t=14925&start=234 Thanks for the comment. Chip Noble DeLorme Larry Frazier: This could be a first for me… a tripple link score; sounds like something out of a Scrabble game… I first ran into the “Why the PN-40 se” question on Geocaching.com’s forum where I replied with details of how I currently use the available map space on my 1 GB model. I explained how I plan to use my se model with my 8 GB SD card to optimize my device for all the Topo USA, USGS, and High Resolution Aerial Images I want for the state of Maine. The question popped up on our own forum shortly after that so I copied my original post there and included more details. This is the third place so I will include links to the other two so that people can see all the additional comments from people trying to work through how they might use the internal and SD card memory of a 1 GB PN-40 or an 8 GB PN-40se. I hope it helps you consider the two devices!

http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?s=&showtopic=197213&view=findpost&p=3639022

http://forum.delorme.com/viewtopic.php?t=15582&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

Found one more!
http://forum.delorme.com/viewtopic.php?t=14925&start=234

Thanks for the comment.

Chip Noble
DeLorme

]]> By: Larry Frazier http://blog.delorme.com/2008/08/15/delorme-earthmate-pn-40-in-action/#comment-277 Larry Frazier Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:25:46 +0000 http://delormegps.wordpress.com/?p=137#comment-277 Will there be a good reason the buy a PN-40se to get the extra 7 GD of ram as opposed to buying the PN-40 and adding a large SD card? Are maps stored only internally? How does that work? Thanks. Will there be a good reason the buy a PN-40se to get the extra 7 GD of ram as opposed to buying the PN-40 and adding a large SD card? Are maps stored only internally? How does that work? Thanks.

]]> By: Chip Noble - Design http://blog.delorme.com/2008/08/15/delorme-earthmate-pn-40-in-action/#comment-275 Chip Noble - Design Mon, 15 Sep 2008 01:28:47 +0000 http://delormegps.wordpress.com/?p=137#comment-275 Larry: We've made many improvements to the power management in the PN-40 and are happy to see test results showing better performance than the PN-20 even with the new dual core process, electronic compass, barometric altimeter, and accelerometer. I don't have final numbers yet but I used the PN-40 to map trails for a geocaching event on Saturday and then used it today for an upland bird hunting trial... one set of alkalines for around six hours of use and the battery guage is reading 70%. We'll post a final statistic when the testing is finished. Chip Noble DeLorme Larry: We’ve made many improvements to the power management in the PN-40 and are happy to see test results showing better performance than the PN-20 even with the new dual core process, electronic compass, barometric altimeter, and accelerometer.

I don’t have final numbers yet but I used the PN-40 to map trails for a geocaching event on Saturday and then used it today for an upland bird hunting trial… one set of alkalines for around six hours of use and the battery guage is reading 70%. We’ll post a final statistic when the testing is finished.

Chip Noble
DeLorme

]]> By: Larry http://blog.delorme.com/2008/08/15/delorme-earthmate-pn-40-in-action/#comment-273 Larry Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:49:09 +0000 http://delormegps.wordpress.com/?p=137#comment-273 Does the pn-40 eat batteries given the new features? On extended trips batteries are the logistical weakness of the pn-20. Until Delorme can design a hand crank power alternative like the shortwave radios, batteries continue to be the Achilles heel. Does the pn-40 eat batteries given the new features? On extended trips batteries are the logistical weakness of the pn-20. Until Delorme can design a hand crank power alternative like the shortwave radios, batteries continue to be the Achilles heel.

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