Turn Your Cell Phone Into a GPS

For those of us gageteers who'd love to add a GPS unit to our holdings, but find we already have too much stuff, can't afford it now, et al, will be pleased to hear the news: You can turn many cellphones into a GPS unit with Fugawi Touratel. Sounds a lot like some kind of sushi, but its actually internet-based software that can play on a lot of different cell phones.

For a $3 a month fee, Northport Software will let you "tune" your internet accessing cell phone to its site. Your phone doesn't need Bluetooth to work. When you bring up the Fugawi Touratel site, you can "tap into" maps that will show your location on high resolution US Geological Survey maps, street maps, air photos, and more. You can use the software to find nearby locations and maybe get yourself out of trouble without pulling into a gas station.

Right now the software is compatible with cell phone models by LG Electronics, Motorola, Samsung, and Sanyo, from carriers that include Alltel, Boost Mobile, and Sprint . Northport plans to add support for additional carriers and cell phones in the near future. That'd be a blessing for us Verizon users! You will need to have internet access via your cell phone, so beware, if you get into a spotty coverage area you'd best keep those old style paper maps handy. For more information, check out this website.

Finding for Finding's Sake

As part of my work with GPS systems, I have been using a DeLORME Earthmate GPS PN-20. This is not your typical dash-mounted, or even shirt-pocket GPS. Rather, it is a ruggedized handheld unit specifically designed for hikers, backpackers, and others who rely less on paved surfaces and more on understanding the layout of the terrain.

There are a few features that make the unit largely unfit for use while you're driving, but spectacular for walking. It has a smallish color LCD and a cluster of controls you can operate with your thumb... no touch screen. It holds its data on a memory card rather than on a hard drive, and doesn't come preloaded with maps of the entire North American continent. The device connects to a computer (in my case, a laptop) and receives maps and directions from DeLORME's Topo USA software. Topo is like Street Atlas in many ways, but it is more focused on geographics than on driving.

But what is so interesting about the PN-20 is its use for a pastime called Geocaching. If you haven't heard of geocaching, first know that the hobby is perfectly suited to folks like us, who drive around the country visiting places we know nothing about, but would like to see more of where we are.

Geocaching can be described as a sport or as a hobby depending on the exuberance you approach it with. Either way, the point is to find a hidden object (the 'cache') using its GPS coordinates. Of course you need a GPS device that lets you enter, or better yet, download the coordinates, then carry it with you as you trek, stumble, climb, or just walk to the location. The PN-20 is perfect for this, though it is by far not the only unit that supports this kind of activity. Take a look here, for a nice description of how the PN-20 supports this sport.

There is a whole subculture of geocachers who go around the world hiding "caches" then posting the positions and a few clues online at www.geocaching.com. Of course these people also participate in finding caches and posting their finds online.

The reason geocaching is great for RVers is that no matter where you are, or will be, it's likely you can find caches nearby. And the fun is in following the directions on your GPS unit to a place you've never been, then finding the sometimes very well hidden object. It's a great way of discovering the places you visit beyond the campground and local restaurants. The folks who hide the caches are generally out to provide you a good time and often, a little knowledge of the local history.

For me, it beats driving around, looking at the local shopping mall, and some of the caches can be quite a challenge.

USB in the Can

If you have multiple computers, or even if you only have one computer but want to be able to take your critical files with you, I'm betting that you also have at least one USB flash drive. I have a few myself in an array of capacities and configurations. But my favorite one to take with me when I'm traveling is my Corsair Flash Survivor. Why? Because it can stand up to pretty much any abuse I happen to throw at it.

My Survivor is the smallest of the two models available, at 4gigabytes (the capacity of the larger one is 8GB), and sells for $60. Those specs by themselves are unremarkable, but the drive itself is very unusual. In fact, Corsair offers several unusual flash drive configuration... but that's a different subject.

4GB of space is more than enough for my purposes since I only carry my most recent work and a few photos on the drive. But the most important attribute of the Survivor for me is its ability to "survive." I've dropped the drive in salt water (on purpose) and driven over it with my Ford E350 van (not on purpose), and in both cases, the drive was still functional afterward.

It keeps itself in good shape because the actual drive is contained within a special housing. As Corsair's literature explains... "Triple Point Protection featuring CNC-milled, aircraft aluminum housing, shock dampening rubber collar shielding, and sturdy metal end caps to prevent the hollow metal tube from collapsing." And the design certainly works.

After being run over, there are a couple scratches on the outer housing, but to me that only adds to the rugged machismo of the thing. I was worried that even if the drive were to be intact, I might not be able to unscrew the end cap and get the drive out of its housing. But is opened easily, as if it had never been abused.

If you carry a flash drive on your travels, take a look at the Survivor.

Printing Digcam Images

I carry my digital camera with me wherever I go, and particularly when I'm in places I haven't been before. I take lots of pictures and post them online, usually at flickr.com. But there are times, especially when I've just taken a shot of our 'new friends' around the fire, or just sitting around getting to know each other, that I wish I could get some of the shots printed and hand them out.

Of course, there's usually a pharmacy not too far away where I can slip my memory card into the kiosk and print out a few copies. But somehow that just never seems to get done... the moment has passed and the urgency disappears.

But on my last trip I was fortunate to have one of Epson's PictureMate Dash printers on hand when the moment arose. The PictureMate has been around in earlier versions, but the latest incarnation is faster and (for me) easier to use. I also got one of the perfectly-designed travel bags that lets me stuff the printer, paper, extra ink cartridge, and cables all in one padded and stowable pouch.

So, when the time was right, I pulled the kit out of its hiding place in a small cabinet, opened it up, and slid my memory card into the printer. In a few seconds, my images started to appear on the 3.6" LCD. From there I scrolled around the images, selecting which ones and how many of each photo I wanted printed. Once I had made my selections, I pushed the Print button and the printer started spitting out 4x6 prints at the rate of about one every 40 seconds. I was able to hand out prints to our guests right there on the spot.

All that may not be so amazing, as I've seen lots of folks with printers in their rigs. But the fact that I didn't have to use my computer to download, edit, select, and print the photos really made things convenient.

Of course I wasn't the only one with a camera, and two of the others wanted to hand out a few of their masterpieces too. They were able to just insert their memory cards even though their cards were different from mine because the printer accepts a wide variety of memory formats including USB drives.

I was able to select from a list of formats including multiple images on one 4x6 sheet. That cut down on the expense of printing, that runs at around 35 cents per print. My PictureMate Dash sells for around $100, and the Zoom model that includes a CD burner sells for around $200. There are lots of accessories, including a battery pack and a bluetooth adapter for printing wirelessly from a cell phone.

My PictureMate now has a permanent home in my equipment cabinet, where it doesn't take up a lot of space, and is protected in its carry case.