Camps Australia 6

Beth54 · Guru

Camps Australia 6

bab600 · Veteran Member

Hello everyone this is my first post and as I dont retire for another 66 days biggrin , I still have some time to get ready for some caravanning around the country .

My first question is

Do I need any GPS and or sat. nav. to use the Camps Aust. It just seems to me thet people give co ordinates for free camping unlike using a directory say position B 7 ? . confuse If I do need one which one should I look at?

Regards

Brian

Nicholstones · Guru

Welcome Brian. You don't have to have a GPS, the Camps book has all the listed sites shown on the HEMA maps included, as well as directions for every site. We've been on the road for over 3 years and don't have a GPS, we use the Explore Australia book as our main navigation aid, it has reasonable maps and good information for most towns. We find the maps much easier to read than the Hema maps in Camps.

Yuglamron · Guru

Hi Brian,firstly welcome to the forum, ask anything and someone will know or give an opinion.

Personally I have the Camps six book and I bought the GPS version to put in my GPS.

I find it's OK to have the GPS version but it's also nice to see the position on the map and also the photos of the site.

When I travel the GPS will give me the nearest stops according to distance and direction comes second so it's easier to use both GPS and Camp 6 together to work out which suits.

The Camp 6 website will advise you of which GPS units you can get a version for if that is the way you want to go.

Hope I haven't muddied the waters too much.

Safe Travels

Dougwe · Chief one feather

Welcome bab600 from me too, enjoy here and out there. I have Camps6 and a Navman GPS and find both good. You can put a address or street or GPS Co-orinates and all will take you where you want, I have tried the 3 ways and they all work. Camps6 has the co-ordinates listed on each camp.

I have probably added confusion as well.

Cruising Granny · Guru

Welcome to Grey Nomads.
I travel alone and it's a bit difficult to juggle the Camps book and drive, so I have a Tom Tom GPS to assist.
If you have a "live-in" navigator you may not need a GPS.
Safe and happy travels.

nomadic1 · Senior Member

Welcome from me too - and may you have many fascinating travels when you get underway. I'm with Cruising Granny on this one. If you're travelling solo you may find it easier to use a GPS than to juggle maps and try to read the **** things while you're hurtling along. With a built in navigator alongside it would be easier. I, too, have a Tom Tom but frankly I couldn't recommend it. I only bought it about 12 months ago and for some reason it appears that the geniuses at Tom Tom decided to remove the function that allows you to program it by map reference. My doesn't do it although I know that the model before mine did - 'cos my daughter has one and that's the one I learned on. So if you're in the market for one please make sure you check that that function is available - it will make life much easier.

Cruising Granny · Guru

I agree with you Nomadic. Mine is a bit slow I think and I can't update it. It's currently about 2 years behind the times.
You don't know these things when you buy them. Sneaky buggers!

rosco · Senior Member

Hey rockylizard,

I notice that some co-ordinates are shown in Lat and Long. Do you replace these with S and E?

Just noticed Clyde Camels post came in while I was typing this. Will check this out also.

-- Edited by rosco on Wednesday 2nd of May 2012 09:58:36 AM

gypsy rover · Senior Member

Welcome from me too Bab600. I don't have Camps 6 yet (but do intend to get one). I have a Garmin GPS and wouldn't be without it. I find it absolutely essential when trying to negotiate cities that I have never been to before.

Cheers!

Chris

Smokeydk · Guru

I dont have Camp6..I do have Camp5 and Garmin GPS..........I like using both but as a refer: Camps book give you info like .....are there toilets/power/$$$/dog friendly at locations..............you dont get on a GPS

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

I don't use a GPS for navigation as I love paper maps. However, the co-ordinates in Camps 6 for camp sites (eg 45 13 22 S 142 14 13 E) can be used in Google Maps.

Go to Google, select Maps, choose Satellite and in the search box just type the co-ordinates. This will bring up the site you want. You can then zoom-in and see the site more closely and most times there is even Street-View to use to have a 'driver's eye' view.

Within Google Maps you can switch between Earth, Satellite or Map to view the selected site.

You can also use the Directions feature of Google to find your way from where you are to the co-ordinates to obtain driving instructions etc.

I use this all the time and find it extremely valuable to select a camp before getting to it and being disappointed ... or that my van will not fit.

Cheers

John

Clyde Camel · Veteran Member

On the other hand, if you consult the Camels you can choose which GPS format you use in the Members Preferences page. There are 3 different formats in common use for GPS coordinates. Google Maps native format is DD.dddd while many like to use DD MM SS. There is also DD MM.mmmm.

Recognising this, we have allowed members to choose their favourite one. Give it a try. http://www.caravancaravan.com.au And we don't constrict your view to States or Routes. When you choose a point on the map it will display all places within a radius of that point, regardless of state borders or which route you are on. You can specify the size of the radius.

Cheers
Clyde Camel

_wombat_ · Master (of Mischief)

we have camps 5 with the camps 5 site on it and a Garmin with free map updates, would not be without both items

Clyde Camel · Veteran Member

Hi Rockylizard. You can also replace the "S" with a "-" and put a comma between the two numbers. For instance, -21.4567, 146.5678 which is the format that Google uses as its native format. This will work in utilities such as Telstra's mobile reception map. http://www.telstra.com.au/mobile-phones/coverage-networks/our-coverage/coverage-search/index.htm

Cheers,
Clyde Camel

Camps and Vans · Member

If you are looking for GPS Coordoniates for your GPS & PC have a look at my web site www.campsandvans.com I have nearly 8,000 Camps, Caravan Parks & Dump Sites that you can download for any GPS that you have as well as being able to use the information in PC programs such as Map Source, Base Camp, Ozi Explorer & Memory Maps etc.
We also have a list of the facilities available & Photos of every site, give me a ring if you like & I can explain it to you a bit more as to how it works.

Pejay · Guru

Hi Brian,
First off welcome from us to the forum - 66 days????? Who's counting?
Hope to see you on the road some day, what type of rig are you going to be travelling with?

Landfall · Guru

Welcome to the forum.

We have the Camps 6 book with photos, very helpful.

Travelled last year with a new Garmin 1490t GPS, came home and immediately got rid of it.

Purchased a new Uniden Trax5000 GPS, after a lot of looking, research and testing.

Using both the GPS and bokk makes life very easy.

Have a great retirement.

Dusty

bab600 · Veteran Member

Thanks everyone for your welcome and the super quick responses
Pejay we are currently travelling in a 94 3litre Pajero which pulls our Goldstream Gold Sovereign
off road camper and that suits us at the moment. Not to big and not to small

PS 64 days tomorrow to go and YES I am counting

Regards

Brian

jimricho · Guru

bab600 wrote:
Thanks everyone for your welcome and the super quick responses
Pejay we are currently travelling in a 94 3litre Pajero which pulls our Goldstream Gold Sovereign
off road camper and that suits us at the moment. Not to big and not to small

PS 64 days tomorrow to go and YES I am counting

Regards

Brian

Welcome to the forum from another Goldstream owner (2002 Goldcrown)

If you have the Camps 6 book (or are thinking of getting it) you can purchase the POI file for your GPS from http://www.campsaustraliawide.com/camps-books/14-camps-5-gps-poi-garmin.html or http://www.campsaustraliawide.com/camps-books/16-camps-5-gpo-poi-tom-tom.html The cost is only $19.95 and the POIs will correspond to the numbers in the book.

Jim

Popeye · Senior Member

Landfall what is wrong with the Garmin 1490t GPS?

_wombat_ · Master (of Mischief)

Popeye wrote:
Landfall what is wrong with the Garmin 1490t GPS?

nothing, it is the one I use, great unit IMHO

Clyde Camel · Veteran Member

Did you know that when using the DD MM SS GPS format there is a significant rounding error. That is because the smallest increment is 1 second of Lat and 1 second of Long. 1 second equates to about 30 metres and if you take it with a plus or minus error margin, you can get the same GPS reading at either end of an olympic swimming pool.

This is why Google Maps uses the DD.ddddddddd format as their standard. This provides an accuracy of a few centimetres. It is also the reason that our website, www.caravancaravan.com.au uses this format to store the GPS data and then translates it into which ever format the individual member chooses for their display.

That is one of the advantages of logging in to the site when you use it. You can choose your preferred GPS format. Another is the colour coded map pins which tell you at a glance whether the places on the map are free overnight or day use only or if they charge a fee.

Cheers,
Clyde Camel

Mergatroy · Veteran Member

Deleted due to copyright issues.

Doug

-- Edited by Mergatroy on Saturday 5th of May 2012 11:44:04 AM