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RichP Member
Joined: 13 Jul 2006 Posts: 5628 | TRs | Pics Location: here |
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RichP
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Sat Dec 31, 2016 8:28 am
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Just_Some_Hiker Member
Joined: 02 Jan 2013 Posts: 691 | TRs | Pics Location: Snoqualmie, WA |
If you have a smartphone (which most people nowadays do), take a minute to download a GPS app for it. That way you won't have to spend 30 hours outside in a winter storm and have KOMO news do a story about you.
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KevinDo Member
Joined: 02 Jun 2015 Posts: 50 | TRs | Pics Location: San Diego, CA |
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KevinDo
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Sat Dec 31, 2016 11:10 pm
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If visibility were zero, according to his account, would that even help??
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Just_Some_Hiker Member
Joined: 02 Jan 2013 Posts: 691 | TRs | Pics Location: Snoqualmie, WA |
KevinDo wrote: | If visibility were zero, according to his account, would that even help?? |
Yes.
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Gil Member
Joined: 29 Sep 2004 Posts: 4057 | TRs | Pics
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Gil
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Sun Jan 01, 2017 6:47 am
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No.
Friends help the miles go easier.
Klahini
Friends help the miles go easier.
Klahini
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treeswarper Alleged Sockpuppet!
Joined: 25 Dec 2006 Posts: 11272 | TRs | Pics Location: Don't move here |
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treeswarper
Alleged Sockpuppet!
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Sun Jan 01, 2017 7:56 am
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Does GPS on a "smart" phone work when there is no cell phone coverage?
What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
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bk Member
Joined: 01 Jun 2012 Posts: 266 | TRs | Pics
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bk
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Sun Jan 01, 2017 8:08 am
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Yes, GPS works independent of cell coverage. Example explanation here.
(But if your life depends on the iPhone GPS working in super-cold weather, maybe the battery will go belly up upon reaching about 50% . . . as has been known to happen . . . redundancy is a good thing: e.g. a secondary, dedicated Garmin GPS, as a backup, running on AA's, is not so temperature sensitive as an iPhone lithium battery, it seems.)
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dave allyn Member
Joined: 05 Apr 2011 Posts: 425 | TRs | Pics
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A GPS, on his phone or otherwise would almost certainly have helped. If you are using a regular GPS you'll want one you can download maps into and display them. Even in a whiteout you should be able to find your way. The cell phone will work without service, and should be in airplane mode so you're not wasting batteries. Keep the device inside your clothing so it stays warm. I've been using the Gaia app on my phone and I,m quite happy with it. I,ve used it several times this last year relocating myself on old unmaintained trails that disappear into heavy brush or downfall. I wasn't lost but it but it is much easier traveling on the trail remnants when you can find them. The lady who spent 29 days lost beside the Appalachian Trail could have found the trail in minutes with a GPS. As much as I love paper maps I,m rapidly become a believer that for most people a good GPS is a better option. Battery life is better than phones and they can be used for days if you leave them off and don't use the tracking and route recording. Pack along a couple spare batteries.
I also recommend carrying some sort of signalling device, Spot, Inreach or PLB. I'm hoping with Garmin buying Delorme they will come out with inreach features on their large screen models. Being able to communicate with SAR is a big help to the rescuers trying to help you.
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Navy salad Member
Joined: 09 Sep 2008 Posts: 1864 | TRs | Pics Location: Woodinville |
Text from the above link (emphasis added): "The iPhone has four different radios: cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS. You do not have to have a cellular or WiFi connection to connect to GPS but the phone will lock onto a location faster if it does have access to those. If you put the phone in Airplane mode, you turn off all of the radios."
I know from experience that my Android phone does not lose GPS when I am in airplane mode, but the paragraph above seems to say the iPhones DO lose GPS when in airplane mode. Is this really true or is this article mistaken?
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kbatku Questionable hiker
Joined: 17 Sep 2007 Posts: 3330 | TRs | Pics Location: Yaquima |
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kbatku
Questionable hiker
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Sun Jan 01, 2017 12:44 pm
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HitTheTrail Member
Joined: 30 Oct 2007 Posts: 5452 | TRs | Pics Location: 509 |
Navy salad wrote: | ....seems to say the iPhones DO lose GPS when in airplane mode. Is this really true or is this article mistaken? |
It is not true. I use Gaia on my old iphone 5 in airplane mode all the time. I think it used to be the case that airplane mode turned off the GPS but Apple saw the light and did a software update to change that.
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Just_Some_Hiker Member
Joined: 02 Jan 2013 Posts: 691 | TRs | Pics Location: Snoqualmie, WA |
I've descended mountains in total whiteout conditions using my GPS, so yes.
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Kat Turtle Hiker
Joined: 05 Oct 2003 Posts: 2560 | TRs | Pics
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Kat
Turtle Hiker
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Sun Jan 01, 2017 2:22 pm
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Just_Some_Hiker wrote: |
I've descended mountains in total whiteout conditions using my GPS, so yes. |
Ditto, navigated up and over Big Snow Mtn in a horrible whiteout with gps albeit still with much difficulty. When you can't see 30 feet in front of you that's a problem.
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Schroder Member
Joined: 26 Oct 2007 Posts: 6696 | TRs | Pics Location: on the beach |
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Schroder
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Sun Jan 01, 2017 4:45 pm
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It sounds like he was caught in blizzard conditions. I've been in winter conditions extreme enough to not be able to see the screen on my gps. He did the right thing and found shelter when he knew he was off route. I don't see the big deal of "surviving" 30 hours in the winter, though. The night conditions are not much colder than daytime and if the guy was snowshoeing by himself in the Chiwaukums, he should have had the gear to stay put for a long while until he had the visibility to navigate out of there.
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Joey verrry senior member
Joined: 05 Jun 2005 Posts: 2794 | TRs | Pics Location: Redmond |
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Joey
verrry senior member
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Mon Jan 02, 2017 6:45 am
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Yes, one of the iOS versions changed airplace mode so the GPS works in airplane mode. I forget which iOS version made this change.
I seem to recall a case some years ago at Rainier where a couple people died likely because their smartphone iced over and that messed up the phone's ability to get data from the GPS satellites.
The story says the hiker was in cell phone contact before he was found and he blew his whistle to help the SAR team find him. Wonderful outcome!
But what if he didn't have a whistle? Or he was too far from the SAR team for the sound of the whistle to reach them? This is why I am beating the drum that everyone needs an app on their phone that can display their coordinates and accuracy. Near the end of the ordeal this fellow was in cell phone contact. If he did not have a whistle or the SAR team could not hear it, then he could have simply called in his coordinates to 911.
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