The Weasel
11-20-2009, 13:28
I've finally gotten my old PDA phone replaced with a fairly good one, although only a small screen. I'm stuck with it, so no suggestions for replacement. But with the additional chip I have for it (and others are easily available if I need larger) I can hold a lot of data on it
1) Is the Data Book available for download?
2) Are there usable maps (1":1000' scale) available?
3) Can any guidebooks be purchased in PDF or similar formats?
4) Is there any other ATC-specific information that it would be useful to carry that can be efficiently downloaded/stored?
Thanks,
TW
I've finally gotten my old PDA phone replaced with a fairly good one, although only a small screen. I'm stuck with it, so no suggestions for replacement. But with the additional chip I have for it (and others are easily available if I need larger) I can hold a lot of data on it
1) Is the Data Book available for download?
2) Are there usable maps (1":1000' scale) available?
3) Can any guidebooks be purchased in PDF or similar formats?
4) Is there any other ATC-specific information that it would be useful to carry that can be efficiently downloaded/stored?
Thanks,
TW
By no means a definitive list of answers, but...
1. Is this the same as the "Data Book?"
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?p=340867
2. Not really. I looked for a long time. Not helpful for you but maybe for others: a company called Accuterra released a pretty amazing ap for the iPhone that integrates it's gps (no cell towers needed) and compass abilities. It cost me less than 15 dollars for the program and map coverage of the entire AT.
3. ALDHA Thruhiker's Companion: Free, but you might consider purchasing a hard copy of sending a donation. http://www.aldha.org/comp_pdf.htm
4. Basically, anything written on paper that you would carry. For example, I've got a copy of Jack's resupply article on my phone. Other ideas (not AT specific) are things like e-books and contact info for gear manufacturers/hostels/hiker services.
Yup, I'll be carrying the Thruhiker's Companion in pdf form on my cell phone. I'll selectively print the data-page-like pieces of that (included/embedded in the pdf) and carry those in hard copy (I bought but don't like the format of the current (2009) official data book).
Maps: 1":1000' would more typically be given as a 1:12,000 scale. 1:24,000 is commonly available; I'm not familiar with anything at the scale you're talking about. At 1:24,000 scale the AT is covered by about 250 map sheets. You can get these (USGS) for free via http://www.libremap.org, or you can save a fair bit of time and effort by buying them on CD for $25 (for the complete set, including also 1:100,000 and 1:250,000 scale sets) from edigitalmaps.com (http://www.edigitalmaps.com/product_info.php?products_id=184)
"Is there any other ATC-specific information that it would be useful to carry that can be efficiently downloaded/stored?"
Poke around this site (whiteblaze.net in general) and you'll find some stuff, such as post office locations, shuttle list, something in Word doc format called the "AT Database", etc.
I assume your pda can display html (web pages), so you can just "save as" any page that you think will be readable on a small screen directly.
Apart from this site, you can just web search for particular data that you know you want --- such as, for example, a list of all the shelters with NOBO/SOBO locations and distances between and some information about each of them.
Another category of things you might consider collecting is manuals for the gear you're carrying, plus perhaps addresses (web and snail) and phone numbers for gear manufacturers and outfitters. You might also consider getting an ebook reader (example: Mobipocket) if your pda doesn't already have one. A great book to include, apart from the usual mind candy type of fiction, might be a backcountry first aid reference. You could also toss in a jpg image or two showing what poison ivy looks like, what a lyme disease tick (and/or bullseye on your body) looks like.
The more you think about it and look around, the more you'll likely find. You won't use most of that stuff, but it's always nice when the one key data bit that you do want is actually available!