Taking GPS coordinates of a site... captain's permission?

[Echinoidea]

Virtually no cell phones have GPS

Depends if you're talking "normal" phones or "smartphones" - virtually all smartphones from midrange models up now have full GPS capabilities, I regularly use my android phone as a GPS for in-car navigation for example (and it's not dependent on cell towers, as I used it extensively in the Scottish Highlands last summer where there were huge gaps in cell coverage).

 

[John_B]

Virtually no cell phones have GPS, they report position by triangulating cell towers.

I can't speak for all cell phones, but I can say for a fact that iPhones have had GPS since the 3GS, and any iPad that supports a 3G/LTE connection also has GPS (because the cellular data and GPS functions are on the same chip). My MotionX GPS app works great in the Sierras, whether or not there is cell coverage.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Virtually no cell phones have GPS, they report position by triangulating cell towers.

That was true, a couple of generations ago. The GPS chips are there now, I work on test programs for the manufacturers and can read the labels. The new ones are also pretty darn accurate.

 

[muzikbiz22]

I can't speak for all cell phones, but I can say for a fact that iPhones have had GPS since the 3GS, and any iPad that supports a 3G/LTE connection also has GPS (because the cellular data and GPS functions are on the same chip). My MotionX GPS app works great in the Sierras, whether or not there is cell coverage.

Yep, iPhone5 and iPad 4G/LTE. Both are full blown GPS devices. I use them as a backup for Waypoints/Navigation on my GPS equipped boat around SoCal and back and forth to Catalina.

 

[TravisS.]

Last two charter boats I was on in the gulf informed us that any gps devices found in use would be tossed overboard and you would spend the rest of the trip in their 4'x4' jail cell.

you're kidding, right?

I am not. Neither were they kidding. It was announced to the boat as we left the dock in a professional manner. I don't believe anyone felt threatened.

 

[Gombessa]

I can't speak for all cell phones, but I can say for a fact that iPhones have had GPS since the 3GS

Since the plain old 3G, actually. But yes, if we're talking smartphones, nearly everything on the market for the last few years has a true, honest-to-god satellite GPS receiver, along with aGPS support, and most also have hybrid positioning systems that triangulate via cell tower and/or wifi database. Some newer chipsets also access the GLONASS network for WAAS approximation.

 

[muzikbiz22]

A Hypothetical - If a Captain were to advise a boat full of divers, "no GPS Devices allowed on board", would there actually be ANY divers left to make the trip ? In other words, you're telling a group of divers that no cell phones, smart phones, iPads, tablets, point n shoot cameras, some laptops, and Nautilus Lifelines are to come on board ? It might be an empty boat

 

[Captain_Bob]

On the boat that I ran for the last two years, they had a section in the waiver that you signed when boarding the boat, stating no use of GPS. A lot of time and money is spent to locate some of the wrecks we dive out here on the Great Lakes, and to make the numbers public makes it very hard to recover the costs of hunting for these wrecks when other charters and divers with their own boats get the numbers for free.

We had one customer a few years ago who took out his GPS and took numbers for a wreck that only we had. He was told not to do this by the Captain, crew and all the other customers on board, but did it anyway. He then shared them on the internet for everyone. He has not been allowed back on the boat.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I would like to see you find and tie into many a wrecks with Google Earth...

---------- Post added January 8th, 2013 at 07:26 AM ----------

btw... your site is fantastic! Wreckreational Diving

Some of my favorite wrecks can be clearly seen on Google Earth. African Queen, Olympic II, both Caissons, Fog Wreck, Moody, Gambler, Santa Rosa, Palawan, Redondo Barge, Savino's Barge, Star of Scotland, Ace1 among many. Offshore reefs such as White Point Rock, Buchanan's Reef, Hawthorne Reef and the artificial reef rock piles off Marina del Rey and Malibu are easily spotted as well. Many of these can be seen on Google Maps as well, but you need Google Earth to get the coordinates. I've dives all of these, and the numbers on Google Earth are correct. Check out http://goo.gl/maps/BxirA
Those are the Caissons. They sit in 150-165' and stand 40' high. On Google Earth, you can see the shape and height in 2D.
For history of the Caissons, check out http://ub88.org/researchprojects/thecaissons/the-caissons.html

 

[Storker]

What's this "taking coordinates" of which you speak?

My GPSr goes everywhere with me. [...] It's fun to download these track logs onto something like Google Earth to see where I've been.

This is me, too. When I'm on a trip, my GPSr is recording its track log. All day. I download it to my computer, and it's a major part of my log/diary/whatever. I also geotag all my photos using that tracklog.

I am not. Neither were they kidding. It was announced to the boat as we left the dock in a professional manner. I don't believe anyone felt threatened.

You gotta be kidding. Either tell me before I book, so I can choose another operator, or those conditions aren't covered in our agreement and are thus void IMO. If I'm told after leaving port that "oh, and remember, you aren't allowed to write a diary from this trip", I'll bloody well make sure to make them turn around so I can get the **** off that boat. With my money.