Quote:
Originally Posted by Red_Ram3500
Have you used this for the application I intend to use it for? Is the gps on the phone reliable in remote areas? Does it use one satellite, or more, does cloud cover affect it, etc?
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I have used it for a similar application yes. Personally I use map and compass most of the time. I prefer a map and it has less chance to malfunction, quick to reference as well when you just need a general location (most of the time). There is times I use GPS however.
Times I use the GPS:
1. If I want to save a track that I am going to be returning on, or traveling frequently.
2. Save a specific location to return to or remember for other reasons, or to simply get map coordinates easily.
3. Track more exact distances travelled or how fast I am traveling.
4. Track myself relative to another person.
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For #1-3 both a GPS unit and a Phone seem to work just fine in my opinion. A dedicated GPS unit has a battery life advantage and is more durable. The phone has more functionality (you would be surprised were you get cell signal sometimes). The accuracy is a wash between them I'm able to track myself to within a couple meters of my target on either. Both suffer from the same issue of bush cover rendering them inaccurate or even unusable.
For #4 I don't know of any GPS units that allow this ability. Closest I can think of is the Garmin Rino with a built in 2-way radio. That being said I didn't find it as useful as I had hoped. Was hoping to track myself relative to other hunting partners in the bush. However in practice it really only worked well in open fields were my eyeballs rendered the feature fairly moot.
TL;DR for general tracking/backtracking and location accuracy I have found little difference between them.
Edit: Forgot to answer the whole question. Yes the phone uses multiple satellites when possible. Yes it suffers from the same cloud/bush cover issues as any other GPS unit (doesn't seem any worse but not any better either).