Can the PN-40 handheld be used as an external GPS antenna?

[soonenough]

I have looked everywhere online, including the DeLorme forums, but I can't find an answer to this question.

I'm thinking about buying a DeLorme PN-40 for hiking/traveling/etc, but I'd also like to load Topo USA onto a netbook for GPS mapping in my truck since the PN-40 screen is pretty small. Does anyone know if you can connect the PN-40 to a laptop via the included USB cable and use it as the external GPS antenna for Topo USA? Or would I need to buy a USB/Bluetooth GPS antenna (like the DeLorme LT-40 shown below) in addition to the PN-40?

 

[fishbum]

Yes, works like an external GPS antenna when connected to your laptop via USB, I'm running mine like that now as I type! Navigate to your parking spot, take the PN-40 off the dash mount and head into the woods.

 

[soonenough]

Wow, thanks for the quick reply, fishbum. This is why ExPo is so awesome! On the other hand, this might be bad, because now I'm drooling over the PN-40 that much more :drool:

EDIT: A quick question for you fishbum - how do you like your PN-40? I'm on the fence because of the following reasons:
1) reports of poor battery life
2) somewhat small screen (compared to Garmin models)
3) the big draw of the DeLorme is that you can download unlimited amounts of maps/aerial/satellite imagery for $30/year, BUT I found out that the maps (and especially the aerial and sat imagery) take up MASSIVE amounts of hard drive space
4) the fact that the PN-50/60 (whatever they'll call the next model) will probably remedy #1 and #2, and I know as soon as I buy one the new model will come out

 

[rambrush]

The Pn series is great. I use the pn-20 hooked up to the lap top works great.
Battery life on mine is much improved since I bought a better battery from a store on e-bay. Have to notch the cover a tad to get it in there. Found this either on www.groundspeak.com www.forum.delorme.com
Also the latest software upgrade helped as well.

 

[fishbum]

The Li-Ion battery it ships with gives about 6-8hr life... Works fine for short trips. I also bought some 2600mAhr NiMH batteries and get 12+ hours out of those.
Screen is small, but easy to read. The screen size is likely a tradeoff in the design to keep the overall unit small and cost down. I'm ok with the size for my use.
Yes, naturally the imagery is big - those are raster files, basically images. So large areas of imagery will create large file sizes. I picked up a 250GB external drive for $80.
Imagery is also what is driving the power consumption - imagine having to move that hires imagery around and screen redraws and the memory swaps need for that requires some processing horsepower...
I can live with the small screen and power requirements to have the ability to get all those data layers in my hand in the field... including the local GIS parcel map data I get from our town, our state website has 6" imagery (even larger files)...

 

[soonenough]

Thanks for the replies! I've heard a lot about those aftermarket batteries on eBay that require modifying the cover. From what I've read they work great, so I'll have to look into that.

fishbum - can you tell me any more about the local parcel maps you're able to use? I'm still kinda new to all of this. What kind of information are you able to get from them? Did you have to use XMap to get those maps onto the PN-40?

 

[fishbum]

Yes, I have XMap. I can import GIS data layers like land parcel maps and imagery in several formats. I do some trailbuilding so it's good to have the parcel map layer so I know I'm in the right piece of property...
I've also traveled to Europe and scanned paper TOPO maps of the region, imported and image registered them and used those on the PN-40, works great.