Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Calling any admitted Android geeks / Back Country Navigator users

I'm leaving for a back country Elk hunting trip next week in Montana. 1 hr horseback ride from nearest car or wall outlet. Last time I was there, I didn't know about BCN and used my droid's compass app to record waypoints and to navigate with for 12 days in the back country. I just powered it up when I needed it, recorded waypoint or got a bearing, and then shut it down. I recharged at night from a battery pack with USB port. This year I happen to have two HTC Thunderbolts. One on my verizon plan, and one that was lost, recovered, and sent to me after getting my insurance replacement. They didn't want it back, but it's on a list of devices that Verizon essentially considers stolen/permanently out of commission and they won't reverse it. SO... it works fine offline or connected to wifi as a GPS enabled mini-tablet. I would like to use it this year as my primary BCN device. Reason for this post is that I'd like to know what an 'expert' droid user familiar with the requirements of BCN would recommend as a 'setup'. i.e. I've never rooted a phone before, but I have nothing to lose on this one, so should I root it and uninstall all bloatware to reduce battery drain and increase performance? Should I install an app that allows me to "undervolt" it so it draws less power? Is there a way I can get the notoriously slow booting Thunderbolt to boot faster and use less time & power during multiple startups during the day? Any other tips for maximizing battery life on a BCN sole-purpose phone? I want to be sure the data radio and cellular radio will not be draining power trying to find a signal ... should I try to run BCN in airplane mode? I can't be the only one that sees the potential of an old phone as a great dedicated GPS unit?

BTW... if your advice is that using a smartphone as your gps device is a bad idea, thanks, but please don't bother posting. Looking for advice & tips for using and setup only.

For anyone who has a droid, tablet or i-something, and aren't aware of BCN, check it out, it's a great app and the developer is constantly taking input, communicating with users, and improving. Great value IMO vs a garmin type device that doesn't 'evolve' and improve constantly.

I'm not familiar with BCN but I'll be checking it out after your endorsement. Thank you for that.

If you're familiar with rooting a phone and removing bloatware then that would be a real good direction to go. If you're not familiar with it, I wouldn't attempt it if I were you. It's a somewhat complicated procedure if you're not a techie. There is far more to lose than to gain in doing so, if you botch it somehow. You'd end up with a paperweight.

App's that "undervolt" will give you minimal advantages at best, but in your situation maybe every advantage you can get matters.

Airplane mode will help a little. However, as with most smartphones the majority of power consumption tends to be with the display.

If your phone has a "sleep" mode then that is how I'd run it. You burn up far more power turning it on and off then just letting it sleep.

The potential of an old phone as a great dedicated GPS unit? I don't get any warm fuzzies over the idea actually.

Welcome to the Campfire, and best of luck on your upcoming adventure! We like pictures around here so please feel free to take lots out there and share the adventure with us when you return!

Backcountry Navigator is the greatest outdoor application ever invented, imho. I've used it for the past 2 years. What I do is take along an external battery pack to make sure I don't run short on power while in the field. Newegg.com has them, a retailer near you probably sells them as well. Charge up the phone and the battery pack before you head out, and you should have all the power you need for a day afield.

Thanks! I'm pretty familiar with the area we're going back to and will have a paper map & compass with me as well as my primary phone which also has BCN loaded on it with base camp waypoint marked, plus I've used it a lot recreationally and it's never let me down. I've compared it to my dad's garmin and find it much easier to use and look at. I don't know if Thunderbolts have a sleep mode, but I'll look into it. I'm a casual techie, but no experience 'under the covers' with Android OS. Still, I like to tinker and if I do brick this device, I wouldn't be out much.

@walt501, I've explored them, and I'm taking some portable (battery) power in with me to recharge. My issue is not to stay charged for 1day in the field, but 12 consecutive days.

ttt

Love my BCN when it works...I have had the devil of a time with aerial maps now and then...most of the time there is no problem, but sometimes instead of aerials I get the dreaded black triangles (no pic) where I know damn well they have aerials for that area! Other times when I zoom in it will crap out on me and go to black triangles...it can be frustrating.

When it is going good though, it is a great program to run! I do love it. The only thing is you have to have cell phone reception in your area for it to work obviously...some spots I hunt don't.