Southern Navigators website

[Nimby]

What's happened to the SN website?

http://southernnavigators.com now appears to be a site for TomTom satnavs.

[SeanC]

Is this domain name hijacking?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_hijacking

[AndyC]

The link at the bottom of the page suggests that the domain registration has lapsed -so it is nothing so dramatic just an admin problem which (unless they're changing host anyway) should be easy enough to fix

[SeanC]

Interesting form of advertising, but possibily not effective as orienteers shouldn't need sat nav. I say shouldn't.

Possibly the choice of advertiser depends on the domain name. Makes you wonder what would appear if the same happened to Harlequins, Interlopers, Saxons, Octavian Droobers, SLOW etc.

[AndyC]

Can I point out that lots of us use Satnavs to get to events saving our brains until we've got there and that some clubs are putting postcodes on event descriptions (where available) to make it even easier.


(People who know me will now ask if I apply the brain after I arrive at the event )

[Oldman]

... some clubs are putting postcodes on event descriptions (where available) to make it even easier.

Can I make a plea that Grid References are more important than postcodes as the latter are often misleading and can cover quite a wide area in the countryside. Grid references are convertible into SatNav references easily using websites designed for that purpose.

[madmike]

I beg to difer Oldman - Post Code and OS GR are both important to different groups - plea should be do both not one at expense of other. BAOC even do Lat Long on some of their flyers

Let's make the sport as accessible as we can by catering for all requirements.

[Blonde bombshell]

Oldman - can you give me some of the websites that convert GR into sat nav references? Cheers

[Oldman]

http://www.nearby.org is good

[Oldman]

I beg to difer Oldman - Post Code and OS GR are both important to different groups - plea should be do both not one at expense of other. BAOC even do Lat Long on some of their flyers

Let's make the sport as accessible as we can by catering for all requirements.

In my experience, most SatNavs take co-ordinates (although users may be unfamiliar with using the option). A Grid Ref is precise and a postcode isn't. I'm happy that both are provided, but I stick to my opinion that GRs are better.

[Scott]

Can I make a plea that Grid References are more important than postcodes

I'm going to make an extra plea - if you give a grid reference, please include the prefix letters. It's much more convenient to be able to stick the two-letter, six-digit reference straight into Multimap than to faff around with the index map working out which prefix-letter square a six-digit reference is supposed to be in.

Naming no names, but I can think of one club in particular who never include the grid letters in their event flyers, but do pointlessly prefix all their grid references with "GR"

Oldman - can you give me some of the websites that convert GR into sat nav references? Cheers

Try this. But obviously remember that a sat nav will take you to the centre of the postcode, which in rural areas may be several miles from the corresponding grid reference.

[Scott]

In my experience, most SatNavs take co-ordinates (although users may be unfamiliar with using the option).

I'm prepared to be corrected on this, but I don't think there are any in-car sat navs that will accept Ordnance Survey grid references out of the box (although most will take longitude and latitude).

[Oldman]

I'm not sure if you've understood my point, Scott. Most SatNavs as you say will not use GRs but will take coordinates (Lat and Long in one or more formats) and that's why I like getting a Grid Reference (with, as you say, the all-important prefix letters). I can use that accurate GR to get a precise SatNav entry which often saves minutes of before travel or in-car map poring (and at location hunting if the postcode is only "nearby")

[DavidJ]

I can use that accurate GR to get a precise SatNav entry which often saves minutes of before travel or in-car map poring (and at location hunting if the postcode is only "nearby")

Alternatively, why not spend a couple of minutes before leaving home checking the loation on Google Earth, the BO website and the club website and reading the directions in the final details. Then look at your sat nav and manually fix the location accurately and drive with confidence to the that point. You can even take a sneak preview of the competition area from aerial photos

[Scott]

Most SatNavs as you say will not use GRs but will take coordinates (Lat and Long in one or more formats) and that's why I like getting a Grid Reference (with, as you say, the all-important prefix letters). I can use that accurate GR to get a precise SatNav entry which often saves minutes of before travel or in-car map poring

True. That is a bit of faff - maybe one day the BOF fixtures list will include the ability to download a customised GPX file of future events which you could import to your satnav... Although personally I'd still rather have a paper map, and some decent signage to the event from a nearby village/major junction.