<p>Don't get lost for long as this causes rescue plans to be initiated.
<h3>What EVERYONE needs to do</h3>
<ul>
<li>Install a GPS app on your phone.</li>
<li>Download the locations of key cave entrances, camps and other landmarks and the paths between them.</li>
<li>When walking on the plateau, turn on <b>location tracking</b> in Google Maps, or your GPS app, before you leave the car park and share your location with someone you know at base camp and/or top camp.</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Don't be misled by the apparent simplicity</b> of the tracks. The plateau is very broken and is an unremitting extent of cliffs, holes and impassable dwarf-larch scrub ("bunde" as it is known on expo). You can be 5m from the route and have lost it entirely. The <ahref="/guidebook/walkin.htm">walk to and from</a>
col leading to the plateau is comparatively easy is it is an obvious path, and marked and signposted in the earlier section.</p>
<ahref="http://expo.survex.com/expofiles/gpslogs/essentials/"><imgwidth=60%src="gps-essentials/essentials2024divert.jpg"alt="screenshot of the GPS file"></a>
<h3>Quick start for Android devices, 2024</h3>
<ul>
<li>Install OsmAnd from the Play Store (recommended GPS app)</li>
<li>In the settings in OsmAnd, go to Maps & Resources -> Europe -> Austria -> Upper Austria and download the standard map.</li>
<li>Download the essential tracks and waypoints by long pressing on <adownloadhref="gps-essentials/essentials2024divert.gpx">this link</a>. You should be presented with the option to open the file with OsmAnd - do this.</li>
<li>OsmAnd defaults to not displaying labels on the waypoints (caves and camps). Tap on a point to reveal what it represents. To override this behavior, go to 'configure map', and turn on 'Point Labels (POI, Favourites)'.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Quick start for iPhones</h3>
<p>There is no such thing as a quick installation procedure for iPhones. The prefered app is gaia GPS.</p>
<p><b>If the quick start doesn't work for you, go to the <ahref="#general">general instructions</a> further down this page.</b></p>
<h2>GPS for prospecting</h2>
<p>When using your phone for prospecting for new caves, or refinding old entrances, there are two further usefull files that you should consider downloading:</p>
<ul>
<li><adownloadhref="gps-essentials/entrances2024.gpx">entrances2024</a> - location of all known cave entrances.</li>
<li><adownloadhref="gps-essentials/kataster-boundaries-as-tracks.gpx">kataster-boundaries-as-tracks</a> - these are <b>not paths</b> but separate areas with
different mapping designations.
These are the smooth, curved lines. They are used by prospectors when naming new caves.</li>
</ul>
<p>If you are looking for how to upload one of your own GPS tracks, go to <ahref="/handbook/computing/gpxupload.html">gpxupload</a>.
</p>
<p>The OsmAnd documentation says:
<ul>
<li>"The simplest way to view a track you've downloaded is to tap on it in your device's file manager and choose to open it in OsmAnd. After that, you'll see the track in My places - My tracks or in the Dashboard - My tracks."
This is easy on a laptop, but phone browsers make it difficult to download a simple link like that - just clicking will usually (unhelpfully) display it in the browser.</p>
<p>You need to long-click and pick 'download file' or 'download link' (chrome). Then either:
<ol>
<li>Go to your 'Downloads' folder and tap on the GPX file, which should offer to load it in OSMand, or whatever other map software you use, or</li>
<li>Go into OSMand, select 'My places' and 'IMPORT', then select the file.</li>
<p>Even modern (2019) Garmin GPS devices use this old style mini-USB socket. So you will need the special cable that comes with the device. An ordinary phone USB cable won't work.
