GPS use in Vietnam

Garmin has a dealer here - check the Garmin web site for detauls. Their techs pretty good as he does repair and maintenance on Garmin products.

The VN-2000 datum is basically the same as WGS84. It looks like UTM zones 48N and 49N are commonly used with this datum. Just select WGS84, instead.

The MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT, SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM issued a Notice in 2007 that said:

Article 1. Now use the system parameters to switch between international coordinate system WGS-84 coordinate system of national and VN-2000 is as follows:
1. Parameter shifts the origin:
-191.90441429 M; -39.30318279 m; -111.45032835 m.

2. The coordinate rotation:
-0.00928836 " ; 0.01975479" ; -0.00427372".

3. Scaling length:
k = 1.000000252906278

Check this link, too (32-bit) < http://www.globalmapper.com/global_mapper13.zip  >.

Watch out for snatch theft, I use small stainless steel (non-magnetic) chains to make sure that no one can take them ad to make sure I remember too take the gear.

You usually get a 12 count on available sats within range.

Hugely helpful. Thanks Jaitch. Something to play with over Tet.

I'm currently using Version 13. If you are thinking up upgrading it might be easier outside VN.

GPS use is legal here and is very necessary in SaiGon. As the buildings are generally low, GPS works well in down town.

I have a Zodiac inflatable and without GPS I would get lost on the River SaiGon as there are so many tributaries in the MeKong  Delta!.

The MapQuest software for VN is way, way incomplete. I donate trip info to them and you'll find only the larger populated areas adequately covered.

The other thing is that because of building and infrastructure construction maps are inaccurate (paper or software). All have the same missing streets in Hue which suggests they all use the  same database.

There is a local version of Google maps at: < http://www.diadiem.com/ >.

Are there any GPS maps of HCMC for Garmin Nuvi?

tbarry wrote:

Does anyone have either
a) a conversion formula to convert Lat/Long to Vietnam 2000 datum, or
b) the relevant constants to set up my Garmin to use Vietnam 2000 datum.

thanks

Is this necessary? Why?

cvco wrote:

Are there any GPS maps of HCMC for Garmin Nuvi?

Contact the HCM Garmin dealer:
THANH QUANG CO LTD
56, 7a St. - Cu Xa Binh Thoi
Ward 8, District 11
Ho Chi Minh City

Phone: +84-(0)8-9650450

I have a copy of the VietNam Gazette which shows the Long and Lat for all cities, towns and villages in VN.

Jaitch wrote:

cvco wrote:

Are there any GPS maps of HCMC for Garmin Nuvi?

Contact the HCM Garmin dealer:
THANH QUANG CO LTD
56, 7a St. - Cu Xa Binh Thoi
Ward 8, District 11
Ho Chi Minh City

Phone: +84-(0)8-9650450

I have a copy of the VietNam Gazette which shows the Long and Lat for all cities, towns and villages in VN.

Thanks. So how would I navigate to the shop? Ive never been in VN before.

Are you saying you find a place by its Lat/Long and then enter it and navigate that way?

There was a volunteer group making maps but they appear to be MIA now.

cvco wrote:

Thanks. So how would I navigate to the shop? Ive never been in VN before.

Where will you be staying?  You could just print the address out, or write it on a piece of paper, and show it to a taxi driver (Mai Linh or Vinasun only) and they will take you.  Or, if you're brave and/or not very far, use a xe om (motorcycle taxi).  Again, show him the address and negotiate the price first.  They will usually wait for you once you get there if you ask them to. 

The xe oms are everywhere, and they don't typically wear uniforms.  Just look for a guy who looks bored on his motorbike.  Like so:

Thanks very much.
Im coming in October and am not sure where im staying yet, it will be a hotel somewhere and I'll stay about one month. What I was hoping was to have a map going so I can start right off on my exploration chores.

In this vein......if I bring my GPS, and laptop for that matter, will I have trouble at Customs? Do electronics get inspected, detained, refused entry, quarantined?

Oh and thanks so much for the pic. If you hadnt done that I wouldnt have known. I knew about xe om but somehow thought they looked more officially a taxi, even a rogue one.

You won't have any problems bringing in electronics for personal use.  The only time they might question it is if you bring in multiple identical items, brand new in the box.  i.e., they'll think you're intending on selling them.

I find a combination of online maps and an iPhone is enough to find what I'm looking for in Saigon, but I'm comfortable riding my own motorbike and not afraid of getting lost.

Sounds good, thank you. Sorry to ask questions that have been asked 1000x. I always search the posts before asking but usually cant find exactly what im looking for.

It would be good if a knowledgeable person would write a  sticky, "Prepping for your first trip to Vietnam" and get through the categories in one shot.
Internet/Electric/Phone/Gas
Licences
Brief description of Districts
Buying a bike
Buying household goods
Renting a place to live
Renting a place to work
About Police
About Food -prices, hygiene, what to eat, national dishes
Medical Care
Government structure/offices/phone numbers
Importing/Shipping
Customs/Immigration
Clothing/Attitudes/Culture/Manners/Climate
Banks/Transfers/Money Changing
Landlord Tenant Relations
Travel within Vietnam/Touring -bus, bike, air

Sounds like a Lonely Planet book doesnt it. But they are often wrong, vague or badly out of date or otherwise just dont hit the mark.

But here I am researching all this stuff and reading in ExpatBlog everyday can give one a wholloping headache (though info is surely appreciated).

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=316234

Dan is right, I travel in and out of Vn very often, usually carrying GPS (I use a Garmin 62 Stc mapping GPS and a Garmin 72), a metal detector, a fluxgate magnetometer and DGPS unit with data recorder. I have never had a problem - in fact the only time I was stopped and asked to open my tool kit (which is full of strange things like dental picks) was because they couldn't recognise something on the x-ray screen that was in the case. Turned out to be my 50 metre measuring tape.

eodmatt wrote:

Dan is right, I travel in and out of Vn very often, usually carrying GPS (I use a Garmin 62 Stc mapping GPS and a Garmin 72), a metal detector, a fluxgate magnetometer and DGPS unit with data recorder. I have never had a problem - in fact the only time I was stopped and asked to open my tool kit (which is full of strange things like dental picks) was because they couldn't recognise something on the x-ray screen that was in the case. Turned out to be my 50 metre measuring tape.

Since I have been suffering Dyslexia, I can get lost easily even if I have GPS. I saw an ad yesterday. People just create a GPS helmet. It will tell you " 200m turn right".. sth like that.

cvco wrote:

Are you saying you find a place by its Lat/Long and then enter it and navigate that way?

There was a volunteer group making maps but they appear to be MIA now.

ONE of the complaints I have voiced to Garmin is that they FAIL to reference their dealers using Long/Lat!

Google Maps draws roads and bridges before they physically exist, mind you having watched a road go from green field to finished road with sidewalks and trees in less than a month I understand why they might be slow in many other cases.

The best on-line mapper for populated areas of VietNam is www.DIADIEM.COM.

A 50-centimetre GPS survey of HCM was done a couple of years ago for taxi system but it is 'closed' to the general public and only runs on a non-Garmin system.

The city is based upon the French-colonial hub-and-spoke system (handy 'native' control based on canons firing down the spokes from a central traffic circular. Somewhat different from Toronto or New York City which are based up in 'squares'.

But you have no need to worry about GPS until you arrive. The best option here is the Go To on the Garmin.

There are two or three DIY mapping groups updating VN but they stick mainly to the tourist tracks. My work colleagues travel to more remote places and we donate our data for others to apply to the maps.

There is a Mapquest App for Garmin which has acceptable accuracy.

Carry-on baggage is the best way to bring in your goodies and keep on wearing that bag - then they will only X-ray checked baggage. Often my checked baggage ends up in Baggage Services and misses the X-Ray.

Pornography and guns are high in the Customs list (for Foreigners) and almost everything (for Vietnamese).

There are other strategies ... but not for a public forum!

Dejavu.dot wrote:

Since I have been suffering Dyslexia, I can get lost easily even if I have GPS. I saw an ad yesterday. People just create a GPS helmet. It will tell you " 200m turn right".. sth like that.

I just wear my ear buds connected to my iPhone and it gives me voice directions as I go.  If I'm really confused, I will pull over and look at the screen.

Budman1 wrote:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=316234

Thanks Budman, it helps some.

cvco wrote:

Sounds like a Lonely Planet book doesnt it. But they are often wrong, vague or badly out of date or otherwise just dont hit the mark.

LP sells write-ups (they admitted it). It had a railway line running in KunMing Province for years after it fell in to a river! Totally useless.

VietNam is a very hard country to maintain a current guide for, even on-line, as things change so frequently.

This web site claims there is/are subways in VietNam!

There a website called open street maps which is updated by people wo used GPS: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct … 5972,d.dGc

I dont know if it is any good as I haven't d/l any of the maps yet, but it might be worth a punt.

DanFromSF wrote:

cvco wrote:

Thanks. So how would I navigate to the shop? Ive never been in VN before.

Where will you be staying?  You could just print the address out, or write it on a piece of paper, and show it to a taxi driver (Mai Linh or Vinasun only) and they will take you.  Or, if you're brave and/or not very far, use a xe om (motorcycle taxi).  Again, show him the address and negotiate the price first.  They will usually wait for you once you get there if you ask them to. 

The xe oms are everywhere, and they don't typically wear uniforms.  Just look for a guy who looks bored on his motorbike.  Like so:

http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj5 … 24eb94.jpg

"Just look for a guy who looks bored on his motorbike" I would add ... and who is usually full time occupied picking his nose.:

Dejavu.dot wrote:

eodmatt wrote:

Dan is right, I travel in and out of Vn very often, usually carrying GPS (I use a Garmin 62 Stc mapping GPS and a Garmin 72), a metal detector, a fluxgate magnetometer and DGPS unit with data recorder. I have never had a problem - in fact the only time I was stopped and asked to open my tool kit (which is full of strange things like dental picks) was because they couldn't recognise something on the x-ray screen that was in the case. Turned out to be my 50 metre measuring tape.

Since I have been suffering Dyslexia, I can get lost easily even if I have GPS. I saw an ad yesterday. People just create a GPS helmet. It will tell you " 200m turn right".. sth like that.

Well, I hope that isn't like the talking Tom Tom GPS I was using in my car in UK 2 years ago. It navigated me to the centre of the city of Bath and told me: "At the next traffic lights turn right." Followed by: "At the next traffic lights, turn right." Followed by: "At the next traffic lights turn right." Followed by: "At the next traffic lights turn right." Which took me back to where I had made the first right turn. 

eodmatt wrote:

"Just look for a guy who looks bored on his motorbike" I would add ... and who is usually full time occupied picking his nose.:

Good point, which reminds me:  OP, don't shake the xe om's hand.

eodmatt wrote:

Well, I hope that isn't like the talking Tom Tom GPS I was using in my car in UK 2 years ago. It navigated me to the centre of the city of Bath and told me: "At the next traffic lights turn right." Followed by: "At the next traffic lights, turn right." Followed by: "At the next traffic lights turn right." Followed by: "At the next traffic lights turn right." Which took me back to where I had made the first right turn. 

Sorry. I reply late. I am sick today. I saw your reply. Laughed for a while and then went to bed turn right, turn right.. lol.. It works like my brain. I always think " I can come home for sure" and follow my intuition and turn to starting point.

Dejavu.dot wrote:

eodmatt wrote:

Well, I hope that isn't like the talking Tom Tom GPS I was using in my car in UK 2 years ago. It navigated me to the centre of the city of Bath and told me: "At the next traffic lights turn right." Followed by: "At the next traffic lights, turn right." Followed by: "At the next traffic lights turn right." Followed by: "At the next traffic lights turn right." Which took me back to where I had made the first right turn. 

Sorry. I reply late. I am sick today. I saw your reply. Laughed for a while and then went to bed turn right, turn right.. lol.. It works like my brain. I always think " I can come home for sure" and follow my intuition and turn to starting point.

Then your brain has male characteristics!     it's a well known phenomena that men are completely unable to ask for directions when travelling and can spend hours trying every street and road when trying to get to  a new destination!

Get well soon!

eod matt,

gotta say you really did good for me and all of us with your post about Open Street maps. Wow, amazing maps and they work perfectly with Nuvi. Cant imagine how you found it since it never came up for me in google.

Its all free (donations?) and they have a great system. The whole world is routable mapped and you select the map tiles you want and someone in the background builds the map for you, ready the next day. They give it to you both as a single knitted image which can be dropped into your map folder on the GPS, and as a bundle of individual tiles, complete with installers for MAC and PC. I think in my happy panic I installed twice but its fine, fix it later.

The resulting map seams up with existing maps one may have so there is a seamless view from beginning to end. I chose tiles covering Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and So. China. You can also just choose, say, just HCMC on the left side of the web page for instant downloading and installing. I cant tell that the maps are any different than the Garmin and other maps I already have.

All I need now is important POIs covering HCMC and Im all done. Anyone?

I sincerely thank you for the link, allow me to return the kindness later with a couple of beers!

The VN-2000 datum is essentially the same as WGS84; it is based on WGS84 ellipsoid but the position of each is different. Choose UTM - WGS84 Zone 48 to define your data.

Use Google translate and read this: [ http://ciren.vn/uploads/05-2007-QD-BTNMT.pdf ]

The VN Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment published this in 2007. Check their web site.
/extract/
dX -191.90441429 (m)
dY -39.30318279 (m)
dZ -111.45032835 (m)
Ox 0.00928836 (s)
Oy 0.01975479 (s)
Oz -0.00427372 (s)
Scale factor k 0.252906278 (ppm)
/extract/

This link might interest you, too: [ www.rcn.montana.edu/Resources/Converter.aspx ]

VN has several GPS monitoring sites that add corrections to GPS signals.

cvco wrote:

eod matt,

gotta say you really did good for me and all of us with your post about Open Street maps. Wow, amazing maps and they work perfectly with Nuvi. Cant imagine how you found it since it never came up for me in google.

Its all free (donations?) and they have a great system. The whole world is routable mapped and you select the map tiles you want and someone in the background builds the map for you, ready the next day. They give it to you both as a single knitted image which can be dropped into your map folder on the GPS, and as a bundle of individual tiles, complete with installers for MAC and PC. I think in my happy panic I installed twice but its fine, fix it later.

The resulting map seams up with existing maps one may have so there is a seamless view from beginning to end. I chose tiles covering Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and So. China. You can also just choose, say, just HCMC on the left side of the web page for instant downloading and installing. I cant tell that the maps are any different than the Garmin and other maps I already have.

All I need now is important POIs covering HCMC and Im all done. Anyone?

I sincerely thank you for the link, allow me to return the kindness later with a couple of beers!

No worries!    And I'll be pleased to share a beer with you some time for sure. I use GPS for mapping - making maps and plans of my work sites, so I have  quite a few maps now of various countries (Vietnam, UK, Peru etc) and I am always on the lookout for new data and maps. For POI's have a look at: http://www.gps-vietnam.net/eng/garmap.html you have to pay though..

Or here http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/modules.php?name=POIs free stuff but I haven't checked it out so dont know if anything there is relevant to Vn/Sgn.

Heres a website that promises lots although not free, but they do have a local (Vn mobile) contact number so you could call them for advice http://www.gps-vietnam.net/eng/garmap.html

Here's a free one but I havent checked it out yet http://www.malfreemaps.com/viewtopic.php?t=8442

And here http://www.gps-waypoints.net/gps/

I wasnt able to find the site I wanted which is an off road biking site that had loads of maps and poi's related to Vn, that I found last year.

Anyway, some bits that might be useful!

And of course, google is your friend!