h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm a bit of a Luddite when it comes to getting from A to L. I use maps. Most sensible people use Sat Nav. I am currently charged with updating a printed Thing that informs people about a lot of different sites. Presently it includes OS Grid References as the primary indicator. I have post codes for all of these sites. My question is, would post codes be more useful than grid refs?

Post codes are less prone to user input error as more people 'get' them.

But it depends on the nature of the sites you want to pinpoint as much as on the tech. If you want to locate geographical features, or prehistoric sites, or very rural things, post codes might not be a lot of use.

Another point with postcodes... Get hold of a GPS yourself and check _exactly_ where the postcode you're going to use sends you to...

I know a couple of larger sites in the UK (one outdoor museum, one industrial site) where entering the postcode printed on all their publicity into your GPS actually takes you to their Admin Building (where they deal with all the post) rather than to the main entrance...

On the industrial site you find yourself in front of a large locked gate, - no signs, no way in... Just a letterbox in a gate...

The museum's a bit better... Originally you got met by a weary secretary who's first phrase was generally 'you came here by satnav, didn't you?' before redirecting you the half mile to the main visitor's gate... Nowadays they've actually got around to sticking a sign on the wall of the admin building telling you where to go (I guess the secretary got fed up of giving directions!)

Also, not all GPS devices are as good as say a top of the range Garmin.

My brother bought me a cheap sat nav a couple of years back and whilst it can find most things, it can't find his house in Weymouth, post code or not.

If you can't get a signal, you can't get a location
There is really bad problem out in the hills these days with people thinking they have GPS location services on their device of choosing and then finding out they're ed when the signal drops and/or they run out of battery juice.

Furthemore
http://gridreferencefinder.com/

Sorry, I noticed you've got both post codes and OS grid refs already.

Can I ask what is wrong with providing both?

>>Most sensible people use Sat Nav.

I use them, but I don't rely on them. I always try to confirm to myself exactly where it is the Sat Nav wants to send me, before I set out. Too often they choose bizarre routes, and as has been said, take you where you don't want to go. My preference is to use Street View to actually see the route first.
They have a place, though.

Post codes would be more use than grid refs in general.

Specific exceptions apply:
- the target is in a region where postcodes cover large areas. E.g. Lake District. A single postcode can cover several acres. Not terribly helpful
- the target is not on a road.
- the target is inside a controlled area.

The latter one is applicable to where I work. All traffic approaches from the south. There's a south gate - but it's not manned. Access for non-regular visitors is via the manned north gate. But if you put the postcode of our office in, the satnav will bring you unerringly to the south gate, where you will have no immediate clue how to get in or why you're not able to simply drive on. This is so common that I've printed and distributed to my colleagues a map with instructions so we can hand copies to drivers who are sitting at the back gate looking baffled. I've given out dozens of copies since the summer.

But assuming you're sending people to locations on public roads in urban areas - postcodes, every time.

We still use flat nav, but I usually check the postcode on google maps for the last little bit of the journey as part of my prep. Often I'll look at street view too. This has paid off handsomely finding two out of our last three holiday cottages.

One of the few times I put a postcode into a sat nav, it turned out to be for the local Royal Mail depot rather than for the council offices - because the council uses a PO Box address.

I like the precision of grid references though. We would have found the missing holiday cottage much sooner if we'd had the grid ref. And so would our Tesco delivery driver.

Mol

What is the reasonable level of user incompetence you can expect?

>What is the reasonable level of user incompetence you can expect?<

Can't answer that, KB. You'd best ask one of my family or friends.