GPS in Russia.....Dont! (Mod Note: This thread opened 5 years ago)
 

This has been posted in other sites, but I thought I share it with you. Just bought my Garmin GPS for my trip thru Siberia. Now I read this............

http://travel.state.gov/travel/gps.html

Bummer!

Oh well, you can get good road atlas's cheaply in book stores and there are not so many roads in Siberia......I created alot of interest when I offerred to show the Novo mechanics my GPS and then alot of laughter when i produced my atlas. Its just more stuff anyway.

I took my GPS into Russia last year and had no problems. I popped it into my pocket at the border crossing and only got stopped by the GAI once.

He was a very nice cop, no bribe or any nonsense - he just checked my papers were in order and sent me on my way - so some you win and some you lose...

Maybe I was just lucky?

------------------
Fuzzy Duck
(I'm quackers about bikes)

Thanks for posting this. I do notice that the warning is dated 3/98, so it's 6 1/2 years old. Sometime in the next month I hope to visit the Russia consulate in Seattle, and I'll ask if it's possible to get authorization to bring a gps and cell phone into the country.

Mike

I don't think it's worth it to try and get permission. I took one into and out of Russia twice this year and I know plenty of others who have as well. Just hide it(and put a jacket over the mounting while you do the paperwork) When one guy was leaving Russia for Mongolia they asked if he had a GPS and he said yes. The reply was "Well hide it when you come back across the boarder into Russaia"

That's bullshit! It's 6,5 years old...
I had my big GPS (Garmin 176C) on the bike crossing the border and the guys at the border were very interested to get it explained - same with the GAI officers on the road...

Just take it with you and stay cool ;-)
www.joedakar.com

hey man!

Russia is no problem at all! Don't ask for a permission for anything. It's probably the only country in the world where you can do anything! Even flying into space is possible.

I was 4 1/2 months in russia and never ever had any problem. I had the same worries like you before I started, but in the end it turned out that it was complete nonsense. Police stopped me sometimes 4 times a day. Twice I had to pay a penalty for driving too fast, but instead of doing it the way via bank, they just charged me the official amount (200 roubles) and took it into their own pocket.

In general, you can say that russian people are very guestfriendly and helpful. As a tourist, you can do a lot of things there, which you couldn't do if you were russian, so don't be too scared :-)

Marco
http://www.schnueriger.net

Thanks for the information, Marco. Where are you these days? Have you left South Korea?

Happy Holidays.

Mike

I'm now relaxing a bit in Valparaiso, Chile. My bike should arrive here tomorrow, but I will only start to drive after new year's eve!


Marco

GPS in Russia
 

What GPS were you using? Has anyone tried using TomTom in Russia or SE Asia for that matter?

agreed, no problem entering anywhere around Russia with GPS. The ban on GPS was an anti-espionage throwback to the USSR.

The GPS I took was a bag of c%$* though, ended up staying in the bag and I used a cut-out from a world map to navigate with, which worked absolutely perfectly and is what I will use next time for sure. If you are asking for directions you only really need to know the next country you have to be in, and asking for this guarantees a funny response and probably a free meal! Of course if you have somewhere to be it is a poor poor plan as you WILL get 'lost'.

One of the things I like best about solo overlanding is that getting lost isn't a big issue, as long as the sun is in your face in the morning you are going east!

Pfft, keep your cellphone, satphone and GPS buried with your dirtiest stank underpants if you're that worried. I've only ever had my topbox searched, and that was just a brief visual.

Obviously as far as forms go, you're bringing in no currency nor any telecommunications devices ;);)

Stop hiding your SatNavs
 

Russia's prohibition on importing and using SatNavs ended a few years ago.

They are on sale everywhere throughout Russia - same makes and models as anywhere else. Map/software also available from dealers and very very cheap unlicensed copies on street stalls alongside pirated DVDs.

The Customs Declaration form requires you declare items over a certain value/cost. Some SatNavs fall within this. But this is only a Declaration of higher value items (and cash) you are bringing in and taking out. As long as it is for personal use, part of your baggage, and intended to be taken out with you, nothing is payable.

I have even used mine to mollify Roads Police by showing them the location of Chelsea Football Club ground in relation to where I live. I got smiles and back slaps acompanied by cries of "Abramovich".

Yes that sat nav prohibition stuff is totally out of date.

All new BMWs, Mercs, Range Rovers etc sold in Russia now have built in GPS sat navs, and while currently NAVTEQs street coverage only covers Moscow and St Pete, its apparently a priority for them to get as much of russia onto their database ASAP. Its a big project mind you. big country. But its already Europes largest new car market now, so you can assume inthe next year or two will be europes largest sat-nav market too.

first i have to say i have no knowledge about GPS's in russia at all and this sounds pretty shocking!

i would like to suggest to exercise caution though. the law may be old but if you somehow happen to piss off an official, they could still use that law to make your life miserable.

i think i remember a story about UK plane spotters who were jailed in greece for taking photos of airplanes near the landing strip of a commercial airport ... and i wouldnt imagine russia being a nice place to end up on the wrong side of the law.

your local russian embassy should be able to advise you on this id imagine.

this post is five years old, and refers to some kind of bulletin which is more than ten years old--both are completely out of date. Rode through russia last summer with a gps and did not have any problem at all. stopped several times by police, they could not care less about the gps, although some did ask what it was. gps are very common here now.

note, however, that as far as I know there is only one set of routable maps for russia, and they are only in russian and require that you "russify" your gps by changing the firmware.

And I seriously doubt that your local Russian embassy would have any idea about this issue, even if you can reach them in the first place.

Yep, I'll second that - used a Garmin all the way from Vladivostok to St Petersburg last year, the police all thought it was cool to see one on a bike.

The World and Base maps are next to useless though, other than for major highways.

Garry from Oz.

Maybe interesting, or at least a curiosity:

GPS íàâèãàòîðû Garmin, ïðè¸ìíèêè, GPS íàâèãàöèÿ, íàâèãàöèîííûå ñèñòåìû
Google translated
Translated version of http://www.garmin.ru/

"Roads of Russia with the routing. RF. Version 5.13
Price: 2580.00 EUR"

:eek3:
Is that price for real, or is that Google translator mis-translating "Russian Rubles" ?

Heh, that's the price in rubles--about $75.

2580 Russia Rubles about 58 Euro

Has someone secretly posted that I am crazy or unbathed? There have been six riders in the past year come through South Korea and only one couple has dropped by to say hello or spend a weekend.

I will repeat it. We live 35 miles south of Seoul and just a toss off the freeway and an equally short distance from the highway legal for bikes that runs parallel to the expressway. Our home is open and there is secure parking. drop a line if you are coming by and we'll throw down the yo and ilbo and make you welcome.

Joe & Kwang Hee

Um, might help if you post this in a thread that has something to do with Korea?

Gosh, Why didn't I think of that. Oh, I did. It has been under the friendly places around the world to stay for years. The reason it is here under the Russian bit is because I noted that Motoride just left South Korea.

Hi Hindu, wasn't ignoring you mate, I actually saw your posting about receiving visitors before I entered RoK. Unfortunately, due to limited time I didn't get across to the Western side of the Korean peninsula. I did spend a night with a fellow rider in Daegu though enroute to Sokcho.

Garry from Oz.

GPS accuracy degraded in Russia?
 

I know it's not quite OT but a Google search led here so may as well ask.

On the SPOT Tracker website it says.

In Russia, the GPS accuracy of your SPOT is limited (degraded) in accordance with Russian regulations restricting the accuracy of GPS performance for devices utilized in Russia.

I've never heard of this nor can I find any mention on the web. No answer from Spot whose customer service is famously bad. I wonder if anyone else knows.

thanks

Chris S

Interesting, I haven't heard this. It wouldn't surprise me if GPS devices sold in Russia had this limitation, but how could the Russians limit the accuracy of GPS devices brought in from elsewhere? The satellite signals should be the same, right?

On a strictly anecdotal level, I use a GPS here pretty frequently, with Russian maps, and for what it is worth, the GPS directions generally align with the map (in other words, there is usually a road right where the GPS tells me to turn right...), but the maps are not the greatest, and many roads are missing or incorrect.

sounds like crap in general to me.

I noted most of the time travelling across Russia to get normal GPS accuracy to within 3-4 metres (10 feet).

Every now and again the GPS accuracy blew out, but no more than it seems to in the UK / Europe in general.

I also note when comparing other peoples tracks and my tracks on the same roads, that they completely overlap to within about 2 metres. If GPS accuracy was an issue, tracks made on the same road at different times would be out by significant amounts, not by the width of a car.

I'm mainly interested in whether this would even be technically possible...and you would think SPOT would have some basis for that statement on their website, but maybe not...

Thanks for your replies - crap it is then, but why would they even make it up?

I have read of Russian-made GPS scramblers used to mess up GPS-guided missiles during 2001 Afghan invasion but I dont think they could scramble a whole country.
The Pentagon could of course but again I read that the part of the idea of turning off SA was to help GPS compete against Glonass and all the rest.

Chris S

The whole point of this regulations that still exist but they never enforce was so civilian travelers (probably of other country's) could not go round pin pointing there location and mark Russian military targets.

The paranoia has come down a bit hence why gps's are now fine.

Had The Gps On The Bike At Customs This Week Handheld And Tomtom , Not The Slightest Bit Interested In It .

Yes, we established that it is not an issue years ago (read past posts in this thread). The topic has changed to GPS accuracy in Russia, so this thread is now in Navigation - Maps, Compass, GPS. A "travel advisory" in no-longer needed.

When Globalstar first announced the SPOT messenger (2007), Russian regulations limited civilian GPS receivers to 30m accuracy. That meant for SPOT to be legal in Russia, Globalstar had to degrade SPOT's performance in that country.

The Russian's weren't "jamming" GPS signals to force this restriction. Rather, manufacturers of compliant GPS receivers had to design their devices (e.g., code their firmwares) to abide by the regulation. Globalstar does a lot of business in Russia -- having three satellite ground station franchises there -- and would be sure to follow all of her regulations.

Although the 30m restriction has since been lifted, I think SPOT v1 devices would still run with degraded accuracy in Russia unless there has been a firmware update. I don't know if the newer SPOT 2 devices remain limited or not.

peekay, that's the answer then - we got there in the end.

Thanks for moving, Moderator.

Chris S

FYI: Chris, a member of this forum, is currently in Russia using his Spot tracker. Link here.

*edit: I have found that sometimes the page needs refreshing before it displays the Spot map.

I had a problem with garmin worldmap in russia, frequently it was up to 5 miles off and very hard to navigate with, but this is more down to Garmin than anything else. It used to be that GPS sold in the west also could only have limmited accuracy (50m I think) because of military concerns.