Blog

Listing all posts with label GPS navigation. Show all posts.

Oregon 550t For Pre-Season Scouting

Posted by Crandela on September 5, 2011 at 9:36 PM under
GPS navigation, GPS navigation systems, GPS receiver, Handheld GPS, Oregon 550t
• 0 comments

I couldn't have said it better myself - the Garmin blog states;

Even though we're celebrating the end of summer today, Labor Day, if you're a hunter, you know the season is right around the corner. As the days get shorter, savvy hunters start hitting the woods and fields for some preseason scouting. This year they've got a new weapon in their arsenal.

The Oregon 550t is Garmin's top-of-the-line outdoor handheld GPS receiver, and it comes jam-packed with features. Preloaded topo maps can give you the lay of the land, and loading eye-popping detailed BirdsEye Satellite Imagery can help hunters get a real-world perspective of their surroundings.

Even cooler is the onboard 3.2 megapixel waterproof digital camera that marks the precise location that each photo was taken. So instead of having to manually label each waypoint to make sense of things, the picture you took does all the work for you.

The Oregon 550t can help you become more successful and enjoy more time outdoors this fall.

View entire article ►
An Unusual Situation to Consider

Posted by Crandela on June 14, 2011 at 5:52 PM under
GPS navigation, automotive GPS, automotive GPS navigation, automotive GPS units
• 1 comment

After talking to a friend recently I got to thinking of an unusual and very rare situation that had never occurred to me before. Because we have raised guide pups in the past through Guiding Eyes for the Blind, six to be exact, I have a special place in my heart for those wonderful noble creatures and the people they love and take care of. Now here is the situation. Imagine someone who suddenly finds themselves in a new environment with their guide dog, traveling on vacation, relocated to a new job or whatever, and no other friend is with them to read a map or street signs. How would they find their way around this unfamiliar city with the most independence and in the shortest amount of time?

Well, I had to stop and think of the different versions of automotive GPS units, several of which are small enough to be handy to carry in your pocket, and some of which are voice activated and give directions by speaking also. Magic! Their loyal guidedog will keep them straight on the sidewalk, guiding them around any obstacles and watching for traffic at crossroads like always, and the automotive GPS navigation will give them the directions they need which they will ask their dog to execute for them. I imagine they would do well to just contact their favorite GPS store for some help in choosing an appropriate GPS device. Now that will really give them independence and freedom. Any other thoughts on that?

View entire article ►
Travel Safety Tips

Posted by Outdoorlover on June 13, 2011 at 9:32 PM under
GPS navigation, automotive GPS, automotive GPS systems, automotive GPS units
• 0 comments

The following travel safety tips will save you a lot of trouble when you travel.
You need to consider security measures to protect you, your stuff and your travel plans and to provide a safe trip for you and your fellow travelers. The following travel safety tips can save you a lot of trouble.

1. Make sure your passport and a visa are up-to-date before you try to travel abroad.

2. Do not forget to carry information for emergency calls. This can be very useful in times of crisis.

3. If you travel abroad, learn about the culture in which you plan to visit. This saves a lot of confusion and can ensure a safe holiday. Learn some key phrases of the local language, such as “Help” in case you are separated from your tour guide or friends. If you are traveling alone, you may want to hire a guide who speaks at least two languages, yours and the native language.

4. Walking in a group is safer than going alone, especially in sparsely populated areas. Also a group will add to your enjoyment. Thieves and robbers usually target those who travel alone.

5. Always use covered luggage tags and try to prevent your address on luggage tags from opening. You can use both the address of your destination and of course your home in case of lost luggage.

6. Keep your ears open to your inner voice and trust your intuition. Women, single parents and parents of small children are easy prey for crime against tourists. Be vigilant at all times when on your own.

7. Bring along your own automotive GPS device. Several of the automotive GPS units can also be carried easily in your pocket. Not only if you drive yourself, even if you are using taxis in an unfamiliar location your own GPS navigation will help assure that the taxi driver doesn’t try to take advantage of you and take creative “shortcuts” in order to charge you extra. Bringing your automotive GPS systems will also help you navigate on foot while in a new city while you get your bearings and make sure you are able to get back to your hotel at the end of the day.

Again, it is fun to travel to new places, but be sure to use common sense and be safe while doing so.

View entire article ►
Memory in GPS Systems

Posted by Crandela on September 27, 2010 at 8:00 PM under
GPS navigation, GPS navigation system, gps accessories, memory cards for GPS units
• 2 comments

Memory is used to load detailed topographic maps, street-level maps, or additional waypoints into your GPS receiver. Detailed maps can use a great deal of memory on your device, so you need to consider how much internal storage capacity your device has. Higher end GPS devices also usually accept a memory card for additional storage. You can also share data easily between different GPS units of your own, or with a friend if you are using a memory card. There are several sizes of memory cards to choose from to expand the memory of your GPS navigation system. Most are between 1 and 4 GB of memory; although, you can purchase larger or smaller memory cards than this if you are interested, depending on how you plan use your GPS units.

View entire article ►
How Many Channels Do I Need?

Posted by Outdoorlover on September 23, 2010 at 8:00 PM under
GPS device, GPS navigation, GPS receiver, GPS unit, handheld GPS system
• 0 comments

When you compare benefits of various GPS devices, a feature commonly noted is the number of “channels” a GPS has. What are channels, and are they important to help determine which GPS system to purchase? First, it might be helpful to have a basic understanding of how GPS works. Sometimes taking it down to a very basic level is quite helpful. At the most basic level, your GPS needs one channel for every satellite it is communicating with. You need to realize that there are exceptions to this, but we are going for simplicity here. The more channels your GPS reciever has, the more satellites it can communicate with at one time. The GPS satellite system is designed to provide similar levels of service anywhere in the world, so at any given moment your GPS unit will only be able to “see” a few of the satellites at one time. At least half of the satellites will on the other side of the earth, while others could be out of view due to mountains, trees, buildings, and so on. Sometimes channels are reserved for more than just tracking a visible satellite, but also for searching for other satellites which are predicted to come into view. If you continue to watch the screen over time you will see that some satellites disappear from view while other satellites appear on the horizon. While your GPS might be tracking only 8 satellites, it might be using a couple of other channels to search for new satellites which it predicts will come into view.
Some very basic GPS navigation systems have a single or dual channel scanning receiver that can read and 'lock' onto 8 to 12 satellites. If a device can give me a fairly accurate location with only 4 satellites, why would I want more than 5 parallel channels? Since 5 would only allow for a margin of 1 visible satellite, having more channels would permit your unit to maintain a position when you moved behind a building where you suddenly lost contact with several satellites. Ideally you would like to be able track all available satellites simultaneously to maintain a fix under the worse possible conditions. If you turn a corner and several satellites are now obscured from view there is a good likelihood that the extra channels will instantly bring several others into view, thus maintaining continuous accuracy. I hope this has been useful information to help make your decision as you purchase your new GPS navigation system.

View entire article ►
Internal versus External Antennas

Posted by Crandela on September 13, 2010 at 8:00 PM under
GPS chartplotter, GPS navigation, GPS navigation system
• 0 comments

In helping our new friend search for the best GPS chartplotter navigation for his enclosed wooden boat, we have discovered that the manufacturer’s descriptions do not always educate you on whether your unit will work in an enclosed area or not. We are finding that it is important to do more research and be sure that the unit can handle an external antenna before purchasing it. There are often situations where you do not want to navigate your boat from the fly bridge and would appreciate the comfort of navigating from within an enclosed cabin, so be sure your unit has that capability before purchasing the wrong GPS navigation system/chartplotter for you. It would be convenient if the manufacturers would include that in their descriptions, but that is not always the case.
Several GPS chartplotters have the capability of being used with or without an external antenna and should be reviewed with this in mind. Be sure to look for more than an internal antenna. An internal antenna is convenient as it is more compact and does not need to be set up separately; and although it will work quite well on many boats, it will not serve in all situations. Another thing to consider is purchasing a 2^nd mounting station in order to easily switch back and forth between navigating either from the cabin or the fly bridge. Happy boating!

View entire article ►
Garmin nuvi 255 versus nuvi 755T Comparison

Posted by Crandela on January 3, 2010 at 6:01 PM under
GPS navigation, Garmin automotive GPS units, Garmin nuvi, automotive GPS, automotive GPS systems, automotive GPS units
• 0 comments

Time for another product comparison; I am looking at two more Garmin automotive GPS units - the Garmin nuvi 255 versus the Garmin nuvi 775T. Both are excellent automotive GPS systems. The nuvi 255 is built more for the budget conscious traveler; whereas, the nuvi 775T has more options to offer and increased functional capacity. Here are the functions that are the same in both: They both have color displays to make it easy to read the screen. Both have rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, the battery lasting approximately 4 hours on the nuvi 255 and 3 hours on the nuvi 775T. Each has a high-sensitivity GPS receiver. Neither of them is waterproof, so I wouldn't recommend using them as a motorcycle GPS unit; however, waterproof is not really an issue in automotive GPS units. Both come with preloaded street maps and the ability to add more maps if you are interested, but the nuvi 775T includes transatlantic maps which can be nice when you travel to Europe. Both of these versions of the Garmin nuvi come with internal solid state built-in memory and are designed to hold 1,000 Waypoints/favorites/locations; the nuvi 755T also built to remember up to 10 routes. Each includes a basemap and accepts data cards which are not included, but it would be handy to have for additional memory. Neither of these Garmin nuvi versions includes voice-activated navigation, so you are not able to operate the device with spoken commands; sorry about that one as that is a nice feature, but is yet another perk to look for in other automotive GPS systems in future reviews.

Both include choice of route setup for either faster time, shorter distance, or off road and route avoidance to help you avoid highways, tolls etc., also handy features to have in automotive GPS units. Both of these versions of Garmin nuvi also are FM traffic compatible (with receiver and lifetime traffic included with the nuvi 755T) and are MSN® Direct compatible and have a speed limit indicator which displays speed limit for most major roads in the U.S. and Europe. Both also have the functionality of the Where Am I? feature to help you find the closest hospitals, police & gas stations, nearest address & intersection and ecoRoute^TM which calculates a more fuel-efficient route and the ability to add custom POIs (points of interest), all great features to have in unfamiliar territory. Personalize either Garmin nuvi version by adding Garmin Garage^TM vehicles and voices, a free service at Garmin where you can download car-shaped icons and custom voices to your device. Photo navigation in order to navigate to geotagged photos, World travel clock, currency & unit converter, calculator and picture viewer are also nice features available in both.

Now for more differences between the two: The Garmin nuvi 755T has a few more features which the nuvi 255 does not. The nuvi 755T has higher display resolution and a 4.3-inch diagonal screen compared to the 3.5-inch screen of the nuvi 255. Nuvi 755T also includes 3-D building view which displays buildings in 3-D, the ability to auto sort multiple destinations which provides the most direct route, and Bluetooth® wireless technology so you can connect to your phone for hands-free calling. Garmin Locate^TM marks your position when the GPS receiver is removed from the windshield mount - this can be really handy to help you remember where you parked your vehicle. The included MP3 player, Audio book player and FM transmitter with headphone jack/audio line-out will entertain you on your travels.

Oh, I nearly forgot to mention that both of these Garmin nuvi automotive GPS systems come with Garmin Lock^TM anti-theft feature and touchscreen convenience. Well, I hope that helps to sort out the differences and advantages of each of these Garmin nuvi versions for you. Happy traveling!

View entire article ►