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

Wandering with GPS

Posted by Outdoorlover on July 2, 2011 at 5:14 PM under
GPS unit, automotive GPS, automotive GPS unit, handheld GPS, handheld gps device
• 0 comments

School’s out, the kids are home, and it's nice outside. I wonder if I can use my GPS unit to get away from the kids and find myself? Well, maybe I should use it to find adventure with the kids, in so doing perhaps to help us find each other? We can grab the handheld GPS device and take off on foot exploring the trails nearby. I like to pack a picnic and head out after work and do just that. Or we could do a day trip and take off exploring in the car using the automotive GPS unit to do that. Actually, now that I think of it I probably really don’t need to leave those kids behind to find myself after all. There are some great spots here in the Adirondacks for hiking and boating or just sightseeing, even to sit beside the lake and read while the kids splash around in the water. See ya later – its a pretty day – time for me to go pack that picnic lunch and get outdoors wandering with the kids…

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The Good Old Days

Posted by Outdoorlover on July 1, 2011 at 9:39 PM under
GPS unit, GPS units, automotive GPS, automotive GPS units
• 1 comment

Ahhh, the good old days. Reminiscing with an old friend recently about the good times we had when we were young, traveling around the US by car and all the adventures we had back then. Good times, exciting times, living in poverty or nearly so some of the time, but still enjoying life to the max. One of the memories was the challenge of folding the maps. You practically needed a college course to manage to fold a map and actually get it back anywhere near as compact and tidy as it was when you bought it. Then there were the times when you felt like you would be carsick if you were the copilot and trying to read the map, help with the road signs and not block the view of the driver while you were trying to hold the map so that you could actually read it, sometimes even having to pull over and lay that map out on the trunk of the car so that you could pour over it together, trying to figure out the best way to take to get where we were going. Of course, some folks never did master how to read a map. One of those friends and I actually traveled from Virginia to New York one time during which I fell asleep. Rather than wake me or stop for directions, and knowing he did not know how to read the map, he drove for over an hour in the wrong direction while I was asleep! Well, wasn’t that exciting!
Wow, how things have changed. Now there are even automotive GPS units that will talk you through your trip and even plan out the best way to go, even down to helping you avoid the bad traffic, road work or accidents along the way and recalculating for you if you take a wrong turn. Now that is really slick. With lots of features to choose from, budget to fancy options, and much smaller than most of those old maps we used to use, why would I even consider pulling out one of those old maps any more. Perhaps you lose some of the sense of adventure and self reliance we learned so early? Or, maybe not so much…

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Compare GPS

Posted by Crandela on June 16, 2011 at 9:12 PM under
GPS store, GPS unit, Handheld GPS, automotive GPS, automotive GPS units
• 0 comments

Oh my, we get lots of calls requesting me to make a choice for folks so that they don't have to decide which GPS unit to buy. Looks good on paper, but how can I know which features might be really useful or totally useless to each individual person. I could just decide which GPS unit I might prefer, but how would that information help a total stranger whose needs and budget may be totally different from mine? I feel like I really disappoint people when I try to point this out, but we are all individuals, which is why there are so many different versions of, for instance, handheld or automotive GPS units out there.
Most of the top manufacturers, especially Garmin, have really great interactive websites that allow you to choose to compare several units to each other so that at a glance you can sort them out by which features you really want, which ones would only be nice perks and which ones are definitely yes or no features for you. Do you want it to be small and thin with a great battery life so you can carry it with you to find your way back to your car? Do you want lifetime traffic? Bluetooth? You get the idea. Anyway, once you have it narrowed down to possibly one or two favorites, it becomes simple to go back to Google or your favorite GPS store and see which one they have to offer, which types of accessories you will need and for what price they are offered. I just think it totally simplifies your shopping experience. I like simple. After all, I would rather be spending time exploring with my GPS unit than sitting in front of a computer trying to figure out all the pros and cons or entrusting my decision to someone who doesn't even know me. Well, good luck in your search for the best GPS units for your needs and budget, and I hope this helps.

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Camping with GPS

Posted by Backpackin on June 12, 2011 at 9:15 PM under
GPS bike mount, GPS unit, automotive GPS, handheld GPS unit
• 0 comments

It is vacation time, camping time, again. Well, we wanted to find someplace new this year. We went looking for ideas of new campsites, wanted water for play and trails to wander. This is a new place, an out of the way sort of location I have never been before. Well, we packed our bags, packed the car, all piled in and started our trip by plugging in the exact address of the campground into our automotive GPS. A pretty drive and a lunch stop later we ended up in the most beautiful out of the way campground I have seen in ages. Wow, the view from our campsite is spectacular - right on the lake with mountains in the background. How much better can you get! Set up the tent, admittedly always taking longer than planned, and cooked our dinner over the outdoor fireplace. I moved the GPS unit over onto my GPS bike mount and took off on some back roads for an evening ride to discover some of our new area; that was fun. Ahhh, now it is time to rest by the fire. There will be time enough for wandering the trails with our trusty handheld GPS unit tomorrow.

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Live and Learn

Posted by Outdoorlover on May 21, 2011 at 9:10 PM under
GPS device, GPS unit, automotive GPS unit
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My friend and I went to a seminar away from home recently, held in a conference room at a hotel in an unfamiliar town. Well, wouldn't you know that when we went out for lunch we took a wrong turn and got lost getting back. Who hasn't ever done that? Anyway, we realized that the solution to our dilemma was to use her automotive GPS unit. Not having the exact address of the hotel with us, we just put in the town and the name of the hotel chain into the GPS device. This worked great! Step by step we got closer to our goal only to find that we were at another branch of that hotel chain, albeit still within the same city. I guess the moral of the story is to be as specific as possible, looking perhaps for the exit off the highway which was nearly across the street from the hotel rather than the name of the chain. Who knew that such a small city would have two? Well, lesson learned, we followed our GPS unit's instructions back to the correct hotel just in time for our seminar to begin again. We live and learn; still, the GPS actually took us exactly where we asked it to, twice. I hope others will learn from my mistakes. Enjoy your travel with automotive GPS!

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Annual Motorcycle Rally

Posted by Crandela on January 18, 2011 at 12:01 PM under
GPS bike mount, GPS device, GPS unit, motorcycle GPS, motorcycle GPS mount
• 0 comments

I'm watching the snow falling and thinking of Americade. You probably never heard of it, but it is the annual motorcycle rally which normally arrives in Lake George's beautiful little resort town each year just after Memorial Day. What a sight to see cycle after cycle driving by. What a nice group of folks, mostly family types of all ages, on quite a variety of cycles. Some have three wheels, most have two. Some have side cars or little luggage trailers of amazing shapes and sizes.
While walking down the sidewalk admiring all these amazing cycles last summer I began to notice how many had motorcycle mounts for their GPS devices. Most of the GPS units had been removed and carried off in pockets or purses to keep them safe of course, but there was quite an assortment of different motorcycle GPS mounts to be seen. It is easy to understand how folks who like the wind blowing on their faces would like the freedom of discovering new and varied roads and getting off the beaten track, but still wanting to be able to get back to their hotel or their homes reliably. Yup, it is time for the rest of the cyclists to look at the advantages of GPS units with bike mounts to feel even more carefree as they ride off into the unknown. Now's a great time to think about the nice weather and being safe while exploring and enjoying the wind in your face on the open road.

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Live and Learn - Automotive GPS

Posted by Outdoorlover on January 16, 2011 at 11:35 AM under
GPS device, GPS unit, automotive GPS, automotive GPS unit
• 0 comments

My friend and I went to a seminar away from home recently, held in a conference room at a hotel in an unfamiliar town. Well, wouldn't you know that when we went out for lunch we took a wrong turn and got lost getting back. Who hasn't ever done that? Anyway, we realized that the solution to our dilemma was to use her automotive GPS unit. Not having the exact address of the hotel with us, we just put in the town and the name of the hotel chain into the GPS device. This worked great! Step by step we got closer to our goal only to find that we were at another branch of that hotel chain, albeit still within the same city. I guess the moral of the story is to be as specific as possible, looking perhaps for the exit off the highway which was nearly across the street from the hotel rather than the name of the chain. Who knew that such a small city would have two hotels of the same chain? Well, lesson learned, we followed our GPS unit's instructions back to the correct hotel just in time for our seminar to begin again.

We live and learn; still, the GPS actually took us exactly where we asked it to, twice. I hope others will learn from our mistakes. Enjoy your travel with automotive GPS!

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Compare GPS

Posted by Crandela on December 23, 2010 at 11:40 AM under
GPS store, GPS unit, GPS units, Handheld GPS, automotive GPS, automotive GPS units
• 0 comments

Oh my, we get lots of calls requesting me to make a choice for folks so that they don't have to decide which GPS unit to buy. Looks good on paper, but how can I know which features might be really useful or totally useless to each individual person. I could just decide which GPS unit I might prefer, but how would that information help a total stranger whose needs and budget may be totally different from mine? I feel like I really disappoint people when I try to point this out, but we are all individuals, which is why there are so many different versions of, for instance, handheld or automotive GPS units out there.

Most of the manufacturers, especially Garmin, have really great interactive websites already where you can choose to compare several GPS units to each other so that at a glance you can sort them out by which features you really want, which ones would only be nice perks and which ones are definitely yes or no features for you. Do you want it to be small and thin with a great battery life so you can carry it with you to find your way back to your car? Do you want lifetime traffic? Bluetooth? You get the idea. Anyway, once you have it narrowed down to possibly one or two favorites, it becomes simple to go back to Google or your favorite GPS store and see which one they have to offer, which types of accessories you will need and for what price they are offered. I just think it totally simplifies your shopping experience. I like simple. After all, I would rather be spending time exploring with my GPS unit than sitting in front of a computer trying to figure out all the pros and cons or entrusting my decision to someone who doesn't even know me. Well, good luck in your search for the best GPS units for your needs and budget, and I hope this helps.

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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.

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