Handheld GPS units are a hikers best friend. Any hiker knows that being able to find your way around, especially in wilderness areas, is important. Hikers also know two of the deterrents to hiking in the wilderness are how to find the head trail and then how not to get lost during a hike. A handheld GPS unit can give people the freedom to explore and experience hiking in the wilderness areas that they have not attempted before.
A typical handheld GPS unit is powered by standard batteries and is 2 to 3 inches wide and 4 to 6 inches long. These handheld GPS units have a small screen which shows an icon representing your current location and pre-plotted locations. Various models also have maps showing roads and streams, topography, etc.
Handheld GPS units which can be used for hiking in the wilderness, use satellites orbiting over 12,000 miles above the earth to determine the position of the GPS handheld unit on the ground. It does this by using travel times to the handheld GPS unit's signals being emitted from some of the 24 Navstar satellites. Consumer grade handheld GPS units need to receive signals from at least three of these satellites to calculate your "XY" or map coordinate position. At least four satellites are needed to calculate altitude.
There are several physical elements which may prevent a handheld GPS unit from receiving a satellite's signals. Mountains, canyon walls, high buildings, and dense forest can limit the number of low in the sky satellites that are visible and therefore useable by the handheld GPS unit.
Once a handheld GPS unit has a location fixed in it, here's what it may do for you while you are hiking in the wilderness.
1.Waypoints: A waypoint is a single point location. It can be saved in the handheld GPS unit's memory. As you are hiking in the wilderness you can see your current position in relation to the point you want to reach. Waypoints may be created and saved in the handheld GPS unit's memory before leaving for a trip, while in the field or sometimes a series of waypoints are sequentially linked in order to form a route.
2.Routes:A route is a series of locations that are linked in sequence to describe a path along which you intend to hike in the wilderness. The maximum number of positions that can go into a route varies among handheld GPS units.
3.Tracks:A track is essentially a route made up of many linked sequenced locations which a handheld GPS unit automatically creates and saves as you travel along. This is analogous to leaving markers along a trail, while hiking in the wilderness, so you can retrace your path. A track allows you to reverse your hiking course in the wilderness and retrace the path you came in on. This helps you to avoid getting lost while hiking in the wilderness.
Waypoints, routes and tracks are the three principal categories of location fixes that a handheld GPS unit user is concerned with. An understanding of these three basic categories gives one insight into how a handheld GPS unit can help you navigate, safely explore and hike in wilderness areas. It can be used to preplan trips and guide you along. A handheld GPS unit can show you the track you used going in so you can reverse your course and return safely to your starting point.
WHERE ARE THOSE DARN FISH?
People are used to throwing out their bait and letting it set while they wait. Some days this works and they do not have to wait very long. However, there are times when the waiting just seems endless. Are you frustrated trying to find the fish? You just know they are near by but you spend more time trying to locate them than you actually enjoy yourself fishing. You constantly ask yourself are they really near by and how deep are they in the water.
Fishing is definitely more fun when you are actually catching fish rather than trying to find them. Well now you can take the guess work out of where those "darn " fish are hiding.
The latest technology uses sonar and GPS technology to locate fish. It does not matter whether you are a weekend hobbyist or a tournament angler. It does not matter whether you prefer fresh water or salt water.
It does not matter whether you prefer to fish from a small craft, from the side of any water or whether you prefer fishing from a 50 foot yacht. The big ones will never remain elusive again.
The latest technology now has a Fish Finder Watch designed especially for the kayak and float tube user. When the bulky, feature-filled fish finders are too awkward to carry on board a small craft, take a look at the Humminbird RF30.
There are fish finders available which use the best of both sonar and GPS technologies for all levels of experience and budgets.
Some of the top brands which provide this technology are:
1. Furuno: talk to any commercial or sport fisherman and they will tell you that Furuno makes some of the finest Depth Sounders and Fish Finders that are marketed.
2.Garmin: mariners and anglers worldwide have come to rely on Garmin products to make being on the water more enjoyable. Their line of products includes fish finders and portable GPS units.
3.Humminbird: continues to lead the way from fish finders to the innovative super-portable SmartCast.
4.Lowrance:has a superb range of split-screen navigation and fish finder units .
5.Magellan:offers a superb Meridian range of GPS units to ensure your safety while fishing.
6.Eagle:Eagle fish finders are available that make the best use of both sonar and GPS technologies for all levels of experience and budgets.
Why leave fish finding to chance? Use an electronic fish finder. Fishing is definitely more fun when you are catching fish rather than trying to find them. Using the latest technology of sonar and GPS units allows you to spend more of your time catching fish than looking for them.
Geocaching : A Modern Day Treasure-Hunting Game For All Ages
Geocaching is the widely popular, outdoor, high-tech game of treasure hunting in which the participants use a GPS receiver to hide and seek containers, called geocaches (or simply caches), anywhere in the world. A typical geocache consists of a small waterproof container which contains a logbook and "treaure", usually toys or trinkets of little monetary value. Although the caches aren't high in monetary value they may hold intrinsic value to the finder. This simple set of rules, makes theis growing outdoor "sport" easy for anyone to play. The challenging part is finding the cache.
Geocachers seek out hidden "treasures" utilizing GPS coordinates that have been posted on the Internet by other geocachers who have hidden the caches. Using a handheld GPS unit , they trek out into the backwoods or urban jungles to find the hiding spot of thediscreetly placed cache within the local terrain. Once found the visitor may take something out of the cache and replace it with something in return. They then enter their find in the log book (and later on the website where it was posted) and replace the cache to the exact position and condition in which it was found. For some, the biggest reward is the thrill of the search and the discovery of a place they have never been to before.
Geocaching first began in May, 2000 when Dave Ulmer of Beavercreek, Oregon made the first documented placement of a cache. The location was posted on the Usenet newsgroup. By May 6, 2000, it had been found twice and logged once by Mike Teague of Vancover, Washington. Today the are well over 350,000 geocaches which are currently placed in 222 countries around the world and registered on various websites devoted to the "sport".
Some object found in caches are moved from ont cache to another. They therefore are referred to as Travel Bugs or Geocoins and their travels may be logged and followed on line.
Geocaches can range in size from "microcaches", too small to hold anything more than a tiny paper log, to those placed in five-gallon drums or even larger containers.
If a geocache has been vandalized or stolen, it is aid tho have been "muggled" or "plundered". If a cacher discovers that a cache has been muggled, it can be logged as needing maintenance, which sends an e-mail to the cache owner so it can either be deactivated, repaired or replaced.
There are many types of caches. Some are easy enough to be refered to as "drive-bys", "park 'n grabs" or "cache and dash". Others are more difficult and may include staged muti-caches such as those up a 50 foot tree, underwater or after a long offroad drive that requires one to hike up high mountain peaks.
Different geocaching websites choose to list different variations of the game. There
are a number of websites that list caches around the world. The first site which began operating in 2000, and is currently the largest is www.Geocaching.com
This site has members worldwide and hundreds of thousands of caches available. It no longer lists new caches without a physical object, including locationless/reverse and webcam. The exception to this is earthcaches which have been reestablished as caches eligible for new listings, however, they must have approval through the Geological Society of America. Placing caches on lands administered by the National Park Service is illegal without first obtaining permission. One should also contact their local park to obtain special use permits or inquire about sites designated for geocaching on park property.
An altrnative geocaching site is www.TerraCaching.com. These sites have a fee for membership which allows users to see coordinates for most caches in their data base. There are premium paid -subscription accounts which offer additional features.
A third site frequently used for geocaching is Geocaching with NaviCache.com. Unlike some of the commercial sites, NaviCache does not charge to access any of the caches in their database.
When purchasing a GPS unit for geocaching one should look for the following features:
1.lightweight and compact , possibly with a wrist strap
2.waterproof
3.long battery life
4.waypoint storage (this will allow the unit to hold more cache locations)
5.screen readability
Other more advanced features one may consider include:
1.WAAS enabled- this will give you better position accuracy
2.built-in-compass
3.altimeter
4.mapping capabilities
5.external attenna
When geocaching remember to make it an eduational and entertaining experience while always preserving our environment for future generations of geocachers and the public at large.
