GPS
Written in Association with
The ultimate user guide
magazine
MAGAZINE
Welcome
There was a time, not long ago, when I thought that the map and compass would be the primary navigational tools for hill-walkers for many years to come. But the latest GPS receivers, especially those that feature OS-quality mapping, are starting to make me think I could be wrong. With pin-sharp mapping and impressive screen sizes, the latest wave of GPS are a revelation for any walker and even die-hard traditionalists are starting to take the plunge. Trail’s mountaineering editor Jeremy Ashcroft is able to identify the very moment of his conversion – at roughly 1083m on the Cairngorm Plateau (see page 10). GPS receivers today come with turn-by-turn road navigation so they can be used in the car to get you to a remote hillside car park. They’re rugged enough to cope with the worst mountain weather, to guide you round the hills with superb reliability. They can even clip on your bike or join you on a run to keep a close eye on your fitness, speed and mileage. And if you fancy going out to look for hidden treasures in the outdoors then they’ll help you do that too (take a look at the feature on Geocaching from Country Walking’s Nick Hallissey on page 22). With a GPS you can create routes on your PC or on the GPS receiver itself and those routes can be shared through online communities. With functionality, accuracy and durability setting new levels, the GPS receiver has definitely come of age. This guide aims to help you choose the right unit for your level of activity and it’ll help you get more out of it on the hill. It’s essential reading whether you intend to use one in the depths of winter bagging Munros, on your bike, in your car, getting fit, hunting for treasure or even just taking the dog for a walk. Graham Thompson Technical Editor Written in association with Lowrance Production Sally Walters Photography Tom Bailey
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WHAT IS A GPS?
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MAkING yOur GPS WOrk fOr yOu
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GPS SCEPTIC CONvErTEd
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Buy THE rIGHT GPS fOr yOu
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LOWrANCE GPS uNITS
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dE COdE THE TECHNO LINGO
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GET INTO GEOCACHING
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MAPS ANd GPS TOGETHEr
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dIGITAL MAPPING
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EIGHT rEASONS TO Buy A GPS
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What is a GPS? WANT TO Buy THE rIGHT GPS rECEIvEr fOr yOu? THEN HErE’S WHAT yOu NEEd TO kNOW...
GLOBAL
POSITIONING SySTEM
The Global Positioning System (GPS) was developed by the uSA and it uses 24 satellites orbiting 11,000 miles above the earth. radio waves from these satellites allow a small handheld GPS to determine its location anywhere on the globe by a process of triangulation.
IMPrOvEd ACCurACy
There is an additional system of satellites and ground stations that can be accessed by GPS units to improve accuracy to 3-5 metres. In the uSA this system is the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). Other governments around the world are developing similar systems – Europe has the Euro Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS). Many modern GPS units are WAAS/EGNOS enabled.
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ON SCrEEN MAPPING
Early GPS receivers indicated your position with a numerical grid reference. Some modern GPS receivers provide digital on-screen mapping so that your position can be seen in real time moving across the map on the screen. Ordnance Survey mapping has recently been made available to GPS producers.
ANTENNA
GPS receivers use a numbers of channels to track the satellites and receive their radio waves. A 12 channel parallel receiver is now the most common design and is the minimum you should look for if purchasing a unit. The better the receiver the more chance there is that the unit will be able to provide an accurate fix on your position.
SCrEEN
The larger the screen the more information it can display, but large screens use more battery power. Equally a colour screen makes the map and information being displayed more readable, but a basic greyscale screen uses less power. Screen quality varies too with clarity of detail increasing with price.
BuTTONS
All GPS receivers use some press buttons, but touch-sensitive screens are also becoming popular. Stylus-operated screens are also available but these cannot be used if the stylus is lost, unlike touch-sensitive screens. for the best of both worlds some GPS receivers give the user the choice of how to operate the unit by having both physical buttons and on-screen touch-sensitive buttons.
BATTEry
All GPS receivers require either AA or AAA batteries, which will provide anywhere up to 24 hours of operation. The more features that the unit has, the more battery power is required. do consider rechargeable batteries.
OuTdOOr PrOOf
A GPS receiver that is going to be used outdoors in all weathers needs to be waterproof, bump proof and drop proof. dedicated outdoor GPS receivers have casings and battery covers that are designed to withstand these demands.
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Making your GPS work for YOU HEAdING OuT fOr A WALk? THEN HErE’S HOW TO GET THE MOST frOM yOur GPS uNIT ON THE HILL A GPS can tell you where you are anywhere on the planet. It is particularly useful for finding your way across large featureless areas such as the Cairngorms and Pennine mountains, which are notoriously difficult to navigate. you can use a guidebook or a conventional map to help you create your own routes on a PC or directly onto the GPS. Or download routes from a host of online sites.
dOWNLOAdEd rOuTES
The easiest way to use a GPS receiver is to download a route directly from your PC into your GPS. Search the net for GPX trails and the location you are interested in. GPX files are pre-prepared routes that can be downloaded and used on your GPS. download the file to your PC and then you can plug in your GPS receiver to transfer the route to your GPS receiver. Some units require the conversion of GPX trails whereas more advanced units take native GPX trails without the need to install additional software.
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CrEATE rOuTES ON yOur PC
Mapping software such as Quo, Memory Map, Anquet and many more can be used to create routes on the screen of your PC. you then just need to plug in your GPS and download the route.
CrEATING rOuTES ON
yOur GPS rECEIvEr
BrEAkING dOWN THE rOuTE
Having chosen an objective, such as a mountain summit and the route that will take you to the top, you need to choose how many waypoints to create. If you only choose a waypoint for the summit, then your route will take you in a straight line to the top, which may not be safe. So you may need to choose a series of waypoints along your ideal route at points where there is a direction change. The more waypoints you choose the more detailed the route will be. A detailed route can be produced on the GPS receiver by moving the cursor along the route and selecting waypoints at every turn of the route.
routes can be created directly onto your GPS receiver by using the onboard software. To do this type in the coordinates of a waypoint, or a series of waypoints to create a route. This can be achieved in the comfort of your home or in the countryside and stored in the GPS receiver for immediate or ALTErNATIvE rOuTES later use. Planning backup routes, escape routes and alternative routes into your GPS receiver at the PLANNING yOur planning stage means you are ready to follow a new route at any time. This is useful if the weather fIrST GPS rOuTE changes, the route takes longer than expected or if The first time you plan a route of your own, you’ll you simply want more choice when out and about. realise that you still need to be able to read maps to use a GPS receiver. The techniques of route plan rECOrdING A rOuTE ning are identical to those used to create routes when using a map and compass. So you’ll need to recording a trail can be useful to compare be able to recognise footpaths, rights of way, cliffs performance or share with online communities. and read contours when planning a new route as routes can then be analysed on your PC through your GPS receiver can only guide you along the Google Earth via a simple GPX drag-and-drop route you input and will not differentiate between facility on the Endura units. a route along a level path and a route that travels up a vertical cliff or through a dense forest.
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BE CAuTIOuS
GPS receivers can have an accuracy of up to 5m when WAAS and EGNOS are enabled. So select waypoints around 10 metres away from a cliff edge, or riverbank, so that you can follow such features without expecting to cross them. you can also set up a proximity bleep that sounds when approaching a waypoint that is located near a cliff edge.
TAG WAyPOINTS you can create routes directly onto the GPS.
ACCOMMOdATE HuMAN ErrOr
you can name your waypoints with meaningful names such as ‘cliff edge’ to remind you to take care in certain areas. you can also add additional notes to waypoints on some units.
Human error can sneak in as you plan a route on your PC or GPS, and there are errors and small WAIT A MOMENT faults on even the best mapping that can make Standing still for a few minutes will allow the navigation difficult. Equally, over time a cliff top GPS receiver to average any errors due to can erode, rivers can dry up and bad visibility can satellite position or reflected signals from nearby exacerbate these issues. But by following a few obstructions, which may help you locate a good navigational techniques it is easy to keep waypoint feature that is proving difficult to find. yourself on track as you walk.
SELECT THE rIGHT WAyPOINTS
Select waypoints that you can easily find on the ground, such as trig points, path junctions and bridges, that you can use to correct your position if any human error has crept in to your route planning.
HANdrAIL
Make use of ‘handrail ‘ features such as ridges, cliff edges and streams so that you can easily check your position on the map and locate waypoints accurately.
TICk IT Off
find important waypoints before moving on as footpaths, gates and summit trig points are not always located at the same place on the map as they are on the ground.
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BACk TrACk
Consider using the ‘back track’ feature that retraces your movements back to your last waypoint if anything goes wrong. This may be quicker and more efficient than continuing along a route than has been incorrectly entered into the GPS or attempting to create a new route when you are tired and cold.
BEST Of THrEE
When creating a waypoint on the ground, approach the location from three directions for the best accuracy, so that any errors are cancelled out. Then use the average of the three co-ordinates for the waypoint.
PACk A MAP
Always keep a compass and paper map in your rucksack in case you forget to carry spare batteries and when an error in inputting the route has sent you a long way off course. A large map is also ideal for seeing the bigger picture of where you are and what the name of the hill might be on the horizon.
Label some waypoints with meaningful names to make navigation easier.
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GPS sceptic: How one walker learnt to love his GPS WHAT dOES IT TAkE fOr A dIE-HArd, MAP-ANd-COMPASS NAvIGATOr TO MAkE THE LEAP TO GPS? Trail’S MOuNTAINEErING EdITOr JErEMy ASHCrOfT TELLS HIS STOry…
“T
here’s no surprise that a generation raised on mobile phones and handheld computer games make the transition to GPS so easily,” says Trail’s mountaineering editor Jeremy Ashcroft. “But for more experienced walkers who pride themselves on hard-won navigational expertise with map and compass it can sometime be trickier to make the transition. “My conversion to GPS took place on the Cairngorm plateau
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in winter. I’d been carrying one in my pack for a while but I only took it out every now and again to double check my location. I guess I was a bit suspicious about their reliability and thought they might pack in when I needed them most or that the batteries might die mid-navigational leg. So I stuck with paper map and compass navigation. “The Cairngorm plateau is a fairly well trodden area for me and I’ve had a few navigational
epics up there. It can be really tough finding your way around in winter. On this trip, I was following Trail’s staff writer Claire Maxted as she was trying to navigate in tough conditions to Ben Macdui, the highest peak in the Cairngorms, as part of her Mountain Leader training. I was using a GPS with 1:25,000 OS mapping on-screen and it was fantastic to watch my location and to be exactly sure of where I was at every stage.
Winter conditions on the Cairngorm plateau.
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Above : Claire with map and compass and Jeremy with GPS. Below : Checking bearings. right : Happy to be on the summit of Ben Macdui.
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“Claire did a really good job, but by the time we turned round on the summit of Ben Macdui it was getting dark and the weather was turning. There’s a col just to the side of Cairn Lochan and this takes you to a safe ridge with a path back to the Cairngorm Ski Centre. you have to stay on the path precisely to avoid straying into avalanche prone areas: the paths on the western side can be high risk so you don’t want to wander onto these at all. “There’s a spot height of around 1083m visible at NH976024 and you need to find this first and then navigate across this section using pacing and timing techniques to hit the ridge perfectly. I’ve done this in
the past and it’s taken me up to an hour to get it right using map and compass. But with a GPS it took me just ten minutes. “What a revelation! The GPS enabled us to keep moving all the time and see our location marked over proper OS 1:25,000 mapping, which is a relatively new development for GPS. That day totally changed my perspective on GPS. I now see them as a really useful walker’s tool and I guess part of that is down to the reliability of these devices. These days they are weatherproof and very robust. “And I guess the real clincher was my discussions with friends who fly very light aircraft and go out sea kayaking. These two groups
of outdoor user both rely on GPS to find their location. They can’t revert to a map and they do fine. Some take a back-up GPS in case the first one stops working but they never have problems. I was resistant to GPS but I am starting to see them as a really credible hill navigation tool. “But it’s still important that people start with map and compass navigation so that if thing go wrong they can get themselves out of trouble. A good navigational understanding also allows you to get more out of your
GPS. But all the same I do think hill-walking is going to see a massive shift towards GPS in the coming years. “Certain things in my outdoor world are problematic and these are things that GPS can solve. This year I was in the Alps and I used my GPS to guide me over a glacier to avoid a potentially nasty fall into a crevasse. Using local knowledge from the hut warden we plotted a path and then used the same line to return to the hut in the evening. It worked brilliantly. One GPS expert I’ve been
“Without the GPS it would have taken me an hour to find... with the waypoint logged it took me minutes.”
talking to recently described it as being like casting out a fishing line and using that to reel you back in. And that’s exactly what it felt like as you follow your electronic tracks back at the end of the day. “And in the UK, I find that GPS is able to save me so much time and let me concentrate on really enjoying the outdoors. “Only the other day I was heading to Great Moss to find a scramble. It was poor visibility and if I hadn’t had my GPS with me it would have taken an hour to locate the starting point, having to go to each of the three potential crags and check them against information on the map. With the waypoint logged it took just minutes. And that meant more time enjoying what we’d actually come for – having fun on the hill. And for me that’s what makes GPS so good.”
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How to buy the right GPS for you HILL-WALkEr
If you want your GPS receiver primarily for walking in the countryside, hills, moors, dales and mountains, then look for one with Ordnance Survey (OS) quality mapping. This will allow you to locate your position on a map with contours and all the graphic symbols that you are used to seeing on a map including footpaths, forests, bogs and cliffs.
LOOk OuT fOr:
OS mapping Waterproof housing robust rubber armouring Clear colour screen Electronic compass Barometric altimeter
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DrIVEr AND WALkEr
Most in-car GPS receivers cannot be removed from the car and are not rugged enough for the outdoors. But a dedicated GPS receiver for the outdoors can be fitted to your car so that you have one unit for escaping the city and heading into the hills. Turn-by-turn navigation and the ability to mount the unit in the car are essential.
LOOk OuT fOr: OS mapping Turn-by-turn road navigation Car mount Waterproof housing rubber armouring Colour screen
If yOu’rE GOING TO INvEST IN A GPS rECEIvEr yOu NEEd TO MAkE SurE IT’S rIGHT fOr yOur OuTdOOr LIfE. HErE ArE THE fEATurES TO LOOk fOr NO MATTEr WHAT yOu dO OuTSIdE...
GEOCACHEr
MuLTI-ACTIvITy
LOOk OuT fOr:
Geocaching (see page 22) is a sport where GPS users can hunt for a cache hidden in the outdoors with nothing more that the co-ordinates and a GPS receiver to help them. A GPS receiver with geocaching features makes it easier to record and store information about geocaches you have found or want to find in the future.
OS mapping Geocaching capability Waterproof housing rubber armouring Colour screen
If you like to mix up your outdoor activity with some mountain biking then think about how you are going to mount your GPS receiver. GPS receivers can be fitted with handlebar mountings so they can be viewed while the rider concentrates on the steering and negotiating of road obstructions.
LOOk OuT fOr: OS mapping Bike mount Waterproof housing rubber armouring Colour screen
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LOWrANCE ENdurA
Additional features: Basic shaded relief mapping pre-loaded; Geocaching capability; picture viewer; trip computer
OuT&BACk
fACTS
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LOWrANCE
ENdurA SAfArI
fACTS
Dimensions 130 x 60 x 31mm Screen colour 6.8cm Power 2 x AA Housing Waterproof with rubber armour Memory Micro Sd card slot for up to 32GB cards Connectivity uSB Weight 165g without batteries Additional features: Accuterra Mapping from Intermap pre-loaded; speaker; headphone jack; microphone; turn-by-turn road
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travel capacity with optional purchase; MP3/voice notes; picture and video player
fOCuS ON
Enhanced features such as 3-axis electronic compass and barometric altimeter enhance the navigational capacity, while voice note, picture and video players allow detailed route recording, 1:50k OS mapping for the whole of the uk
fOCuS ON
The 6.8cm colour screen makes operation and menus easy to read and operation intuitive via the touchscreen menus or physical buttons. 1:50k OS mapping for the whole of the uk
LOWrANCE
ENdurA SIErrA
FACTS
Dimensions 130 x 60 x 31mm Screen colour 6.8cm Power 2 x AA Housing Waterproof with rubber armour Memory Micro Sd card slot for up to 32GB cards Connectivity uSB Weight 165g without batteries Additional features: Accuterra Mapping from Intermap and Navteq street and POI info pre-loaded; 3-axis electronic compass compass; barometric altimeter; speaker; headphone jack; microphone; turn-by-turn road travel capacity with optional purchase; MP3/ voice notes; picture and video player
FOCuS ON
Premium content Accuterra Mapping from Intermap is preloaded and Ordnance Survey uK maps can be installed with the capacity to add turn-by-turn road navigation, 1:50k OS mapping for the whole of the uK
For more information please visit www.lowrance.com/endura or email Lowrance at sales.uk@navico.com
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Decode the techno lingo CONfuSEd By THE TErMS? THEN CHECk OuT THIS HANdy rEfErENCE TO THE TErMS THAT MAkE GPS rECEIvErS THE NAvIGATIONAL TOOL fOr THE OuTdOOrS
GLOBAL POSITIONING SySTEM (GPS)
This is the system of 24 satellites that are orbiting 11,000 miles above Earth. A GPS receiver uses this system of satellites to locate your position anywhere in the world.
MAP dATuMS
Map datums describe the irregular shape of the Earth for a particular region. different maps have different map datums because the Earth is shaped differently in different regions. So GPS users must reference their GPS receivers to these map datums. In the uk the GPS receiver must be set to OSGB. Generally navigation is possible without changing datums as these are set automatically.
WAyPOINTS
Waypoints are coordinates of a location. If you want to store lots of routes then you’ll need a large memory built into the GPS receiver to handle all the waypoints. The more waypoints the GPS receiver can store, the more routes you can have stored in your GPS receiver ready to use. units today can save up to 10,000 waypoints.
COOrdINATE SySTEMS
A grid of horizontal and vertical lines is provided on maps of the uk so that you can pinpoint a location with a grid reference. But the two most common coordinate systems in the world are LAT/ LON and uTM. So if you are using a GPS receiver in the uk, you must set the coordinate system to one that matches the coordinate system on the maps you are using, which is usually referred to as OSGB, ord srvy GB, or British Grid. The factory setting for most GPS receivers is LAT/LON.
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POINTS Of INTErEST (POI)
Some GPS manufacturers use the term Points of Interest (POI) to mean Waypoints, while others use POI to mean interesting features at a location, such as a hotel, viewpoint or museum. POIs can be transferred between web communities and downloaded into a GPS receiver.
rOuTES
A route consists of a series of waypoints that are input by the user or recorded by the GPS receiver. It’s useful to store a few routes plus a few escape routes or variations to each route into a GPS receiver so that you don’t have to reload routes all the time. GPS units can save up to 200 routes.
WAAS ENABLEd
Many GPS receivers are WAAS enabled. This provides greater accuracy, down to 3m, but it is only available in selected areas of the uSA. Other governments are developing similar satellite-based differential systems. Europe has the Euro Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS).
BArOMETrIC ALTIMETEr
A GPS receiver locates its position by triangulation and the result is that altitudes are not always as accurate as map coordinates suggest. To add extra accuracy in mountain environments a barometric altimeter is a worthwhile addition. However users should note that a barometric altimeter is only accurate if the altimeter is calibrated to barometric pressure at known altitudes.
GEOCACHING
find hidden treasure using GPS coordinates posted on the internet by those hiding the geocache. find the cache using your GPS receiver, fill out the logbook, take something out, put something in and head off for another cache. More details from www.geocaching.com or see page 22.
TurN By TurN NAvIGATION
road users can be directed along their journeys by GPS receivers that provide turn-by-turn directions while travelling along roads. This system does not work on footpaths or bridleways but is a real bonus for motorists.
COMPASS
Some GPS receivers feature a compass but these are not usually magnetic so they won’t work until you start moving. A GPS with a digital magnetic compass built in will point in the right direction before you start moving. Buying GPS with a 3-axis compass means you don’t need to hold the unit flat to get an accurate reading. This is particularly useful if you’re using it on a bike.
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Get into geocaching fOr THE uLTIMATE WALkEr’S TrEASurE HuNT JOIN COUNTrY WalKiNG’S NICk HALLISSEy WITH HIS NEW GPS, A fEW CLuES, ANd A SENSE Of AdvENTurE...
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G
eocaching has been hailed as one of the fastest growing sports on earth – and you can do it on your doorstep or in your favourite walking destination. Put simply, geocaching is a treasure hunt with a GPS. using just a website and a GPS receiver, you can add a whole new dimension to your walks, discovering the thousands of caches hidden across the world. And then plant your own.
Along the way, you’ll discover jaw-dropping views, hidden footpaths, the thoughts of walkers from around the world, and quite possibly a small pendant of Bart Simpson (the ethics of this sport require you to sign your name in the cache’s register and if you remove a trinket from the box to replace it with one of your own – pens, keyrings, marbles and any low-value items are exchanged). Geocaching is GPS letting its hair down and having a laugh.
To get my first experience of geocaching also meant having to learn how to use a GPS. I’m not that bright when it comes to new technology but within an hour, I’d learnt how to use the GPS unit and located my first geocache (strangely located in a Little Chef car park just off the A1). Within a few weeks I’d navigated some of Britain’s finest landscapes (walking along Shropshire’s Long Mynd was the highlight), located eight geocaches and planted two myself. It’s a great way to get out into new parts of the uk. Obviously the views, the walking and the countryside were reason enough but it’s difficult to express the truly childlike joy of discovering treasure around the British countryside.
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HOW TO GEOCACHE Log onto www.geocaching.
com and register. The service is free and when you’ve logged on you will be able to find clues to any geocache on Earth.
read the information about
Open the geocache and
sign the register. If it’s a larger geocache, swap a trinket you’ve brought with you for the one that has been left in the cache. you can mark it on your GPS as ‘found’ and log a field note for upload to GC.com when home.
the cache. They’re graded from GEO-HISTOry one to five and some can be tough – especially if you’re trying Geocaching took off in 2000 to find an old 35mm canister in a when the US government made drystone wall. Some have GPS commercially available. encrypted clues so take note of The first cache was planted the formula in case you need it. in Beavercreek, Oregon by Dave Ulmer the creator of geocaching. When you’ve found the Geocaches vary in size from geocache online, save the film canisters to buckets. coordinates into your GPS and Larger caches will contain an mark the location with a item left and swapped by cachwaypoint. This happens ers. you may also find Geocoins, automatically when loaded into which are traceable coins that Lowrance’s Endura unit, and is move from cache to cache. displayed with Geocache icons. you may also find a ‘Hitchhiker’ inside the cache. This is a Dig out your map and plan trinket with specific instructions a walk that will take you to the such as ‘Take me west’. cache. you can save this route to Etiquette says that if you take your GPS but remember to label an item you need to replace it the waypoints for the geocache. with another. For more information read The On the walk, as you approach Geocaching Handbook by Layne the location of the cache, order Cameron, www.falcon.com your GPS to ‘Go To’ the cache. To see our geocaching video remember that your GPS doesn’t go to www.lfto.com/geocache. know about gradients so check your map and make sure you are following the safest line.
When you get to the
coordinates your GPS should beep and tell you so. Then a detailed hands-and-knees search commences. It could be tucked into the branches of a tree or wedged into a wall.
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PLANT A GEOCACHE
you don’t just have to go in search of other people’s caches: you can plant your own and get other people looking for it. Country Walking and Trail magazine currently have four geocaches hidden around the UK. you can find details of them at www.geocaching.com. If you want to plant your own, here’s what you need to do…
register your new cache at
www.geocaching.com you will need permission from the landowner even if it’s on access land. National Trust is supportive of caches on its land as it helps to bring people there, but you still need to ask first. The Forestry Commission is also broadly supportive but Natural England is less keen, especially in protected areas. A popular option is churchyards as the landowners are easy to trace. you should leave some wording which identifies the container as a geocache. Don’t leave anything perishable or edible: foods can harm wildlife.
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MaPS & GPS TOGETHEr THErE IS A PLACE fOr A GPS uNIT, A MAP ANd A TrAdITIONAL COMPASS IN yOur ruCkSACk. HErE’S HOW TO uSE THEM TOGETHEr...
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rEAdING
CONTOurS
ACCurATE NAvIGATION
As all GPS receivers have relatively small screens it can be easier to read the lie of the land from contours by using a conventional paper map. This is not only useful when planning but also when looking for features, calculating the time remaining and adjusting the route along the way.
rOuTE PLANNING
finding your exact location in a vast wilderness is where GPS receivers come into their own. Timing and pacing with map and compass make accurate navigation possible, but a GPS receiver completes the task more efficiently and more accurately.
TAkING
A conventional map is ideal for seeing the bigger picture when planning a route at home. A large map is ideal also when you decide to change your route on the hill and need to replan your day.
IN THE vIEW
When arriving on the summit to take in the view and identify your surroundings a GPS receiver cannot compete with a large conventional map. keep your map in your map pocket or rucksack lid, so it is ready to use over summit brews.
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STATIC STArTS
A compass either built into a GPS receiver or a traditional handheld magnetic compass is an essential tool when setting off from a mountain summit in cloud near a cliff edge. This is because a GPS receiver alone does not know which way it is heading until it starts moving. This is one reason why a GPS receive with built in magnetic compass is recommended for hill-walkers. But you should be carrying a traditional magnetic compass in your pack anyway.
SAvING BATTEry POWEr
By using a traditional map and compass in easier conditions you can save the battery power on your GPS receiver for when you really need it. So use a paper map in the valleys and for the approaches to the mountains, but have the GPS receiver to hand when the cloud rolls in and you need to bag the summit and get off the mountain fast.
BATTEry fAILurE
Even with the best planning, batteries do fail, electronic devices can be damaged or even lost, particularly when a GPS receiver is taken on multi-day trips. Carrying a map and having it ready to use is essential, while a traditional compass may still be required if your batteries go down in thick cloud and mist. It’s worth noting that lithium batteries work better in cold weather. Always carry spare batteries.
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ULTIMATE MAP IN POCKET DIGITAL ORDNANCE SURVEY ON-SCREEN MAPPING HAS TRANSFORMED THE GPS RECEIVER FOR HILL-WALKERS.
W
hen GPS receivers first first on-screen affairs were basic became available they greyscale maps that identified were not as accurate as roads but didn’t include contour they are today and they did not lines, footpaths or cliffs. display Ordnance Survey Today’s GPS receivers include mapping on colour screens. The colour onscreen digital mapping combination of these factors that is as good as the best paper meant that a GPS receiver was maps that walkers have been less useful than it is today but it used to using for navigation. was still exceptionally useful in experienced hands. MAPPING OPTIONS Base maps What features do you need? Most modern GPS receivers A modern GPS receiver can locate include a base map of roads and your position within 3 metres rivers. These base maps locate and the most basic models will your position anywhere in the output this location as a grid world and are all a user needs if reference. The user only needs to they have additional mapping for locate that position on a map to off-road route planning. know exactly where they are. A basic GPS receiver can also direct Topo maps the walker to a location once a Maps that display roads, lakes, waypoint has been input. Again rivers and tracks are called this is all many walkers need topographical or topo maps, and for locating geocaches, for and these are ideal for use in emergency use, and for crossing GPS receivers. Good quality topo vast wilderness areas there is no maps are available for the USA need for extra features. and many other countries, but the topo maps of the UK are not On-screen mapping arrives as detailed as Ordnance Survey A GPS receiver is much easier to mapping. However for general use with on-screen digital use and geocaching, topo maps mapping as you can plan routes are all many users will need. and locate your position on Lowrance GPS receivers come screen quicker and easier. The pre-loaded with topo maps from Intermap Accuterra and Navtec.
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Ordnance Survey mapping The latest addition to GPS units is the ability to load full detail Ordnance Survey mapping. As this mapping contains so much more detail than topo maps they are usually supplied at additional cost on removable Micro-SD cards up to 32GB that can be fitted to the GPS receiver when required. This quality of mapping makes the GPS receiver an impressive navigational tool for the hillwalker. However the small screen size of a GPS receiver still means a large paper Ordnance Survey map is very useful for planning and identifying features viewed from a mountain summit. Ordnance Survey mapping for GPS receivers is usually divided into a number of options due to the memory required: Lowrance will be distributing: UK Whole of Country 1:50,000 You can buy the whole of the UK in two cards, alternatively buy the central UK region if you are close to the North South border.
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8 reasons why you want a GPS IT AvOIdS MAP SQuABBLES
All those uneasy shifts over each other’s shoulders to grab a glimpse of the map to check your walking mate’s ‘crack’ navigation, all the flimsy excuses to get your hands on it and the awkward, tactful corrections which begin with a delicately cleared throat and end with “no, mate, you’re wrong, that’s a fence you’re looking at” can now easily be solved with the push of a button. followed by one of you shrugging helplessly in the fate of unequivocal electronic defeat.
yOu CAN TALk TO IT
“Now then, let’s see… grid reference, there it is! Oooh. How accurate are we today… wow! Two metres! So, if I say ‘Navigate to B&B’ which direction are we going off in? Oooh, 2km SSW! And you’ll beep when I’m 200m away! Who’s a clever little GPS? you are! Some fresh batteries for you when we get home.”
IT dOESN’T ANSWEr BACk
“Wow, went a bit wrong there, didn’t I? Never mind… it’s our secret. We’ll just…delete… that… last… waypoint. There we go! All gone. No-one ever needs know... Now, where were we…”
IT JuSTIfIES A kArABINEr
Those who see fit to clip a karabiner to their pack despite never having used a climbing rope will finally have something useful to clip onto it.
IT’S A TALkING POINT
“Gyroscopic loaf-tracking, 160,000 waypoints with and an anti-waggle plate. Tells me where my car, my keys, and my wife are in relation to each other to a twenty six figure tropospherically-corrected grid reference. And inside this little box is 1600 square miles of rasterScroll OS mapping with in-built spatially trellised focus on the Northern fells.” No, you don’t know what you’re talking about. But they’re listening, aren’t they?
IT CAN Buy yOu BEEr
“Wow…Can I hold it?” “No.” “Please?” “No.” “Pleeease?” “No.” “I’ll buy you a beer?” “Ok! Here you go. I’ll have a pint of Black Sheep, please.”
IT’S BLOOdy CLEvEr
you can switch on a GPS and see things floating in space, which tell you, to the metre, what area of the fannnnanchachnaisnfich forest you’re in, how long it took to get there, exactly where you went wrong on that last stretch and immediately provide a ten figure grid reference in something the size of a phone. Whichever way you slice it, that’s pretty flash.
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IT’S GETTING CLEvErEr
We’ve had a sneaky look at some of the developments happening in GPS right now – think it’s good now? you ain’t seen nothing yet.
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