What does GPS do? Please explain.

C

Cesar

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Nov 12, 1999
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Okay I did a search and only came up with what GPS to buy and their pros and cons. What I want to know is what it can do. I'm quite experienced with a compass but thought about buying GPS as a novelty item and for fun since the prices have really gone down.

Does GPS have a built in map? What are waypoints? Does it tell me exactly where I'm standing anywhere on Earth? Does it give 6, 8 or 10 digit grid coordinates? Etc. Thanks.
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Cesar:



Does GPS have a built in map?

What are waypoints?

Does it tell me exactly where I'm standing anywhere on Earth? Does it give 6, 8 or 10 digit grid coordinates? Etc. Thanks.</font>
Click to expand...

It depends mainly on what you get (you get what you pay for) I have seen a few that come with road maps that you could put in using your computer, and others you just program in.

A waypoint, is just a point of travel. It just depends on how often you want your waypoints marked on your GPS. Basicly, it programs a trail on your GPS so you can find your way back to the starting point.

Also GPS is getting more accurate, after Clinton had signed a bill to "descramble" the signal sent by the GPS satelites, to make it more accurate.
 
I used a GPS while hunting a couple years ago. I was not out in total wilderness, instead I had a license that let me hunt on private land. The trick was that the private land was in many different places with very irregular boundaries that were not always fenced and posted clearly. I used topo maps and county maps that I had marked-up to highlight the boundaries I needed to find. The GPS let me go down unmarked trails with confidence that I was in permitted property.

The way point feature was really handy for finding short cuts back to exit gates after dark. I would waypoint a gate when I went through one and could take alternate routes back to it when it got dark. This saved me hours and miles.

Downloadable maps aren't as useful as you might expect in remote areas. A lot of what you want to find are dirt roads and trails that are often not where you find them on downloadable maps. It helps to be able to markup a paper map as you go.
 
Thanks for the info. I haven't looked at the websites suggested (but I will) but for now it seems like I'll stick to just the compass and map. Thanks again.
 
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