Learning to use a GPS

Does anyone have any recomendations for the best way to learn to use a GPS? I have inherited a Garmin etrex. The most I have accomplished on my own is to upload maps from DeLorme...
The AMC used to have classes, but I have not seen any in a while.
Thanks!
Christine

Try doing some Geocaching. You can download the waypoints for your area code from a geocaching site on the interent. Send these WPts to your GPS and get to work. It's a fun way to get familiar with it. Once you get familiar with all the workings, you are ready to take it on the trail.

Just a word of caution though.... don't solely rely on these electronic wounders. They are fine as long as the batteries are good and as long as you get reception. Drop the thing and it dies on the trail, you are good n lost. Practice using your map, altimeter n compass skills and most important, stay alert use your head.

have fun!

Garmin sells an instructional DVD for the eTrex and eTrex Summit.

BTW, an eTrex was given to me as a gift a couple of years ago. Perhaps it's just me, but I found it to be pretty much useless.

pilgrim said:

Garmin sells an instructional DVD for the eTrex and eTrex Summit.

BTW, an eTrex was given to me as a gift a couple of years ago. Perhaps it's just me, but I found it to be pretty much useless.

Click to expand...

The basic eTrex is not useless for everyone. It will record waypoints and tracks; show bearing, distance to destination, ETA, etc., from one point to another; create routes; display satellite-derived elevation; and allow transfer of waypoint and track data to and from a PC (and soon, even on a Mac.) In other words, it will perform all of the essential GPS functions. And it's relatively thrifty on batteries. (What it won't do is display maps. Its fancier cohorts in the eTrex series can do that and more.) Whether the eTrex, or any other unit, is useful depends primarily on whether the user needs the position precision and data recording capabilities that a GPS receiver allows.

I had a blast learning GPS with my basic eTrex. You need to do more preparation before you hit the trail though.

You will need to find maps with the GPS lines on them. They are similar to Lat. Long. lines but are labled with any of the various coordinate systems that map makers use. You will also need to note the map datum, which is how the map maker calibrates the GPS lines to the accepted lat and long. of the area you are interested. You will also need an "interpolator" which is nothing more than a grid drawn on clear plastic sheet. You can buy interpolaters, but I made my own.

This will get longer than I have time for right now. PM me on this and I can explain what I did on the phone or perhaps via email.

Paradox said:

I had a blast learning GPS with my basic eTrex. You need to do more preparation before you hit the trail though.

You will need to find maps with the GPS lines on them. They are similar to Lat. Long. lines but are labled with any of the various coordinate systems that map makers use. You will also need to note the map datum, which is how the map maker calibrates the GPS lines to the accepted lat and long. of the area you are interested. You will also need an "interpolator" which is nother more than a grid drawn on clear plastic sheet. You can buy interpolaters but I made my own.

This will get longer than I have time for right now. PM me on this and I can explain what I did on the phone or perhaps via email.

Click to expand...

Using Topozone, you can avoid worrying about paper maps and grids and interpolators. Just click on the point you want and the exact coordinates, using any system and datum of your choosing (set on the left side of the window) is displayed at the top. With care you should be able to get better accuracy than with paper maps - not that the screen resolution is better, it's not - but because you don't have the problem of interpolation and reading the paper map by eye. I do this all the time, then just cut and paste the coordinates into a file or into the GPS GUI. I can honestly say I have never taken coordinates off a paper map to load into my GPS.

I like UTM coordinates since it gives the best accuracy in Topozone (this according to the Topozone guy who expplained it on one of the Geocahing.com forums), and it's more intuitive (to me) since it gives the positions in meters, north-south and east-west. But you like smething else? Fine, Topozone can display all possible options. The average GPS also supports all possible coordinate systems.

Papa Bear said:

Using Topozone, you can avoid worrying about paper maps and grids and interpolators. Just click on the point you want and the exact coordinates, using any system and datum of your choosing (set on the left side of the window) is displayed at the top. With care you should be able to get better accuracy than with paper maps - not that the screen resolution is better, it's not - but because you don't have the problem of interpolation and reading the paper map by eye. I do this all the time, then just cut and paste the coordinates into a file or into the GPS GUI. I can honestly say I have never taken coordinates off a paper map to load into my GPS.

Click to expand...

Fundamentally, all GPSes measure the same things: position (3 dimensions), velocity (3D), and time (1D). The rest is all computer and database (maps) aided presentation.

There is computer software (eg National Geographic TOPO!, Terrain Navigator, Garmin Mapsource (+maps), etc) that makes inputting and outputting coordinates even easier. You just click on a point on your screen to save a waypoint. You can also link waypoints together into a route. Both the waypoints and routes can be loaded into (or from) the GPS electronically. (The Garmin (yellow) eTrex speaks both Garmin protocol and the NMEA protocol. Most 3rd-party software speaks NMEA.)

This same software will allow you upload recorded tracks and plot them on a map to see where you have been.

Mapping GPSes are nicer to use because they can plot your position, waypoints, routes, and tracks on a map display in real time. (This extra convience can be very useful in the field. But it is not required. The PLGR (GPS) used by the military is a non-mapping unit.) If you have a mapping GPS, you will have to buy software (and maps) from the same manufacturer as the GPS (propriatary protocols, etc.) to load maps into a GPS.

Doug

chinooktrail said:

Does anyone have any recomendations for the best way to learn to use a GPS?

Click to expand...

This worked for me:
1-Read manual cover to cover.
2-Sit with gps in hand and repeat step one.
3- Go outside, record a WP for your house and go for a walk.
4-Experiment with everything: track logs, trackback, entering WP's, GOTO etc. With mine I took it on my running route through a maze of streets recording a tracklog and WP's. Then I redid the route and checked it for accuracy.
5-Take it on a trailed hike.
6- Explore every function and sub-menu your unit has.
7-Never be shy to ask questions, DougPaul will help!

I learned a computer mapping program at the same time (National Geographic Topo!) and read a great little book published by the Mountaineers called "GPS Made Easy".

I would recommend to anybody just getting going to start with a simple model and rely 50-50 on map and compass and gps while out in the field. Then maybe later upgrade to a mapping and electronic compass unit.

Anecdote: when my gps was in the shop we used my friend's very basic Etrex for a bushwhack in the Sawtooth Range. We manually punched in the UTM coords for 4 or5 WP's pre-hike and turned it on from time to time to check distances and bearings to the next WP. Just this simple utilisation was a huge leap beyond straight map and compass.

Neil said:

7-Never be shy to ask questions, DougPaul will help!

Click to expand...

Hey! I resemble that remark...

Anecdote: when my gps was in the shop we used my friend's very basic Etrex for a bushwhack in the Sawtooth Range. We manually punched in the UTM coords for 4 or5 WP's pre-hike and turned it on from time to time to check distances and bearings to the next WP. Just this simple utilisation was a huge leap beyond straight map and compass.

Click to expand...

I have always bought mapping GPSes, but I have hiked using the GPS without the appropriate maps loaded (eg, just like a non-mapping unit). I loaded in waypoints for the nearby peaks and the trail junctions and perhaps joined the appropriate wapoints into a route. (I did this with a computer, but you can do it by "typing" in the numbers--just takes longer and you are more likely to make an error.) With the map in one hand and the GPS in the other, you can pretty much see where you are. And, of course, the GPS can give you the distance and direction to any of the waypoints with very high accuracy.

Mapping GPSes also allow you to place a waypoint by moving the pointer around on the map display and clicking to place a waypoint at the current pointe location. Can be much easier and less error-prone than typing in numbers.

I have also used my mapping GPS far away from my computer and with limited topo maps (a drive and hike trip to Utah). I had preloaded 1:100K topos for the region into the GPS before going. I sat down the night before each segment, planned the trip with a paper road map or topo, found the desired points by scanning around the GPS map display and placed the desired waypoints. I then connected the appropriate waypoints into a route for the next day's drive and/or hike. Would have been faster and easier with a computer, but it worked.

Doug

Papa Bear said:

Using Topozone, you can avoid worrying about paper maps and grids and interpolators.

Click to expand...

I don't know how old your eTrex is, but the one I bought 9/10/2001 is not compatable with any of the software I have available. I have the National Geographic TOPO! in several editions and Garmin's MapSource. This unit has great reception, but everything has to be entered manually.

Paradox said:

I don't know how old your eTrex is, but the one I bought 9/10/2001 is not compatable with any of the software I have available. I have the National Geographic TOPO! in several editions and Garmin's MapSource. This unit has great reception, but everything has to be entered manually.

Click to expand...

EasyGPS "might" be a solution. It's free and gets good reviews. I have never used it, so I make no representations on its stability, security, compatibility with your system, or the risk of genetic contamination.

Neil said:

This worked for me:
1-Read manual cover to cover.
2-Sit with gps in hand and repeat step one.
3- Go outside, record a WP for your house and go for a walk.
4-Experiment with everything: track logs, trackback, entering WP's, GOTO etc. With mine I took it on my running route through a maze of streets recording a tracklog and WP's. Then I redid the route and checked it for accuracy.
5-Take it on a trailed hike.
6- Explore every function and sub-menu your unit has.
7-Never be shy to ask questions, DougPaul will help!

I learned a computer mapping program at the same time (National Geographic Topo!) and read a great little book published by the Mountaineers called "GPS Made Easy".

I would recommend to anybody just getting going to start with a simple model and rely 50-50 on map and compass and gps while out in the field. Then maybe later upgrade to a mapping and electronic compass unit.

Anecdote: when my gps was in the shop we used my friend's very basic Etrex for a bushwhack in the Sawtooth Range. We manually punched in the UTM coords for 4 or5 WP's pre-hike and turned it on from time to time to check distances and bearings to the next WP. Just this simple utilisation was a huge leap beyond straight map and compass.

Click to expand...

This is almost the exact script I used to learn GPS even down to the book you mentioned. Never asked DougPaul anything about GPS though...should I?

(btw DougPaul...speer is coming...speer is coming...off to my GJ meeting I go ... )

Now, as far as the 50/50 thing goes map&compass(50)/gps(50).

I am not quite sure how to take that.

One should be very competent with M&C before even thinking about using GPS.

I think your comment was meant to be understood with that in mind.

However, it is worth making a strong statement about map and compass and the ability to KNOW HOW TO USE IT!

As mostly everyone here understands that gizmos do break and batteries do wear out.

My typical use for the GPS is very minimal. The little gizmo spends most of it's time powered off and from time to time I turn it on to get a bearing, mostly at the end of the day if I begin to get impatient and to amuse myself by laughing at the little walking man in the display. (he tends to take it very personal..)
Or, if I am in featureless terrain and I want to check progress.
Sometimes if I am interested in recording a tracklog, I'll leave it on but largely ignore it.
Ninety-Eight percent of the time I use M&C.

By the way (btw), I strongly believe that an electronic compass is essential unless one likes to bonk around into trees while trying to set a bearing

Zer0-G said:

Now, as far as the 50/50 thing goes map&compass(50)/gps(50).

I am not quite sure how to take that.

Click to expand...

This is based on my own experience and dosn't represent the accumulated wisdom of the gps community (if said community even exists ).

My first gps was pretty basic and because it didn't have mapping or electronic compass I used the M&C as much as the gps. I found this methodology to be an excellent bridge between the 2 approaches.

Neil said:

My first gps was pretty basic and because it didn't have mapping or electronic compass I used the M&C as much as the gps. I found this methodology to be an excellent bridge between the 2 approaches.

Click to expand...

Agreed.
I am sure you had already achieved a significant amount of M&C experience before you went gps'ing.

These days, I am not quite sure how all the "newbies" are going to fare. My concern would be for those who think gps is the easy way to get around in the "dark" and as a result don't spend the time to get experience with M&C before putting themselves "out on the plank".

Zer0-G said:

As mostly everyone here understands that gizmos do break and batteries do wear out.

Click to expand...

We should also note that maps blow away or get lost and that compasses can get magnetically reversed, dropped and broken, or lost. On can also get confused and mislocate onself on the map.

My point is that any of our navigation tools can fail or give misleading info and we should be aware of this and be ready to recognize failures and ready to work around them. The information from all four instruments (3+altimeter) has certain redundancies which can be used for this.

Doug

Zer0-G said:

Agreed.
I am sure you had already achieved a significant amount of M&C experience before you went gps'ing.

Click to expand...

Funny you would mention that....I used a M&C in order to find my way out of my mama's tummy.

Actually, and this has nothing to do with the original post so please excuse me.
My first experience with said equipment dates back to the pre gore-tex era. 1974 IIRC. My buddy and I and rode a train from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to Riding Mountain National Park one sunny day in June. We had about 90 miles of bushwhacking and no navigational experience ahead of us but we had a compass and a map. Needless to say, at the end of the trip we were much more experienced than at the beginning. Why our parents let us go on such a trip is beyond me but it sure was a good one. I'll never forget looking at the map on day one and asking my friend what we should do about the difference between true and magnetic north. We got it all figured out of course and had a great trip.

If the above has any point to it I guess it's that newbies like me and my friend usually make out OK and sometimes even wind up as experienced woodsman. I never worry about seemingly unexperienced newbies in the hills because I figure they'll either give up or become even better woodsmen than I'll ever be.

DougPaul said:

We should also note that maps blow away or get lost and that compasses can get magnetically reversed, dropped and broken, or lost. On can also get confused and mislocate onself on the map.

My point is that any of our navigation tools can fail or give misleading info and we should be aware of this and be ready to recognize failures and ready to work around them. The information from all four instruments (3+altimeter) has certain redundancies which can be used for this.

Doug

Click to expand...

Doug, your point about having fallible navigation aids is well taken, but I'd much rather drop a compass (it probably won't break) than drop a much more fragile GPSr. Carrying 2 (or 3) compasses for redundancy is within the realm of possibilities. I always have at least 2 primary compasses with me carried in different places, often a third smaller one as well. Few people would afford to carry more than one GPSr. I'd be willing to bet most don't carry more than one compass when also carrying a GPSr.

While it is possible, I can't remember the last time I ever had a compass reverse polarity outside of inducing a cheap compass to reverse in science class... even if it did, a 180 degree course error would soon reveal itself from terrain and other environmental clues not making sense. The same is true for mislocating oneself on a map.

I've thought about losing my map, but not been overly concerned. It's not going to get blown away in its clear protective map case, dropping it overboard won't hurt or sink it, and besides, I hardly take a step without knowing where it is even if I am not referring to it often. No, I don't carry redundant spare maps, but I always have done enough pre-trip map study to commit to memory the major landforms that would get me out with compass alone.

Yes, for all, the point is a lot of things can (and do) go wrong and the more tools we have to aid in navigation the better. But being well practiced and grounded in the basics with robust tools and adequate knowledge between the ears, before over reliance on technologically complex often fragile devices, will get you out everytime.

DougPaul said:

We should also note that maps blow away or get lost and that compasses can get magnetically reversed, dropped and broken, or lost. On can also get confused and mislocate onself on the map.

My point is that any of our navigation tools can fail or give misleading info and we should be aware of this and be ready to recognize failures and ready to work around them. The information from all four instruments (3+altimeter) has certain redundancies which can be used for this.

Doug

Click to expand...

For some reason, I'm laughing my head off.
Nothing like looking on the sunny side....

Let me say this...I am very comfortable without a gps. My map and compass and altimeter are my best friends on the trail.

And, now that DougPaul has managed to scare me, I am now going to bring an extra map and compass and keep them well protected in my pack.

(I have lost a map once before and if it wasn't for my mapping gps it would have ruined the day)

Nessmuk said:

Doug, your point about having fallible navigation aids is well taken, but I'd much rather drop a compass (it probably won't break) than drop a much more fragile GPSr.

Click to expand...

I merely said that each tool had failure modes, I didn't say that the probability of failure is the same in each tool. (The probabilities are almost certainly different.) I had a car compass fail from thermal cycling and have forgotten the map...

People tend to focus on possible GPS failures (perhaps because it is the new tool on the block or due to elitism) and talk (write) as if the others are 100% reliable. They are not.

FWIW, I sometimes carry more than one map (AMC+USGS topo) and usually carry an extra compass or two (lightweight zipper-pull compass or similar on a wrist band). But only one GPS. (I have a second (old) one--I suppose I could carry it too...)

FWIW2: On a recent bushwack, we did the M,C&A portion all right and then screwed up on a GPS&C leg...

Zer0-G said:

For some reason, I'm laughing my head off.
Nothing like looking on the sunny side....

Click to expand...

Once my tail is covered, I'm happy...

Doug

Nessmuk said:

Doug,
...

I've thought about losing my map, but not been overly concerned. It's not going to get blown away in its clear protective map case, dropping it overboard won't hurt or sink it, and besides, I hardly take a step without knowing where it is even if I am not referring to it often.
...

Click to expand...

Maybe I'm dumb, but I've lost 2 maps - snatched right out of a closed (but not zipped) pocket, Spencer and I also found a map left in a bushwhack by a very experienced hiker from this board.

It hapens, yes it happens, at least for some of us.