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Archive for October, 2009
Well, it’s that time of year again, and up here in the North Country the snowbirds are thinking about taking flight back to warmer climes. It is time to be looking at automotive GPS units to help you get around all the obstacles that might be in your way, help you find the nearest gas station or restaurant and help you plan your route to save you gas along the way. There are so many options, let’s consider some of them.
For example, the DeLorme Earthmate BT-20 w/Street Atlas USA 2010 Plus is a smart, flexible GPS, mapping and routing solution offering both Bluetooth and USB connectivity which plugs into your USB laptop PC or ultra mobile PC (UMPC), or works wirelessly with your Bluetooth-enabled laptop, UMPC, PDA, or touchscreen phone. This DeLorme Earthmate GPS allows you to create driving routes automatically, with user controls for road preferences. It will help you locate 4 million places of interest such as restaurants, lodgings, attractions, truck stops, and businesses of all kinds.
Also, the nüvi 255W is a widescreen navigator with voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions that speak street names. It’s packed with millions of destinations and maps for North America. With its “Where Am I?” emergency locator, you always know your location. Simply tap the screen to get your exact latitude and longitude coordinates, the nearest address and intersection, and the closest hospitals, police stations and fuel stations. Garmin’s nüvi 255W includes many travel tools including JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and sports a sleek, slim design that fits comfortably in your pocket or purse.
So, go south if you will, but do it safely and efficiently with your choice of automotive GPS systems. There are many affordable automotive GPS units to choose from.
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When you are taking your family out on the water for an afternoon cruise, head offshore with confidence. You always want to keep safety foremost. It is easy to keep yourself and your family and friends safe while enjoying your time on the water. EPIRBs are Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons and, it is really smart to have an EPRIB on board at all times to be sure to get found fast in an emergency situation.
The ACR GlobalFix PRO quickly and accurately relays your position to a worldwide network of Search and Rescue satellites, which reduces emergency search time and increases your chances of survival. It has reliable signaling technology that has saved more than 25,000 lives since 1982. You sure don’t want to end up like Gilligan, the skipper and his friends, or worse. So, be safe and have fun.
Hey boating enthusiasts, now that you are familiar with both GPS chartplotters and fishfinders, the best of both worlds is a GPS fishfinder combination. With a GPS fishfinder combo you are able to not only chart your course to your favorite fishing grounds, but to clearly take your deep sea and fresh water fish finder GPS fishing to new levels. Plus, these waterproof units include a high-sensitivity internal or external GPS receiver, so you will always know your position at sea, then they will help you find those monster fish once you get there. There sure is nothing like a nice relaxing day on the water, a friend by your side and fishing pole in your hand.
For all you beginning boaters out there, you really might want to consider purchasing a chartplotter for your vessel. Garmin chartplotters like the Garmin GPSMAP series include marine cartography – preloaded with marine mapping software – and have GPS and WAAS capabilities so that you can not only see the rocks and shoals to avoid, but you can plot your best course to your destination. Also, with the use of the GPS/WAAS capabilities you can know with accuracy if you are beginning to venture off course. You can also save each course you plot to make finding your way back to that great getaway or fishing ground a cinch next time you want to return. Marine chart plotters are built rugged to be reliable, and are completely sealed with a waterproof casing, especially built to stand up to use in harsh saltwater environments.
“I was preparing for our annual family road trip this last August, when my wife suggested that we try something new. She had my interest piqued when she recommended that we try using a GPS navigation system this year, instead of the ‘ol road maps that we’ve collected over the years. Besides it really was time to clean all those messed up maps out of the glove box (never could refold those buggers).
So I started doing a little research on different brands and features that are available. I ended up settling on the Garmin nuvi 255w. I chose this particular model because of its affordability and because of some the great features. Not only is it portable but it has some of the beat features that the nuvi line offers, like touch screen and the “Where Am I?” emergency locator.
Let me just say that it sure made getting directions a lot easier than trying to read and refold those old road maps.”
How the Delorme Street Atlas USA 2010 Can Be a Great Automotive GPS System
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
posted by NavigatingMyWay 12:16 PM
When going on a trip you always want to have a plan on how to get from point A to point B without getting lost. That’s why having a good Automotive GPS system in place can save you a lot of time and heart ache traveling. In reviewing the Delorme Street Atlas USA 2010 this system can help you get from one point to another. The nice thing about this system is that you use this system with your laptop or a phone. Many systems require you to have a subscription when using Automotive GPS Systems, but with the Delorme none is needed. You get the locations for the U.S and Canada and some of the big heavy traveled roads in Mexico.
If you know your location before you leave you can use the pre-plan trip optional which is nice for the fact you can see how long it will take you to get to your desired location. The GPS system also shows where you can stop for gas, find local attractions and restaurants so you can eat. The one really cool thing about this system is that you can use the 3-D option so the views are more detailed.
According to the New York Capital Region Geocachers there are definite guidelines for where and how you are allowed to place a cache. To be sure we all are compliant and don’t cause any animosity toward geocachers in general, I thought it would be good to summarize some of the geocaching guidelines. You may remember that Geocaching is currently banned in all National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges. This includes the Appalachian Trail which is a National Park; therefore caches may not be placed inside or in close proximity to it. There are several other areas in New York State which are specifically listed as off limits to geocaching. They are listed in detail at geocachingny.org, and you may want to take a good look at this list before accidentally placing a geocache where it is forbidden. As for New York State in general, we have been asked to NOT place caches on mountain tops or right at the overlooks. Please be sure to keep caches down within the tree line.
Most land managers they talked with about geocaching insisted that all containers be labeled as a GEOCACHE on the OUTSIDE. Since that is already in the cache listing guidelines the importance of this should be stressed again. Well, now that you know some of the guidelines to follow, it is time to grab your Garmin Colorado or other handheld GPS units and get out and have some fun finding all those geocaches that have already been hidden. Maybe you will even be adventurous enough to hide some of your own!
With most new GPS devices it has become less important to have an external antenna jack since the most newer chips are sensitive enough to acquire an adequate signal inside a vehicle or boat. However, it is not always possible to obtain good satellite coverage through a front windshield as sometimes the GPS receiver cannot or will not be placed near enough to a window. This is when an external GPS antenna can help. Even backpackers will benefit from the ability to safely store the receiver inside a pack with an antenna attached to your backpack shoulder straps. It can also help outdoor use in places in like heavy tree cover, mountains or in canyons where signals are weak. Also, tall buildings in cities can create “urban canyons”, or in any place that the receiver doesn’t have a good view of the sky you will want to minimize temporary loss of signal when you are in motion to maintain the best possible accuracy by having a lock on the greatest number of satellites.
Memory is used to load detailed topographic maps, street-level maps, or additional waypoints into your GPS receiver. Detailed maps can use a great deal of memory on your device, so you need to consider how much internal storage capacity your device has. Higher end GPS devices also usually accept a memory card for additional storage. You can also share data easily between different GPS units of your own, or with a friend if you are using a memory card. There are several sizes of memory cards to choose from to expand the memory of your GPS navigation system. Most are between 1 and 4 GB of memory; although, you can purchase larger or smaller memory cards than this if you are interested, depending on how you plan use your GPS units.
It is preferable to have a device that can be supported with external power, like a travel charger or a cigarette lighter power cable to recharge or at least extend the life of the batteries in your GPS units. Due to the power requirements while in use, the device should support standard batteries (AA or AAA) that you can carry in your pocket or pack for easy replacement on the trail. Lithium batteries are often recommended for the newer GPS devices to ensure longer battery life, and power geocachers or avid GPS enthusiasts should consider rechargeable batteries. You sure don’t want to end up lost because your GPS unit’s battery died on you while you were out in the middle of nowhere, so planning ahead is always smart. Stay safe and have fun!