Garmin is one of the top manufacturers of global positioning systems in the United States. They offer a host of products from GPS navigational product for cars, boats and motorcycles to aviation and boats. There goal is to enrich the lives of their customers through the products of navigational equipment.
Beginning with GPS units for vehicles, Garmin began using the power of the 24 satellites circling 12,000 feet above us back in 1989 when the company started making GPS navigational systems for people and their cars. Today they are making the same product, only better. Garmin has kept up with the times and increase their products as the times called for them. Today they offer the vehicle GPS navigational unit, as well as the GPS for boats and airplanes and hikers and bicycle enthusiasts.
Garmin makes a remarkable assortment of GPS navigational units for every kind of moving vehicle and person. Today they put GPS navigation equipment in personal assistant machines which is a small travel aide; a cell phone and your computer. With the personal assistant, you can download your destination and the personal assistant will ‘walk’ you to your destination or as you are driving, give you turn-by-turn directions to get to where you are going. The cell phone is similar in that you download your information and the voice will guide you to your destination using a map of where you are now and an arrow following you as you walk to where you would like to be. And lastly we have the computer or laptop which can be used as a GPS navigational system by itself after you have downloaded the information.
Other Garmin GPS units include those for aviation use complete with longitude and altitude and the same is programmed into the marine GPS units. Some of these units are portable and can help you get around the city or town without your car and help you find restaurants, places of interest (POI) such as parks or ATM machines; they can also help you find an address you’ve never been to before. Besides aviation use, Garmin makes GPS units for marine usage as well. Being able to see the bottom of the lake or river or ocean in clear form is something fishermen have been waiting a long time for. Now they can tell a fish from a rock and discover where all the fish hang out and with the routing feature on the GPS, keep going back to the same spot over and over again.
Garmin GPS units can be found through their website or on other websites throughout the Internet. They can also be purchased at electronic stores and large discount stores for cheaper than the official website address has them. Discounted Garmin’s would be found on the Internet, be buyer beware, sometimes people are selling ‘refurbished’ or ‘reconditioned’ Garmin GPS units and if that is not what you want, you should ask if it is a new unit or ‘re – done’ unit.
By: Charlie Lee
Posts Tagged ‘Hikers’
You, Too, Can Be a GPS Geek
March 4th, 2010
You know those maps you see at shopping malls and site seeing areas that have that red dot – “You Are Here”. That’s kind of what a GPS is, except it moves with you wherever in the world you are. It’s not restricted to a building or event area. In addition, it helps you find where you want to go. You just tell it the location you want to find and it gives you directions to get there. Newer models will guide you audibly, tell you nearby attractions, restaurants and gas stations and get you back on track when you turn the wrong way.
GPS, or Global Positioning System, is made up of a series of 28 orbiting satellites. It was originally developed by the military, but has spread to consumer use. If you have a GPS unit, it receives satellite signals that help it to determine your location. Consumer GPS units are accurate within few yards or meters, but the military and government models are even more accurate. Your GPS unit can give you instructions to another location if software for mapping is installed, which most for consumer use do.
GPS units can come as standard or extra equipment on new cars. They are available in many rental cars, usually for an extra fee. GPS mapping software for street use is the most common consumer usage today. If your primary purpose in seeking a GPS unit is so you can get from one place to another via a reliable navigation system, this is the type for you. Your dealer can build them in or you can purchase one that will attach to your dashboard. Some available features you may want to consider are voice directions, detailed included maps for your area and any area you know you’ll travel, rerouting when you get lost or detours force changes to the GPS-suggested route and a points of interest database.
The GPS is most commonly found for car use, but that’s not the only type you can get. Think about how you might use your GPS. Perhaps you may need your GPS outside of your vehicle. Handheld GPS units are great for hikers, bikers and sportsmen. There are plenty of GPS units geared toward to outdoors person. Features you may need in these include lightweight, rugged, waterproof, long battery life, tracking (so you can tell where you’ve been), speed and distance measuring and even built in radios and party locators.
Marine GPS’s help you find the fish! If you’re an avid fisherman, this is the type of GPS you’ll want. These are designed to be on the water and are all waterproofed. Look for a bright screen that will be easy to read in the sun. You can get them with water and shore mapping, fish hotspots and sonar. You can get marine GPS units that double as car navigation units, as well.
PDA’s, or Personal Data Assistants, are starting to be bundled together with GPS’s. Most of these are limited at this time, but they will improve as more people are attracted to this combination. For now, it’s recommended to buy your PDA and GPS separately.
There are also GPS’s designed specifically for airplane pilots. If you’re a private or commercial pilot, you already know about these. They give mapping based on what can be seen from the air.
No matter what kind of unit you need, there is one with the features you’re looking for. Your GPS will be a continued source of accurate and helpful information and even a great deal of fun!
By: Michael Russell
What Can A GPS Handheld Unit Do For The Hiker?
January 12th, 2010
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 the hike. A handheld GPS unit can give people the freedom to explore the 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 handheld GPS 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 coordinated position. At least four of these satellites are needed to also calculate your altitude.
There are several physical elements which may prevent a handheld GPS unit from receiving a satellittes signals. Mountains, canyon walls, high metropolitan buildings, and dense forest growth 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 go to. Waypoints may be created and saved in the handheld GPS unit’s memory before leaving for your trip or while you are in the field exploring. Sometimes a series of waypoints are sequentially linked 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 depending on the type and model handheld GPS unit you have.
3. Tracks: A track is essentially a route that is made up of many linked sequential locations which a handheld GPS unit automatically creates and saves as you hike in the wilderness. This is analogous with leaving markers along a trail, so you can retrace your path that your came in on while hiking in the wilderness. This helps the hiker avoid getting lost while enjoying and exploring in the wilderness.
Waypoints, routes, and tracks are the three principal categories of locations that are fixed by a hiker in a handheld GPS unit. An understanding of these three basic categories gives the hiker insight into how a handheld GPS unit can help one navigate and explore safely while hiking in the wilderness. It can be used to preplan trips and to guide the hiker along their from their start to the destination and back again. A handheld GPS unit is ideal for the hiker to track and show them where they are going, where they have been and to reverse the course and return the hiker safely to their starting point.
By: Beth Appel
