December 23, 2007

• Under The Weather

  I've been "under the weather" for quite some time now.  But, it seems that I may be seeing the "light at the end of the tunnel" and I sure hope it's not a train.  I even had a voice today for most of the day.  The bad thing is that I have slept so much in the last week that I'm behind on everything.  And that's too easy for me.  Just being thankful today for feeling a little better.

  Speaking of the weather, nice lead in, huh... it acted like spring yesterday and hit 58°F.  Wow.  Then it started raining last night and I think it got up around 54°F today.  My Hunni told me it was supposed to snow here in a little bit.  LoL!

  GPS

  All the GPSing that I have been doing has been with a compass (so not really GPS since I don't use satellites).   Specifically, I have a Brunton GEO Pocket Transit, which was given to me from an engineering firm for an award on a specific job that needed closure with the surveying around a coal load of 194 acres (which probably didn't mean alot to anyone except someone that may have done surveying in the old fashion way with a transit and a rod and my trusty "book").  I also have a Brunton Com-Pro Transit.  Having a background in orienteering and hiking, measuring distances, reading topos, and being able to plot and follow a compass trail is a part of me that I really like.  Today, it seems like it's definitely "old school".  I don't know too many people with that interest, nor that skill subset anymore though I'm sure there are.

  Today, it's all lasers and electronics with "finding" their way in the wilds, and even to shooting surveys for roads, developments, or whatever.  And today, my interests are purely used for my own hiking, camping, and marking maps.  So, I think it's time to get onboard with the GPS.  I've had a class in college to learn the functioning of the GPS, so I don't need the theory.  I do need a practical tool that I can use for finding my way and getting around.  Here's a list, in no particular order, of things that I would want in this GPS:
  

  • Handheld standalone unit
    
  • Basic use is hiking, mapping, routing and hopefully geocaching
    
  • Waterproof
  • Armored, or at least fairly rugged
    
  • Two-way radio with position reporting
  • Long battery life, rechargeable, extra battery (?)
    
  • Color display, 2"+
  • Compass, altimeter, etc.
  • Multiple channel parallel receiver (for "difficult" terrain)
  • External antenna (for "difficult" terrain ?)
    
  • Maps, roads and topographical (possibly for smaller areas like anywhere from a 5 acre plot upwards, or maybe a scale of 0.2 miles and upwards) - scalable in that it can zoom in and out
  • Used for navigation and tracking and mapping
    
  • SD card compatible (maybe, not sure if this is needed)
  • How much memory?
    
  • Multiple routes and waypoint storage (at least 20 routes with 20 waypoints each)
  • USB connection for downloading/uploading from my PC to the GPS
  • And a cost that will not break me up to buy 2 of them, so I probably don't dare mention differential GPS and WAAS receiver, or do I?
    

  I really don't know that much about using a GPS.  Some may argue that the pocket transit is the way to go and I might agree.  However, using the pocket transit requires me to have my ever present pocket "book" and pencil to make my notes in.  This is slower, and less weatherproof.  Why write it when I can push a button and record it?  Okay, so I'm trying to modernize from my compass, book, and topo maps.  It's probably due to go to the "newer" technology.  LoL!

  I've also read about the geocaching and I thought that would be interesting to do.  I'd also like to have one of the TomToms for my car, but that's another story.

  Got any ideas or suggestions?  I've been doing alot of reading on internet, but would really like to talk with someone that does what I do...get out into the wilds, and get back safely.  And keep the geocaching in mind since that sounds more interesting with everything that I read about it. 

  The FogWalker goes off to do some more research....hoping that he doesn't break the bank in trying to obtain a nice GPS device...
  

  • 7:25 pm
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