I am looking for GPS tips/lessons learned for my GPS classes. I have been teaching GPS classes in the Pacific Northwest for 10 years. I'd appreciate some feedback on what you have learned about using a GPS. I am not looking for product endorsements or discussion of what unit is best; just sound feedback based on experience.

For example. I recommend having just the minimal number of waypoints needed to do the job. I suggest saving important waypoints (from previous trips)on the share ware program from www.easygps.com.

For background on my classes and some great links please visit www.outdoorquest.biz.

Thanks a bunch.

Blake

GPS is an aid to navigation and not the be all and end all of it.

batteries run out, so always check them before using.

GPS navigates in straight lines, watch out for cliffs.

GPS isn't much good unless it references to something. I see waypoints as the reference. If I'm on a road trip, my GPS has every waypoint along the way.

A waypoint that may seem unnecessary in planning a trip may be needed as events unfold. You don't know what you don't know.

If you enter nothing else, mark where you put the car.

What Unimog Bert said is vital.

I use GPS with a map for position fixes.
That means I am only running it for a few minutes at a time. Even at that I carry spare batteries.

A lesson learned from experience?

Make sure that the latest Firmware is installed on the GPS.

Make sure that the GPS Datum and paper map Datum are in agreement.

Make sure the batteries are fresh or are fully recharged before going on a wilderness expedition and always carry some spare batteries.

Make sure that the GPS Magnetic and Grid deviation is correctly set within the GPS to the actual Grid Magnetic variation for your geographical position i.e. such as locations near to the magnetic poles can vary over very short differences in geographical location.

Never trust your life to a GPS to get you out of a fix. GPS is very accurate 99.9% of the time but the 0.01% of the time the GPS may be some furlongs or even hundreds of miles out. Use a map and compass so that you never end up getting into a fix in the first place.

Never trust a GPS to point you in the right direction - they aren't very good at this.

Learn how to use a map and compass properly, how visualize the terrain from the map contours, know how far the distance is between each of your own walking paces, how to count etc - its the only way you can appreciate how to use a GPS properly and safeguard yourself against all the things that can go wrong with the GPS reciever and the NAVSTAR satellite constellation.

If you become really proficient at map and compass work you can then just use the GPS for fun and trivial activities such as marking out way points then uploading them into Google earth. You can even then decide to leave the GPS at home if you wanted to.

You can even have some fun with some of those cheap Chinese GPS jammers when teaching your class.

And lastly; Using a GPS is navigational cheating, if you have to constantly use one in the wilderness then you should think again whether you should be there in the first place without the appropriate skills i.e. not knowing how to use a map and compass.

I don´t have a GPS device (yet). But if I had one I would stop say every 30 minutes or 1 hour and write down the position readout on the piece of paper along with actual time. If the GPS dies on you later on, you can estimate from this data your current position and plot it on the map. (It doesn´t mean I wouldn´t navigate myself using a map. But with written down coordinates from GPS estimating your position might be more precise).

It comes in handy especially for those people that use mainly GPS and map + compass is just their backup (as long as they know how to plot coordinates from GPS on a paper map and have the tools for the job).

Just an idea.

Learn how to talk over a radio or a phone about your location - reception may be bad and fading.

How do you tell a stranger where you think you are. My store is in Idaho. So I am interested in using the grid that will get me the most accurate and fastest response. Local agencies all use NAD 83/84.

I keep a scanner on at all times. I listen to all of the calls for rescues, accidents, marijuana fields and collared wolves. In most cases the people on the ground cannot communicate to the 911 operator or the helicopter on the way. In Idaho DO NOT USE UTM OR DEG/MIN/SEC. Do not pronounce the decimal point! Only pronounce the numbers - talk slow - they are writing.

The LIFE FLIGHT, NATIONAL GUARD, SEARCH AND RESCUE, DEA and the 911 dispatch all want you to read the location as -

"The accident is at 4396679 by 11618880"

I keep a window open in http://mapper.acme.com/

ACME comes up as -

N 43.96679 W 116.18880 MY FRONT DOOR

N 44.08265 W 115.82877 A WOLF DOWN

The closer you get to certain US Government facilities, it seems the less accurate they sometimes become. When I am working in the field, I have three different GPS devices on-board. All three are from differing manufacturers, and all three show me to be in a different place when near some USAF bases. The same day, I ran into a group of Air Controllers, and their GPS was dead on, while my three thought I was in three different places at the same time. I also had some surveyors with me, and their GPS was giving them fits also.