Getting a Grip on a Handheld GPS System

There are so many fantastic features of a handheld GPS system that
making a decision on one is full of details...
http://newgadgetz.50webs.com/Getting...GPS_System.htm

On 9/24/2008 5:52 AM drishaq did a "happy dance", then made these
writings:
There are so many fantastic features of a handheld GPS system that
making a decision on one is full of details...
http://newgadgetz.50webs.com/Getting...GPS_System.htm

And, did you hear the one about the guy who turned onto the train tracks
because his GPS told him to make a right turn (which was on the railroad
tracks). The car got stuck on the tracks. Everyone bailed out in time,
but the car was like a crumpled up piece of origami.

--
________
To email me, Edit "blog" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"The poor dog is the firmest friend, the first to welcome the foremost to defend" - Lord Byron
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

Brian K wrote:
On 9/24/2008 5:52 AM drishaq did a "happy dance", then made these
writings:
There are so many fantastic features of a handheld GPS system that
making a decision on one is full of details...
http://newgadgetz.50webs.com/Getting...GPS_System.htm

And, did you hear the one about the guy who turned onto the train tracks
because his GPS told him to make a right turn (which was on the railroad
tracks). The car got stuck on the tracks. Everyone bailed out in time,
but the car was like a crumpled up piece of origami.

A MO newspaper reported on a lady crossing the state who wanted to stop
for some refreshment. Upon departing, her GPS guided her to a different
interchange. . . cross country. She followed the directions until the
asphalt road turned to gravel, then dirt and then grass. She had been
navigated to a cow pasture. At this point, she became stuck.
Fortunately, she had cell phone service, but no idea of where she was.
The Sheriff's Department actually sent out cars to her last known
location and searched for a few hours for her.

She finally reported hearing a siren- it was one of the cars sounding
the siren to see if they were anywhere close to her location. She was
finally pulled out of the rut and guided back to civilization by the deputy.

--
Nonny

Nonnymus-

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few
short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving,
regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

-Ronald Reagan (1986)

Nonnymus wrote in
:

Brian K wrote:
On 9/24/2008 5:52 AM drishaq did a "happy dance", then made these
writings:
There are so many fantastic features of a handheld GPS system that
making a decision on one is full of details...

http://newgadgetz.50webs.com/Getting...eld_GPS_System.
htm

And, did you hear the one about the guy who turned onto the train
tracks because his GPS told him to make a right turn (which was on
the railroad tracks). The car got stuck on the tracks. Everyone
bailed out in time, but the car was like a crumpled up piece of
origami.

A MO newspaper reported on a lady crossing the state who wanted to
stop for some refreshment. Upon departing, her GPS guided her to a
different interchange. . . cross country. She followed the directions
until the asphalt road turned to gravel, then dirt and then grass.
She had been navigated to a cow pasture. At this point, she became
stuck. Fortunately, she had cell phone service, but no idea of where
she was. The Sheriff's Department actually sent out cars to her last
known location and searched for a few hours for her.

She finally reported hearing a siren- it was one of the cars sounding
the siren to see if they were anywhere close to her location. She was
finally pulled out of the rut and guided back to civilization by the
deputy.


Which is what might happen using a non road based GPS. A road map based
unit will only identify roads. Now it may do something weird like when I
was on a dnew stretch of road not in the system. As I crossed over (at
about 25 feet in the air) a marked road my GPS announced Right turn! but
I kept going and she (female voice) became happy when I merged into a
preexisting road and drove on.

--
Joseph Coulter, cruises and vacations
www.josephcoulter.com

877 832 2021
904 631 8863 cell

Joseph Coulter wrote:

Nonnymus wrote in
:

A MO newspaper reported on a lady crossing the state who wanted to
stop for some refreshment. Upon departing, her GPS guided her to a
different interchange. . . cross country. She followed the directions
until the asphalt road turned to gravel, then dirt and then grass.
She had been navigated to a cow pasture. At this point, she became
stuck. Fortunately, she had cell phone service, but no idea of where
she was. The Sheriff's Department actually sent out cars to her last
known location and searched for a few hours for her.

She finally reported hearing a siren- it was one of the cars sounding
the siren to see if they were anywhere close to her location. She was
finally pulled out of the rut and guided back to civilization by the
deputy.


Which is what might happen using a non road based GPS. A road map based
unit will only identify roads. Now it may do something weird like when I
was on a dnew stretch of road not in the system. As I crossed over (at
about 25 feet in the air) a marked road my GPS announced Right turn! but
I kept going and she (female voice) became happy when I merged into a
preexisting road and drove on.

I was using the road based GPS (with a laptop) for the first time and
I took it out in the yard so it could 'see' the sky. I walked down my
driveway, and the little voice told me to turn right. I live at the
top of a hill. If I had obeyed and turned right, I'd have ended up in
Breton Bay. To get to the highway, I would have to turn left.
Probably I wasn't moving fast enough. It would have been fast enough
for a boat GPS, but not for a road one.

Sometimes it takes us the wrong way down a one way street, or I decide
to go somewhere different than the route I put in. The little
'recalculating, recalculating' business gives me the giggles.

Rosalie B. wrote:

I was using the road based GPS (with a laptop) for the first time and
I took it out in the yard so it could 'see' the sky. I walked down my
driveway, and the little voice told me to turn right. I live at the
top of a hill. If I had obeyed and turned right, I'd have ended up in
Breton Bay. To get to the highway, I would have to turn left.
Probably I wasn't moving fast enough. It would have been fast enough
for a boat GPS, but not for a road one.

Sometimes it takes us the wrong way down a one way street, or I decide
to go somewhere different than the route I put in. The little
'recalculating, recalculating' business gives me the giggles.

There are two spots in our area where the GPS will say to veer one way on a
split, but the map obviously shows that you should head the other direction.
They're certainly not perfect, but a great alternative to annoying my
navigator (with his nose in a book) asking "where's the next turn?"

I did have the embarrassing situation of following the GPS through a
construction area late one night. Someone had moved the barrels aside, but
the road wasn't actually open yet. I could see the cross street I was
aiming for, but the road just quit. It's hard to do a 3 point turn with a
police cruiser on your tail.