Tuesday 11 August 2009

Handheld GPS Receivers Give You Freedom to Roam

By Daniel Stouffer

Pres. Ronald Reagan believed that the technology previously thought to be too sensitive and classified would be of great help to the general public in the United States, when he sanctioned the use of global positioning systems back in the 70s. Previously used only by the military, Reagan believed quite rightly that the public would benefit from its use. In turn, this action helped to transform our way of life and it is difficult to imagine where we would be in our personal and business activities otherwise.

Do you love the outdoors?. If you are a fisherman, a hunter, biker, boater, hiker or take part in the sport of geocaching you should consider the use of one of the great handheld GPS receivers on the market. This flexibility will allow you to be more productive and have a lot more fun enjoying your passion.

Garmin is probably the most well known and widely respected manufacturer of handheld GPS receivers in the world. A number of different manufacturers offer models for specific needs.

To enable handheld GPS receivers to work, they need to be able to communicate with a number of satellites orbiting in low earth configuration. This means that the satellites are relatively low in relation to your horizon at any time and generally speaking the receivers can communicate with them unless you happen to be in a steep walled canyon or in a very heavily forested area, for example.

A process of triangulation occurs when three different satellites are able to communicate with your handheld GPS receivers. This process enables your location to be specified with a relatively high degree of accuracy.

For the avid hunters amongst us, handheld GPS receivers give you the ability to locate and track the best game and game trails available. If you know your location and the likely location of your prey, don't you think you will have a pretty productive day? If inland salt water or fresh water fishing is your bent, some units come preloaded with the data that you need.

The sport of geocaching is becoming increasingly popular and there are handheld GPS receivers that cater specifically to you, if this is your passion. You can download GPX files directly from a computer into the database, or insert a tiny SD card in some cases.

Your trip into the unknown will likely take you far from any cell phone communication towers, but handheld GPS receivers do not require this technology and so long as you have a relatively open sky above you, you will always be able to relate your location. In this way it is very difficult to get lost and you'll have a good idea about the direction to take you back to civilization.

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