The approach of swithover in yorkshire.

The september switch over date gets ever closer for yorkshire.There have been numerous changes and tests in recent weeks.But the no1 is a sudden improvement in quality of most stations currently on freeview

planning a trip with bicycle and france and spain

The pleasures of sat nav with a customer needing,asystem to help him with a cycling tour through france and spain.
Riding a bike a lot is something I have done very little of since my teenage years.Back them I used to practically sleep with my 28" wheel five speed racer.The thought of attacking big mountains on one now sends me into a state of nervousness,so I can understand the guts need to be able to allow for them,garmins basecamp software fits those needs to a t

The wonderfull world of satellite navigation.

This blog takes us through the world of,Satellite navigation with all its complexities and subtleties that can utterly confuse the new comer,

lowrance, Magellan, garmin, memory map are all names that figure highly in the world of sat nav but I think garmin are at the top of this list,

All Garmin units are waterproof, very tough, and capable of living in a rucksack thrown against a boulder or rock, garmin really are the leaders in handheld sat nav

Garmin do make outstanding GPS units, from the gecko to the top of the range to Dakota with its ability to use garmin discoverer maps. 

My very first GPS unit was a used battered garmin GPS 45, with just eight measly channels and was very slow to acquire signal and not at all accurate, it would lose lock at the slightest whiff of a tree, nevertheless, this basic unit hooked me into GPS.

The first use for my new GPS unit was tracking down aircraft wrecks in the Peak District, something I still pursue now. Okay so locating aircraft wrecks is a rather strange pastime, well okay I am quite a strange person, not an ordinarily thinker some say.

The poor average hill walker pack them in their rucksack as a matter of routine, treating them like the sandwiches and drink, they may need them at some point when they are  Hungary; eating is easy enough just open your mouth and stuff it in

So then they are with a large piece of paper, covered in  lines and markings and some thing called grid references, trying to relate the compass to it , I just don't think that their likely to succeed, especially if their lives depend on it.

Bring in the Gps, there is a lot of ignorance about how it works, after all this magic little box that picks up signals from the heavens and gives your position on a screen to it must go wrong, and strand you in the middle of nowhere be that a Scottish mountain or the bogs of the Peak District

Okay so I'll buy one in case of emergency,you know just in case... so our potential GPS user heads off to the nearest shop and buys the cheapest unit he can find that, but is still struggling with grid references that he or she drastically needs to read a map, don't get me wrong not all those who cart maps around are stupid, but some do try to be as is dim as possible.

GPS units are very sophisticated pieces of kit, and understandably, that scares the heck out of some people, even those with an advanced education.

But hillwalking attracts all sorts of people, some fat some thin that, and some go out in trainers, others proper boots and then not bother, to protect themselves against the weather and then call mountain rescue when they get into trouble

So what garmin Gps units are the ones to buy?

From the basic to the high end, we can't cover the pro's and con of all the units, so  will look at the most basic to the most advanced.

Easily the most basic garmin unit is the gecko; the most advanced the dakota 20 With full garmin discoverer mapping, the dakota series is very hard to beat.

The gecko will guide you using full ordnance survey grid references, and guide you to any grid reference you enter from an ordnance survey map, or get you out of trouble should you get into it.

Firstly map and compass is not the easiest thing to use, in fact it is even more dangerous with a Rambo using it out in the wilds, thinking he can navigate even in dense fog when even that crystal clear day challenges his navigation skills!  So unless you're been on a thorough training course in how to use a map and compass don't venture out into the wilds, thinking you know how to use a map and compass, it will get you into the trouble.

The power of gps unit is it can give you an instant grid reference that can be laid on to a map giving you your position the matter what the weather or conditions,from their you can navigate back to safety.

Understanding a map, with all its features is a major lesson in itself, relating it to the landscape is a different matter and then using a compass to navigate is no easy undertaking.

We will be looking into the use of map and compass, something you should try to master.