Preferred GPS & GPS Made Easy

How to Choose a GPS

2008-10-12T19:35:00.000-07:00

"Little Known Secrets About
Using Your GPS that 99% of GPS
Owners will Never Know"

Welcome to GPS Made Easy Tips,

As you’ve probably been reading and hearing about GPS in this last few days, I guess that you might now be interested in buying one for yourself. The first three things you should do are: 1) Understand what a GPS is and how it works, 2) determine how you will use it, and then 3) determine a budget. There are many choices available, but once you have completed these three steeps you will be prepared to make an educated choice and get the best value for the GPS system that meet your needs.

What is GPS?

The Global Positioning System, better known simply as GPS, is a satellite based navigation system developed by the United States military and made available for civilian use in the 1980's. The overall GPS network is made up of 24 satellites orbiting the earth with an additional 3 being on "standby" in the case of one or more satellite failure. Basic GPS receivers can pinpoint any location within a few feet. It is widely expected to become the next personal utility in the same way that cellular phones have over the past couple of decades.

GPS works using the navigational process of triangulation. It can determine your location by using its' relative position to that of three or more satellites. The more satellites a GPS receiver can communicate with the more exact a position can be determined; in some cases precision may be down to a few inches.

How will you use your GPS?

GPS work differently and provide different output based on the need they were designed to fulfill. There are specific GPS designed for automobiles, pilots, and others for hikers and/or other outdoorsman. Some will show a map while others will just give longitude and latitude coordinates for someone charting their movement. Within each category there are several choices based on how sophisticated a system you want and how much you are prepared to spend.

If you plan to use you GPS in your car there are several choices available; a system designed specifically for cars, a laptop system or a system that integrates with your PDA. In addition a handheld system can be used but offers much less versatility than the other options. I would not recommend buying a handheld unit for use in your car as it is harder to manipulate while driving and do generally have the road data and maps included. In any cases, if you already have one, it can still be very helpful for your navigation while driving of whenever you stop.

If you are planning to use your GPS in your car on a regular basis I would recommend a unit designed just for cars. The advantages are that they have a bigger screen which is easier to see while driving, have voice commands, and will give you the direction turn by turn. These advantages make for fewer distractions while driving and, in my opinion, are well worth the extra cost involved. While both laptop and PDA compatible software are available these options may require additional equipment such as external antennas to operate properly and even then you may experience some reception difficulties. Don’t forget that space available in the car or at the driver seat may also be limited and a laptop (combined with a GPS receiver) may not be the most convenient solution.

If you are looking for a GPS to use while hiking/backpacking, hunting or fishing, you have several options available. You can use a basic handheld unit, a handheld mapping unit, or a PDA based system. While relying on any of these systems if you are off the beaten path or un-familiar or remote regions, I strongly recommend you take alternative means of navigation with you such as a map and a compass as well as back up batteries for your unit.

With the most basic handheld units you will have to plot your position as obtained from the GPS on your paper map – therefore make sure your map is marked with latitude and longitude coordinates. Systems offering a mapping feature may well worth the extra cost of money, but remember because they offer more functionality they are slightly heavier. For the fisherman there are also systems that include depth sounders and chart plotters in addition to the basic functionality.

What is your budget?

Depending on your requirements, systems range in cost from around $100 for the most basic handheld unit to several thousand dollars for the more sophisticated systems. Some GPS may also have non-GPS integrated function as a Transmitter, Sonar to find fish, Dept Sounders, 2D or 3D mapping, Voice commands or indications, Voice recognizing functions, PC interfaces, etc. The more functions you need the more expensive it gets. Unless you already had a GPS before, I recommend that you buy a GPS between $300 and $600 as they are the one which includes most of the above functions. Also, the price of any chosen GPS device varies so much across the internet that, unless you buy it from a trusted source or site, you may want to compare the prices before buying.

Hopefully, the above tips will help you in your future decision making of which GPS to buy. We wish you good luck and hope you will stay with us for more tips.

Charles
President & CEO
Preferred GPS & GPS Made Easy

How to Choose a GPS - Intro

2008-10-12T19:34:00.000-07:00

Dear GPS User,

When it comes to choose and buy a GPS,
you probably have 100 questions going
through your mind. After having
recently received some questions about
how to choose a GPS, I realize that in
today's world, as easy it is to go to
the store and buy a GPS, as difficult
it is to choose the one that really
fits your needs.

http://gpsmadeeasy.blogspot.com/2008/10/how-to-choose-gps.html

Before getting into too many details,
I must tell you that there effectively
tons of GPS with different features and
options, such as maps and charts which
all depend on how you intend to use the
GPS system. The GPS you are going to
choose depends on whether you are
biking, cross country skiing, sailing,
need wind speed calculations, magnetic
headings,... how about changing country?
or continent?

... OK, in this tip, I will not go
into those feature in details, neither
discuss about how to upload the maps or
waypoints you need into your GPS system.
All I would like right now, is having
you to be able to easily choose your
GPS unit and facilitate your researches
by answering three simple questions:

1) What is GPS?
2) How will you use your GPS?
3) What is your budget?

To find out how to answer those
questions correctly, click on the
link below:

http://gpsmadeeasy.blogspot.com/2008/10/how-to-choose-gps.html

Enjoy your reading,

Charles
President & CEO
Preferred GPS & GPS Made Easy

Beginner or Advanced user?

2008-09-03T11:22:00.000-07:00

Hi Basic, Advanced or Expert GPS user,

How are you doing?

Today, while I was preparing the
next tips, I question myself about
how can I give you the opportunity
to increase quickly your knowledge
of GPS systems. In this sense, I
would recommend you to read at least
one of two books below.

If you are a beginner, you are
probably at the point to buy a
GPS, but still feel you need to
learn more about GPS systems. Don’t
take it personally but, I would
strongly recommend you: "GPS For
Dummies" (Paperback).

GPS Book (#1)

Watch out... Over the 23 chapters,
some might be a bit advanced. My advice:
Select only the chapters that you
would like to learn more about.

For the more advanced user or
"normal users", I would recommend
you: "Introduction to GPS: The
Global Positioning System", Second
Edition (Hardcover).

Advanced GPS Book (#2)

Take note that although I said normal
or advanced users, this book is still
far away from an Engineering level.
There are no equations or complicated
graphics. As it is well ordered and
easy to read, I would recommend you
to read it completely.

In both cases, don’t spend too much
time on the details, I will open a
Forum shortly, in order to answer your
questions.

Don’t forget: "To reach your goal,
or simply advance if life, you need
to upgrade your conversation every day."

Which you another very good day,

Sincerely yours,

Charles Godbout
President/CEO - Preferred GPS & GPS Made Easy
http://www.GPSMadeEasy.com
http://www.PreferredGPS.com

Click Here For More Exciting Products:
http://www.CharlesBestPrices.com
http://www.CharlesGreatDeals.com

Ever use the Grid System of your GPS?

2008-01-27T18:15:00.000-08:00

Hi Basic, Advanced or Expert GPS user,

Grid System, mainly use for Grid Navigation, may also be named as: G-System, Grid Squares, Grid Location and QTH Location. In the end, they all come down to the same purpose. It is a system of navigation by use of an arbitrary set of grid lines, as constructed to navigation by use of latitude and longitude. A grid navigation chart contains a set of straight lines (grid navigations) parallel to the 180° and 0° meridians. The lines are used like true meridians on a Mercator map. With respect to the grid meridians, great circles and rhumb lines are identical. Thus, some navigational problems are greatly simplified when grid north is used instead of true north.

The navigation grid overprinted on certain small scale navigation and planning charts published by the Defense Mapping Agency was originally intended for use in Polar Regions by navigators utilizing such older techniques as celestial navigation and LORAN-C. The use of grid north gave the navigator a uniform reference direction to use rather than the highly convergent meridians. The concept of a non-changing north is remarkably like that encountered in an inertial navigation system (INS or IRS).

As of today, there are many kind of grid or locator system which exist around the world. The World Geographic Reference System (WGRS), the Maidenhead Locator System (older QRA locator system), the German Naval Grid System and the Dutch RD-Grid System, are juste a few example of Grid Systems. The World Geographic Reference System (WGRS) is probably the most used one as it is international and used in Aviation maps, by Military and by Government agencies (as Searche and Rescue). On the other hand, the Maidenhead Grid System is used mostly by Hams Radio operators.

Radio amateurs and different contest a the VHF/UHF Century Club (VUCC) Award, use the grid-locator or QTH to describe a geographic location on the earth. Those Gird Navigation users have access to many online QTH-Locator-Applet and conversion table in order to know their Square Grid. It is even possible to use a simple Geographical Coordinate conversion rule in order to find your grid square. The square grid will be in the form of MM44, XX22LL or DD99FF99 depending on the precision required. Today I won’t show you the whole process to find your square grid position by calculation but I’ll give you some online tool to automatically find it.

All you need to do is to use the arrow and zoom and then click on your “house”:
http://f6fvy.free.fr/qthLocator/

For Example: Birdgewater, Nova Scotia, Canada would be in Grid Square: FN74RJ

Find your Grid Square from a Geographical Coordinate (Lat./Long.):
http://www.arrl.org/locate/grid.html

You can also plug in your Grid Square (Maidenhead) address in any of the on-line map programs and get the Lat/Long.
http://www.qsl.net/dl3bak/qrb/en/frame.htm

Today, you can get it even easier by using a GPS and setting it to Maidenhead Coordinates instead of Latitude and Longitude. On the other hand, it eventually turned out that only Military, Government agencies and a very limited amount of Radio operators were using GPS with the Grid Navigation features.

Therefore, those GPS are normally not offered to the general public. However it is important to note, that it is not an illegal technology, and it is possible find and buy such GPS. The only downside is that, in order to have a GPS including access to this technology you will have buy a GPS of a good quality. Ham radio operators (radio amateurs), who simply want to know their Grid Square, will have to pay a few hundred dollars. For a good GPS system unsing this feature, price will usually start at $300 and could go up to $800. Find below, some of the rare GPS systems allowing the position format to be the Maidenhead Locator System:

Garmin GPSMAP 76S
Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx
Garmin GPSMAP 96C/96
Garmin Etrex Venture
Garmin GPSMAP 276C

Luckily, for non Hams Radio Operators, as the Grid System is not an indispensable tool or function, it is possible to obtain a GPS for a much lower price.

Hopefully I didn't lose you with so many technical terms and I’ll see you on the next tip about How to choose a GPS. To receive this tip sign up in my Tips and GPS Offers list by clicking on the following link:

http://www.GPSMadeEasy.com/

Thank you,

Charles Godbout
President/CEO - Preferred GPS & GPS Made Easy
http://www.GPSMadeEasy.com
http://www.PreferredGPS.com

Click Here For More Exciting Products:
http://www.CharlesBestPrices.com
http://www.CharlesGreatDeals.com

The Basic of GPS

2007-12-23T10:31:00.000-08:00

Hi Basic, Advanced or Expert GPS user,

By now, you've likely heard about this hot new technology called GPS. Handheld GPS receivers are popular items that are being used by everyone from outdoors enthusiasts to average drivers. But, how many of us really understand the technology behind these modern night and day receivers?

There is a whole lot of power and capability packed into a GPS receiver. They are linked to complex satellite systems in outer space, providing a reliable navigational system to users on earth. Many new cars have GPS receivers included as standard equipment. Hikers, Fisherman, Bickers, Truckers, Pilots, and much more, use them to find their destinations, and treasure hunters rely on them for Geocaching excursions.

Simply, a GPS is an electronic device that can determine one's precise location on earth. The entire system is anything but simple; and the GPS receiver is but a single and minute part of this immense network. GPS is the short form of Global Positioning System. This very large navigation system was developed and implemented by the United States' Department of Defence (DOD). The system is composed of a network of 24 operating satellites; various ground stations located at points throughout the world and individual GPS receivers. All of the 24 satellites in the GPS network are active, and continuously send out Ultra High Frequency (UHF) radio signals. GPS receivers use these signals to determine their geographical location. It is important to note that there are other satellite system as Glonass (Russia) and Galileo (Europe), but for the moment, GPS (USA) is the only fully functioning satellite navigation system.

The primary function of a GPS receiver is to pinpoint its actual location on earth using the signals it intercepts from GPS satellites. To do this, the GPS receiver must be able to locate and intercept signals from three or more GPS satellites. After intercepting the signals, GPS receivers use basic principles of mathematics called triangulation or trilateration to compute its actual position. Before any triangulation calculation can be implemented, however, the GPS receiver must verify two points:

1- The positions of at least 3 satellites.
2- The distance between each satellite and the receiver.

GPS receivers decode the signals in order to determine the locations of at least three GPS satellites. The signals transmitted by GPS satellites are radio signals, and each contains three different bits of information: ephemeris data, almanac data and a pseudorandom code. The ephemeris data is the information that the GPS receiver needs to be able to determine the actual position of the satellite transmitting the signal. The distance of a GPS receiver to a satellite is measured using the signal's speed, or the time delay from the initial transmission of the signal, to its reception by the GPS. From this speed or time difference, the GPS receiver calculates the satellite's distance. With information about the location of at least three satellites, along with their individual distances, a GPS receiver utilizes the basic principle of triangulation to calculate its actual position in terms of altitude, latitude and longitude.

GPS receivers are incredibly accurate, usually to within ten meters of radius. It is possible, however, to increase this accuracy level using supplemental technologies; for example, GPS receivers using multiple parallel channels can achieve an accuracy level to within two meters. More complex systems such as DGPS (Differential GPS) and WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) can reduce this range to an impressive one meter precision.

Despite the use of these supplemental technologies, there are still many factors that can cause even the best GPS receivers to display inaccurate locations or no location at all. Among these factors are:

* Number of visible satellites
* Radio signal delays caused by the passage through the ionosphere and troposphere
* Signal multipath (bouncing of the signal as it hits an object)
* Inaccuracy of GPS receiver clocks
* Ephemeris errors (inaccuracy of the satellites' reported locations)
* Poor positioning of satellites (i.e.: satellites in a linear position, or in a tight grouping)

Some, but not all, of the GPS errors caused by these factors can be remedied by the software included with personal GPS receivers. This software is there to reduce the amount of task and research the GPS use has to do, knowing how to use the software properly may also fix or avoid some problems. If you are having difficulty with the accuracy of your GPS receiver, your user guide may also help you.

Technology has given us wonderful gifts and powers beyond imagination. A GPS receiver is one technological wonder that is so accessible, that millions of people use them on a daily basis. If you travel locally or across country, or enjoy exploring the great outdoors, pick up a GPS receiver and you'll always be able to find your way home.

Charles Godbout
President/CEO - Preferred GPS & GPS Made Easy
http://www.GPSMadeEasy.com
http://www.PreferredGPS.com

Click Here For More Exciting Products:
http://www.CharlesBestPrices.com
http://www.CharlesGreatDeals.com

Welcome to GPS Made Easy Tips

2007-12-15T11:16:00.000-08:00

Welcome to GPS Made Easy Tips,

This is an e-mail you received while signing up for
our GPS e-mail Tips and NewsLetter.

Click Here if You are still not registered !!!

You are now About to Discover Little
Known Secrets About Using Your GPS
that 99% of GPS Owners will Never Know.

For those who cannot wait for their first tip,
here is a sample of Future Tips/Topics
you might see coming soon:

* GPS Map
* Trimble GPS
* GPS Bootcamp
* PSP GPS
* Grid System
* Geocaching
* GPS Review
* Magellan GPS
* Grid Navigation
* Marine GPS
* Navman GPS
* GPS Workshop
* Garmin GPS
* Mio GPS
* Pioneer GPS
* Tomtom GPS
* Free GPS Software
* GPS Navigation
* GPS Phone
* Automotive GPS
* GPS Receiver Design
* GPS Watch
* Online GPS
* Automotive GPS
* Cnet GPS Review
* Free GPS Online
* G-Charts
* Garmin GPS Fish Finder
* Garmin GPS Update
* GPS Cell Phone
* GPS Units
* Handheld GPS
* Lowrance GPS
* Magellan GPS Accessories
* PDA GPS Software
* USB GPS
* MapSource Software
* GPS POI (Points of Interest)
* GPS Auto-Routing

Note that the above list is only an
overview; much more topics will be
covered. If your topic is not on the
list, don’t worry, you will also have
the chance to send me your questions
through the CONTACT US link.

You may now visit our WebStore by clicking
on the GPS STORE link or through the
various links at the bottom of each post.

Please expect your First Tip Very Soon !!!

Charles
President & CEO
Preferred GPS & GPS Made Easy

What's a blog?

2007-12-09T20:18:00.000-08:00

Hi Basic, Advanced or Expert GPS user,

A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world.

Your blog is whatever you want it to be. There are millions of them, in all shapes and sizes, and there are no real rules.

In simple terms, a blog is a web site, where you write stuff on an ongoing basis. New stuff shows up at the top, so your visitors can read what's new. Then they comment on it or link to it or email you. Or not.

Since Blogger was launched in 1999, blogs have reshaped the web, impacted politics, shaken up journalism, and enabled millions of people to have a voice and connect with others.

And we're pretty sure the whole deal is just getting started.

Publish your thoughts

A blog gives you your own voice on the web. It's a place to collect and share things that you find interesting— whether it's your political commentary, a personal diary, or links to web sites you want to remember.

Many people use a blog just to organize their own thoughts, while others command influential, worldwide audiences of thousands. Professional and amateur journalists use blogs to publish breaking news, while personal journalers reveal inner thoughts.

Whatever you have to say, Blogger can help you say it.

Engage your friends

Blogging is about more than just putting your thoughts on the web. It's about connecting with and hearing from anyone who reads your work and cares to respond. With Blogger, you control who can read and write to your blog — let just a few friends or the entire world see what you have to say!

Blogger Comments let anyone, anywhere, offer feedback on your posts. You can choose whether you want to allow comments on a post-by-post basis, and you can delete any comments you don't like.

Access Controls let you decide who can read and who can write to your blog. You can use a group blog with multiple authors as an excellent communication tool for small teams, families and other groups. Or as a single author, you can create a private online space for collecting news, links, and ideas, to keep to yourself or share with as many readers as you want.

Blogger Profiles let you find people and blogs that share your interests. Your Blogger Profile, where you can list your blogs, your interests, and more, lets people find you (but only if you want to be found).

Sincerely yours,

Charles Godbout
President/CEO - Preferred GPS & GPS Made Easy
http://www.GPSMadeEasy.com
http://www.PreferredGPS.com

Click Here For More Exciting Products:
http://www.CharlesBestPrices.com
http://www.CharlesGreatDeals.com

Introduction

2007-12-09T08:32:00.001-08:00

Hi Basic, Advanced or Expert GPS user,

I'm Charles and I am the creator of this GPS Blog (and website) and will be your Technical adviser concerning all GPS tips, issues or general topics !!!

In any way, I would like to thank you for coming to my Blog and remind you that this Blog is open for discussion; anybody may comments and give their opinion about the topic of discussion.

Note that the topics of discussions are coming from your questions (by e-mail, from our contact us page or from our GPS Forum)... For quick questions, we encourage you to visit our Forum.

Sincerely yours,

Charles Godbout
President/CEO - Preferred GPS & GPS Made Easy
http://www.PreferredGPS.com
http://www.GPSMadeEasy.com

Click Here For More Exciting Products:
http://www.CharlesBestPrices.com
http://www.CharlesGreatDeals.com