Hand Held GPS

There are several advantages to using a handheld GPS unit.

* battery powered so the unit still works if your boat or car battery fails

* small size

* user friendly

* easily stowed

* units can record your travel path, providing a measure of safety.

The first step in understanding your handheld GPS is to take a few minutes and read the user manual.

Another important part of mastering your unit is to understand and choose the basic settings of the unit.

Among the most important settings are the magnetic compass variation, the map datum, and several measurement units.

Units of measurement might vary depending on the use of your GPS. If you hike or use the GPS on land you might choose statue miles and speed measured in mph. On the other hand, boaters will mostly likely want to measure distance in nautical miles and speed in knots. Boaters will also want to compare paper charts and match the GPS unit's map datum to the datum of the charts in use.

Units with a plotter can be configured as "course up" or "North up". Users that choose "course up" will always have a chosen waypoint shown at the top of the plotter. For many people this is the easiest and most intuitive way to use a GPS plotter.

Other users prefer to have the plotter screen always shown with North at the top. If you are new to GPS navigation you will want to understand both options and experiment with each.

SPOT Satellite Messenger is a personal GPS tracking device. With the push of a button, SPOT can transmit a user's GPS location and message. The data can be send to a 9-1-1 emergency call center in times of need, or to friends, family or co-workers to request help, track their location, or just keep in touch.

SPOT sends a user's GPS location over a commercial satellite network and SPOT works in much of the world regardless of cellular coverage.

Viewing messages and locations is easy using the SPOT web service with included Google Maps%u2122 technology.

Once activated, SPOT will acquire its exact coordinates from the GPS network, and send that location along with a distress message to a GEOS International Emergency Response Center every five minutes until cancelled.

The Emergency Response Center notifies the appropriate emergency responders based on your location and personal information - which may include local police, highway patrol, the Coast Guard, our country's embassy or consulate, or other emergency response or search and rescue teams - as well as notifying your emergency contact person(s) about the receipt of a distress signal.