Friday, April 1, 2011

Garmin GPS III Waterproof Hiking GPS (Electronics)


This review is from: Garmin GPS III Waterproof Hiking GPS (Electronics)


A GPS Story

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I was showing my GPS to a woman friend of mine. After a couple of minutes, she said to me, "Mac, this is just a toy for men!" I started to argue, but then I said, "Ya' know...you're right!"

But, what a useful toy (tool) it is!

My Background

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I am a systems/software engineer currently working on (trying to win a development contract for) the next version of the Military hand-held GPS receiver. It is called DAGR (Defense Advanced GPS Receiver, current version is called PLGR, Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver).

What we hear from our user groups (The soldiers) is that they want Garmins. (A lot of them buy them with their own money!) I have to agree with the soldiers. That's why I spent my own money on a III+.

How I Use My Garmin III+

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I have been using mine (first a III, then I upgraded to a III+) for about 1.5 years. I have hiked, biked, driven, and flown with it. I have the 3 Map CDs that are available as well. (US Road, US Topo, World Major Roads)

Here are some common ways that I use mine...

Navigating to an Address after getting the coordinates from Mapblast.com

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(1) Get the coordinates of virtually any address in the U.S. (and UK) by going to the "Map" section of Mapblast(http://www.mapblast.com/mblast/mAdr.mb) and typing in the address. You will get a map and the coordinates of the "X" that marks the address of the address that you typed in. (2) Take your Garmin and create a new waypoint with the coordinates from MapBlast. (3) Press the "Goto" Button, select your waypoint, and the unit will give you bearing and distance to your waypoint.

(Note: The Garmin eMap allows you to look up addresses on the unit (If you buy the data cartridge and Map CDs), but it doesn't have nearly the configurabiltiy that the III+ has. I'm waiting for the combination unit! Wireless connection to an address database would work too! Then I won't need MapBlast (and a computer) to get addresses.)

Giving (Pretty) Accurate Estimated Time of Arrivals (ETAs)

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You can set up your Garmin to display ETA based on your current speed and bearing. This really only gives good estimates if you are traveling more or less in a straight line to your destination or if you have input a route with all your turns. I have gotten pretty good at estimating when I will arrive somewhere, whether the distance is pretty large (ie: LA to SF) or small (20 miles or so).

Marking Where the Car is Parked.

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Whenever I hike or bike, I mark the place where the car is parked before I head out on the trail. Then, I set up the Garmin to point to the car. This way I always know how far I am from the car.

Also, I usually clear the track log (and the Trip Computer) before I start out so that I can use the TrakBack feature to tell me how far I am (actual trail distance) to the car or to direct me back, as the case may be.

Last Word

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I am very happy with my Garmin III+. Engineering types like me will almost certainly be as well.
Garmin GPS III Waterproof Hiking GPS (Electronics) at amazon.com

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