How Does A Gps Work?

[+Lotho]

I mean, like you out in the coordinates and it tells your your are 20 metres, that sort of thing??

 

Just curios because im getting a etrex yellow as my first gps soon.

[+Lil Elephants]

I mean, like you out in the coordinates and it tells your your are 20 metres, that sort of thing??

 

Just curios because im getting a etrex yellow as my first gps soon.

 

Check out this thread.

[+ThePropers]

That's basically it. It will tell you you are X distance from Point Y and in which direction you need to walk to get closer to Point Y.

 

That's the simple "GPS for Dummies" explanation and pretty much all you need to know for caching. If you want to get into more technical specifics, see the thread mentioned above.

[andylphoto]

I mean, like you out in the coordinates and it tells your your are 20 metres, that sort of thing??

 

Just curios because im getting a etrex yellow as my first gps soon.

 

Check out this thread.

 

The other thread will give you a wealth of technical information on how the GPS system works, but it looks like your question is a bit more basic than that. Yes, if you're looking for a geocache, or another waypoint, you've got it basically correct.

 

You input the coordinates for a particular waypoint in some fashion. On many models, you can use a computer to do this automatically, which saves a lot of time. Then, you can tell your GPSr to navigate to this waypoint. When you start moving, it will give you a compass bearing, indicating the direction you should go, and a distance to the point you're navigating to. As you move in the correct direction, you'll see the arrow pointing straight up on the screen, and the distance decreasing.

 

This page from Garmin has a few screen examples for the yellow etrex. The lower right screen shot should be what you see when navigating.

[+briansnat]

Closing thread as there is another on this very same subject active.