Odd uses for your GPS

[+Snowtrail]

OK, what other uses have you used your GPS other than geocaching and the obvious navigational uses?

 

I have used it as a decoy when geocaching. It's amazing when you're cursing about all of the people around and you start using your etrex as a cell phone that people don't look at you weird anymore.

 

The other use was three days ago when my flashlight went out while camping. I was a quarter mile in the dark from the campground, knew my way to the campground, but needed light. I set the backlight to 'always on' and used it as a flashlight. (Found out later that the bulb went out in the flashlight). Note to self: bring extra batteries AND extra light bulbs...

[+Alan2]

Good photo locations.

 

Business locations I visit from time to time.

 

"Home" waypoint (so I can get a quick idea of how far as the crow flies). Ditto workplace.

 

Alan

[+st_richardson]

quote:

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Originally posted by Snowtrail:

OK, what other uses have you used your GPS other than geocaching and the obvious navigational uses?...

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I've used the diagnostic mode to tell me the temperature.

 

quote:

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...(Found out later that the bulb went out in the flashlight). Note to self: bring extra batteries AND extra light bulbs...

---

 

Or get a LED flashlight and never have to replace a bulb again. LED bulbs will burn for 11 years continually.

[+phantom4099]

I always like to think that the GPS system cost 12 to 13 billion dollars to build, and I am using it to see how fast my lawn mower is going.

 

Wyatt W.

 

The probability of someone watching you is directly proportional to the stupidity of your actions.

[Syn]

since mine is broke now I use it as a paper weight...

 

but there has been several times that I have an itch on my back and cant seem to reach it so I would crank my gps back there to get a little extra reach and scratch the itch with it.

[+makaio]

http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWSWeirdNews0111/29_gps-ap.html

 

and then there's this list on Joe's site...

 

http://celia.mehaffey.com/dale/usegps.htm

 

-

[+Alan2]

Checking the altitude when my ears get stuffed driving up a mountain. ALways wondered about that!

 

Alan

[+Alan2]

Checking the altitude when my ears get stuffed driving up a mountain. ALways wondered about that!

 

Alan

[+snake1411]

Well, here's what my dad, Skeetman, used to do with his GPSr:

"I had a gps for months and had used it around hometown and while driving my horse and buggy. you can tell how many mph you can get out of one horse. also how far you can get on a bag of oats."

 

Taken from his first cache log: GC2474 - Geog. Center of GA

[+UtahJean]

For years MailboxMan and I have gone out this time of year to wander along country roads, ditches, railroad track, canals, etc., to gather wild asparagus. There is nothing there to help you find the stalks until later in the summer. It can be very difficult finding the illusive stalks. The location of where to find good spots to look and individual plants is kept secret and there's always a race after warm weather and a rain to be first there to gather the crop. We've always had to rely on memory to refind the spots, but now I am clicking in a waypoint--much easier and more reliable, and I can pass it along to family and friends. Wild asparagus is yummmmmm.

[+Skully & Mulder et al.]

I like to compare my GPS reading to what the pilot tells the passangers.

[+CharlieP]

I trailer my boat down to the Florida Keys every August to fish, scuba, and catch lobster. Since SA was turned off, the GPS is accurate enough to store the locations of individual coral heads and ledges where lobster like to hide. It's odd how they come back to the same locations year after year, and another seemingly identical location nearby may never contain lobster.

 

FWIW,

CharlieP

[+McIrish]

Baby Toy (hey, they are water resistant) and finding my car in a parking lot! SFO for one.

 

"Happiness is not a destination. It is a method of life."

[Milgren]

Not really that odd, but lately I've been using mine as a speedometer/odometer on my bicycle to help me figure out how many calories I'm burning as part of a fitness program.

 

--->> All Your Cache Are Belong To Us <<---

[+Cachier]

When I travel by air, I hook it up to my laptop and use it with Street Atlas USA to identify cities and landmarks on the ground. Also keeps track of altitude, ground speed, direction of travel and estimated time of arrival at the current speed. It impresses the heck out of most people. They want to know if I can steer the plane from there too.

 

"When you find it, its always in the last place you look."

[+Cachier]

When I travel by air, I hook it up to my laptop and use it with Street Atlas USA to identify cities and landmarks on the ground. Also keeps track of altitude, ground speed, direction of travel and estimated time of arrival at the current speed. It impresses the heck out of most people. They want to know if I can steer the plane from there too.

 

"When you find it, its always in the last place you look."

[Night Tracker]

I use it to see where my ole lady goes when she's out with the girls, I set turn "track on" and hide it in the car when she comes home I know where she's been.

I'm not a control freak!

I'm a need to know freak!!!

 

[This message was edited by Night Tracker on May 16, 2002 at 03:46 PM.]

[Night Tracker]

I use it to see where my ole lady goes when she's out with the girls, I set turn "track on" and hide it in the car when she comes home I know where she's been.

I'm not a control freak!

I'm a need to know freak!!!

 

[This message was edited by Night Tracker on May 16, 2002 at 03:46 PM.]

[Walkin Stick]

I was on a cross country trip 1000+ miles from home and in the middle of nowhere (actually Idaho... and it wasn't quite the middle) and the speedometer in my vehicle stopped working. It didn't help that it was a Sunday and most auto shops were closed. I used the GPSr to approximate my speed until I got to a shop where I could get help. (Ended up being the battery... not the speedometer... but that's not important to this conversation).

 

_____________________________________________________

 

Support your local rescue team.... Get Lost!

_____________________________________________________

[+Shoebox]

This may not be the strangest thing I personally use my GPS for but in terms of strange use, this one caught my eye. They are using the GPS system to analyses the earths atmosphere. Check out the story at: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0205/15gps/

[+park2]

My day job involves training people on locating buried cables and 'faults' on them. For faults, the equipment usually gives a distance readout to the fault and I use the GPS to get me within a few meters before we 'zoom-in' on it.

 

Also with MS S&T, for making rough maps of where everything is laying when we do demos, etc.

[MajBach]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Night Tracker:

I use it to see where my ole lady goes when she's out with the girls, I set turn "track on" and hide it in the car when she comes home I know where she's been.

---

 

Whoaa! Never thought of it before.

You're bad. I like it.

 

I bought my GPS for navigating while flying and boating. Sixteen years of boating, never hit one rock. Since I've owned the GPS, I've steered clear of every single rock in the world except four - thank you very much. Oh, and it's also good to block the wheels of the trailer when launching.

 

MajBach

You can't have everything,where would you put it?

[MajBach]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Night Tracker:

I use it to see where my ole lady goes when she's out with the girls, I set turn "track on" and hide it in the car when she comes home I know where she's been.

---

 

Whoaa! Never thought of it before.

You're bad. I like it.

 

I bought my GPS for navigating while flying and boating. Sixteen years of boating, never hit one rock. Since I've owned the GPS, I've steered clear of every single rock in the world except four - thank you very much. Oh, and it's also good to block the wheels of the trailer when launching.

 

MajBach

You can't have everything,where would you put it?