How do you think?

October 15, 2003

When navigating, how does your thought process work? Are you an auto-rotate or North-oriented person? When given a destination, do you prefer a route sequence or do you visualize a grid or map? Do you follow the arrow, project points with bearings, watch the numbers? Do these processes change with familiarty of the area?

Is this a right brain-left brain thing? Are some traits predominant in one gender over the other?

Having a profession that requires finding places many times a day, I often meet people who insist giving directions, keeping the actual address a secret. My mind doesn't do as well with 'Left at the store, up the second hill and it's the driveway after the big rock' directions. I usually have a good sense of direction. It's been suggested that the size of my nose, with all that iron rich blood, creates a magnetic field making a built-in compass.

Always trying to hone my skills, more insight on how people get around certainly couldn't hurt.

So tell me, how do you think?

K.I.S.S.

9.4k · October 15, 2003

Who needs an address when you've got coordinates?

Took sun from sky, left world in eternal darkness

1.9k · October 15, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Tower247:
Having a profession that requires finding places many times a day, I often meet people who insist giving directions, keeping the actual address a secret.

What, addresses? Just give me coords!

Now where did I set my GPS??? planetrobert.net

1.9k · October 15, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Team GPSaxophone:
Who needs an address when you've got coordinates?

Took sun from sky, left world in eternal darkness

great minds think alike

Now where did I set my GPS??? planetrobert.net

3.9k · October 15, 2003

I just make sure the arrow is going generaly towards the dot on my GPS.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Because now I am Lost.

9.4k · October 15, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by SirRalanN:
great minds think alike

Posted at the same time even...

Took sun from sky, left world in eternal darkness

24.7k · October 15, 2003

I read maps with North Up. I navigate with my GPS auto-rotating.

22k · October 16, 2003

I auto-rotate but my maps are North-oriented. I have to stand on the NW side to be able to walk SE, otherwise I would get confused and start walking diagonally. Now give me a set of coords and no maps and I'll do just fine.

My wife is a farm girl. She gives directions like a land plot surveyor, "It on the East side of the South barn on South farm just east of Bill's North farm."

"yes dear, uhm, where's my compass?"

October 16, 2003

I just follow someone else (and hope they are going the same place I am).

GeoCache Pickup Line: Hey I'm looking for treasure, Can I look around your chest?

October 16, 2003

Interesting topic!

I navigate in a couple of phases....

I use the GPS in "north-up" mode when I'm just heading toward the general area...

Once I'm close, I switch to "direction of travel up" mode, so I can visualize my orientation to the cache/address/etc.

Tim

KB5OGH

================

I just need a fix!

October 16, 2003

I drive in map mode, N up. I'll keep it in map mode while hiking until i get .1 mile or so, then switch to the compass/arrow.

If I know the area pretty well and there's no real hike involved, I leave it in compass/arrow mode even while driving.

2.3k · October 16, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by OneOfEm:
I drive in map mode, N up. I'll keep it in map mode while hiking until i get .1 mile or so, then switch to the compass/arrow.

If I know the area pretty well and there's no real hike involved, I leave it in compass/arrow mode even while driving.

Ditto.

Free your mind and the rest will follow

October 16, 2003

Ditto, except I usually switch to the magnetic compass at the trailhead.

Sometimes I go back to the map if I need to identify features like roads or topography.

(P.S. That magnetic compass in my GPSMAP76S is well worth it! My wife has the GPS compass in her eTrex Not Quite Top of the Line, and the magnetic works much better. I've never used the barometric altimeter for much of anything.)

____________________________

- Team Og Rof A Klaw

All who wander are not lost.

October 16, 2003

I am handicapped a bit by my training -- I am a pilot, so I tend to always think like one.

When I'm navigating to a cache, my mind forms a sort of mental map showing the relative positions of all the landmarks, roads, and other cues around me. I can't explain how, but I somehow am able to turn that map around any way I need to in order to get the picture I need.

By the way, auto-rotate is a word that strikes fear into the hearts of helo pilots.

That also explains why I always, ALWAYS carry a compass when I'm caching ... without a reference like that, I can't get my mental map lined up as easily. I rarely need the compass in the car, since the movement is enough to keep the GPS arrow oriented, but once I stop, the compass is my North Star.

Scott

--

Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

October 16, 2003

quote:
By the way, auto-rotate is a word that strikes fear into the hearts of helo pilots.

OT: IIUC, it's what keeps them alive in the event of an engine failure.

____________________________

- Team Og Rof A Klaw

All who wander are not lost.

2.3k · October 16, 2003

When all else fails, I use the force!

Free your mind and the rest will follow

2.1k · October 16, 2003

Who needs the force when you have the all-seeing eye of Sauron?

--

http://magazine.audubon.org/features0101/goodwood.html

1.3k · October 16, 2003

North-up map/track mode all the way to the cache. There are so many zoom levels now that I don't need to switch modes for most caches.

October 16, 2003

North up for maps/street driving. I subconsciously use the sun for orientation, when it's overcast or dark I'm not as oriented as during the day.

I either use the arrow or 'orient map ahead', depending on nothing (they are redundant to me).

I read somewhere that men prefer giving directions by roads and turns. Women prefer by landmarks and features (behind the such and such).

A guy will stereotypically say, take I95 to exit 34, go south on Rt. 1 and make 3rd left on X street.

(At which a woman will make 15 turns and drive 3 miles in circles.)

A gal will stereotypically say, take the Interstate to the 'anytown' exit, get in the right lane, you'll see a motel across from you where you turn right. You'll pass a Dunkin Donuts then see a gas station on your right, turn into the street across from the station.

(At which a man will print out a web map and ignore the directions.)

Which, actually, is what I do. Directions are wrong so frequently I don't trust them. A video editing facitily I started working at had been giving out wrong directions from opening (about 9 months)! I wasn't the first to point it out, but the first to actually correct them.

When I give directions, I give them differently for men and women (which, as a landlord, is relatively frequently). Amusingly, I have yet to have a woman recognize the plumbing store as a landmark, whereas men from as far away as three towns east/west know of it.

Wow, this became excessively verbose,

Randy

October 16, 2003

What I do is to start from my driveway. I head North. Then I take the first left, then the next right, then the next left again.

I continue alternating left and right until I come to an end. I then get out of my car, walk up to the gas station attendant and ask, "Where the heck am I?!"

He always replies, "Where are you wantin' ta be?"

I respond, "I'm lookin' for the same-old-place..." and he interjects, "Well, it's right out back! Here's the key..."

He then notices my handheld GPS, withdraws the offered key and immediately recants, retracts, and retorts, "Ooohh - I'm sorry. Didn't realize you were a geocacher - in that case, ya cain't git there from hyarrr!"

--majicman

(MY new book is NOW AVAILABLE! Check it out: http://www.mcwj.com )

October 16, 2003

I always plot driving routes in my Vista to the caches I want to hunt. I just can't make out the maps on the Vista while I'm driving, at least not without causing a major wreck . So in the car it's the compass arrow for me. I can steal a quick glance at the screen and get distance-to-turn and direction. On foot I use the map because it lets me visualize the cache location in relation to the surroundings, plus that compass arrow is about as trustworthy as a used car salesman when the trees are thick and the pace is slow. On longer hikes in hilly terrain the topo map can be a handy tool for avoiding unnecessary climbs. And once I get within 50 feet or so I've finally learned to set the GD thing down and start looking.

October 16, 2003

As a Pittsburgh native, I have a heavy reliance on landmarks. Compass bearings mean very little in a town that is at the point of three rivers and streets seldom meet at a 90 degree angles. Up until a scant decade ago, there were no street signs in the city and directions were only able to be given with landmarks. Try explaining to a non-native that 7th Avenue meets Liberty Ave between 9th and 10th Streets.

Of course, Pittsburghers also have developed an odd habit of giving directions based on landmarks that used to be there. 'Go down here and turn where the Jenkin's Arcade used to be.' People remember the Jenkin's Arcade. They don't know the name of the building that stands there now and they certainly don't know the name of the street.

I still suffer from these afflictions even though there are now street signs everywhere (some people suddenly discovering they don't live on the street they thought they had) and I spent a number of years as a delivery driver (handing over my customer book with maps, landmarks and no street names in the directions.)

As fo the geocaching search, I'll be in map mode with my Meridian Platinum until I get to 100 ft (when the alarm goes off) Whether I have North Up or Track Up depends on the terrain, I suppose. If there's a strong aligning landmark, like a river or road, I tend to leave North Up but will user the Track Up feature in other instances. I move to the compass arrow within 100 feet and, after the first pass, switch to the 'if I were a geocache, where would I be' method.

Kordite

ph34r my l33t kl1n90n 5k1ll5.

5.7k · October 16, 2003

Am I the only one that uses track-up in the car? I use track-up for everything and usually switch to compass mode when I'm within 200 feet of the cache.

--Marky

...Be nice to your fellow geocachers, they might be Hemlock...

October 16, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Marky:
Am I the only one that uses track-up in the car? I use track-up for everything and usually switch to compass mode when I'm within 200 feet of the cache.

Same here. It's easier to visualize whether I need to "veer" right or "veer" left in the track-up mode.

We don't stop playing because we grow old...we grow old because we stop playing!

4.1k · October 16, 2003

The female of 2oldfarts (me) has a blast using the track up (the neat little map) on our Meridian Platinum while the male of 2oldfarts drives us to a good parking area as close to the cache as possible. Then I let my hubby play with it, He likes to switch back & forth between the track up & the distance/compass screens. This allows me to concentrate on looking around for the cache---but don't tell him that.

~Shirley of 2oldfarts~

*******************************************************

It's hard to remember that your primary objective is to drain the swamp, when you're up to your a$$ in alligators.

October 16, 2003

Usually when we cache, my husband drives and I get to yell out "right turn!" and "Bear Left" at odd intervals. For some reason the remark "Bear left" keeps getting me the response "Frog Right"!. But it doesn't matter because we ALWAYS make a U-turn about 200 feet later than the turn I am trying to point out and come back to it from the opposite direction.

I use our Garmin Legend map with North at the top.

-Jennifer

Age does not bring wisdom, but it does give perspective.

4.1k · October 16, 2003

How? Don't you mean do?

Who thinks?

The male of the 2oldfarts

*******************************************************

It's hard to remember that your primary objective is to drain the swamp, when you're up to your a$$ in alligators.

2.3k · October 16, 2003

I use north up all the time. I give directions like 'go to third light take a left (or north) at 2nd stop sign turn right' etc. I don't like for people to give me directions as most people seem to not give them too good, I alays get an address and find it myself.

Remember, wherever you go- there you are!

2.1k · October 16, 2003

I always use track-up for driving and love it. I see north-up as a holdover from using paper road maps which have to be held north-up in order to read them. Also the usually larger scale of a road map lends itself to north-up. With the little screen on the gps I don't get much in the way of landmarks.

North-up requires constant high level brain activity to transpose our tiny electronic maps map to visual navigation. Windy country roads and dense city road grids both can make this a difficult process. When you cross the 4 and 6 lane bridges in Sacramento or Seattle (or any city) and the arterial bends slightly and you need to make quick decisions track-up shows you exactly what to do next.

I've had discussions with 3 other gps'ing males who prefer north-up. They are all smarter than me so it must be the correct method. In these discussions, though, the only instance where north-up seemed to be appropriate to me was in Roadcow's Vanagon where he has mounted his 17" lap-top on a high stand next to the driver's seat and connected his gps to it. With that large map zoomed out a constantly rotating map takes too much time to redraw and it is a bit disorienting.

Ditto on the boy/girl directions issues. We've had lots of conversations about addresses v. the house with the pink curtains methods of navigation. I prefer the addresses. Probably also an result of limited brain capacity.

October 16, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by RJFerret:

I read somewhere that men prefer giving directions by roads and turns. Women prefer by landmarks and features (behind the such and such).

A guy will stereotypically say, take I95 to exit 34, go south on Rt. 1 and make 3rd left on X street.

(At which a woman will make 15 turns and drive 3 miles in circles.)

A gal will stereotypically say, take the Interstate to the 'anytown' exit, get in the right lane, you'll see a motel across from you where you turn right. You'll pass a Dunkin Donuts then see a gas station on your right, turn into the street across from the station.

(At which a man will print out a web map and ignore the directions.)

I'm glad you said stereotypically, because landmark navigation drives me up the wall! "You know that the white picket fence where Uncle Joe used to live, you know, right beside the parking lot where they tore down the roller rink? You turn left about 5 minutes past there-you can't miss it!" Just give me an address, and a concrete distance, and don't tell me how many minutes away it is--how do I know you didn't walk there backwards? You are right though-generally speaking, women navigate this way, but I am NOT one of those women! And as far as caching goes, I use the track while driving, then the 'Go To', once I get closer. Actually, once I get close enough, I can usually figure out where it is!

Real cachers don't smell like Fleecy.

1.5k · October 16, 2003

My GPS shows north-up, and I read maps the same way. It just simplifies things, and I can always tell which direction I'm heading, if I happen to have a bout of directionally-challenged cacher syndrome.

Brian

Team A.I.

4.5k · October 16, 2003

Using maps "track up" on a Vista gets you dizzy as each little pertabation causes the map to bounce around. Plus, I'm use to maps the other way - north up. Also on the Vista, I keep the Pointer which is a small bearing arrow at the bottom of the map page. So while I'm driving due west to the cache, the Pointer is pointing straight up showing I'm following the correct bearing.

In the woods I use the navigation page as the bearing arrow seems to work best for me. On the other hand, while returning to the car, I might switch to "track up" if I'm following the back the track created going to the cache.

Track up also works better in the woods following a route but I still keep road maps north up while driving on the road.

I'm getting dizzy just explaining this!

Alan

[This message was edited by Alan2 on October 16, 2003 at 07:04 PM.]

October 16, 2003

OziExplorer only offers North Up, so in the CacheCruiser running the Laptop, it's North Up. I would change that if I could, however.

I don't have any issue with "Track Up", so I use it constantly. I use map mode in the car, and on the first part of the hike. At 200 meters or so, I switch to GoTo, and hope for the best, so that I can most efficiently log a "No Find".

As far as Navigation goes, landmark navigation drives me up the wall, as quite a few people use movable landmarks. ("You know, right across from where the Dairy Queen used to be." USED TO BE??? sigh) Ditto to cacherunner's minutes idea. Give me meters, hands, furlongs, nautical miles, bushels, chains, litres or pecks, just please Lord not minutes. First of all, I always wind up behind 'That guy' who drives 22 mph in a 40 zone, and won't let you get by, or if I'm walking, I pass the thing because the direction giver walks at half the speed I do. I also prefer UTM as a coordinate system, as it's based on the metric system, and shows you how many Meters you are from the waypoint. Very cool. I will resort to Lat/Long if I have to, kicking and screaming; at the Spokane Cache Machine, nobody knew what I was talking about...UTM??

How much intelligence does it take to sneak up on a piece of tupperware?

October 17, 2003

I always use a map with the GPSr. Sometimes it's on paper - sometimes it's in my head. Either way, the map is "north up", so the GPSr is also north up.

If I'm following a road or a trail, it often helps to tell where I am just by comparing the "bread-crumb trail" with the map (north up). Since most roads and trails around here are not very straight, this can be a very accurate way of navigating.

Interesting enough - I often navigated this way before GPS. I had to rely heavily on memory, though - which sometimes meant I wasn't where I thought I was - especially if the map *and* the track were both in my head.

But I always did know where I was when I got there.

"...clear as mud?"

2.5k · October 17, 2003

Definately north up.

4.5k · October 17, 2003

True north up or magnetic north up? I use True.

Alan

October 17, 2003

I have to use both my compass and my GPS. I have no sense of direction at all.

"You're just jealous because the voices are talking to me."

1.4k · October 17, 2003

I typically geocache without a GPS. I keep my maps oriented, with north on the map turned to north on the earth. I guess it comes from years of orienteering. When I do use a GPS, I'm usually already pretty close to the cache, so I just follow the arrow or use the GPS to get a bearing for my compass.

4.4k · October 17, 2003

North Oriented,With a Global Perspective.

Aware at all time the 4 directions,With 1 goal in mind ,to try and stay sane within my own mind.........

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS

*GEOTRYAGAIN*

TAKE PRIDE IN AMERICA

http://www.doi.gov/news/front_current.html

1803-2003

"LOUSIANA PURCHASE"

http://www.lapurchase.org

"LEWIS AND CLARK EXPADITION"

http://lewisclark.geog.missouri.edu/index

Arkansas Missouri Geocachers Association

www.ARK-MOGeocachers@yahoogroups.com

2.5k · October 18, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Alan2:
True north up or magnetic north up? I use True.

Magnetic. Not much difference between magnetic and true in my area though.

October 18, 2003

I use the MSN maps and the Mapquest maps and the TopoZone maps to do the driving to the nearest intersection or section of the road, and then use the GPS to find the final (closest?) parking area.

I'm to lazy to keep switching back and forth, so I use the "track up" mode on the compass display navigation screen.

It really makes little difference to me whether I use North up or Track Up... I adapt automatically since I'm always disoriented anyway (does that term come from what happens to Chinese immigrants in North America?)

Anyway... I have no real preference, I just never changed it since I bought the GPS unit.

Besides... if I changed it now I doubt my wife would like the change now that she's grown acustomed to Track Up mode.

1.9k · October 19, 2003

who what maps, i just run my gps in numbers all the time...

bearing

heading

distance

turn R or L

what more ya need?

Now where did I set my GPS??? planetrobert.net

October 19, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by SirRalanN:

quote:
Originally posted by Team GPSaxophone:
Who needs an address when you've got coordinates?

Took sun from sky, left world in eternal darkness

great minds think alike

Now where did I set my GPS??? http://planetrobert.net

Yesterday I took my wife on her first cache. I had no idea where the park was. All I did was enter the coordinates for the parking area and the cache itself and jumped in the truck. She asked me where we where going and I told her I have no idea but the GPS knows how to get us there. She looked at me like I was crazy.

October 19, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by ScottJ:
I am handicapped a bit by my training -- I am a pilot, so I tend to always think like one.

When I'm navigating to a cache, my mind forms a sort of mental map showing the relative positions of all the landmarks, roads, and other cues around me. I can't explain how, but I somehow am able to turn that map around any way I need to in order to get the picture I need.

That also explains why I always, ALWAYS carry a compass when I'm caching ...

Exactly the same here except that I navigate ships but the thought process is the same I think.....

Only nuts eat squirrels,

Snake

October 19, 2003

I cannot function in North Up mode. I must be in Track Up Mode. I visulize in a line of sight context.

I don't use the map modes either. My thought process is very Bearing and Track biased. which way am I heading and which way do I need to head.

I get impatient around the prize and can't wait for my GPSr to update on orientation. I am constantly grabbing the bearing to the prize and then looking and responding to my compass.

as most folks report, when I get close, I put teh techology in the bag and switch mental gears to the clue and/or the "recognition" of the location.

How do you think?

Recommended Posts

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Join the conversation