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Where Else Do You Use Your Gpsr


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I was wondering where others use there GPS besides for Geocaching?

 

I myself use it as many do for hiking and mountain biking which was the original reason for getting it. Since getting my Garmin V I also use it to get me most places with the autorouting feature. I now also use it in connection with my Genealogy research to map out locations with family ties as well as gravesites and cemeteries.

 

So besides caching how do you use your GPS?

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I use it for the initial reason I bought it in the first place back around Nov 2002(caching was unheard of to me back then).

It helps me at work. I frequently need to know the street and block number of my location. Trying to remember to watch the street signs every time I turn a corner is more than I care to burden myself with. Besides, even when I DO look at the signs, I often forget the street name by the time I'm half way down the block. No short term memory.

My Garmin eMap is one of the best gadgets I ever bought. Money very well spent.

I was amazed by it's usefulness as soon as I got it and I am still amazed.

 

GPSKitty

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Outside of caching, I use it for canoeing, hiking and biking mostly. But it is also a useful tool for "journaling" any trips I'm on. When I get back home, it's great fun to look at the time-stamped waypoints marking highlights of my travels (my favorite one is when I crossed the equator on a sail boat in the Galapago islands @ 2:30 AM back in '98). :lol::lol:

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I agree w/ the speedomitor.. I used my GPS as one in my stepfathers truck for the last few weeks.. Thank god I have a new car! But I have used the GPS to mark my parking spot at theme parks, as a pedometer, heck I never leave home w/out it. You never know when you will see something that you just have to show to someone else.. make a waypoint and you wont forget where it is!

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I bought my Megellan 2000 for hiking, but the main reason I got it was to mark the location that I want my ashes to be scattered in the Sierra Backcountry. The coords are in my will and since wilderness caches are still banned at this point, The Snoogans' (ultra-SECRET Private) Memorial Cache is by appointment only until I'm in it. :lol:

 

I bought my Meridian Color for Geocaching. I haven't used it for anything else yet.

 

Sn :lol::lol: gans

Edited by Snoogans
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I use mine on trips. It's useful in unfamiliar areas to see where I am now, and compare to a road map, etc. Locally use it to measure distance between points.

 

During hurricane season I use to see how far a storm is from home (we have to worry about those here in FL).

 

Also check on tides for fishing, and what time the full moon rises so my bride and I can go to the beach & see it!!!

 

At work, it has been used to mark location of fire hydrants.

 

:lol:

 

"Bassmedic"

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I'm a woodland firefighter for the State of GA. The primary purpose of my buying a GPS was for measuring fire sizes, taking locations for fire information like relaying hazard locations on fire lines, guiding in additional forces, and air drops. I got tired of waiting for the higher ups to turn loose the money and buy us units so I bought a Legend. Then about 4 months later they bought each chief a GPS V. Still kinda glad I bought my own seeing how we handle 3 counties and I wouldn't be able to find the chief whenever I needed his GPS. I also use my Legend for finding my way back to my waterfowl hunting hot spots, one turn in sawgrass looks like every other turn in sawgrass in the dark. Geocaching is a new game to me and something that I can take my 3 year old out to do with me. I spend plenty of time outdoors, and this helps me get my kid out there and enjoy the fresh air.

 

Nick T

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I love readint what other use their GPS for other than Geocaching. I had a topic running in "GPS Unitsand Software" covering this exact topic. :lol:

 

For those who want to read the responses to that topic, please click below:

What Else Do You Do With Your Gps, besides geocaching and it's derivatives

 

Now, as for what else I use my GPS for.

 

I have the Magellan Meridian Platinum with 3 SD Ram cards with the Topo, Streets/Dest and Direct Route on each. (128MB Cards filled with each map type)

  • I use the internal compas and long/lat to help polar-align my telescope. I also use it for sunrise/set and moon rise/set as well as well as moon phase.
  • I use the DirectRoute to help with street navigation (has not failed even once)
  • I am a member of LocalHikes.com and use the GPS to map out the trails I hike for reporting.
  • I use the backtracking and street routing to help when out on photo shoots where we flip coins at intersections to determine which direction we go. You can end up in the more obscure locations and we have gotten lost before, but not since using the GPS.

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I use mine when I run so I know how far I've gone and how fast.

 

I also use it when going somewhere new.

Also on road trips, which almost always include a couple caches along the way! :lol: When the kids are in the car, I just hand them the GPSr and they know exactly how far away we are.

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Where I am employed, 95% of our work is underground coal mine surveying/planning or surface surveying to support the underground work. There are numerous obstacles that we have to consider before laying out the mine to best utilize the reserves.

 

One of our mines in north central West Virgina, is mining in an area that also contains numerous gas and/or oil wells. As it would be a very bad thing to mine into any of these wells, we must first find and locate the wells on the surface. The active wells are easily identified. The problem is that the area also contains quite a few abandoned wells dating from the early 1900's. Well records depicting the planned/drilled location were not required until 1929, which means there is only a slight paper trail to follow in order to accurately spot these old wells on our mine maps.

 

Okay, now to get on topic. When we started this project in 1997 we'd use all of our available resources (i.e. old mine maps, well plats depicting nearby wells, etc.) to place the well as best as we could, then we'll determine an approximate lat./long. We'd plug these into our handhelds and then search the area for evidence of a well site. Even when selective availability was on, we could usually get fairly close. If all evidence was removed, we'd at least know the general area to run our survey to for a more detailed search sometimes involving dozers or backhoes to scratch the surface to uncover the hole.

 

I never thought that a few years later I'd be using this technology, in my spare time, addicted to searching for other objects. :lol:

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I use mine in the car to find locations (previously downloaded from Mappoint), boat for a speedo (boat speedos are WAY off), Jet ski for speedo (max speed tests since Jetskis are WAY off on speed), hiking, geocaching and also communication since I have the Rhino120 and my wife the Rhino 110.

 

We can also find each other at camp. I mark all the locations such as toilet, boat ramp, camp etc then when she is talking to me I can see her location and it is better in relation to a known spot such as just off the boat ramp.

 

Good safety device, great for the boat, but my GPS sinks - I have been told.

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Stepping out of the hotel on a business trip, taking a waypoint. Then exploring the bars of the (unknown) town. At the exit of the last bar - reasonable drunk - just pressing the button for the hotel waypoint and walking back there in almost no time. :)

Edited by eigengott
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I got mine primarily for geocaching, but I've since then, noticed the many features and possible uses for it. Right now, I'm trying to help set up a 5K race in my area, and it's basically just around a big farm that the town owns, and I'm trying to find the best route around it to make 5kilometers. But I've also used it for several other undisclosed reasons...

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I have had a GPSR for ten years now.I bought one{magellen trailblazer]

when I first heard of them.

first used it to plot a hunting trip to the Addorondaks on my kitchen table from topo maps.

Also to find ,and mark hidden trout streams in the mountains.

Was first to fish some boulder filled Canadian Lakes at night in a boat.

I still have the trailblazer,and it works fine.eats up Batts.though.

OBG

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I bought mine for geocaching but I find it really handy when biking as an odometer, speedometer, compass, etc..

 

I also do some side work installing low voltage stuff and I use it to record my route to a job site the first time. Then when I go back later to finish the job and I find that I have misplaced the directions to the house, (I ALWAYS lose them!) I just recall the route and I am on my way.

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I like using my Garmin V to autoroute me when navigating in unfamiliar cities. I'm able to enjoy the sights instead of worrying about taking the correct exit. One reason I bought a GPS is because we travel out of town to Little Leprechaun's Irish Dancing Competitions. Once she almost missed her scheduled start time because Dad missed the turn for the convention center where the competition was taking place.

 

Until last week, I'd never bothered to use the "Points of Interest" or POI database. But on Tuesday, I had to go *bowling* with some clients for a business function. My first time bowling in 12 years, and in an unfamiliar area of the city. To make matters worse, I was running late at the office and when I dashed out to get in my car, I forgot the directions sheet (which also contained the name of the bowling alley). If I had gone all the way back to my office, I would have been late arriving at the event.

 

No worry.... I fired up the Garmin V and searched the POI database for bowling alleys in that section of town. Uh oh, there are three of them, and none of the names rang a bell. I remembered someone saying it was near a particular shopping center, so I looked up that shopping center in the POI database and found it. I routed myself to the shopping center and made it there with no wrong turns. Then I searched again for the nearest bowling alley, and it was just another quarter mile down the road.

 

I was on time and relaxed when I arrived, thanks to the GPS!

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Mine is always in my van, just as a high-tech toy, both while off-roading and normal driving. Drives my wife nuts, as I probably spend more time looking at it than the road! I also use it in my motorhome on camping trips. And I have a mount on the handlebars of my ATC250R for use at Glamis; I have all the major hills programmed into it, as well as marking my campsite. I'm still working on a good mounting for my jetski, but since it's a "stand-up" model (Yamaha FX-1), I haven't decided on the best way to do it yet!

 

Oh yeah, I've also used it to help map a forestry road that I was designing UG conduit to a cell site for. That year I actually wrote off the cost of the unit as a business expense! :o

Edited by 4x4van
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Bought my Geko in Nov '03 when I saw it on sale.

Wanted it for hiking, remembered that I had come across gc.com a year or so earlier, now I'm hooked.

 

Used it when scouting summer camp for 2004 for distance & travel (walking) time so that we could help the boys determine merit badge schedules.

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Since I travel all the time for business I use mine to get around. I will mark my motel when I get there and work once I have found it. It has been a real lifesaver when I needed to get back to my motel late at night when I didn't have a clue where I needed to go. Even though the Magellan I use does not do point to point it at least gets me going in the right direction.

 

:rolleyes:

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I use my Garmin Legend and Map60C with my work in the field for capturing GIS data, as a GPS surveyor, and as a field engineering technician. With GIS it allows fast data collection for general purposes if precision is not required. In my GPS surveying, it saves time by leading me to control points and other monumentation such as USGS benchmarks or HARN points. In field engineering it has proven to be very helpful to estimate areas and measure distances for various purposes. Plus, it's lots of fun to combine GPS play with work!

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I originally got my GPSr for hiking and canoeing. I am still shopping for a canoe, but while looking for coordinates for local landmarks, I came across geocaching.com (seems to be a common theme here)

 

I use it for:

 

- pedometer for walks/hikes

- I replaced my cycle computer, much more accurate and shows the tracks!

- Driving my family nuts by waypointing thier houses and telling them where they are :rolleyes:

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The primary reason I have a GPSr is this:

I bought my first GPSr long before geocaching.com came on line. The primary reason was that my wife had a hard time reading a map and navigating for our long RV trips. :blink: At the same time (getting the GPSr), I purchased Delorme Map 'n' Go Version 2.0 and a laptop. So, in advance of a trip, I could set my start and end points, plus intermediate points and calculate the route. The software would then allow me to download the route into the GPSr and away we'd go without always getting lost or going 50 miles out of our way. By plugging the GPSr into the laptop, I could also track our route and she could see exactly where we were in real time. :D

 

Secondary reasons are:

:tired: Used to set my cruise control because speedometer error and tire wear cause an inaccurate speed to be maintained.

:o Verify the location of benchmarks.

:D Measure airline distance (or even feet) point-to-point. (See geocache GCG6QP Clear Creek Reservoir as an example).

:D For backtracking to my vehicle. (Especially good at a football game!)

B) To find caches.

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