People are asking questions like - Why does the government need to know the GPS coordinates of my front door?

I think everybody is getting a little paranoid! I’m almost certain that the government isn’t going to send some drone out with the coordinates for your front door to do whatever they do with drones.

It’s more like this - the government is tracking their workers! With the data that’s logged by the GPS the government can make sure that the worker traveled to every place that s/he was supposed to go. The government can also view the amount of time spent gathering data as well.

Next time the government wants to do a census they’ll be better ‘armed’ and be able to streamline the process as well.

So don’t be paranoid! You can put your tinfoil hat away for another day.

The GPS we know and love is part of a larger family of systems called Global Navigational Satellite Systems or GNSS. It’s similar to having different operating systems like Windows, Linux and OS X for a computer - they’re different but they ultimately get the same jobs done in the end.

• GPS is the USA system - Wikipedia GPS Entry
• GLONASS is the Russian system - Wikipedia GLONASS Entry
• Galileo is the European system - Wikipedia Galileo Entry
• Compass is the Chinese system - Wikipedia Compass Entry

I’d write a little more information about all those systems, but really who cares - and for those of you that do, I provided you links to very informative Wikipedia entries. Right now only the USA (GPS) system is fully operational and open to the general public.

Here comes the most important question of all: What do having all those different systems mean the average GPS end user like me? I just want to use the GPS to navigate while I’m driving or keep me from getting lost when I go hiking.

Things aren’t looking so bad in the answer to that question. Since us end users drive the market the manufacturers are hopefully going to listen to what we want.

When I turn on my GPS, or hopefully one day my GNSS device, I don’t want to worry about which satellites are available to me to use or have to configure some little gadget all the time to get it to work properly. I’m going to have more important things on my mind like driving or enjoying the view from atop some majestic mountain peak. I think manufacturers are intuitive enough to know that we’re not all Linux geeks and don’t want to configure it all the time so they’re going to design device that work on whatever system is available and devices that will probably use more than one system at a time to get even better accuracy.

Actually - there are already chips being designed to handle more than one system and a Quick Google Search shows that there’s already some pathetic competition killers trying to patent having all the different receivers on one chip (sarcasm: Wow, such a novel idea!).

Anyways, we’ll let the manufacturers work out all the details. Give me my GPS, make it accurate and make it ‘just work’.

Lately, it seems that Trimble has been trying to break into the consumer GPS market by teaming up with some cellular service providers to offer software services to the cellular provider’s clients.

So far AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Blackberry, T Mobile, Sprint and Alltel Wireless have jumped on board with Trimble. Or maybe Trimble has jumped on board with them.

Trimble has created a new division of the company and called it Trimble Outdoors. With Trimble Outdoors you can plan outdoor trips and use your phone for GPS navigation, tracking your fitness performance, geocaching, and sharing your experiences with others. All of the applications are available on the Trimble Outdoors site, but having them isn’t going to be cheap!

Trimble offers three different software applications that are built with different activities in mind. You’re going to end up paying $5-$6 per month depending on the software application that you choose.

AllSportGPS - The AllSport GPS software application turns your cell phone into a full-featured GPS-enabled trainer and workout tracker for cycling, mountain biking, running, walking and other sports activities.

The AllSportGPS phone application in combination with the Trimble Outdoors web site provides you with a complete solution for tracking, analyzing and improving your fitness.

Trimble Outdoors - The Trimble Outdoors™ application lets you use your cell phone to find your way and document your trips for hiking, backpacking, fishing and other outdoor activities.

The phone application in combination with the Trimble Outdoors web site provides you with a complete solution for using your phone to find your way, creating multimedia trip journals that you can share, researching and planning trips, and sending your trips wirelessly to your phone.

Geocache Navigator - Geocache Navigator™ on your mobile phone offers you a fun and easy way to enjoy a hugely popular hide and seek game called geocaching (also known as “GPS treasure hunting”).

With Geocache Navigator™ you can geocache on-the-go. Leave behind your GPS device, cables, and paper printouts! It’s easy to use for beginners and powerful for advanced geocachers. Just grab your phone, seek and enjoy.

Don’t be surprised about Trimble trying to lock you into using their software product as they’re famous for doing this already with their GIS software products. When I bought my Juno ST I was surprised to learn that there was no useable GPS software on the device or the software disc that came with it that was of any real value to me.

So what are the alternatives? There’s actually a LOT of alternatives, many of which are much cheaper than what Trimble and partners are offering their packages for. But it depends a lot on your device too.

If you’re a Nokia user and your phone has GPS capabilities you can go over to the Nokia Sports Tracker web site and get yourself all hooked up over there.

Handheld, standalone GPS users can use Zone Five Software’s SportsTracks Software which will accept a wide variety of devices and all your information is kept on your PC and the software integrates with Google Earth so you can even “fly through” your route in 3D.
TrailGuru seems to still be in the startup stage but they seem to have a lot of potential. You can use their web site by uploading your tracks or use the site in conjunction with their iPhone application that’s available at the iPhone App Store.

For those of you who want to try Geocaching you’ll find that a Basic Membership on the Official Geocaching Web Site is free.

I’m thinking that Trimble should stick with the professional GIS software/hardware market because there’s not a real big chance that they’re going to keep up in the fast moving consumer GPS market with only a few pieces of software and nothing that’s completely their own.

The iPhone is packed with powerful features and I’m going to put myself out there and say that it’s probably great for office people who are are the run and looking to find the closest copy or coffee shop, but it’s not good for me.

I’m the kind of guy who really needs a GPS, if I don’t have one the risk to my person go way up. Out in the harsh desert country, where I do most of my work, if I’m lost and can’t get back to my vehicle or find a source of water I’m pretty much screwed so a GPS is really important to help keep me safe.

Now, if the iPhone was a little more rugged and less pretty I’d be interested in having one of these.

An integrated camera, cell phone and GPS all in one what could make that better?

I know! How about a 2-way radio (independent of the cellular network - not like Nextel) and an ice cream maker just for fun.

So that’s probably not going to happen right. I’m doomed to having to carry around multiple devices to get my job done until someone comes out with a more rugged all in one type of device that’s comparable to the iPhone.

Your GPS doesn’t know the terrain before the route or track is made unless you have it programmed into the GPS so everything is in two dimensions until the GPS knows different. There’s a couple of things you should always remember when it comes to navigating outdoors with your GPS.

1) A GPS tells you how far it is to the waypoint “as the crow flies”.
2) A GPS tells you how far it is to the waypoint “as the crow flies”.

This makes me remember a time when I was out in the bush trying to locate a concrete monument that was being used to mark a mining claim. I was down in a riverbed with a rock wall on one side of me going pretty much straight up 30 meters and on the other side it was a gradual gain in elevation for about 100 meters before hitting the same type of rock wall.

My GPS was telling me that I was right on top of the monument (I had programmed the known coordinates into my GPS before leaving for my hike) but I couldn’t see it anywhere.

In the valley my dilution of precision was getting pretty bad, I was down to about 4 satellites most of the time so I was wondering really how accurate the readings could be. I had followed what the GPS told me and it pretty much put me up against the rock wall face… Crazy… There was nothing there so I moved on to the other side of the river on the flat where I though that it might be. The monument is man-made so it should be easily accessible… Right?

I walked around looking for about ten minutes and still had not encountered it… I sat down for a second to try and keep my GPS still so I could get a little better accuracy. Looking over to the other side of the river at the top of the 30 meter high rock wall right above where I was standing before was the monument I was looking for.

Now I always remember… Look up… and for that matter… Look down too!

One example of this type of service is the GyPSy Okanagan Wine Tour in British Columbia, Canada. You can rent a GPS device pre-programmed with a tour of the Okanagan Wine Making District. The guided tour has audio prompts that tell you where to go and when the point of interest comes into view - Sounds like a basic operation of the middle of the road Garmin Nuvi or TomTom Navigational GPS to me!

GyPSy Tours also has other tours available for western Canada - They’ve covered Banff, Jasper, some of Vancouver Island, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.

The GyPSy Tours can only be rented with a GPS device included and it will cost you about $220 for 7 days and when your done with the device you can drop it off at one of their drop-off locations in the area.

If you do some smart shopping you can get a pretty good Navigational GPS for $220 these days and if you shop around on Amazon.com you’ll be sure to find one that suits your needs in no time. With a little more searching on the internet you can set up your own tour in your GPS (that you get to keep) in no time - don’t forget that that’s what these devices were made for!

But if you still want to check out GyPSys Guided Tours you can find their web site at GyPSy Guide

One thing that’ll make your summer activities a lot more memorable and fun is if you record your trips on your GPS.

If you like touring around on your bike you’ll be glad to know that you can also use your GPS that you normally use in your car on your mountain bike or whatever type of bike you choose to use. There’s a few manufacturers that make these special mounts that hook onto your handlebars and hold your GPS securely so you can ride the trails. Just don’t wipe out too badly! Honestly though if you’re going to do some rough riding don’t be afraid to take your GPS with you like this. I’d suggest getting some of those wire ties or zip straps to make sure your GPS is extra secure in the mount though.

You can find these mounts for about $20 on Amazon.com - use the keywords “GPS bicycle mount” in your search.

Enjoy your summer and get out of the office for a little bit!

On July 11, 2008 TWENTY ONE countries are going to have access to one of the most revolutionary electronic devices to ever hit the electronic marketplace.

Apple will release the long awaited iPhone 2 in Austrailia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and yes… even in THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!

It must have taken a lot of pushing, shoving and forcing to pack all the features of the iPhone into just 4.7 ounces (133 grams) of pure technological horsepower.

The iPhone comes with 8 gigs of storage space (16 gigs if you want to go for the high end model) a 3-1/2 inch widescreen display (480×320 @ 163ppi), a 2 megapixel camera that supports Geotagging, Bluetooth, internal speaker support from a low 20Hz to a high 20KHz, built in A-GPS, WiFi an accelerometer, proximity sensor and an ambient light sensor.

Although well instrumented - Apple defines the maximum operating condition altitude as 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) so they’re obviously trying to put the whole Mac G4 Cube Satellite thing behind them.

For the GPS market the iPhone signifies that GPS is now considered mainstream technology and development around it will be swift and quick - so look forward to a whole new style of electronics with location based applications (and maybe advertising too) built right in. Although the iPhone only supports A-GPS it will still be useful in large cities and where it has good network support.

If the rotten people in other parts of the world are looking at GPS Navigators as a way of cashing in on stolen goods we can all expect that the phenomenon will quickly hit the USA as well.

Your best bet is to buy a travel pouch for your GPS Navigator and bring it with you when you leave your vehicle. If you really like your GPS you can’t be too safe when it comes to this type of investment.

You can get a GPS Travel Case for almost any GPS Navigator for less than $50 on Amazon.com

Find the forums at http://www.sourcegps.com/forums and register for your free account today!