Re: Determining conditioning distances

["Joe Long" <jlong@mti.net>]

On Mon, 06 Apr 1998 18:05:08 -0700, "S. Brown" <sbrown@wamedes.com>
wrote:

>>Invest in a GPS :) nifty tools....

>A what???

A Global Positioning System receiver.  I have a hand-held unit.  It
tells you where you are at all times, within a hundred feet or so.
They also tell you your current speed, direction, the path back the
way you came, and direction and distance to "waypoints" that you can
program in ahead of time or set as you go.  Most of them have some
kind of pointer to show you which way to go and some kind of display
to indicate if you are off the correct path, and in which direction
and by what distance.

These can be a godsend for researching new trails in the back country,
but they have their drawbacks.  First, few of the low- to middle-price
hand-held units tell you how far you've travelled; most only tell you
how far it is to a specific point, *as the crow flies.*  Also, they
aren't fully reliable in thick forest or deep canyons -- especially
the low-price units.  By "low price" I mean below $150. 

If you do decide to buy one, I recommend the Eagle Explorer.  This
unit is available for under $200, can be connected to a laptop
computer for detailed map displays, and has a sensitive 12-channel
receiver (good for use in woods & canyons).  It's major drawback is
that it does not have an odometer (it will not tell you how far you've
traveled except "as the crow flies").

-- 

Joe Long
jlong@mti.net
Business Page  http://www.mti.net
Personal Page  http://www.rnbw.com