 |
 100% Canadian. Canada's #1 GPS Store! |
||||||
GPS CENTRAL GALLERY, PAGE 1 |
|
| Thanks
to everyone who sent photos and reports of GPS experiences, applications
and installations! Send yours to sales@gpscentral.ca (Subject = Photo Gallery) - or post your pics & stories at GPS Central on Facebook as Fan Photos. |
|
|
Shane
& Jo's Legend C
in the NWT: RAM mounted
to the snow machine "This is a pix of my Legend C, mounted nicely on the dash of the snow machine with a RAM mount. It was taken on Harding Lake in the NWT while escorting Jo's eight dog team on a 75 km trek to Blachford Lake Lodge. (see right) "Incidentally, I ran some 255km, over three days with the dash mounted Legend, on one set of NI-CAD batteries, in relatively warm weather around -15c. "I'm in the process of deciding which "ball" will mount the best to the top of the dog sled, so that I can transfer the RAM mount I have over to the it, I'm thinking the motorcycle mounts, I'll just drill a hole in the wooden handle and mount the base ball." |
Shane
& Jo's Legend
C RAM mounted
to the dogsled "My
Legend C, RAM-Mounted
to the dogsled."
|
Navigating the E2C course with a Garmin II Plus and an eTrex "3 HRSAR team members are using all their gear & training techniques to navigate the E2C course. ECO Endurance Challenge continues to grow as eastern Canada's largest Adventure Race and one of the last annual events of it kind. Teams of 2 -5 navigate our tough boreal forest to locate 60-80 control points in any given order for points & prizes. Teams from all over North America come here to race & experience Nova Scotia. There are many categories a team can choose, 8 hr & 24 hr, Recreation or Competitive. We have over 90% participant return rate, so we must be having fun. All revenues from E2C are used to support the life-saving activities of HRSAR and provide assistance to OANS. "HRSAR, like all other Ground Search & Rescue teams in Nova Scotia, is almost entirely self-funded. Volunteers raise the nec. funds to allow the team to respond to community emergencies and purchase vital medical equipment. It is through community support and help of companies such as GPS Central, that HRSAR is able to continue to grow and become one of the top Search & Rescue teams in Canada." Chris Richards, HRSAR Volunteer Member & E2C Director |
Nicholas and UBC EECE Team 9 use an eTrex for robot navigation
"Hi
this is Nicholas Jakobsen from the UBC EECE team you helped get a Garmin
eTrex GPS. After a gruelling month of skipping class, late nights
and early mornings, we successfully demonstrated our vehicle to the
panel of judges. Things went perfectly on the presentation day; even
the rain stopped and the sun came out for us to demonstrate. I explained
to the judges that I would set a waypoint on the GPS and our vehicle
would navigate its way to it. I placed the vehicle facing away from
the destination and we started up the control program on the PC that
interpreted the GPS data and instructed the vehicle which way to aim
its wheels. The vehicle executed a perfect turn and aimed straight at
the final destination. The judges placed their clipboards as obstacles
in front of each of the vehicle's two proximity detectors and the vehicle
steered to the left and right to avoid a collision and then resumed
its original path to the waypoint. After another 20 seconds of driving
the vehicle reached its final waypoint and stopped EXACTLY on target.
In fact, the vehicle had never stopped this close to target in any of
the previous tests we conducted."
End view Top view Side view Close-up of onboard processor and stepper motor circuit used to control the steering |
|
CITO
2006 cleanup on Vancouver
Island "The Mid Island Geocachers "Adopted" a 2.4 KM stretch of highway 19a on Vancouver Island. One of our young cachers came up with the idea last year. We then proceeded to jump through the hoops to adopt the highway. We combined the CITO day with our first clean up. ' The day was perfect it was sunny and about 15 deg. (unlike the CITO in Calgary I hear) 14 cachers from Campbell River to Qualicum Beach got together in Royston. After a little chat from the organizer and a "Safety brief" we were on our way.we collected 16 bags of trash as well as a couple tires, cooking utensils, tools, and other "items." |
Mid
Island Cache STAMPede was a huge success "The event was a huge success again this year and was very well attended. We had 40 "teams" show up. Most of the teams were made up of 2 or more cachers. There were well over 70 people in attendance. We had a cacher come as far as Vernon this year. People came from all up and down Vancouver Island. Here is the Web site. "One
of the things we did again this year was the "Accuracy Contest"
I hid a large coin in the sand 2 days before the event and averaged
the Lat and Long (I used string to mark the exact location in the
sand) When the teams came back from the caches we set up, we gave
them the lat and long and a little orange flag. When they zeroed
out their GPS, they would stick the flag in the sand. As you can
see by the picture, they were all close. The winner was only 3 inches
away!"
|
Mark
found third party accessories for his "Here's some photos of my Garmin eTrex Legend Cx. The motorcycle and mountain bike use the Garmin eTrex bicycle handlebar mount. "The car uses a universal cellular telephone air-vent mount (Superex #26-335) that I picked up from Wal-mart. The case is a Lowepro D-Res 8 S that I picked up from a camera shop; it fits the eTrex like a glove." Geocacher
Louise is the lucky winner of an "I
send to you a photo of the lucky winner of your GPS. LouiseD at
left, and myself (Misouris) at right. |
Daryl and his friends use eTrexes and RAM mounts for snowmobiling "I was one of last one in my group of friends that snowmobile in the B.C. mountains, to get a GPS. Three of my friends have the Garmin eTrex's. Then one of my friends purchased the Garmin Vista Cx with the RAM mounts. When I first seen it I knew I had to get one. The expandable memory was the kicker for me. I really like the RAM mounts as well, using the u clamp for my sled and the suction cup for my truck. The mount is good and sturdy too, because sometimes when riding in the mountains your sled may roll a few times. The RAM mount allows enough flexablity to mount the GPS lower so it's less likely to get knocked off. We all now share saved tracks, with the Trip and Way-point manager. Attached are few pic of my friend sleds and my sled with GPS's mounted." |
|
Some
of our staff celebrate Charlene's birthday Jesse, Ian, George, and Gil with Char and Roxie in front take time out to celebrate Char's birthday. [Thank you Kelly for the cake!] And
Karen's birthday! Roxie, Dave, KAREN, Char, Gil, Jesse and George with the Ice Cream Cake Mr. Jesse James....  Happy Birthday! |
For GPS Central's Handyman, NASA buff, Spreadsheet Master
Jade
goes geocaching with Connie's Legend
"My
daughter Jade (3 yrs) took her turn at navigating
while Geocaching
on the bike path in Calgary."
|
Signal the Frog meets Ella in Australia Patrick
uses a RAM-HOL-GA2,
RAM-B-108BU, RAP-B-201
and RAP-B-238 on his handcycle in the U.K. "I use the mounting kit you supplied to mount my Garmin to a handcycle, with superb results." |
"My friend Reto's picture on your site inspired to share my custom mount... Here is my custom made mount for my Garmin Quest, on my tank bag for my BMW R1150GS Adventure. Now I can cross reference the GPS with a paper map in a quick glance for the best of both worlds." Had
a great time at the GeOCanada geocaching event. Thanks for all
your help GPS Central. |
|
Mark's
GPSMAP 76CS aboard New Zealand's R. Tucker Thompson  Click for larger view Click for another view "The
Tall ship race went well. The skipper was initially skeptical of
the 76CS, however while I was
up the rigging setting the Main-gaff-topsail
I looked down and found that he had moved it onto the compass binacle
right in front of the wheel and was madly pressing buttons trying to
work out the optimal tacking points. We were a little busy to be comparing
speeds with sail trim, we had a full ship of 45 paying passengers plus
a crew of 6 onboard, not a lot of room to move."
|
Congratulations to the Great North Tackle Pro Fishing Team 2005
"We
did very well in all our tournaments concidering it was our first
year. I also attached a picture of our boat with your website
address on it. This
year we have 6 tournaments:
1. Ignace Ice Tournament 2. Lac Des Mille Lac Ice Trolling Tournament 3. Squeers Lake Fishery 4. Frasier Lake Walleye Classic 5. Geraldton Walleye Classic 6. To Be Announced" |
Shane
& Jo travel Great Slave Lake with their Legend
C & Summit "We tried to get a good pix showing Utsingi point of Great Slave Lake, NWT with your products proudly displayed on the dash of our boat. "The photo didn't really do the Point Justice, however, you can see that we always travel Great Slave with an Etrex Legend C and Etrex Summit mounted on the dash, the "C" for the map and the Summit for the arrow and speed. It's a low cost, safe way to find our way on the big lake. In winter, they go in our pockets while traveling on the dog team. That pix will be next year."
|
Dennis's large rig Touratech/RAM mount
|
|
The
Garmin Quest in use in New
Zealand
|
|||
|
Reto's
solution to reading the screen
"I have also included a picture of a solution to reading the screen when you need reading glasses as I do now. It works well as I only have to glance down and not turn my head and squint to read the screen." Roy
used his GPSMAP 232 to find
walleye "Let
me say without my Garmin
GPS I would have never been able to find the rock pile
these great walleye had been bunched up around out in the
open water of Lake Erie about a mile east of Pelee Island.
I want to thank GPS Central and their great staff for
their support!"
|
"We used Brent's New Zealand Street Maps for auto-routing navigation with the Garmin Quest" Never
Get Lost! "We
used our GPS 60CS during
6 full days of paddling (Edmonton to Lloydminster)."
|
|
|
|
Peter
uses the Garmin GPS MAP 60C during
his Red Cross deployment |
Extreme
Dave & the Hopeful Hooters recorded their 60km walk with a GPSMAP 60CS |
Jesse hikes to the falls with his Meridian Gold |
|
|
"I was recently deployed to the U.S. as a volunteer with the Canadian Red Cross for 3 weeks to help in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. "This was my first use of the Garmin GPS MAP 60C, and until now, I had never used a GPS preloaded with mapping software - I am now definitely a convert :) My assignments took me from Houston to San Antonio, Texas and then from Orlando to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. "Having
the GPS to help me navigate in these concrete jungles (sometimes
with no street signs due to storm damage) helped to ensure
that one of the stresses I faced during my deployment, was definitely
not that of navigation! |
"On August 13 and 14, 2005 Extreme Dave and the Hopeful Hooters (Megan, Suzanne T, Suzanne R and Dave) took part in a very special event called the Weekend to End Breast Cancer." "This courageous campaign to defeat breast cancer featured a 60 km walk through the neighborhoods of Calgary." |
"We used my Garmin 60CS to track our progress and log our route. It was interesting to note that we actually walked nearly 65 km and not the 60 km posted by the event organizers!!!" . "2281
walkers, including many cancer survivors participated in this
amazing event to raise $7.1 million. 100% of the proceeds will
be used by the Alberta Cancer Foundation (Tom Baker Cancer Centre)
for breast cancer research, preventative initiatives and compassionate
care programs throughout Alberta. Our team raised over $15,000!"
|
"I recommend this hike to anyone that is going to Penticton BC. I hiked up the Naramata Creek from the Kettle Valley railroad (N49 35' 37.93" W119 33' 55.39") a Km east of the falls just above the town of Naramata. On the opposite side of the railway there is a large waterfall that is very nice during spring run off. Head east of the co-ordinates to go to the hidden falls. The hike is very tough (no paths) and beware of rattle snakes. It is all uphill and you must scale multiple small waterfalls to get to the larger falls at the end. "I recommend starting from the railway since there will be more to see. But to make the trip easier you can follow the logging road at the top of Arawana road to waypoint N49 35 38.8 W119 33 35.8 (the first big bend) then walk into the valley to the north. This will take about 1Km off the total trip and you'll miss a lot of natural falls. The falls at the end are about 50 to 70 feet tall. You can't see the whole falls in the pic because they go around the corner."Hike Stats: Start Point N49 35' 37.93" W119 33' 55.39" / End Point N49 35' 47.08" W119 33' 21.43" (100m from falls) / Total Ascent 132 m Distance 2.2Km (round trip) |
|
""I'd like to thank you for posting a picture of me using my Etrex Legend while on patrol over here (Which is very helpful navigating some of the unmarked back roads of Kabul). I work with the UMS ( Unit Medical Station) as a Medic, here in Afghanistan doing foot patrols with the Infantry.....Attached is a better picture with the GPS little more apparent."
|
Ian's
GPS 76 track from Virgin Gorda
to Ottawa "Just a quick addition to my brief story of our experience with GPS, earlier last week [see right]. I have included a map of two hurricanes, Bonnie and Charlie, along with our track from Virgin Gorda to Ottawa, via Bermuda and New York, both of which we were very happy to have missed. We would not have have made it without our Garmin GPS76." |
Terry
adds a Rino 120 to his
game arsenal "I
would just like to say that the RINO
series FRS/GPS have been the best I have used. Below is a picture
of me using it in a game. We
play every weekend and regularly have Mil sim 48 hour games. I am
in the process of promoting this units to everyone in the club.
Thanks
again for the great unit."
|
Chris
uses his Meridian Gold
to monitor his speed when he skis "I
use my Magellan to monitor
my speed when I ski. I adjust the display for multiple readings including
Max. Speed. Make run and check to see if I've beaten the last runs top
speed. The
cold can chew up batteries very fast. I may have to change them 3 times
a night skiing night. I've modified my Magellan carrying case to except
the mounting cradle to help reduce the wind-chill factor and also use
shake and go hand warmers inside the case and in my pockets extend battery
life." |
|
Signal
in a real English Country Garden "The
Garmin is hard to make out,
but he is using it while on a Foot Patrol in Kabul Afghanistan." |
Mike's
GPS V mounted on his BMW R1150GS "I sent you a couple of photos some time ago about the mount I made up for my wife's Ducati. I have worked out a mounting arrangement for my BMW R1150GS which I think worked very well and might be of some use to others with similar bikes. In the photo I have tried to show how well the Garmin V works in a vertical orientation on the BMW R1150GS. It just seems to fit in with the instruments, right in line with the RID (Rider Information Display). Having the GPS on the left bar means that if I need to access it, I don't have to let go of the throttle or take my hand away from the brake lever. "I used to use a u-bolt handlebar clamp mount for the RAM bracket but then I noticed that the hand guard bolt was a better location. I removed the screw from the bottom of the hand guard and found that the upper part is a sleeve bolt, and the RAM-B-252 (Mirror Mount) only needed to have its hole enlarged to fit on the sleeve bolt. Since the sleeve bolt fits into a slight recess in the hand guard, I used a washer under the RAM mount, and found a 10 mm longer screw to use, and voila! It looks like a factory installation! Just make sure that the GPS antenna does not contact the windshield when you turn the bars as you set it up." |
Wayne's GPSMAP 60C proves its value in NWT
"Boating around Yellowknife Bay this summer, the Garmin Map60C proved once again to be invaluable in charting a course through shallows. I was also able to use the "distance to" function prior to my trip, to determine how far exactly it was to the island we wanted to go to - I was able to accurately plan an arrival time and meet more guests at a secondary departure point. It was also interesting to use my Garmin to boat past the point - 20 miles out on Great Slave Lake - where I had gotten stuck in my snowmobile last winter. Thankfully, I had my Map 60C then too." "This
is not the trip where I got stuck but then again
- with a Garmin and beef jerky,
what could go wrong!"
|
A GPSMAP 76S aids navigation in Kabul "14
July 05, Kabul Afghanistan. Using a Garmin
GPSMAP 76S makes it so much easier to Plot Grids. Using the
OZI Explorer software I downloaded
the routes and maps I needed for the day. Using the 76S
for the first time to Navigate was easy and accurate. While
on Operations we were deployed to an area "above" the rest. According
to the PLOT PAGE Screen we
were 2070m+ ASL. Not
that I would ever trade in my Compass, the GPSMAP
76S Electronic Compass was very handy when orientating to a
Map as it shows North when standing still. Even as you compare terrain
features all around you to the Map the Electronic compass stays
true while you are motionless, excellent feature!"
|
|
Mark goes hiking with his GPSMAP 76C & backups "I purchased my Garmin Map76C from GPS Central early in 2005. So far I've been quite impressed with the 76C. I recently bought TOPO Canada mapping software and it fits the bill for me. It has the street-level detail and auto-routing I was looking for, and has the topo information that's a bonus for our outings to cottage country. I've attached a few pictures from our recent trek to near Combermere, a town about 50 km northeast of Bancroft Ontario. The pictures were taken at a lookout point, overlooking the Kamaniskeg Lake. "Before the 76C, I had a Magellan GPS Tracker, purchased around 1999, and a Magellan MAP 410 that I picked up for a good price, as a demo unit back a couple years ago. I decided to take all three with me this trip. " |
Ian
uses his GPS 76
to help navigate from BVI to Ottawa "I
purchased a Garmin
76 to navigate Momigi on a trip from the British
Virgin Islands to Ottawa, Ontario, via Bermuda and New
York. Ron,
Peter and I (pictured here in Virgin Gorda) took
a week to get to Bermuda and despite other electronic
systems failing, including our autohelm, the Garmin
GPS brought us safely to Saint Georges on June 27th,
2004. We took ten days to get to New York and used the
Garmin 76 with its
built-in marine database, to navigate our way through
the busy channels from Ambrose Light to Liberty Marina
in New Jersey. Coming into New York at night with moderate
winds, heavy waves, aircraft, huge ships and myriads
of other lighted navigational aids was a tough job,
but we did it successfully. From New York to Ottawa,
heading through the Hudson River, Lake Champlain and
the St. Lawrence, which took eleven days, we used the
Garmin to help measure our progress and speed. It never
failed. Since returning to Ottawa I purchased a Garmin
76CS (very happy with it) from GPS Central and find
it very helpful when visiting unfamiliar towns and on
camping trips."
|
Mike
mounts a GPSMAP 76S on
his wife's Ducati 750 Supersport "I thought you might be interested in the arrangement we came up with to mount a GPSmap76S to my wife's Ducati 750 Supersport. "There's not a lot of room in the instrument area for a GPS, let alone a vertical one, especially when you put a tank bag on so we had to be a bit creative. We had to resort to mounting the unit on the mirror mount, outside the fairing. I made up a plate which is bolted between the mirror and the fairing bracket, and used a RAM ball, and short arm to the unit. I normally like to place the GPS more in the line of sight but this has worked out very well anyway." |
The
3-Bearss go Geocaching with their GPSMAP
76CS "We
purchased our GPSmap
76CS from you in late March 2005 and have
used it to find over 200 geocaches so far. It
has been and solid piece of gear (with some scratches
now) and served us well. During a Geocaching
hike at Crystal Crescent beach in Nova Scotia
on the way out we spotted a rare Pigmy Sperm Whale
beached on the rock. After assisting it off the
rocks into deeper water, we used the GPS to mark
the exact location. When we reported it to the
Marine Animal Response Society, with an exact
coordinates they were about to go and verify the
whale had indeed returned to sea. It's not everyday
you can rescue a whale, and to have a quality
GPS to give details information to the proper
agency was a great bonus."
Click here for another view |
|
" I never travel without at least 2 GPS's, 8 spare rechargeable
batteries even though I power from my sled, and I have a 12 VDC charger
hardwired to my sled that charges 4 AA's as I drive and I have a solar
charger that'll charge 2 AA's."
|
"Couple of pics of my heated Touratech mount on my snowmobile here in Iqaluit Nunavut. I use my Map 60C to navigate through complete whiteouts and also on cloudy days when we experience a phenomenon the locals call flatlight. This occurs on cloudy days when the sunlight is too diffused to create shadows on the ground. On these days it is impossible to distinguish landscape features due to the pure white snow on the tundra, and it is just as impossible to tell the earth from the sky. Objects are clearly visible but the trail is not. Many people have become lost or injured riding in these conditions. You can easily drive over a cliff since your eyes can't determine the texture of the ground even a few feet away. In the first picture you can clearly see the snowmobiles but it is impossible to see the trail ahead or the horizon, which is about midpoint in the picture. I can easily retrace my route following the saved track to get safely back home. The 60C can nearly put me in my original ski tracks. It's impossible to navigate like this without a mount. I need both hands free for throttle and brake and the GPS must be in constant view. I use a locking Touratech mount with a Ram swivel that lets me tuck the unit away or swing it up into my line of sight so I don't have to take my eyes off the "road" to use it. Another problem here is the cold, usually -30C for months. To keep the LCD screen from freezing I installed a handlebar heating element to the Touratech mount. From the handlebar I can control the heat from Low, Medium, High or off. I've run this setup a full day at -40 with no problems." |
|
"We recently flew to Cambridge Bay to visit Phil & Liz (of ice-bound "Fine Tolerance" fame), and took a GPSMAP 76C with us to record our travels." |
|
|
Tim
meets Phil in Cam Bay with his GPS 60 |
||||
| "The pic was taken in front of the new Elks lodge that Phil is helping build. On a side note, my flight was delayed a bit on Monday so I ran over to Canadian North Air cargo and my GPS [60] had just landed, perfect timing. I opened it in the airport and tossed it in my backpack. The suction cup mount stuck fine to the plane and held the unit near the window for clear reception. Usually I use my remote antenna when I fly." | ||||
|
Brian's Vista and laptop in his Jeep Cherokee "Just thought I would send some pictures your way of the GPS setup in my Jeep Cherokee. I picked up an eTrex Vista from you a while ago and have loved it! I quickly got several other accessories including a serial to USB converter, eTrex auto mount, and RAM laptop tray with RAM-101-D arm. Everything works great together. Currently I'm using Microsoft Streets & Trips on my laptop but plan on picking up OziExplorer and some topo maps from you very soon. This is the perfect setup for my travelling in the backcountry of Alberta. We also do a lot of Geocaching around Calgary with my eTrex. "I've attached a couple pictures from up on Nose Hill."
|
Don goes ice fishing on with his Legend "Mid Feb/05 four of us headed to Temagami Ont. for an ice fishing adventure. We snowmobiled Lake Temagami for 42 km navigating the numerous channels and islands to find a tiny portage into a little lake named Diamond. We had planned to do some remote fishing with portable fish huts. Using my Legend to find the route our adventure began. Getting into this lake would have been really difficult with out my Garmin Legend. After a fantastic day of fishing we started to head back to the lodge. It quickly turned dark and navigating by landmark was impossible. "I had installed a power supply on my Snowmobile and a dash mount. I switched the back lighting to stay on. We followed my back track allowing us to cross the large pressure cracks in the same spots as earlier in the day. This is important as the cracks can open enough to swallow a snowmobile. We arrived back at the lodge safe and sound. Thanks Garmin for making this dream a reality." |
David's Legend is his most useful toy "My Garmin Legend (and its downloadable maps) is the most useful toy I own. It only makes sense that within days of buying my Buell Firebolt I wanted it mounted. So I drilled two holes in the motorcycle's triple-tree, chopped up a bicycle handlebar mount, and screwed the remains to the bike. "Now I can just clip the GPS on, and when I park and detach it, there's almost no clue that anything's missing! A few days later I cut up a 12-volt auto adapter, put the guts in a film canister, and wired it to the bike's harness. Getting lost is a pleasure now." |
Jonathan climbs in the Swiss Alps with his GPSMAP 60CS "C'ètait le 23 janvier 2005 au Sommet de la Berra qui culmine à 1719 m, en Suisse, en Guyère dans le canton de Fribourg. Après avoir fait toute la montée dans le bouillard et la tempête avec le gps(gpsmap 60cs) dans la poche, j'était bien content de le sortir pour le retour car le temps était encore plus mauvais et le vent soufflait plus fort ce qui donnait une sentation de froid supérieur au -14°C réel. J'adore ces conditions hivernales mais le seul problème est que comme la Suisse est tellement petite et les cartes topographiques tellement bonnes, il est impossible de se perdrait et en plus avec un gps il n'y a vraiement aucune chance!! "La photo "GPS-EGNOS(1m)" a été prise au même endroit mais pas une belle journée ensoleillée, quelques jours plus tard." |
|
|
Champions!
The
Chiefs, after GPS Central Operations Manager George scored the winning
goal to win the Energy Resources trophy in Calgary.
|
Happy Birthday Jane! |
Happy
Birthday to Roxie at GPS Central!
|
|
|
James loves and loses his GPSMAP 76S...
"You'll
recall at the end of our last lost-GPS episode,
one unit had gone missing on the Peel River in the middle of the winter
and it was replaced by a Map76S.
The Map76S was fantastic, giving
position and elevation just like it was supposed to ... and I was loving
it. From time to time, doing research for my writing projects, I end
up following northerners across great tracts of open ground with no
real idea of where we are or where we are going. Above the treeline,
especially in winter, to an uneducated eye, everything starts to have
a certain sameness to it. I'm always a little worried about getting
lost or separated from my hosts, so having a GPS along provides a measure
of peace-of-mind", as on this "fishing trip" last winter with Frank
and Margaret Ipakohak from Kugluktuk, Nunavut'"
|
|||
|
Ice
fishing with the GPSMAP 76S "Thanks to the MAP76S, I even knew exactly where we we drilled the holes through seven feet of ice ... To catch awesome fresh laketrout! (But I'm not telling where we were ...)
"And one of the reasons why the MAP76S worked so well, and gave such long battery life in the serious arctic cold was that I was able to keep the unit in an inside pocket, while an external antenna, velcroed to the shoulder of my parka, kept the unit communicating with enough satellites to keep a fix on where we were." |
Cathy figures out James' GPSMAP 76S " The unit worked equally well plotting position and progress on a canoe trip last summer with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society on the Berens River ... although my buddy Cathy Jones from This Hour Has 22 Minutes (one of the Canadian celebrities who had volunteered to help CPAWS raise awareness about the importance of the Boreal Forest), had a devil of a time trying to figure out how the @#$%^& thing worked! "If you'd like to know more about this project you can check out the CPAWS site, or the splendid new book (with contributions from Ms. Jones among many others) called Rendezvous with the Wild." |
James goes geocaching near Loch Ness "Anyway, everything was going very smoothly with MAP76S. I even got bold and took it to the United Kingdom to do some research for my next book ... and that's when my next GPS disaster happened. The unit was working spectacularly. I even hooked up with a couple of friends in the Great Glen, overlooking Loch Ness...." .... and found my first geocache! (This is Miles Davis, GIS Wizard for the Scottish Deer Commission, digging out the actual cache)" |
The
loss of James' GPSMAP 76S "But down in London, on the trail of Sir George Simpson, colourful head of the Hudson's Bay Company here in Canada from 1820-1860 (subject of this next book project) I got waylaid in Simpson's Tavern. Had a great time doing "research" in Simpson's Tavern (which hasn't changed, or so it seemed, since the heyday of the furtrade). Simpson's Tavern is a bit of a culinary legend in London Town, which put a whole new slant on the GPS idea. "The next day, I took a train to the docks at Landsend (where HBC ships used to depart for Canada)--when trouble struck ... Having had one too many of these in the name of "research" the night before ... I fell asleep on the train from London to Gravesend and woke up one GPSMAP76S and one digital camera lighter, both of them having been lifted from the seat beside me during the siesta. It's kind of a long story.... " [Click here for more of James' Shaggy GPS Stories] |
|
James
uses his new GPSMAP 60CS and TOPO
Canada to track his Trans-Algonquin snowshoe walk |
|||
|
"The GPSMAP 60CS is easier to hold and seems faster than the Map76S. It takes the same antenna, which is nice (although I wish Garmin would figure out a more secure connection between the antenna cable and the unit--at the moment, it's just a friction fit, which can disconnect at the most inopportune times). And it's actually easier on batteries than either of the previous two. "And, with this unit, I've been trying out the TOPO Canada Map Series, which makes the whole GPS experience even more fun. Here is a quick tale about how the 60CS is working. |
This winter, I joined a group on a 16-day north/south walk across Algonquin Park on snowshoes. It surprised me to see that the Garmin map product had some (but not all) of the main logging roads marked (the ones that never turn up on maps produced by the park). I was travelling with a group using hand-hauled toboggans and sleds, camping in a 10X12 Egyptian cotton wall tent heated by a tin stove you drag along with you (back of last sled in this shot)--low tech camping with high tech navigation ... pretty too! |
"The Ontario Parks people were very interested in knowing exactly where these new trails were. So, with the new 60CS and its tracking capability, in conjunction with TOPO Canada, I was able to record exactly where we went and then print out maps to send to Ontario Parks for them to include in their master trail map. "Plotting the elevation profiles of these trails was very cool.
|
"Because it wasn't quite so cold on this trip as it has been farther north, I was able to use the little clippie thing that comes with the 60CS to affix the unit right to the front of my clothing (underneath the leather tump strap of my sled) and collect the route data without having to use the external antenna. You'll notice, Jo, that in addition to the clip, I've also got the lanyard firmly tied around my neck so as not to lose this third unit any faster than the previous two. "So
far, so good. I'm back on the trail and know more
or less where I'm going. Thanks GPS Central for
all your help in keeping me outfitted and on track!Cheers,
James "
|
|
|
Kamini
used a Forerunner 201 in Olympic
training
"Here are some pictures, finally. Some from France where we trained before
going to Athens and a couple from Athens. You can use any if these on the website
if you want - credit Greg Redman. I'm going to try to come in today."
|
MotoRally Canada uses Garmin 276C's and GPSMAP 76's for Dual-Sport/Adventure Rides "We
organize dual-sport and adventure rides in Québec's back country. The ride
series would simply not be possible without our Garmin
GPS units and the top quality RAM and Touratech mounts we use. The rides cover
300 kms per day, and use both GPS and road book navigation."
| ||
|
"I was totally amazed by the operational benefits I gained from my new GpsMap 196 combined with the Topo Canada software. And so did my boss!! I never expected it to be such a useful tool. It truly reduces your workload when flying in poor weather conditions by instantly giving you the additional info that makes the difference. I must admit that I cannot fly without it anymore. I convinced a few pilots to go with it as well and for the ones that listened to me, they all had the same conclusion: Bush flying has entered a new era... Thank you for your help!" Important Note (From our resident pilot with 38 years aviation experience in Canada including bush flying in Eastern Canada and the West Coast): Use the GPS only as a back up tool to the current World Aeronautical Charts (WAC) for the area you are flying. | ||||
|
|
The Quest got us to the church (almost) on time
"We used the Quest and City Navigator Australia in Sydney to navigate from our hotel at Manly to St John's College Chapel in Camperdown for the baptism of our grand daughter, Ella. "The Quest's display was a little small to be of safe use to the driver in an unfamiliar city, so City Navigator Australia's spoken directions were especially valuable." |
Ron goes fishing with his GPSMAP 3010C "As
promised a picture or two of the Garmin chartplotter/ GPS/ fishfinder."
[GPSMAP 3010C, GSD
20 sounder, 10272
transducer, with the GPS
17N antenna mounted with RAM-B-112
antenna mount]
|
Anders' GPS installation in his Volvo 850 "This
is a picture of my GPS installation in my
Volvo 850. As
en engineer, I know that you can't trust just
one single instrument to tell you anything.
You got to have some other opinion as well!"
|
|
Colin's Legend saves him from getting lost in BC's woods "Bought my Garmin Etrex Legend and Ram mount from you a little more than a year ago. Since then it has become the most important (and most used) tool on my 2002 KTM 640 Adventure. Without the GPS I would probably still be lost in BC's woods somewhere."
|
Dave's Mt Everest trek with his GPSMAP 60CS
"My
new Garmin GPSMAP
60CS proved to be a 'big hit' on our April/May
2004 trek to Mt Everest. The pre-loaded waypoints
proved to be quite accurate (within 300 ft) despite
the fact that the longitude & latitude were hand
measured off a National Geographic Map that had no
known map datum. I even called National Geo who admitted
the map datum is unknown. We
chose to trek without the support of a Sherpa guide
but always knew exactly where we were or where the
next village or trailhead would be. As well, the altimeter
was typically within 250 ft of known elevations even
though I calibrated it only twice on 3 weeks. On
our return from the Royal Chitwan National Park, the
bus driver unexpectedly dropped us off somewhere in
Kathmandu!!! A quick check of the Garmin showed us
that we were 0.92 miles due north of our hotel. Within
a half hour, after walking an almost straight line
in a southerly direction, we found our hotel!!!"
| ||
|
* With a little help from China Airlines and H.M. Lu |
|||
|
Kingston
Area Geocachers (KAG) event, "Did I Cache Your Name?" was a resounding success! |
Karel
climbs Mt Silisili with his Vista
C "During
our South Pacific tour, we climbed the highest mountain in Western Samoa, Mt.
Silisili (1,866m). It was a two day hike through a jungle and we slept over on
the top of the mountain. We reached the summit on September 11, 2004. I attached
the photo with my etrex Vista C."
|
Wayne mounts his GPS V on his Segway Click
for another view
| ||
|
 Click for larger view The group holding the prizes they had just won |
"The day started early, with an intrepid group of cachers, caching all day before retiring to the restaurant for the main event. One cacher even stayed up 29 hours to take it all in. "Attendance exceeded expectations, as at least 24 attending, from near and far. Good food, great times, an opportunity to share stories with some familiar faces and meet many new ones. All in attendance were surprised to see the prizes and party favours. Thank you to Jo at GPS Central for helping to make our event a success."
| |||
|
Tim
tests his I've lived in Iqaluit on Baffin Island for the past 6 years and ride my snowmobile during winter and ride my motorcycle year round. I mount my Etrex Legend on both. The simple handlebar mount on the bike worked fairly well but I eventually modified the mount so it attached to the top of my numberplate so it was in my line of sight while riding. On my sled I simply use the neoprene belt clip case and clip it to the dash between the gauges. The only trouble I had was the unit freezing. I ride a lot at -30C. I solved this by slipping a factory Polaris handlebar heater inside the neoprene case.
|
Tim's motivation to purchase his "most valuable piece of Arctic riding equipment"
"I
bought the GPS after spending
the night of January 25/03 lost on the tundra. Now
I don't leave home without it.
After being rescued, I bought my Legend as soon as the
stores opened on Monday. Search and Rescue did not rescue
my bike but did give me the co-ordinates and I used my
new GPS to find and rescue it a week later. Here's a couple
of pics I took the day I found it." Click
for Tim's story
|
GPS
Central at CES 2005 and the Seattle Boat Show 2005 | ||
|
The
Kherani's Vancouver Island bike trip with their GPSMAP
60CS "It
was a real treat to have the Garmin
60CS with us on our
bike tour. It helped tremendously since when you are
biking, a little error can cost hours to mend since we have
to pedal our way back to the right direction. It
also helped a great deal to find places
to eat, refresh, etc. and most importantly it was worth
a fortune when the unit was able to tell us where we were
in relation to a map, to where we started from and in relation
to where we wanted
to end up. It
was also perfect the way it attached
to our bike and yet we could take it off and carry it
with us when necessary. I
would recommend the Garmin 60CS to anyone that bikes long
distances. It is more important to have this unit when biking
than when you are motoring around in your vehicle!!!!"
|
Rob's balloon flights with his Garmin GPSMAP 2006C & Rino 130s "The Garmin Chartplotter [2006C] up in the balloon basket, for your website photo gallery pics. I've also sent a selection of pics from flights where the Chartplotter was used I have now used it on over 15 flights [near London, ON]....it's great. I can now see minute changes in track direction & speed.....on a map in real time! A really useful feature is to download the track of the balloon flight on to the laptop & give a printout to the passengers showing where they travelled. Have also used the RINOs.....they allow both the chase crew & myself up in the balloon to see exactly where the other is....also in real time. Thanks......Rob - Hot Air Balloon Pilot Balloon C-GJTU - "Avalon" |
Jean's iQue
3600 and GPSMAP 76CS in the south of
France "Here
are some pictures of my GPS(s), for your photo gallery... -Garmin iQue 3600 with RAM Holder and suction cup, and a Mighty Mouse II, in my Ford Mustang.
I'm living
in south of France. |
Dave's
GPSMAP 60CS is a hit on his Pikes Peak
cycle tour
"Holidays are the mecca of life and our recent family vacation in Colorado was no exception! One of the highlites was cycling down from Pikes Peak near Colorado Springs. I took an tour organized by Challenge Unlimited who provided a great breakfast, a ride to the 14,110 ft. summit, a tour guide and mountain bikes for everyone. I expected a slow descent, given the wide range of ages and skills, but our 23 year old guide didn't hold back! We hit a top speed of 46.7 miles per hour as measured by my Garmin 60CS! Since I was the only person with a GPS, I was questioned at every rest point about our speed, elevation, etc.! Once again, the Garmin proved to be quite a hit with everyone!" GPS Central at GPS 2004
Tammy manning our booth at the Global Petroleum Show 2004
| |
| SEND US YOUR STORIES! |
© 2001-2012 Mach Ten Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved |
GPS
Central™ #8, 711 - 48 Ave SE Calgary AB Canada T2G 4X2 Since 2001 - Factory Authorized Dealer Sitemap | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy |
||
