GPS for Dummies.pdf - Engineering Surveyor

78 Part II: All About GPS receiver. However, you’ve never hiked this particular loop before, so youdecide to make a route called LOOP with the following legs that you’vealready previously entered as waypoints:PRKLOT to WTRFALLWTRFALL to LAKELAKE to TRAILXTRAILX to PRKLOTAfter you create your route, the GPS receiver tells you how long each leg willbe and also the total distance of the route. When you activate the route (tellthe GPS receiver you’re ready to use it), this information is displayed: Direction: The direction you need to travel in order to reach the nextwaypoint in the route Distance: How far away the next waypoint is Duration: How much time it’s going to take to get thereAfter you reach a waypoint in the route, the GPS receiver automatically startscalculating the information for the next leg. This continues until you reachyour final destination.To route or not to routeA fair number of GPS receiver owners don’t useroutes and find them to be an overrated feature.After all, after you reach your first destination,you can easily select the next location from thewaypoint list and be on your way. In addition, ifyou want to record where you’ve been, justusing tracks is much easier. I discuss this in thesection, “Making Tracks.” However, here are acouple of situations when you should considerusing routes: If you’re traveling to the same location on aregular basis (such as a guide leadingclients on established trips). If you’re planning on sharing a route withother GPS receiver owners. Think of this asbeing a virtual tour guide. Routes can bedownloaded and then uploaded to otherGPS receivers. If you have a mapping program, you canplan a trip ahead of time and create routeson your computer by simply clicking yourmouse where you want to go. When you’refinished, you can upload the route to yourGPS receiver.Using routes is a personal preference. Try creatingand using routes to see whether they meetyour needs. If they don’t, you can get by withwaypoints and tracks.