GPS for Dummies.pdf - Engineering Surveyor

188Part III: Digital Mapping on Your ComputerA number of Web sites provide waypoints thatyou can upload to your GPS receiver. (A waypointis a set of coordinates for a location.) Withthese waypoint repositories, you can search aregion or for a feature name for its waypoints ina database. If a waypoint has been logged in thesite database, you can download the waypointand then upload the coordinates to your GPSreceiver. Some of the waypoint sites include http://wayhoo.com: This site convertsGNIS and GNS feature information intowaypoints. There are also coordinates forairports and a database where users canupload waypoints.Waypoint repositories www.travelbygps.com: This site holdsa collection of waypoints for interestingplaces all over the world, including photosand descriptions. The site has an extensivecollection of links to Web sites with specialinterest waypoints. www.trailregistry.com: This is awaypoint collection dedicated to hikers andbackpackers. www.trailwaypoints.com: This is aGPS repository site that collects recreationorientedwaypoints from all over the world.For GNS advanced searches, you can enter an extensive list of feature types aspart of your search criteria. These include oil pipelines, refugee camps, andvegetation types. Other options limit searches by the latitude and longitudeboundaries of a rectangle, use special character sets from foreign languages,and use government and military codes as part of the search. If you want torun these advanced searches, the GNS Web site has links with explanations.If GNS finds records that match your search criteria, the features appear on anew page. A number of pieces of information are displayed (as shown inFigure 11-5). For the average civilian user, the most useful data includes Name of the feature. Region of the world where the feature is located. Click the link to get anexplanation of the abbreviation. Designation: The feature type (such as populated locality, farm, or reservoir).Click the link to get the definition of the abbreviation. Latitude and longitude coordinates. Area: Country and state or province information for the feature. Clickthe link for the meaning of the code.You can also download tab-delimited text files from the GNS Web site for anycountry that contain features and information. This data can easily beimported into spreadsheets and databases.