GPS for Dummies.pdf - Engineering Surveyor

60Part II: All About GPSFigure 3-3:A GPSreceiverwithout ascreen.A GPS receiver’s screen size depends on the receiver’s size. Smaller, lightermodels have small screens; larger units sport bigger screens.Generally, a bigger screen is easier to read. Different models of GPS receiveralso have different pixel resolutions; the higher the screen resolution, themore crisp the display will be. For night use, all screens can be backlit.AlarmsA GPS receiver alarm can transmit a tone or display a message when youapproach a location that you specify. This feature can be especially usefulwhen you’re trying to find a place and visibility is limited by darkness orinclement weather — or you’re busy doing something else and aren’t lookingat the GPS receiver screen.Built-in mapsEvery GPS receiver has an information page that shows waypoints andtracks. The page is a simple map that plots travel and locations. It doesn’tshow roads, geographic features, or man-made structures. Figure 3-4 showstwo GPS receiver screens: simple location plotting on the left, and a moresophisticated, uploaded map on the right.