lowrance gps

GPSThe ultimate user guide

Written in Association with

magazine MAGAZINE

WelcomeThere was a time, not long ago, when I thought that the map and compass would be the primary navigational tools for hill-walkers for many years to come. But the latest GPS receivers, especially those that feature OS-quality mapping, are starting to make me think I could be wrong. With pin-sharp mapping and impressive screen sizes, the latest wave of GPS are a revelation for any walker and even die-hard traditionalists are starting to take the plunge. Trail’s mountaineering editor Jeremy Ashcroft is able to identify the very moment of his conversion – at roughly 1083m on the Cairngorm Plateau (see page 10). GPS receivers today come with turn-by-turn road navigation so they can be used in the car to get you to a remote hillside car park. They’re rugged enough to cope with the worst mountain weather, to guide you round the hills with superb reliability. They can even clip on your bike or join you on a run to keep a close eye on your fitness, speed and mileage. And if you fancy going out to look for hidden treasures in the outdoors then they’ll help you do that too (take a look at the feature on Geocaching from Country Walking’s Nick Hallissey on page 22). With a GPS you can create routes on your PC or on the GPS receiver itself and those routes can be shared through online communities. With functionality, accuracy and durability setting new levels, the GPS receiver has definitely come of age.This guide aims to help you choose the right unit for your level of activity and it’ll help you get more out of it on the hill. It’s essential reading whether you intend to use one in the depths of winter bagging Munros, on your bike, in your car, getting fit, hunting for treasure or even just taking the dog for a walk.

Graham ThompsonTechnical Editor

Written in association with LowranceProduction Sally WaltersPhotography Tom Bailey

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WHAT IS A GPS? 04

MAkING yOur GPS WOrk fOr yOu 06

GPS SCEPTIC CONvErTEd 10

Buy THE rIGHT GPS fOr yOu 12

LOWrANCE GPS uNITS 16

dE COdE THE TECHNO LINGO 20

GET INTO GEOCACHING 22

MAPS ANd GPS TOGETHEr 26

dIGITAL MAPPING 30

EIGHT rEASONS TO Buy A GPS 34

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What is a GPS?WANT TO Buy THE rIGHT GPS rECEIvEr fOr yOu? THEN HErE’S WHAT yOu NEEd TO kNOW...

GLOBAL POSITIONING SySTEMThe Global Positioning System (GPS) was developed by the uSA and it uses 24 satellites orbiting 11,000 miles above the earth. radio waves from these satellites allow a small handheld GPS to determine its location anywhere on the globe by a process of triangulation.

IMPrOvEd ACCurACyThere is an additional system of satellites and ground stations that can be accessed by GPS units to improve accuracy to 3-5 metres. In the uSA this system is the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). Other governments around the world are developing similar systems – Europe has the Euro Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS). Many modern GPS units are WAAS/EGNOS enabled.

ON SCrEEN MAPPINGEarly GPS receivers indicated your position with a numerical grid reference. Some modern GPS receivers provide digital on-screen mapping so that your position can be seen in real time moving across the map on the screen. Ordnance Survey mapping has recently been made available to GPS producers.

ANTENNAGPS receivers use a numbers of channels to track the satellites and receive their radio waves. A 12 channel parallel receiver is now the most common design and is the minimum you should look for if purchasing a unit. The better the receiver the more chance there is that the unit will be able to provide an accurate fi x on your position.

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SCrEENThe larger the screen the more information it can display, but large screens use more battery power. Equally a colour screen makes the map and information being displayed more readable, but a basic greyscale screen uses less power. Screen quality varies too with clarity of detail increasing with price.

BuTTONSAll GPS receivers use some press buttons, but touch-sensitive screens are also becoming popular. Stylus-operated screens are also available but these cannot be used if the stylus is lost, unlike touch-sensitive screens. for the best of both worlds some GPS receivers give the user the choice of how to operate the unit by having both physical buttons and on-screen touch-sensitive buttons.

BATTEryAll GPS receivers require either AA or AAA batteries, which will provide anywhere up to 24 hours of operation. The more features that the unit has, the more battery power is required. do consider rechargeable batteries.

OuTdOOr PrOOfA GPS receiver that is going to be used outdoors in all weathers needs to be waterproof, bump proof and drop proof. dedicated outdoor GPS receivers have casings and battery covers that are designed to withstand these demands.

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Making your GPS work for YOUHEAdING OuT fOr A WALk? THEN HErE’S HOW TO GET THE MOST frOM yOur GPS uNIT ON THE HILL

A GPS can tell you where you are anywhere on the planet. It is particularly useful for fi nding your way across large featureless areas such as the Cairngorms and Pennine mountains, which are notoriously diffi cult to navigate. you can use a guidebook or a conventional map to help you create your own routes on a PC or directly onto the GPS. Or download routes from a host of online sites.

dOWNLOAdEd rOuTESThe easiest way to use a GPS receiver is to download a route directly from your PC into your GPS. Search the net for GPX trails and the location you are interested in. GPX fi les are pre-prepared routes that can be downloaded and used on your GPS. download the fi le to your PC and then you can plug in your GPS receiver to transfer the route to your GPS receiver. Some units require the conversion of GPX trails whereas more advanced units take native GPX trails without the need to install additional software.

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CrEATE rOuTES ON yOur PCMapping software such as Quo, Memory Map, Anquet and many more can be used to create routes on the screen of your PC. you then just need to plug in your GPS and download the route.

CrEATING rOuTES ON yOur GPS rECEIvErroutes can be created directly onto your GPS receiver by using the onboard software. To do this type in the coordinates of a waypoint, or a series of waypoints to create a route. This can be achieved in the comfort of your home or in the countryside and stored in the GPS receiver for immediate or later use.

PLANNING yOur fIrST GPS rOuTEThe fi rst time you plan a route of your own, you’ll realise that you still need to be able to read maps to use a GPS receiver. The techniques of route plan-ning are identical to those used to create routes when using a map and compass. So you’ll need to be able to recognise footpaths, rights of way, cliffs and read contours when planning a new route as your GPS receiver can only guide you along the route you input and will not differentiate between a route along a level path and a route that travels up a vertical cliff or through a dense forest.

BrEAkING dOWN THE rOuTEHaving chosen an objective, such as a mountain summit and the route that will take you to the top, you need to choose how many waypoints to create. If you only choose a waypoint for the summit, then your route will take you in a straight line to the top, which may not be safe. So you may need to choose a series of waypoints along your ideal route at points where there is a direction change. The more waypoints you choose the more detailed the route will be. A detailed route can be produced on the GPS receiver by moving the cursor along the route and selecting waypoints at every turn of the route.

ALTErNATIvE rOuTESPlanning backup routes, escape routes and alternative routes into your GPS receiver at the planning stage means you are ready to follow a new route at any time. This is useful if the weather changes, the route takes longer than expected or if you simply want more choice when out and about.

rECOrdING A rOuTErecording a trail can be useful to compare performance or share with online communities. routes can then be analysed on your PC through Google Earth via a simple GPX drag-and-drop facility on the Endura units.

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ACCOMMOdATE HuMAN ErrOrHuman error can sneak in as you plan a route on your PC or GPS, and there are errors and small faults on even the best mapping that can make navigation difficult. Equally, over time a cliff top can erode, rivers can dry up and bad visibility can exacerbate these issues. But by following a few good navigational techniques it is easy to keep yourself on track as you walk.

SELECTTHE rIGHT WAyPOINTSSelect waypoints that you can easily find on the ground, such as trig points, path junctions and bridges, that you can use to correct your position if any human error has crept in to your route planning.

HANdrAILMake use of ‘handrail ‘ features such as ridges, cliff edges and streams so that you can easily check your position on the map and locate waypoints accurately.

TICk IT Offfind important waypoints before moving on as footpaths, gates and summit trig points are not always located at the same place on the map as they are on the ground.

BE CAuTIOuSGPS receivers can have an accuracy of up to 5m when WAAS and EGNOS are enabled. So select waypoints around 10 metres away from a cliff edge, or riverbank, so that you can follow such features without expecting to cross them. youcan also set up a proximity bleep that sounds when approaching a waypoint that is located near a cliff edge.

TAG WAyPOINTSyou can name your waypoints with meaningful names such as ‘cliff edge’ to remind you to take care in certain areas. you can also add additional notes to waypoints on some units.

WAIT A MOMENTStanding still for a few minutes will allow the GPS receiver to average any errors due to satellite position or reflected signals from nearby obstructions, which may help you locate a waypoint feature that is proving difficult to find.

BACk TrACkConsider using the ‘back track’ feature that retraces your movements back to your last waypoint if anything goes wrong. This may be quicker and more efficient than continuing along a route than has been incorrectly entered into the GPS or attempting to create a new route when you are tired and cold.

you can create routes directly onto the GPS.

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BEST Of THrEEWhen creating a waypoint on the ground, approach the location from three directions for the best accuracy, so that any errors are cancelled out. Then use the average of the three co-ordinates for the waypoint.

PACk A MAPAlways keep a compass and paper map in your rucksack in case you forget to carry spare batteries and when an error in inputting the route has sent you a long way off course. A large map is also ideal for seeing the bigger picture of where you are and what the name of the hill might be on the horizon.

Label some waypoints with meaningful names to make navigation easier.

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GPS sceptic: How one walker learnt to love his GPSWHAT dOES ITTAkE fOr A dIE-HArd, MAP-ANd-COMPASSNAvIGATOr TO MAkE THE LEAPTO GPS? Trail’SMOuNTAINEErING EdITOr JErEMy ASHCrOfT TELLS HIS STOry…

“There’s no surprise that a generation raised on mobile phones and

handheld computer games make the transition to GPS so easily,” says Trail’s mountaineering editor Jeremy Ashcroft. “But for more experienced walkers who pride themselves on hard-won navigational expertise with map and compass it can sometime be trickier to make the transition.

“My conversion to GPS took place on the Cairngorm plateau

in winter. I’d been carrying one in my pack for a while but I only took it out every now and again to double check my location. I guess I was a bit suspicious about their reliability and thought they might pack in when I needed them most or that the batteries might die mid-navigational leg. So I stuck with paper map and compass navigation.

“The Cairngorm plateau is a fairly well trodden area for me and I’ve had a few navigational

epics up there. It can be really tough finding your way around in winter. On this trip, I was following Trail’s staff writer Claire Maxted as she was trying to navigate in tough conditions to Ben Macdui, the highest peak in the Cairngorms, as part of her Mountain Leader training. I was using a GPS with 1:25,000 OS mapping on-screen and it was fantastic to watch my location and to be exactly sure of where I was at every stage.

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GPS sceptic: How one walker learnt to love his GPSWHAT dOES IT TAkE fOr A dIE-HArd, MAP-ANd-COMPASSNAvIGATOr TO MAkE THE LEAPTO GPS? Trail’SMOuNTAINEErING EdITOr JErEMy ASHCrOfT TELLS HIS STOry…

“There’s no surprise that a generation raised on mobile phones and

handheld computer games make the transition to GPS so easily,” says Trail’s mountaineering editor Jeremy Ashcroft. “But for more experienced walkers who pride themselves on hard-won navigational expertise with map and compass it can sometime be trickier to make the transition.

“My conversion to GPS took place on the Cairngorm plateau

in winter. I’d been carrying one in my pack for a while but I only took it out every now and again to double check my location. I guess I was a bit suspicious about their reliability and thought they might pack in when I needed them most or that the batteries might die mid-navigational leg. So I stuck with paper map and compass navigation.

“The Cairngorm plateau is a fairly well trodden area for me and I’ve had a few navigational

epics up there. It can be really tough finding your way around in winter. On this trip, I was following Trail’s staff writer Claire Maxted as she was trying to navigate in tough conditions to Ben Macdui, the highest peak in the Cairngorms, as part of her Mountain Leader training. I was using a GPS with 1:25,000 OS mapping on-screen and it was fantastic to watch my location and to be exactly sure of where I was at every stage.

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Winter conditions on the Cairngorm plateau.

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“Claire did a really good job, but by the time we turned round on the summit of Ben Macdui it was getting dark and the weather was turning. There’s a col just to the side of Cairn Lochan and this takes you to a safe ridge with a path back to the Cairngorm Ski Centre. you have to stay on the path precisely to avoid straying into avalanche prone areas: the paths on the western side can be high risk so you don’t want to wander onto these at all.

“There’s a spot height of around 1083m visible at NH976024 and you need to fi nd this fi rst and then navigate across this section using pacing and timing techniques to hit the ridge perfectly. I’ve done this in

the past and it’s taken me up to an hour to get it right using map and compass. But with a GPS it took me just ten minutes.

“What a revelation! The GPS enabled us to keep moving all the time and see our location marked over proper OS 1:25,000 mapping, which is a relatively new development for GPS. That day totally changed my perspective on GPS. I now see them as a really useful walker’s tool and I guess part of that is down to the reliability of these devices. These days they are weatherproof and very robust.

“And I guess the real clincher was my discussions with friends who fl y very light aircraft and go out sea kayaking. These two groups

Above : Claire with map and compass and Jeremy with GPS. Below : Checking bearings. right : Happy to be on the summit of Ben Macdui.

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of outdoor user both rely on GPS to find their location. They can’t revert to a map and they do fine. Some take a back-up GPS in case the first one stops working but they never have problems. I was resistant to GPS but I am starting to see them as a really credible hill navigation tool.

“But it’s still important that people start with map and compass navigation so that if thing go wrong they can get themselves out of trouble. A good navigational understanding also allows you to get more out of your

GPS. But all the same I do think hill-walking is going to see a massive shift towards GPS in the coming years.

“Certain things in my outdoor world are problematic and these are things that GPS can solve. This year I was in the Alps and I used my GPS to guide me over a glacier to avoid a potentially nasty fall into a crevasse. Using local knowledge from the hut warden we plotted a path and then used the same line to return to the hut in the evening. It worked brilliantly. One GPS expert I’ve been

talking to recently described it as being like casting out a fishing line and using that to reel you back in. And that’s exactly what it felt like as you follow your electronic tracks back at the end of the day.

“And in the UK, I find that GPS is able to save me so much time and let me concentrate on really enjoying the outdoors.

“Only the other day I was heading to Great Moss to find a scramble. It was poor visibility and if I hadn’t had my GPS with me it would have taken an hour to locate the starting point, having to go to each of the three potential crags and check them against information on the map. With the waypoint logged it took just minutes. And that meant more time enjoying what we’d actually come for – having fun on the hill. And for me that’s what makes GPS so good.”

“Without the GPS it would have taken me an hour to find... with the waypoint logged it took me minutes.”

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How to buy the right GPS for you

HILL-WALkErIf you want your GPS receiver primarily for walking in the countryside, hills, moors, dales and mountains, then look for one with Ordnance Survey (OS) quality mapping. This will allow you to locate your position on a map with contours and all the graphic symbols that you are used to seeing on a map including footpaths, forests, bogs and cliffs.

DrIVEr AND WALkErMost in-car GPS receivers cannot be removed from the car and are not rugged enough for the outdoors. But a dedicated GPS receiver for the outdoors can be fitted to your car so that you have one unit for escaping the city and heading into the hills. Turn-by-turn navigation and the ability to mount the unit in the car are essential.

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LOOk OuT fOr:OS mappingTurn-by-turn road navigationCar mountWaterproof housingrubber armouringColour screen

LOOk OuT fOr:OS mappingWaterproof housingrobust rubber armouringClear colour screenElectronic compassBarometric altimeter

If yOu’rE GOING TO INvEST IN A GPS rECEIvEr yOu NEEd TO MAkE SurE IT’S rIGHT fOr yOur OuTdOOr LIfE. HErE ArE THE fEATurES TO LOOk fOr NO MATTEr WHAT yOu dO OuTSIdE...

GEOCACHErGeocaching (see page 22) is a sport where GPS users can hunt for a cache hidden in the outdoors with nothing more that the co-ordinates and a GPS receiver to help them. A GPS receiver with geocaching features makes it easier to record and store information about geocaches you have found or want to fi nd in the future.

MuLTI-ACTIvITyIf you like to mix up your outdoor activity with some mountain biking then think about how you are going to mount your GPS receiver. GPS receivers can be fi tted with handlebar mountings so they can be viewed while the rider concentrates on the steering and negotiating of road obstructions.

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LOOk OuT fOr:OS mappingGeocaching capabilityWaterproof housingrubber armouringColour screen

LOOk OuT fOr:OS mappingBike mountWaterproof housingrubber armouringColour screen

looking fora lowrance GPS that will do the job on the hill?

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LOWrANCE ENdurA SIErrAfuLLy LOAdEd

THE LATEST LOWrANCE GPS uNITS PLACE WALkEr-OrIENTATEd fuNCTIONALITy AT THE TOP Of THE fEATurES LIST. yOu GET THE COMBINATION Of TOuCH SCrEEN WITH QuICk ACCESS kEyS fOr yOur PrEfErEd CHOICE Of OPErATION. THE dETAILOf THE COLOur OrdNANCE SurvEy MAPPING IS CLEAr ANd THEy ArE TOTALLy WATErPrOOf.

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LOWrANCE ENdurA SAfArIvErSATILITy rEdEfINEd

LOWrANCE ENdurA OuT&BACkAffOrdABLE EASE Of uSE

LOWrANCEENdurA SAfArI

fACTSDimensions 130 x 60 x 31mmScreen colour 6.8cmPower 2 x AAHousing Waterproof with rubber armourMemory Micro Sd card slot for up to 32GB cardsConnectivity uSBWeight 165g without batteries

Additional features:Accuterra Mapping from Intermap pre-loaded; speaker; headphone jack; microphone; turn-by-turn road

travel capacity with optional purchase; MP3/voice notes; picture and video player

fOCuS ONEnhanced features such as 3-axis electronic compass and barometric altimeter enhance the navigational capacity, while voice note, picture and video players allow detailed route recording, 1:50k OS mapping for the whole of the uk

LOWrANCE ENdurAOuT&BACk

fACTSDimensions 130 x 60 x 31mmScreen colour 6.8cmPower 2 x AAHousing Waterproof with rubber armourMemory Micro Sd card slot for up to 32GB cardsConnectivity uSBWeight 165g without batteries

Additional features:Basic shaded relief mapping pre-loaded; Geocaching capability; picture viewer; trip computer

fOCuS ONThe 6.8cm colour screen makes operation and menus easy to read and operation intuitive via the touchscreen menus or physical buttons. 1:50k OS mapping for the whole of the uk

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LOWrANCEENdurA SIErrA

FACTSDimensions 130 x 60 x 31mmScreen colour 6.8cmPower 2 x AAHousing Waterproof with rubber armourMemory Micro Sd card slot for up to 32GB cardsConnectivity uSBWeight 165g without batteries

Additional features:Accuterra Mapping from Intermap and Navteq street and POI info pre-loaded; 3-axis electronic compass compass; barometric altimeter; speaker; headphone jack; microphone; turn-by-turn road travel capacity with optional purchase; MP3/voice notes; picture and video player

FOCuS ONPremium content Accuterra Mapping from Intermap is preloaded and Ordnance Survey uK maps can be installed with the capacity to add turn-by-turn road navigation, 1:50k OS mapping for the whole of the uK

For more information please visit www.lowrance.com/endura or email

Lowrance at [email protected]

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LOWrANCEENdurA SIErrA

FACTSDimensions 130 x 60 x 31mmScreen colour 6.8cmPower 2 x AAHousing Waterproof with rubber armourMemory Micro Sd card slot for up to 32GB cardsConnectivity uSBWeight 165g without batteries

Additional features:Accuterra Mapping from Intermap and Navteq street and POI info pre-loaded; 3-axis electronic compass compass; barometric altimeter; speaker; headphone jack; microphone; turn-by-turn road travel capacity with optional purchase; MP3/voice notes; picture and video player

FOCuS ONPremium content Accuterra Mapping from Intermap is preloaded and Ordnance Survey uK maps can be installed with the capacity to add turn-by-turn road navigation, 1:50k OS mapping for the whole of the uK

For more information please visit www.lowrance.com/endura or email

Lowrance at [email protected]

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Decode thetechno lingo

GLOBAL POSITIONING SySTEM (GPS) This is the system of 24 satellites that are orbiting 11,000 miles above Earth. A GPS receiver uses this system of satellites to locate your position anywhere in the world.

MAP dATuMSMap datums describe the irregular shape of the Earth for a particular region. different maps have different map datums because the Earth is shaped differently in different regions. So GPS users must reference their GPS receivers to these map datums. In the uk the GPS receiver must be set to OSGB. Generally navigation is possible without changing datums as these are set automatically.

WAyPOINTSWaypoints are coordinates of a location. If you want to store lots of routes then you’ll need a large memory built into the GPS receiver to handle all the waypoints. The more waypoints the GPS receiver can store, the more routes you can have stored in your GPS receiver ready to use. units today can save up to 10,000 waypoints.

COOrdINATE SySTEMSA grid of horizontal and vertical lines is provided on maps of the uk so that you can pinpoint a location with a grid reference. But the two most common coordinate systems in the world are LAT/LON and uTM. So if you are using a GPS receiver in the uk, you must set the coordinate system to one that matches the coordinate system on the maps you are using, which is usually referred to as OSGB, ord srvy GB, or British Grid. The factory setting for most GPS receivers is LAT/LON.

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CONfuSEd By THE TErMS? THEN CHECk OuT THIS HANdy rEfErENCE TO THE TErMS THAT MAkE GPS rECEIvErSTHE NAvIGATIONAL TOOL fOr THE OuTdOOrS

rOuTESA route consists of a series of waypoints that are input by the user or recorded by the GPS receiver. It’s useful to store a few routes plus a few escape routes or variations to each route into a GPS receiver so that you don’t have to reload routes all the time. GPS units can save up to 200 routes.

WAAS ENABLEdMany GPS receivers are WAAS enabled. This provides greater accuracy, down to 3m, but it is only available in selected areas of the uSA. Other governments are developing similar satellite-based differential systems. Europe has the Euro Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS).

BArOMETrIC ALTIMETErA GPS receiver locates its position by triangulation and the result is that altitudes are not always as accurate as map coordinates suggest. To add extra accuracy in mountain environments a barometric altimeter is a worthwhile addition. However users should note that a barometric altimeter is only accurate if the altimeter is calibrated to barometric pressure at known altitudes.

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POINTS Of INTErEST (POI) Some GPS manufacturers use the term Points of Interest (POI) to mean Waypoints, while others use POI to mean interesting features at a location, such as a hotel, viewpoint or museum. POIs can be transferred between web communities and downloaded into a GPS receiver.

GEOCACHINGfind hidden treasure using GPS coordinates posted on the internet by those hiding the geocache. find the cache using your GPS receiver, fi ll out the logbook, take something out, put something in and head off for another cache. More details from www.geocaching.com or see page 22.

TurN By TurN NAvIGATIONroad users can be directed along their journeys by GPS receivers that provide turn-by-turn directions while travelling along roads. This system does not work on footpaths or bridleways but is a real bonus for motorists.

COMPASSSome GPS receivers feature a compass but these are not usually magnetic so they won’t work until you start moving. A GPS with a digital magnetic compass built in will point in the right direction before you start moving. Buying GPS with a 3-axis compass means you don’t need to hold the unit fl at to get an accurate reading. This is particularly useful if you’re using it on a bike.

Get intogeocachingfOr THE uLTIMATE WALkEr’S TrEASurE HuNT JOIN COUNTrY WalKiNG’S NICk HALLISSEy WITH HIS NEW GPS, A fEW CLuES, ANd A SENSE Of AdvENTurE...

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Geocaching has been hailed as one of the fastest growing sports on earth –

and you can do it on your doorstep or in your favourite walking destination.

Put simply, geocaching is a treasure hunt with a GPS. using just a website and a GPS receiver, you can add a whole new dimension to your walks, discovering the thousands of caches hidden across the world. And then plant your own.

Along the way, you’ll discover jaw-dropping views, hidden footpaths, the thoughts of walkers from around the world, and quite possibly a small pendant of Bart Simpson (the ethics of this sport require you to sign your name in the cache’s register and if you remove a trinket from the box to replace it with one of your own – pens, keyrings, marbles and any low-value items are exchanged). Geocaching is GPS letting its hair down and having a laugh.

To get my fi rst experience of geocaching also meant having to learn how to use a GPS. I’m not that bright when it comes to new technology but within an hour, I’d learnt how to use the GPS unit and located my fi rst geocache (strangely located in a Little Chef car park just off the A1). Within a few weeks I’d navigated some of Britain’s fi nest landscapes (walking along Shropshire’s Long Mynd was the highlight), located eight geocaches and planted two myself. It’s a great way to get out into new parts of the uk. Obviously the views, the walking and the countryside were reason enough but it’s diffi cult to express the truly childlike joy of discovering treasure around the British countryside.

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Geocaching has been hailed as one of the fastest growing sports on earth –

and you can do it on your doorstep or in your favourite walking destination.

Put simply, geocaching is a treasure hunt with a GPS. using just a website and a GPS receiver, you can add a whole new dimension to your walks, discovering the thousands of caches hidden across the world. And then plant your own.

Along the way, you’ll discover jaw-dropping views, hidden footpaths, the thoughts of walkers from around the world, and quite possibly a small pendant of Bart Simpson (the ethics of this sport require you to sign your name in the cache’s register and if you remove a trinket from the box to replace it with one of your own – pens, keyrings, marbles and any low-value items are exchanged). Geocaching is GPS letting its hair down and having a laugh.

To get my fi rst experience of geocaching also meant having to learn how to use a GPS. I’m not that bright when it comes to new technology but within an hour, I’d learnt how to use the GPS unit and located my fi rst geocache (strangely located in a Little Chef car park just off the A1). Within a few weeks I’d navigated some of Britain’s fi nest landscapes (walking along Shropshire’s Long Mynd was the highlight), located eight geocaches and planted two myself. It’s a great way to get out into new parts of the uk. Obviously the views, the walking and the countryside were reason enough but it’s diffi cult to express the truly childlike joy of discovering treasure around the British countryside.

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HOW TO GEOCACHELog onto www.geocaching.com and register. The service is free and when you’ve logged on you will be able to find clues to any geocache on Earth.

read the information about the cache. They’re graded from one to five and some can be tough – especially if you’re trying to find an old 35mm canister in a drystone wall. Some have encrypted clues so take note of the formula in case you need it.

When you’ve found the geocache online, save the coordinates into your GPS and mark the location with a waypoint. This happens automatically when loaded into Lowrance’s Endura unit, and is displayed with Geocache icons.

Dig out your map and plan a walk that will take you to the cache. you can save this route to your GPS but remember to label the waypoints for the geocache.

On the walk, as you approach the location of the cache, order your GPS to ‘Go To’ the cache. remember that your GPS doesn’t know about gradients so check your map and make sure you are following the safest line.

When you get to the coordinates your GPS should beep and tell you so. Then a detailed hands-and-knees search commences. It could be tucked into the branches of a tree or wedged into a wall.

PLANT A GEOCACHEyou don’t just have to go in search of other people’s caches: you can plant your own and get other people looking for it. Country Walking and Trailmagazine currently have four geocaches hidden around the UK. you can find details of them at www.geocaching.com. If you want to plant your own, here’s what you need to do…

register your new cache at www.geocaching.comyou will need permission from the landowner even if it’s on access land.National Trust is supportive of caches on its land as it helps to bring people there, but you still need to ask first.The Forestry Commission is also broadly supportive but Natural England is less keen, especially in protected areas.A popular option is churchyards as the landowners are easy to trace.you should leave some wording which identifies the container as a geocache. Don’t leave anything perishable or edible: foods can harm wildlife.

GEO-HISTOryGeocaching took off in 2000 when the US government made GPS commercially available. The first cache was planted in Beavercreek, Oregon by Dave Ulmer the creator of geocaching.Geocaches vary in size from film canisters to buckets.Larger caches will contain an item left and swapped by cach-ers. you may also find Geocoins, which are traceable coins that move from cache to cache.you may also find a ‘Hitch-hiker’ inside the cache. This is a trinket with specific instructions such as ‘Take me west’.Etiquette says that if you take an item you need to replace it with another.For more information read The Geocaching Handbook by Layne Cameron, www.falcon.comTo see our geocaching video go to www.lfto.com/geocache.

Open the geocache and sign the register. If it’s a larger geocache, swap a trinket you’ve brought with you for the one that has been left in the cache. youcan mark it on your GPS as ‘found’ and log a field note for upload to GC.com when home.

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HOW TO GEOCACHELog onto www.geocaching.com and register. The service is free and when you’ve logged on you will be able to find clues to any geocache on Earth.

read the information about the cache. They’re graded from one to five and some can be tough – especially if you’re trying to find an old 35mm canister in a drystone wall. Some have encrypted clues so take note of the formula in case you need it.

When you’ve found the geocache online, save the coordinates into your GPS and mark the location with a waypoint. This happens automatically when loaded into Lowrance’s Endura unit, and is displayed with Geocache icons.

Dig out your map and plan a walk that will take you to the cache. you can save this route to your GPS but remember to label the waypoints for the geocache.

On the walk, as you approach the location of the cache, order your GPS to ‘Go To’ the cache. remember that your GPS doesn’t know about gradients so check your map and make sure you are following the safest line.

When you get to the coordinates your GPS should beep and tell you so. Then a detailed hands-and-knees search commences. It could be tucked into the branches of a tree or wedged into a wall.

PLANT A GEOCACHEyou don’t just have to go in search of other people’s caches: you can plant your own and get other people looking for it. Country Walking and Trailmagazine currently have four geocaches hidden around the UK. you can find details of them at www.geocaching.com. If you want to plant your own, here’s what you need to do…

register your new cache at www.geocaching.comyou will need permission from the landowner even if it’s on access land.National Trust is supportive of caches on its land as it helps to bring people there, but you still need to ask first.The Forestry Commission is also broadly supportive but Natural England is less keen, especially in protected areas.A popular option is churchyards as the landowners are easy to trace.you should leave some wording which identifies the container as a geocache. Don’t leave anything perishable or edible: foods can harm wildlife.

GEO-HISTOryGeocaching took off in 2000 when the US government made GPS commercially available. The first cache was planted in Beavercreek, Oregon by Dave Ulmer the creator of geocaching.Geocaches vary in size from film canisters to buckets.Larger caches will contain an item left and swapped by cach-ers. you may also find Geocoins, which are traceable coins that move from cache to cache.you may also find a ‘Hitch-hiker’ inside the cache. This is a trinket with specific instructions such as ‘Take me west’.Etiquette says that if you take an item you need to replace it with another.For more information read The Geocaching Handbook by Layne Cameron, www.falcon.comTo see our geocaching video go to www.lfto.com/geocache.

Open the geocache and sign the register. If it’s a larger geocache, swap a trinket you’ve brought with you for the one that has been left in the cache. youcan mark it on your GPS as ‘found’ and log a field note for upload to GC.com when home.

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MaPS & GPSTOGETHErTHErE IS A PLACE fOr A GPS uNIT, A MAP ANd A TrAdITIONAL COMPASS IN yOur ruCkSACk. HErE’S HOW TO uSE THEM TOGETHEr...

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rEAdING CONTOurSAs all GPS receivers have relatively small screens it can be easier to read the lie of the land from contours by using a conventional paper map. This is not only useful when planning but also when looking for features, calculating the time remaining and adjusting the route along the way.

rOuTE PLANNINGA conventional map is ideal for seeing the bigger picture when planning a route at home. A large map is ideal also when you decide to change your route on the hill and need to replan your day.

ACCurATE NAvIGATIONfinding your exact location in a vast wilderness is where GPS receivers come into their own. Timing and pacing with map and compass make accurate navigation possible, but a GPS receiver completes the task more effi ciently and more accurately.

TAkING IN THE vIEWWhen arriving on the summit to take in the view and identify your surroundings a GPS receiver cannot compete with a large conventional map. keep your map in your map pocket or rucksack lid, so it is ready to use over summit brews.

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STATIC STArTSA compass either built into a GPS receiver or a traditional handheld magnetic compass is an essential tool when setting off from a mountain summit in cloud near a cliff edge. This is because a GPS receiver alone does not know which way it is heading until it starts moving. This is one reason why a GPS receive with built in magnetic compass is recommended for hill-walkers. But you should be carrying a traditional magnetic compass in your pack anyway.

SAvING BATTEry POWErBy using a traditional map and compass in easier conditions you can save the battery power on your GPS receiver for when you really need it. So use a paper map in the valleys and for the approaches to the mountains, but have the GPS receiver to hand when the cloud rolls in and you need to bag the summit and get off the mountain fast.

BATTEry fAILurEEven with the best planning, batteries do fail, electronic devices can be damaged or even lost, particularly when a GPS receiver is taken on multi-day trips. Carrying a map and having it ready to use is essential, while a traditional compass may still be required if your batteries go down in thick cloud and mist. It’s worth noting that lithium batteries work better in cold weather. Always carry spare batteries.

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ULTIMATE MAPIN POCKETDIGITAL ORDNANCE SURVEY ON-SCREEN MAPPING HAS TRANSFORMED THE GPS RECEIVER FOR HILL-WALKERS.

When GPS receivers first became available they were not as accurate as

they are today and they did not display Ordnance Survey mapping on colour screens. The combination of these factors meant that a GPS receiver was less useful than it is today but it was still exceptionally useful in experienced hands.

What features do you need? A modern GPS receiver can locate your position within 3 metres and the most basic models will output this location as a grid reference. The user only needs to locate that position on a map to know exactly where they are. A basic GPS receiver can also direct the walker to a location once a waypoint has been input. Again this is all many walkers need and for locating geocaches, for emergency use, and for crossing vast wilderness areas there is no need for extra features.

On-screen mapping arrivesA GPS receiver is much easier to use with on-screen digital mapping as you can plan routes and locate your position on screen quicker and easier. The

first on-screen affairs were basic greyscale maps that identified roads but didn’t include contour lines, footpaths or cliffs. Today’s GPS receivers include colour onscreen digital mapping that is as good as the best paper maps that walkers have been used to using for navigation.

MAPPING OPTIONSBase mapsMost modern GPS receivers include a base map of roads and rivers. These base maps locate your position anywhere in the world and are all a user needs if they have additional mapping for off-road route planning.

Topo mapsMaps that display roads, lakes, rivers and tracks are called topographical or topo maps, and these are ideal for use in GPS receivers. Good quality topo maps are available for the USA and many other countries, but the topo maps of the UK are not as detailed as Ordnance Survey mapping. However for general use and geocaching, topo maps are all many users will need. Lowrance GPS receivers come pre-loaded with topo maps from Intermap Accuterra and Navtec.

Ordnance Survey mappingThe latest addition to GPS units is the ability to load full detail Ordnance Survey mapping. As this mapping contains so much more detail than topo maps they are usually supplied at additional cost on removable Micro-SDcards up to 32GB that can be fitted to the GPS receiver when required. This quality of map-ping makes the GPS receiver an impressive navigational tool for the hillwalker. However the small screen size of a GPS receiver still means a large paper Ordnance Survey map is very useful for planning and identifying features viewed from a mountain summit.Ordnance Survey mapping for GPS receivers is usually divided into a number of options due to the memory required: Lowrance will be distributing:UK Whole of Country 1:50,000You can buy the whole of the UKin two cards, alternatively buy the central UK region if you are close to the North South border.

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IT AvOIdS MAP SQuABBLESAll those uneasy shifts over each other’s shoulders to grab a glimpse of the map to check your walking mate’s ‘crack’ navigation, all the fl imsy excuses to get your hands on it and the awkward, tactful corrections which begin with a delicately cleared throat and end with “no, mate, you’re wrong, that’s a fence you’re looking at” can now easily be solved with the push of a button. followed by one of you shrugging helplessly in the fate of unequivocal electronic defeat.

yOu CAN TALk TO IT“Now then, let’s see… grid reference, there it is! Oooh. How accurate are we today… wow! Two metres! So, if I say ‘Navigate to B&B’ which direction are we going off in? Oooh, 2km SSW! And you’ll beep when I’m 200m away! Who’s a clever little GPS? you are! Some fresh batteries for you when we get home.”

IT dOESN’T ANSWEr BACk“Wow, went a bit wrong there, didn’t I? Never mind… it’s our secret. We’ll just…delete… that… last… waypoint. There we go! All gone. No-one ever needs know... Now, where were we…”

IT JuSTIfIES A kArABINErThose who see fi t to clip a karabiner to their pack despite never having used a climbing rope will fi nally have something useful to clip onto it.

IT’S A TALkING POINT“Gyroscopic loaf-tracking, 160,000 waypoints with and an anti-waggle plate. Tells me where my car, my keys, and my wife are in relation to each other to a twenty six fi gure tropospherically-corrected grid reference. And inside this little box is 1600 square miles of rasterScroll OS mapping with in-built spatially trellised focus on the Northern fells.” No, you don’t know what you’re talking about. But they’re listening, aren’t they?

IT CAN Buy yOu BEEr“Wow…Can I hold it?”“No.”“Please?”“No.”“Pleeease?”“No.”“I’ll buy you a beer?”“Ok! Here you go. I’ll have a pint of Black Sheep, please.”

IT’S BLOOdy CLEvEryou can switch on a GPS and see things fl oating in space, which tell you, to the metre, what area of the fannnnanchachnaisnfi ch forest you’re in, how long it took to get there, exactly where you went wrong on that last stretch and immediately provide a ten fi gure grid reference in something the size of a phone. Whichever way you slice it, that’s pretty fl ash.

8 reasons why you want a GPS

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IT’S GETTING CLEvErErWe’ve had a sneaky look at some of the developments happening in GPS right now – think it’s good now?you ain’t seen nothing yet.

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IT’S GETTING CLEvErErWe’ve had a sneaky look at some of the developments happening in GPS right now – think it’s good now?you ain’t seen nothing yet.

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www.lowrance.com/[email protected]

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