Product Description

Whether you're hiking, fishing, kayaking, cross-country skiing, or taking a mountain bike ride in the backcountry, a GPS receiver can help you reach your destination and return safely--but only if you know how to use it! Outdoor Navigation with GPS, the most complete, easy-to-use GPS book available, is your guide to getting the most out of a receiver, from basic consumer advice to advanced techniques. Starting with essential definitions such as UTM coordinate systems, position formats, and map datums, and moving on to creating "waypoints," and using your GPS with a computer, long-time GPS instructor Stephen W. Hinch breaks down the jargon and teaches you what you really need to know.

• An emphasis on practical applications over technical theory.
• Examples include illustrative screenshots from the newest receivers--from top companies like Garmin, Magellan, and DeLorme.
• Lists up-to-date Web resources for the rapidly changing technology of GPS and its uses.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27713 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 204 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780899974453
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"Stephen W. Hinch is a breath of fresh air...[this book] is expert advice from a very experienced teacher." -- Fred Zahradnik, About.com GPS, February 2008

About the Author
Author and photographer Stephen W. Hinch has taught courses in GPS navigation to police and fire personnel, park rangers, search-and-rescue staff, and recreational outdoor enthusiasts since 1998. His experiences as a GPS instructor have shown that many of the most common classroom questions about GPS aren't adequately explained either in GPS instruction manuals or existing guidebooks. Trained as an electrical engineer, he has over 25 years of management experience in the high-technology industry.

Customer Reviews

Great book
It's a great book geared towards navigating in the outdoors in particular, rather than autonavigation, marine navigation, etc. It goes in depth into how to use bearings, orienting yourself, direction finding, and a substantial amount of info in navigating without a GPS by using a compass, paper topo maps, the sun, the stars, and so forth.

It is, by design, not an outdoor survival guide, but it does cover the basics for hiking and points to more detailed sources when necessary.

I really enjoyed how well the author taught the concepts of latitude, longitude, bearings, datums, declination, and so forth.

Towards the end of the book, the author even includes some fun GPS-based games you can organize, discusses geocaching, and compares different GPS receiver models.

This book goes beyond the receiver's manual and actually teaches you how to navigate. One of the big points it makes is to find what direction you need to go, find an intermediate waypoint, PUT YOUR RECEIVER AWAY, and head off in the proper direction. This keeps you from walking over poison ivy, off of cliffs, into trees, and generally aware of your surroundings. Once you get to your intermediate destination, pull the receiver out and find your next step. I'm new to wilderness navigation and this was certainly an "aha" moment. Who wants to be focusing on the GPS device the whole time when you could be taking in the beauty of your surroundings instead!

The Best
Manuals are sorely incomplete and other books I checked out didn't get to the point. This book does while providing all the information anyone could ever want without overwhelming the reader. This book is very well written, enjoyable to read and a great teacher of what any GPS owner really wants to know. Of all the titles out there, this is the one.

Excellent Introduction to GPS Navigation
This is the best book I've found for learning how to use GPS in the outdoors. It is well organized, easy to understand, and has lots of useful illustrations. I also like the fact that it is more than just a book on GPS. It also includes detailed chapters on map and compass navigation and primitive navigation techniques for use in emergencies. It is organized into 5 parts, starting with the simplist techniques and building from there. In Part 1, you learn the concepts of waypoints and bearings. Some people may never need to know more than this. Part 2 teaches you about latitude and longitude, as well as a chapter on geocaching. Part 3 covers advanced navigation using topographic maps. Part 4, titled "Recovering from Disaster" shows you what to do if your GPS fails. Part 5 describes fun ways to use your GPS and includes a GPS selection guide. As usual with electronics, this chapter is a little dated now, but the rest of the book is still relevant if even you have a newer GPS. There is also an interesting final chapter called GPS FAQs that answers a number of unusual questions.
The only negative, and it's a minor one, is that most of the GPS screen shots show Garmin receivers. But the explanations in the text are general enough that I had no problem applying them to my Magellan eXplorist.