Gps

[ImLostAgain]

I'm buying a handheld gps for a birthday present. The recipient wants one that will give their present position in Lat & Long. I know nothing about these things. The etrex 10 has been mentioned as a good basic starter. Will it give the required information?

[bhg481]

Any GPS will give your position in lat & long. Some will also give your position on the OS maps system - useful for walkers.

[Baldric]

Read all about it
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garmin-eTrex-Outdoor-Handheld-Unit/dp/B00542NV32#productDescription

You might need to click on 'See more Product Details' if this onlt gives the advert

[ImLostAgain]

Thanks bhg481, yes it is for walking. She is going to take up geocaching??
So do they give the info automatically or do you have to punch some data in do you know?

[ImLostAgain]

Cheers Baldric. Yes thats the one. I'll have a read.
She is going out with her father and he, like me knows nothing about this. Poor man is afraid he'll look stupid so we are trying to learn a little bit about it.

[bhg481]

No, switch it on, wait until it finds some satellites, at which point the display will change. I don't know that particular model but my old Garmin just comes up with the co-ordinates for the system you've chosen ie, lat & long, OS system etc. Units can usually be set to Km, miles or nautical miles, with height in feet or meters. No data to put in - it's the sat-nav that provides the data.

[ImLostAgain]

Thanks for that. I can almost hear his sigh of relief from here.

[bhg481]

Since you claim to know nothing about them, can I just warn you that they need line-of sight to the satellites, which are spread around the sky and not all visible at any given time. (visible to the GPS, that is, not to you) There are about 12 satellites and you need to be able to see three for position and four to get altitude as well. I warn you because if you try it inside the house you probably won't get a fix - you might have to go outside. I've even had problems in a city when surrounded by skyscrapers or in a forest.

[ImLostAgain]

Again thank you. If he knows that bit it'll look like he knows what he's doing....for a while anyway.