Download ADVENTURE Explorer User Guide

Using ADVENTURE Explorer with
a GPS Receiver
ADVENTURE Explorer is a great complement to GPS receivers. This chapter begins
with a brief introduction to GPS and some of the common terminology associated
with it. The sections following that explain how to create GPS waypoints and routes
on ADVENTURE Explorer’s maps, connect your PC to your GPS receiver, and upload
(export) that information to the GPS. You’ll also learn how to download (import)
information you’ve collected with your GPS receiver and see it on TOPO!’s maps. If
you have a laptop PC, you might want to try connecting it to your GPS to track your
position while someone else is driving (see page Connecting to a GPS Receiver on
page 44). The final sections explain how to manage GPS data in ADVENTURE
Explorer, how that data is stored on the hard drive, and how to share that data with
other software applications.
A Quick-Start Guide to GPS
Global Positioning System or GPS consists of a network of 24 orbiting satellites that
transmit precisely timed radio signals, ground stations that control those satellites,
and handheld GPS receivers that use the radio signals to calculate your position on
the earth. Most handheld receivers on the market today will “lock on” to the signals
needed from at least 3 satellites and display the coordinates of your position within a
minute of turning it on outdoors. If you are moving, the GPS receiver will also report
your heading and speed. If you have entered waypoints into its memory, the
receiver can report how far away those locations are and in what direction. Properly
used, a GPS receiver can help guide you to your destinations without getting lost.
To navigate to places you have never been before with your GPS, you need to create
waypoints for those places in advance, and to do this, you need the coordinates
(latitudes and longitudes) of those places.
ADVENTURE Explorer is the easiest way to plan your GPS adventure -- just click on
the map and ADVENTURE Explorer displays the coordinates for you. TOPO, a special
version of ADVENTURE Explorer designed specifically for GPS users, makes the
process even easier: after clicking down waypoints on the map, you can link your
GPS to your PC with a cable and transfer the waypoints automatically.
Note
To learn more about GPS visit http://www.topo.com/ or contact National Geographic.
To learn how to operate a particular GPS receiver, please refer to the manual that
came with it.
ADVENTURE Explorer User Guide
©2009 National Geographic Maps
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