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Help Me Find My Way

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BrownOut

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So tonight, I'm on google maps trying to plot my next motorcycle excursion. I've printed up some of the maps so I may have them with me to find my way in transient. For years, I just used my big road atlas on these trips, and it has served me well. Now, with google, I can find all kinds of cool things to check out on the way that I couldn't before. Now, I think I need to take the maps with me when I go, and retire the atlas. Since I take alot of back roads where wireless won't be an option, I'm thinking of one of the many map programs that are available. I want to use a GPS that will interact with the map software to show me exactly where I am in relation to the map. I'm going to try to find out if there is such a thing. I thought I'd ask here before doing the legwork. Maybe someone already knows such a system.

The map software just has to interact with GPS! If not, that will suck.
 
I use a Magellan Explorist hand held. Might not be the best to use while driving, but it was cheap and works very good. I use mine for hiking and getting my bearings when I get lost on the road.

The thing I like about it is that I do not have to sign up for any service. I just download maps into the unit. The basic stock maps are okay, but for better detail you have to buy the maps. I buy the USGS topo maps for my setup.
 

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Google earth works with GPS and if you have looked at the route already should have the detail in its cache for when no internet is available.

Note, I haven't tried this but it would be easy to try and wouldn't cost much (nothing - my favourite price).

Mike.
 
Looking at Google Earth, it appears to support Magellan and Garmin products. It might be exactly what I wanted. And since it's map software, it should not requre wireless coverage. Excellent! Are there other products that are worth a look?

Thanks!
 
Gosh, gone are the days of a map and a good compass!:( Seems only the Boy Scouts still use map and compass. My hunting buddies are switching to GPS when in the woods. I still use a quality compass from Finland and topo maps of the area I plan to be in. My compass never has a dead battery, works great when moving around, never needs updated, and has no switches to fail. I make it back to camp by nightfall and I've gone further inland to new areas than some of them with their electronic buddy. Sadly though my compass doesn't have a nice color screen to it, but my Timex Expedition watch does!;)
 
I"m totally with you, HiTech. I have a dive compass, and my when I acually had the opportunity to go diving, my buddy and I would take alot of pride in our capability to find our way underwater using only our compases. In my last dive in the Sea of Cortez, the lady I was diving with wanted to surface to check our position,but knew I'd be disappointed if she hosed up a good navigational dive.

The reason I'm upgrading my nav. system is because motorcycling to me is a spectator sport. I take my journeys through backroads for the purpose of taking in the sights along the way. I rarely travel in areas that I know very well ( what would be the fun in that?) I've always just used an old atlas to find my way,but now I'm beginning to realize I'm missing out on alot of sight-seeing simply because the map doesn't show the detail that, say google maps shows. While planning an new ride a few nights ago, I was looking at routes through the Tennessee/Alabama border, in an area that I rode a couple years ago. Google allows you to choose different views of the map you're looking at. Looking at the "topo" version, I found lots of small roads that parallel ridges that weren't shown on my atlas. I really want to go check them out, because that area remindes me of the Blue Ridge Mountain range I ride in Western North Carolina from time to time. So anyway, combining new technology (GPS) with old technolog (Maps) will minimize the time I spend riding back and forth in the back country, trying to find my destination.

Up till now, I haven't used any of the technology that takes the place of thinking and planning. Seems to me that technology can just make one stupid if used in that way. However, if used smartly, it can help to enhance the experiences one seeks. That's the only way I plan to use it.
 
Work smarter, not harder. The magellan simplifies your life in many ways. Would you use a hand drill over a power drill?

The cool thing about the magellan is that you can have it log your trip as you take it and keep record, if you get lost at some point, you can backtrack your steps. This is more useful for navigation offroad but it has saved me from ending up as a scorched corspe in the desert.
 
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that you can have it log your trip as you take it and keep record, if you get lost at some point, you can backtrack your steps. This is more useful for navigation offroad but it has saved me from ending up as a scorched corspe in the desert.

:) Pilots never get lost. They get temporarily disoriented. :D
 
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