Ihave used GPS for a number of years now - primarily to plot locations so they could be accurately transferred to a map. There are several things to watch out for - to my dismay, I also thought that all coordinates were the same - turns out that maps are based on different coordinate systems. My Garmin E-Trex Venture (a small unit - about the size of a small cell phone) has a screen readout that is about 1-1/8 inch by 2 1/8 inch. The entire unit is about 4.25x2x1 -- as I said, a small unit. It has the newer interpolating feature that will get accuracy down to less than three meters, depending on which and how many satellites can be seen at the particular time. You can easily duplicate a route by using the waypoints established on the original trip. The unit has at least a dozen different map coordinate systems - but the default is one called NAD 83, which is the most common used in the United States. Here in Hawaii, some mapping systems that were based on the old Kingdom data use a system called Old Hawaiian, so you need to be aware of the other systems. As I said, probably 99 percent of the systems in the U. S. use the NAD 83 system. It also has extremely long battery life - I have used less than half my battery life in about a year of limited use. There are advantages and disadvantages to each unit - you need to study each one and come up with what you would like in a unit before you decide. Some manufacturers of units are Garmin, Magellan, and DeLorme (although DeLorme may use another manufacturer's unit as they are primarily a map maker I believe. Anyway, I believe you will be pleased with almost any unit you buy, depending on your requirements. Aloha Wayne -----Original Message----- From: Ron Mitchell [mailto:ronboy1@msn.com] Sent: Monday, December 30, 2002 5:59 AM To: FAMILY-ORIGINS-USERS-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [FO] Backup-Restore-Gedcom My experience with GPS has been very favorable. I purchased a unit along with a map program from DeLorme a few years ago. I hooked it up with my Compaq laptop. I found it sensitive enough to follow my track around in the back yard. Be aware that I am not pushing any Delorme products, just relating my experience with them. The particular software I use allows saving of the 'trip' which can be played back in real time or faster or slower. This allows notes to be taken while you are sitting at home. And yes a coordinate is a coordinate no matter where it comes from so is usable by anyone. For instance my location is 44.19:84809N 87:37.37153W. My unit uses 4 aa cells and is good for about 4 hours. The unit is just a receiver with no read out of it's own so the laptop is a necessity. I would guess some one makes a GPS receiver with a direct read out in coordinates but I haven't seen one. One advantage in using the map program and the GPS is the ability to follow roads until you get to where you might have to hike to an old cemetery and then record as much of the trip as you think necessary for sharing or locating again in the future. One little thing that I found interesting. Using the laptop in the car and tracking my progress shows some severe deviation from the map. Your little green arrow showing your movement is often shown alongside the road which is an indicator that the GPS is a lot better than the maps! Won't go into the collision I had with an apple tree while watching my progress on the laptop while walking around in the back yard. Will however discuss any other questions one might have about my limited GPS experience. Ron Mitchell ronboy1@msn.com ==== FAMILY-ORIGINS-USERS Mailing List ==== The Genealogical Companion http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/2399/tgc.htm Browsable Archives: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/family-origins-users/