GPS Made Easy: Using Global Positioning Systems in the Outdoors [Paperback]

Lawrence Letham (Author)

Book Description

Series: GPS Made Easy: Using Global Positioning Systems in the Outdoors | Publication Date: November 2003

This continues to be the best-selling instructional for the wildly popular consumer GPS technology because it is also the most up-to-date of any text on the topic.

The fourth edition covers improvements in GPS accuracy as a result of WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System). Many new GPS receivers now accept corrective signals from this system of satellites and ground stations. WAAS is referred to in every section of the book describing accuracy.

The updated title has a new chapter explaining how to download maps and computer software to a GPS receiver, including examples readers can follow.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A good book for those considering buying a GPS. -- Billings Gazette

Essential if you plan to ski or snowboard off marked trails. -- Sacramento Bee

About the Author

Lawrence Letham, an electrical engineer, is an avid hiker and camper long fascinated by maps and the art of navigation. He lives in Arizona.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Mountaineers Books; 4 Revised edition (November 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898868238
• ISBN-13: 978-0898868234
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,513,292 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GPS Made Easy := "Wonderfull!!", September 18, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Gps Made Easy: Using Global Positioning Systems in the Outdoors (Paperback)

GPS Made Easy is great! I bought a receiver and when I got it home, I discovered the manuals explained how to press the buttons, but not really how to navigate. I had a lot of experience navigating with a compass, map and altimeter, but I did not know anything about grids, datum or the receiver's accuracy. GPS Made Easy made everything clear. I now understand how the GPS system works, what my receiver can do for me and how to expertly use maps with my receiver. The book is very understandable and informative. I especially liked the examples that showed how GPS really works in the field.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Buy the book then the GPS, March 27, 2002

By 

C. A. Ridgway (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: GPS Made Easy : Using Global Positioning Systems in the Outdoors (Paperback)

This book will not only help you figure out how to use the features of your GPS receiver but it will help you figure out what features will be important to you in a GPS receiver so you don't buy the wrong unit. All of the features of the various major consumer grade GPS receivers are explained in one chapter. Subsequent chapters illustrate how many of those features could be used in various outdoor activities. There are sections on how to get coordinates out of your receiver and onto a map or off of the map and into the receiver.

I was a little annoyed by being told repeatedly to go back to previous chapters to read something explained there when a short reminder could have been included on the spot. And none of the figures are numbered so you have to figure out which figure is being referred to. A reference section list some vendors of receivers and ancilary items along with their phone mumber but there are no Web pages listed and sometimes a product name and number are listed without the manufacturer's name. Letham tells you that antenna sensativity is important bud doesn't go on to explain what the values are or mean and whether high or low values are better when comparing units.

In spite of these annoyances this is a useful book which could keep you from making a costly mistake if you read it before you buy your receiver. And the practical examples will help you understand what techniques might work in your application.

53 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Introduction to Using a GPS Receiver, November 23, 1999

By 

Bukkene Bruse (Iowa) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Gps Made Easy: Using Global Positioning Systems in the Outdoors (Paperback)

This book was a useful introduction for someone who just got a GPS receiver. The first part of the book was a simple treatment of how the GPS system works. The second part dealt with how to work a receiver, something that is probably better handled by the user manual. Most of the book covered how to use GPS in the outdoors, going through several different examples as the pedagogical method. Perhaps the most useful aspect of the book was in understanding different grid systems, particularly UTM and longitute/lattitude.