How to Choose the Right GPS Receiver Format for Your Needs

With so many different GPS units available and so many places to download GPS maps and directions from, it’s hard to know how to choose the right GPS receiver format for your needs. With Bluetooth connectivity to phones and car systems, you’ll want to find a GPS receiver format that can smoothly communicate with all of your devices.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• GPS receiver
• Compatible devices

1. Consider what you’ll be using your GPS for. There are many uses for a GPS receiver: hunting and hiking, off-road driving, navigation within a big city or cross-country driving. Think about what you’ll be doing with your GPS receiver.
2. Think about your computer. If you’ll be hooking up your GPS receiver to your computer to upload maps and waypoints, you’ll want to make sure it will be compatible with your machine and operating system.
3. Look into cell phone compatibility. Many phones either have GPS built in or can interact with certain GPS receivers. Read the documentation to find out what your manufacturer or provider suggests you use.
4. Find out the preferred formats for navigation programs you may already use. For example, if you already use Google Earth for maps, you should check out their site to see which GPS device formats are compatible.
5. Get something that supports GPX. GPX is the most flexible GPS format out right now. Search for a list of applications and devices that can use the GPX format.
6. Check the manufacturer’s Web site. If you already have a GPS receiver and can’t decide which format you should download your waypoints and maps in, check the Web site. Most manufacturers have a special format that works best with their devices.

Tips & Warnings

• Many Web sites allow you to track your route and then save it to a GPX file to be downloaded to your device.
• Having a widely compatible format saves you from having to input coordinates by hand or having waypoints off due to conversion.
• When traveling, be sure to set your datum correctly. Also, when downloading directions be sure that your datum matches that of the person who made the directions.
• GPS devices are reliable for the most part, but always have a paper map and a magnetic compass as a backup.