Getting more familiar with my GPS in Seminyak Bali

GPS systems are said to become addictive. I agree with that assessment. Since getting one in December I love using it and am figuring out how it best suits my needs. Just like the internet, GPS amazes me. Having hi tech devices that are moving in relation to each other and still be able to stay in contact and track exact location in real time is awesome. Here’s more on how a GPS works.

On my road trip to Pura Batukaru the other day I got a bit upsidedown at times and this was due the fact that using a GPS takes a bit of practice. One of the things I discovered was the black compass needle locks onto ‘N’ of the compass dial, when I am just using the compass mode. The GPS allows me mark ‘way points’ and then back track, or go directly to a selected ‘way point’. When I do this the compass needle departs from ‘N’ and points to the way point.
My Magellan GPS also automatically tracks where I am going, drawing a dotted line. I can view this as North up, Course Up, or Track up. Sometimes when using a map its a good idea to orient the device with the map, ie. north up. At other times, let’s say if I’m just riding round in circles trying to find the main road, its better to see the course or track I am following, the tracking re-shaping itself around my course.
This morning I walked down Jl. Dhyana Pura towards the beach at Gado Gado. I then followed the beach to Jl. Oberoi (La Lucciola), passing Body Works I got to Jl. Drupadi and took that back to Jl. Seminyak and home. The GPS tracked that and allowed me to ‘Convert to route’, meaning store all the changes in direction as waypoints and name the route. I called it ‘Beach Walk’.
In future I will be able to store hikes in the boonies as separate ‘routes’, locking in on them from any direction and leading other people there. I can even give you the co-ords for your own use if you have a GPS.
Fun to play with and usefull.