Conference terri::cars_uk

    
    Yes, I picked up some bumf on one here in Bern back last year from an
    auto-electrics dealer. Looked quite interesting although it was a) very
    expensive (ie. 1000's of SFrs - I can't remember excatly how many) and
    b) seemed a bit awkward to use. There was some kind of "map case" with
    a glass panel where you had to slide in the appropriate colour street map
    which presumable had some kind of bar-code or magnetic strip info to
    allow the controller to recognise which map you were using. The GSM
    position was then displayed onto the map using some lighted cursor. A
    big drawback was that you would need plenty of the special maps and they
    weren't cheap either! I have a feeling it was combinable with a
    portable pc so you could do things like find where a particular
    town/street is & have this info displayed as a target on the map (this
    may have been a future upgrade!!).
    	One thing it didn't do, for example, was tell you "turn left in 100
    yards"...."take the 3rd on your right" etc. Now something like that,
    using voice synthesis would be fantastic. It would reduce the mileage
    most women do by at least 50%!!!! 8-)
    
    JBG
    
    If you want more info I'll try & find what I did with the brochure or
    else go back & get another.

    GSM has been available around the coasts of UK for some time....
    
    Try the UK_SAILING conference or similar to see if they have any info
    regarding land based usage.
    
    The last time I looked the receiver devices that talk to the satelites
    and decide where they are were around 500 to 1500 pounds.
    
    The cheaper ones only needed 3 or 4 satelites - and gave an accuracy of
    +- 100 metres. The more expensive used 5 or 6 satelites, but gave a
    greater accuracy.
    
    Cheers, Chris

    
    	thanks, I'll try the UK_Sailing conf for starters, think this kit
    	is just starting to come in or if not now, then in the near future.
    
    	If anyone else knows of any other systems available, I'd like to hear
    	what you think, if you found them useful or not..
    
    

    I thought GSM was then new pan-European digital telephone system.
    
    I think you mean Navstar GPS; NAVigation Satellite Tracking And Ranging
    Global Positioning System. Just GPS for short.
    
    There are a lot of GPS recievers around. These come in many guises from
    large systems with full dynamic map displays to small hand held units.
    
    The best handheld that I have seen is the one made by Silva. This one
    (the only one) incluides a built in flux gate compass.
    
    Sadly it costs about 750 Pounds.
    

    
    
    Hi Ewan,
    
    The "Field and Trek" main catalog, avaliable at WH Smiths, shows about
    half a dozen "Hand Held" GPS, (Global Positioning System) products for
    various budgets.
    
    GPS systems are also used in aircraft, (my boss has a GPS unit so he can 
    find his way back home!) don't know if there's a Light Aircraft notesfile 
    around..but I suspect there probably is.
    
    What's the matter, are you having trouble getting to work on your push
    bike in the Fog ? :-)
    
    
    Regards,
    
    Master-Skew

    
    Hi Master-skew,
    
    It's a sod when the batteries for the lights run out..... 'now where did
    I put my GPS.....it's gotta be here somewhere !'
    
    cheers
    standard-output

It must be available I saw the Clarkson in Iceland on a glacier in a snowstorm 
using GPS.

Crazy Icelanders!

Stuart