yesterday in preparation for the field season that commences in late March when I am on leave from the university. I spent much of the morning updating the unit software on my handheld GPS receiver as well as transferring map sets from DVDs to micro-SD cards. Here are some of the details:
1.) I use a
Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx for my field work. Garmin makes it easy to keep your unit software updated to the latest version by using their on-line
WebUpdater. In my personal opinion this is the best and most versatile GPS device available.
2.) Map sets are available at various scales that can be uploaded to micro-SD cards from DVD (or you can buy the pre-loaded cards) and then inserted into the GPSMAP 60CSx. I don't like the pre-loaded cards as they contain gobs of megabytes of map data for areas that are irrelevant to my projects, and consequently the GPS unit boots much more slowly because of the gargantuan map files. Hence I like to use the
Garmin MapSource software to specifically select the maps from the DVD that correspond to my particular area of interest.
I have the following Garmin map sets:
a.)
WorldMap v4 is used for my voyages with Zegrahm Expeditions.
b.)
TOPO U.S. 100K includes coverage for the entire US at 1:100,000 scale.
c.)
TOPO U.S. 24K includes all 1:24,000 topographic maps for various regions in the western US.
d.)
US TOPO 24K National Parks, West v3 includes all of the National Parks in the western US (really not necessary if you have 'c' above).
I have ten micro-SD cards onto which I've loaded subsets of map files from the DVDs listed above. So when I'm engaged in a project, or travel, in a particular place I can pop the appropriate card into the GPS unit and, voila, all of the relevant cartographic information is available.
UPDATE: Previous
related post and
a couple of pics.
found attached to a remotely operated undersea survey sub (click to enlarge). The nearly 2.5 foot-long arthropod Bathynomus giganteus latched on at about 8,500 ft depth. Read more about these unusual abyssal creatures.
It was 30 years ago this coming weekend a relatively small 4.2 magnitude earthquake beneath Mount St. Helens initiated a drama that lasted about two months, until its cataclysmic eruption on 18 May 1980, killing 57 people. The image shown above (click to enlarge) shows the mountain's northeast side, prior to the eruption.
found in the solar system: Phobos flyby images taken by the Mars Express orbiter during its recent encounter with this tiny Martian moon (click to enlarge).
Swiss Company Unveils Watch Made From Dinosaur Poop. (Click image to enlarge.) Go ahead, indulge yourself. It's only ~$11k.
so you won't miss the next total solar eclipse in North America (click to enlarge). Learn more about these rare events.
by advancing your clocks one hour as Daylight Saving Time takes effect. And please note: it's "Saving" not "Savings."
from space showing snow blanketing much of the western US on 23 February 2010 (click to enlarge). I'll leave it to you, dear reader, to figure out the geography.
for the next generation James Webb Space Telescope that is expected to launch in 2014 (click to enlarge). There are another 12 mirror segments to finish in the foldable optical array. Here's the NASA press release regarding the achievement.
today, one of the two moons of Mars, at least by the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter (click image for high-res version). The spacecraft will swing by the diminutive moon at a distance of only 67 km and train its cameras and instruments on the object. Follow the science on the Mars Express Blog.
