[TexasARDF] [ARDF] GPS devices

[Jay Hennigan]

Bob Cooley wrote:
> There are probably about 15 to 20 people in my local O club (BAOC)
> that use the Garmin Forerunner 205 or 305  for route recording.
> Playing back these recorded routes after the meet is very useful for
> determining what you did right or wrong.  These watches can 
> also do some navigation functions, but no one here has found
> any of those functions to be of any use during O competetion.
> 
> The navigation functions might be of help to a totally lost
> beginner who was trying to get out of the forest alive, 
> but I don't see how they could be of any use to a 
> reasonably competent competitor.
> 
> Also, since Team USA is still very much in learning
> mode, and the route playbacks are very educational,
> we should allow use of the 305, even if someone
> speculates that there might be some way to gain
> advantage during competition.  

Several of the competitors in previous US championships have used the 
Forerunner sport watches, including myself.  During the competition I 
use the stopwatch and heart rate monitor functions.  Afterward, the 
ability to review my track is useful.

GPS isn't of any real value during the competition, and in my opinion 
attempting to use it for navigation would simply slow me down.  There is 
enough to worry about in terms of taking and plotting bearings and map 
reading on the run.  I can't see how the GPS functions of the Forerunner 
would be of value.  It doesn't have the capability to display or import 
maps, and the orienteering map provided immediately before the start 
doesn't have any latitude or longitude printed.

I could see a reasonable objection to a conventional GPS with mapping 
facilities where one could pre-load a topo map of the area, but the 
Forerunner sport watch is very limited in terms of navigational capability.

If BAOC doesn't have an issue with the Forerunner, I don't think we 
should either.

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Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay at impulse.net
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