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Orienteering / Nagivation / GPS Systems

My Nagivation & GPS Hobby

My interest in nagivation started way back in lower secondary school's Geography lessons. I had strong interest in the map reading classes, and found that map reading is always very interesting.

During my National Service days, I was an infantry recon specialist and had to learn and master our nagivation skills. I was lucky enough to learn all the neat tips & tricks about nagivation, terrain reading, map reading, etc...All the nagivation skill came in very useful when I eventually took my boating license.

Stated in all GPS manuals, every manufacturers are trying to bring this point across:
"DO NOT FULLY DEPEND ON GPS UNITS"

I totally believe in this point as I've had GPSes failed on me before. Thus, I always believe in having a good compass, or even a lousy one as a backup. Here are some of my armoury of high-end compasses:

Suunto GPS Plotter	Specially designed for using with GPS Visit Suunto for more info.
Suunto MC-2G	Built in mirror for accurate positioning. This is a very useful compass for survival purposes. Mirror acts as signal mirror too, and there's a built in magnifying glass, good for starting fire. Visit Suunto for more info.
Suunto M9	This is a wrist mounted compass. Very handy especially when you're trekking or when doing stuff that requires 2 handed operation. Visit Suunto for more info.
Suunto Gem	This is a very small compass. I won't comment much on the accuracy, but it works great! I have a few of these being mounted on the zipper tabs of my various backpacks. Visit Suunto for more info.
Casio Compass Watch	This is my good old solar-assisted Casio Protrek watch. I used to have previous older models, but they always die on me at the wrong time due to battery life. This PRG-50 model is powered by battery, and solar. Haven't got the chance to use it in the outdoor condition, but I think it should last okay. Visit Casio for more info.
Tasco Compass Bino	Even my 10x50 bino from Tasco is equipped with a rangefinding scale & compass for nagivation. Mainly used for boating purposes to do coastal nagivation. Visit Tasco for more info.

I knew about some GPS stuff since the days when it was claimed that one needs to be subscribed to use GPS units. I didn't know how true that was, but it was only in about 1997 when I set my foot down to go ahead and buy one.

Having fiddled with GPSes, I became quite familiar with the operations, and thus, I was always being appointed to conduct GPS usage classes back in my military days.

Garmin GPS 12	My very 1st GPS unit. Very trusty, very durable, and strong reception. 12 parallel channels, 500 waypoint memory, etc... Visit Garmin for more info. I like it very much because the screen is larger, and data entry is very easy. The 24+ hrs battery life is a major plus point for me. This trusty unit have liven up to the extreme. It's been dunked in saltwalter before and been dropped off a slow-moving vehicle. Personally, I highly recommend this as a basic GPS for beginners and for car-mounted use because of it's large screen size. I even have a bicycle mount for my Giant mountain bike.
Magellan Blazer 12	My 2nd GPS unit. Bought it because it was very cheap, but eventually, I had it sold off. I can't remember the specification of this unit, but it GPS is even more basic than the GPS12. It doesn't even have 'map-logging' capability, and nagivation is exactly based on your nagivation skills. No GUI (Graphical User Interface) to show you the rough position. Visit Magellan for more info.
Garmin eTrex	My 3rd GPS unit. Visit Garmin for more info. Bought it because of the small size. It's compact and handy, but I hated the data entry methods and the data screen display. Viewing info like speed, lat/long, etc.. is very troublesome because you'd have to scroll thru the screens to view the info you want. Very unlike the GPS12 that I'm used to. I sold it off eventually to get my next GPS unit.
Garmin eTrex Legend	My latest and 4th GPS unit. Visit Garmin for more info. Bought it after I sold off my eTrex to try out the much raved mapping capability. This GPS is a love-hate relation for me because I like it's compact size, and slightly more advanced capability, but I still hate the data entry methods. Personally, I would tend to think this GPS is meant more for urban use than for outdoor rugged use.

Tips on using GPS in Singapore

If you are visiting Singapore, and is equipped with a GPS, you can logon to an online street directory to find out the interesting places you can go in Singapore. Best of all, you can find the co-ordinates that you'll need to program into your GPS! Instant Singapore Waypoints! Need not be afraid to get lost in our tiny island!

Also for Singaporeans with GPS, you can plan out your route to an unfamilar place by logging major turning junctions as a waypoint. Just type in the street names that you'll need, find out the co-ordinates and program into your GPS!

Firstly, we use Kertau 1948 map datum with Cassini Grid as our projection.
Use these parameters to configure your GPS if it don't contain the Cassini Grid:-

Cassini Soldner - Singapore
Long. of Origin: 103º 51.18 E
False Easting: 30000.0m
Scale: 0.9986
False Northing: -112149m

Here are the step by step instructions:-
1) Search for a landmark. (e.g. Grand Hyatt Hotel, Singapore)
2) Go to street directory, Singapore
3) Search for "Hyatt"
4) The results should show a small street map. Right Click the map, and choose "Properties" on your browser.
5) Your menu should show URL info which contains this numbers: x=27989 & y=32079
6) These numbers will be the co-ordinates that you should program in your GPS.
7) Remember that the co-ordinates are in Cassini Soldner Grid.
8) Once programmed into your GPS, you're ready to go!

Note: Level of accuracy of the position given is not known, but I can say it's rather accurate to a certain extend. As stated in the Owner Manual of GPS units, we cannot totally depend on GPS and basic Navigational techniques should still be used.

More Tips on general GPS usage _{(Updated 15th May 2004)}

After a couple of years without really fiddling around with my GPS, I found out during my hunt for a new GPS unit that a lot of tech savvy people are into buy GPSes. I was one of them tempted to get a 'mapping-capable' model after all that rave!
Having bought my new unit, I found out that all those reviews are useless in terms of practical usage - At least in my point of view....

It seems to me like these new generation of GPS users rely so much on advanced mapping capability that they can't understand the basics of Nagivation, especially the potential usefulness of cheap and basic GPSes.

I for one, have started using GPSes back in the 1997 era where there's only a few 'advanced' GPS models that allowed the functionality of plotting and showing waypoint locations in a graphical manner - The Garmin GPS12 model is my first GPS of such capability and it became my all time favourite GPS despite the large size.

I also owned the Magellan Blazer 12 GPS, but that only provided the basic-of-the-most-basic GPS - It does't even have plotting capability! But still, I was using that to nagivate efficiently.

I am by no means a professional nagivator or orienteer, but I thought that I should share some tips of GPS assisted navigation using the most basic GPS functions that are found in today's basic GPSes like the Garmin GPS12, Basic eTrex, Geko Series, etc... My most recent purchase of the eTrex Legend doesn't really impress me with it's mapping capability, thus my decision to write this article and share some info.

Tip #1 on using Basic GPSes (non-mapping capable) : Before you go overseas for travel, search for available waypoints for that area you are going to visit from the web. Program those available waypoints into your GPS so that you have a 'reference' or known location. Waypoint info like Hotel locations, Airport locations, etc are very useful.

Tip #2 : During your arrival on your destination, switch on your GPS and mark your spot. Subsequently when you are travelling on the road (eg. in the cab or bus), mark waypoints that are prominent. (eg. If you happen to drive past Ritz Carlton hotel in that area, just mark it approximately.) Having collected more waypoints as you go, your 'resolution' of the 'map' becomes clearer as there are more waypoints to use as reference.

Tip #3 : If you find that naming a waypoint during travelling is troublesome because you have to scroll thru the text, etc...Just name it in numerical order that's pre-programmed in your GPS. (eg. 001, 002, 003, and so on..) Roughly write down the number in relation to the location on a piece of paper as you go along. This also serves as a wonderful diary of where you've been. (Refer to my Shanghai's trip log further down this page.)

Tip #4 : As you go along collecting waypoints, you might want to save a 'tracklog' - better known as a virtual 'breadcrump' trail into memory. That way, you've created a even more detailed 'route-map' of where you've been in your basic GPS. As you travel around that area, you'd be very surprised & satisified with the performance of the basic GPS unit when you realised you've been past your existing waypoints or been travelling on the same route previously because of the data you've collected so far.

Tip #5 : With all the waypoint info available as you travel, you can roughly project a destination during your travel with simple mathematics skills. One example:- You're at your hotel, Ritz Carlton. You go to the reception to grab a street-level map. You found out that 3 streets down, there's a cool shopping centre that you wish to take a trip to, and you don't have a waypoint there.....(not that nagivation without a GPS is difficult!!) But here's what you do if you die-die must rely on your GPS....
Average out the direction of travel. (e.g if the place is 3 streets 'Northwest' from where you are, project your waypoint from your existing location to your new location to approx. 315 degrees if it's Northwest, then approximate out the distance. (Usually one square grid on a map is 1km, depending on the scale indicated on the map.) Once you've got your current location, given angle & given distance, you can easily project a rough waypoint. And when you reach the projected destination, you'd be very happy that you've projected it very close!! And if you don't, probably due to your lack of basic nagivation skills, at least you still have the waypoint of your hotel to backtrack to..

Tip #6 : If you're ever getting in trouble with the use of GPS (eg. official stops you to ask what you're doing), learn this trick that i've used and have been successful:- Before they even approach you, put your GPS to your ear and pretend to be talking on the phone. Signals him to wait for a moment as you continue your 'conversaton'. If he's going to stop you in relation to using the GPS, he'll walk away eventually thinking that he's just over suspicious. :P HAHHAHAH...

Here's another GPS info page that I recommend:- Steven's GPS Resources

China, Shanghai Waypoints

Here are some of the Shanghai waypoint that I've collected on my trip there. Do feel free to email me for the .GPX files if you should want to upload them into your GPS.

(I apologise for the degree sign not appearing properly. Too lazy to correct all of them! Anyways, I don't think anyone will be bothered to read them individially.)

Datum = WGS84

Co-Ords= DDD MM.MMM

ID Place Description Lat.(N) Long.(E)

Shanghai Area

002 Mid Highway from PuDong Airport 31°11.460' 121°45.780'
003 Mid Highway near pedestrian bridge 31°10.240' 121°41.639'
004 22km towards West to HongQiao Airport 31°10.240' 121°33.000'
005 1km proximity from 'Hanging Bridge' 31°07.573' 121°27.225'
006 4km away from HongQiao Airport 31°09.061' 121°21.991'
007 HongQiao Road / YanAn Rd Junction 31°10.958' 121°21.226'
008 Cypress Height Entrance 31°11.871' 121°21.165'
009 YanAn Highway 31°11.962' 121°22.076'
010 YanAn Highway past GuBei Carrefour 31°11.962' 121°23.379'
011 YanAn Highway mid point 31°13.313' 121°26.276'
012 YanAn / MaoMing Rd Exit 31°13.533' 121°27.176'
013 MaoMing Rd, OS Garden Hotel Shanghai 31°13.308' 121°27.337'
014 MaoMing / Central HuaiHai Rd Junction 31°12.874' 121°26.716'
015 FuXing Xi Rd 31°12.796' 121°25.978'
016 PingHu Rd 31°12.632' 121°25.682'
017 DanYu Rd junction to YanAn Rd 31°12.673' 121°25.541'
018 Highway past Sheraton Grand Hotel 31°12.343' 121°24.100'
019 Mid YanAn Rd Highway 31°13.566' 121°26.993'
020 YanAn East Rd exit 31°13.891' 121°28.536'
021 Along Shanghai Bund 31°14.171' 121°29.236'
022 Outside Old HongKong/Shanghai Bank 31°14.308' 121°29.154'
023 RenMing Rd 31°13.882' 121°29.361'
024 LuShui Rd 31°13.892' 121°29.185'
025 NanFeng Shopping Centre 31°13.650' 121°29.203'
026 Old Shanghai Street,FangBang Central Rd 31°13.616' 121°29.148'
027 Outside Sunday Flee Market 31°13.604' 121°29.070'
028 HeNan Rd 31°13.772' 121°28.985'
029 FuJian Rd 31°14.079' 121°28.689'
030 HanKou Rd (Outside Restuarant) 31°14.236' 121°28.737'
031 FuZhou Rd (Book Town) 31°14.136' 121°28.644'
032 Shanghai Grand Theatre 31°13.964' 121°28.266'
033 Shanghai Central Plaza 31°13.871' 121°28.005'
034 JiangYing Rd (Insect/Pet Market) 31°13.924' 121°27.980'
035 105 JiangYing Rd (Outside School) 31°13.892' 121°27.844'
GHyatt Grand Hyatt Hotel PuDong, Shanghai 31°14.203' 121°30.068'
PearlT Oriental Pearl TV Tower 31°14.452' 121°29.710'
036 Northern Side of Bund @ Garden 31°14.195' 121°29.627'
037 YiCheng Rd 31°14.468' 121°30.196'
SBYC* Shanghai Boat & Yacht Club 31°15.000' 121°30.000'
038 PuDong Tunnel Entrance 31°14.345' 121°29.946'
039 ChangLe Rd (Outside Nintendo game shop) 31°13.203' 121°26.910'
040 ShanXi Rd (Clothes & Shoe shops) 31°13.371' 121°27.179'
041 XiangYang Rd (Bazaar) 31°13.084' 121°27.214'
042 XiangYang, Near NanChang Rd Entrance 31°12.996' 121°27.187'
043 RuiJin Rd 31°13.208' 121°27.582'
044 RuiJin Rd, Outside GoreTex Shop 31°13.425' 121°27.524'
045 YanAn Highway Exit to Shanghai Expo 31°12.215' 121°23.917'
046 Shanghai Expo 31°12.263' 121°23.744'
047 Lai Lai Hot Pot (Muslim Satay) 31°12.119' 121°23.584'
Office Satchi & Satchi Shanghai, 900 Building 31°13.134' 121°27.320'
PudAP Pudong International Airport 31°08.997' 121°48.042'

From Shanghai towards HangZhou by Highway

048 Exit to Shanghai/HangZhou Expressway 31°07.586' 121°22.797'
049 Flyover Bridge along expressway 31°05.657' 121°19.621'
050 XinQian Rd Exit along expressway 31°03.878' 121°18.075'
051 SongJiang Exit along expressway 31°01.460' 121°14.060'
052 DaGang Exit (123km from HangZhou) 31°00.853' 121°09.024'
053 LuCao bridge, near XinBang exit 30°56.736' 121°05.251'
054 Toll Station near FengJing exit 30°53.805' 121°02.062'
055 Toll Station 2 30°48.221' 120°57.008'
056 JiaShan exit 30°44.741' 120°52.239'
057 ZhaJiaSu Expressway to SuZhou Exit 30°40.417' 120°46.618'
058 HaiNing/JiaXing Exit 30°38.683' 120°42.511'
059 JiaXing Rest & Gas station 30°37.502' 120°40.425'
060 HaiNing/TongXiang exit 30°35.129' 120°38.051'
061 ChangAnn/ChongFu Exit (Exit 13) 30°28.750' 120°26.272'
062 LinPing Exit 14 (HangZhou Boundry) 30°23.393' 120°18.559'
063 Exit to Northern HangZhou 30°21.121' 120°16.466'
HangZh HangZhou Exit 30°17.602' 120°13.501'
064 TiYuChang Rd, near DieHai Building 30°16.582' 120°10.899'
065 TiYuChang Rd (Stadium Rd) 30°16.342' 120°10.014'
066 TianHe Building, WTC Building 30°16.319' 120°08.893'
067 Lily Hotel 30°15.662' 120°07.556'
068 LinYing Rd 30°14.587' 120°06.166'
069 LinYing Rd, LinYing Temple Entrance 30°14.580' 120°06.034'
070 LinYing "Flying Mountain" Peak 30°14.414' 120°05.845'
071 XiHu Area, "Serene Island" 30°14.941' 120°08.241'
072 'Lover's Bridge' (Supress Dike Bridge) 30°14.799' 120°08.023'
073 Crooked Courtyard (Selling pearls) 30°14.988' 120°07.776'
074 YueHu 30°15.039' 120°07.862'
075 Lou Wai Lou Restuarant 30°15.140' 120°08.141'
076 ShangriLa (Nanshan Rd, HangZhou) 30°15.270' 120°07.968'
077 Yue Fei Temple 30°15.248' 120°07.813'
078 XiShan / NanShan Rd Junction 30°13.748' 120°08.052'
079 Lei Feng Pagoda 30°13.966' 120°08.725'
080 HuBin Rd 30°15.165' 120°09.499'
081 OS MacDonald somewhere in HangZhou 30°15.313' 120°09.496'

From Shanghai towards to SuZhou by Highway

082 TianShan Rd Exit 31°13.063' 121°20.827'
083 Shanghai / NanJing Expressway Entrance 31°15.006' 121°20.810'
084 Toll Station 31°15.219' 121°19.721'
085 JiaSong exit 31°15.131' 121°12.885'
086 Toll Station 2 31°17.987' 121°07.105'
087 KunShan/TaiGang exit 31°20.521' 120°58.140'
088 SuZhou Industrial Park exit 31°21.201' 120°50.376'
089 Yang Cheng Hu Rest & Gas station 31°22.279' 120°46.346'
090 SuZhou/ChangSu Exit 31°20.960' 120°38.153'
091 Hu Qiu Temple 31°20.442' 120°34.666'
092 Foot of Hu Qiu Pagoda 31°20.253' 120°34.585'
093 Hu Qiu Rd (Small Town behind Pagoda) 31°19.764' 120°34.512'
094 RenMing Rd Round-About (SuZhou Area) 31°19.848' 120°36.684'
095 BeiYuan Rd, to 'Humble Admin's Garden' 31°19.771' 120°37.656'
096 Inside Humble Administrator's Garden 31°19.568' 120°37.557'
097 LinDun Rd Junction 31°19.223' 120°37.439'
098 SuZhou University 31°18.722' 120°38.107'
099 SuZhou Industrial Park (To Zhou Zhuang) 31°17.903' 120°39.955'
100 Toll Station 31°18.065' 120°42.717'
101 Toll Station (U/C as of 13th Nov 2002) 31°17.337' 120°47.551'
102 KunShan "Nation's Cleanest City" 31°16.948' 120°52.631'
103 Crossroad along SuZhou-HongQiao Highway 31°16.534' 120°57.181'
104 Heading SW towards Zhou Zhuang 31°11.064' 120°55.246'
105 Junction to Shanghai West Golf Club 31°07.637' 120°50.700'
106 Zhou Zhuang Entrance 31°07.089' 120°50.438'
107 Road along Farming Area, Heading East 31°07.235' 120°52.749'
108 JinShang Rd 31°07.050' 120°55.158'
109 Shanghai Grand View Garden 31°04.481' 120°54.447'
110 'XiLing' Toll Station 31°04.244' 120°55.401'
111 Sun Island (Along Hu Qing Ping Highway) 31°06.177' 121°02.612'
112 FuQuanShan Historical Site (Highway) 31°08.981' 121°09.765'
113 Junction to National Tourism Resort 31°09.304' 121°13.327'
114 YinTao Golf Club junction along highway 31°09.514' 121°15.251'
115 Toyota HongQiao 31°10.199' 121°19.558'

Shanghai Area

116 Mid HongQiao Rd towards XuJiaHui 31°11.879' 121°24.667'
117 METRO LINE - Xu Jia Hui Station 31°11.728' 121°25.974'
118 METRO LINE - Shanghai Train Station 31°14.951' 121°27.032'
SHTrn Shanghai Train Station 31°15.010' 121°27.068'
119 MuXi Rd / WuSong River Intersection 31°14.805' 121°26.597'
120 JiangNing/WuDing Rd,Shanghai University 31°14.152' 121°26.871'
121 JiangNing / Beigjing Xi Rd 31°13.929' 121°27.047'
122 Nissan & Bentley office (BeiJing Xi Rd) 31°13.964' 121°27.220'
123 BeiJing Xi Rd / ChengDu Rd Junction 31°14.209' 121°27.725'
124 ChangZheng Hospital (FengYang Rd) 31°14.096' 121°27.775'
125 Shanghai Art Museum (NanJing Xi Rd) 31°14.025' 121°27.936'
126 Shanghai Grand Theatre (HuangPi Rd) 31°13.846' 121°28.008'
127 Tibet Rd / NanJing Rd Junction 31°14.061' 121°28.313'
128 NanJing Rd Pedestrain Mall (FuJian Rd) 31°14.258' 121°28.445'
129 METRO LINE - Zhong Shan Station 31°13.221' 121°24.667'
130 Grand Gateway Shopping Centre, XuJiaHui 31°11.723' 121°25.930'
131 Opp New Road Dept Store (HuaShan Rd) 31°11.979' 121°25.896'
132 GuangYang Rd, Comp.Mart, OS Transcend 31°11.969' 121°25.867'

133 HaMi Rd (OBI/METRO Shopping Warehouse) 31°12.564' 121°22.004'
134 BeiHong Rd to Highway 31°13.149' 121°22.305'
135 ZhenBei Rd, OBI & METRO's Junction 31°14.577' 121°22.842'
136 OS OBI & METRO Shopping Warehouse 31°14.721' 121°22.685'
137 XianXia Rd 31°12.537' 121°22.873'
138 HeNan/JinLin Rd- Music Instrument Shops 31°13.936' 121°28.957'
139 FangBang Rd "Electronics Bazaar" 31°13.414' 121°28.729'
140 Tibet/FangBang Rd, Insect & Pet Market 31°13.417' 121°28.628'
141 Liu He Kou Rd (Fake Antiques Stalls) 31°13.419' 121°28.529'
142 MaDang Rd 31°12.952' 121°28.257'
143 Dynasty Restuarant, ZhaoJiaBang Rd 31°12.423' 121°27.753'
144 ZhaoJiaBang / WanPingNan Rd Junction 31°12.052' 121°26.622'
145 HongQiao Business Centre 31°11.632' 121°22.268'
146 'ShangMiTa Restuarant' (Top 20 in Asia) 31°12.013' 121°23.275'
147 NanJing Xi Rd, OS Shanghai JC Mandrin 31°13.720' 121°26.922'
HDRck* HardRock Cafe, SHanghai (Ritz Carlton) 31°13.680' 121°26.854'
148 HongKong Plaza (XinTianDi, MaDang Rd) 31°13.426' 121°28.164'
149 Shanghai Lane Crawford 31°13.609' 121°28.480'
150 DaJi Rd, Insect & Pet Market 31°13.066' 121°28.964'
151 Jing An Temple (NanJing Xi Rd) 31°13.488' 121°26.473'
152 Mid Runway, PuDong AirPort 31°08.320' 121°47.963'

Abbrv.
* - Approximated or Projected Waypoint
Rd - Road
OS - OutSide
Opp - Opposite
SC - Shopping Centre
Dong - East
Nan - South
Xi - West
Bei - North

My Nagivation & GPS Hobby

Tips on using GPS in Singapore

More Tips on general GPS usage (Updated 15th May 2004)

China, Shanghai Waypoints

More Links relating to Compass & GPS

More Tips on general GPS usage _{(Updated 15th May 2004)}