Newsletter August 2010
The last newsletter included some information about Geocaching. We got so many positive feedback about this amazing new hobby that we decided to give you some more information this time.
A future outlook into a complete new navigation system will show the upcoming posibilities in navigation precision and accuracy. We will explain the cooperative usage of the US operated GPS system and the new Galileo installed in the near future by the European Union. See the tech news for more.
For all day driving it is often a question – where shall I place my navi in the car? What can I do for optimal safety? We will try to give you ideas to have comfortable and safe navigation system in your car.
Enjoy reading,
Your carNAVi Team
More about Geocaching
Geocaching is similar to the 150-year-old game letterboxing, which uses clues and references to landmarks embedded in stories. Geocaching was conceived shortly after the removal of Selective Availability from the GPS system on May 1, 2000, because the improved accuracy of the system allowed for a small container to be specifically placed and located. The first documented placement of a GPS-located cache took place on May 3, 2000, by Dave Ulmer of Beavercreek, US State of Oregon. The location was posted on the Usenet. By May 6, 2000, it had been found twice and logged once. According to Dave Ulmer the original stash was a black plastic bucket buried most of the way in the ground.
For the traditional geocache, a geocacher will place a waterproof container containing a log book (with pen or pencil) and trade items then record the cache’s coordinates. These coordinates, along with other details of the location, are posted on a listing site (see list of some sites below). Other geocachers obtain the coordinates from that listing site and seek out the cache using their GPS handheld receivers. The finding geocachers record their exploits in the logbook and online. Geocachers are free to take objects (except the logbook, pencil, or stamp) from the cache in exchange for leaving something of similar or higher value.
Ho do you do it
For a list of available Geocaches in the Philippines please click here. You need to sign up a free membership at geocache.com for viewing the coordinates of the cache. More about geocaching.com in this video on YouTube
How to enter the coordinates in your carNAVi?
We have prepared some new article about Geocaching in our FAQ, please click here for the Geocaching basics and visit this page to learn how to enter coordinates into your carNAVi.
Placing your own Geocache
If you would like to setup your own cache, please read the instructions on geocaching.com and in this Wikipedia article. While placing your cache please remind yourself for some security guidelines. Cachers have been approached by police and questioned when they were seen as acting suspiciously. Other times, investigation of a cache location after suspicious activity was reported has resulted in police and bomb squad discovery of the geocache. Schools have been occasionally evacuated when a cache has been seen by teachers or police, as in the case of Fairview High School in 2009. A number of caches have been destroyed by bomb squads.
The placement of geocaches has critics among some government personnel and the public at large who consider it littering. However, certain types of placements can be problematic. Although disallowed, hiders could place caches on private property without adequate permission (intentionally or otherwise), which encourages cache finders to trespass. Caches might also be hidden in places where the act of searching can make a finder look suspicious (e.g. near schools, children’s playgrounds, banks, courthouses, or in residential neighborhoods), or where the container placement could be mistaken for a drug stash or a bomb (especially in urban settings, under bridges, near banks, courthouses, or embassies).
Researched for you
Galileo is a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) currently being built by the European Union (EU) and European Space Agency (ESA). The €3.4 billion project is an alternative and a complement to the U.S. NAVSTAR Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Russian GLONASS. On 30 November 2007 the 27 EU transportation ministers involved reached an agreement that it should be operational by 2013.
Galileo is intended to provide more precise measurements than available through GPS or GLONASS (Galileo will be accurate down to the metre range) including the height (altitude) above sea level, and better positioning services at high latitudes. The political aim is to provide an independent positioning system upon which European nations can rely even in times of war or political disagreement, since Russia or the USA could disable use of their national systems by others (through encryption). More information is available at ESA, click here.
For users the additional navigation technology means more accuracy, better satellite receiption in urban areas, simply a more reliable system in your hand. New carNAVi navigation systems will be Galileo-ready by Q4 this year. Equipped with a 64-Channel GPS/Galileo receiver they will be again the benchmark in affordable car-navigation.
The best place in the car…
As we know, our country has no regulations where to place a GPS navigation system in the car. We would suggest to place the carNAVi in the middle of the windshield as low as possible down to the dashboard.
If you are very small or have a quite low seating position, we would suggest to place the unit in the leftmost lower corner of the windshield.
Please remember, that placing an item in the windshield can hide some objects or persons in front of you on the road, while you drive. This is why some countries, like the US State of California and Switzerland are not allowing to place the GPS device in the middle of the screen. In this countries – and maybe in others, too – it is only allowed to place the GPS unit in the leftmost lower corner of the windshield.
Places you should not use:
– Never install the unit on the right half of the windshield, because it can be hit by the passengers airback and cause serious injury!
– Never place the unit beside the inner rear mirror, this place is very unsafe, first the unit is hiding objects and persons in front of you on the road and second it can become a dangerous object in case of an accident.
*) If you bring your carNAVi to other countries, please take note of the national regulations.
New accessories in the carNAVi Store
We added some new articles in the carNAVi Store.
Now more accessories for your carNAVi are available exclusively in our online store. You can order extra windshield-mounting holders, we have new and specially designed neoprene carrying cases, spare parts and many other articles. The carNAVi Store offers free shipping within the entire Philippines for selected items and credit card purchases are billed without additional charges. Visit store.car-navi.ph for details
