Fun Things to Do with Your GPS Locator

Small, hand-held GPS units are becoming both affordable and ubiquitous. While sophisticated units that can recommend restaurants, give driving directions, and interface with extensive software packages for your PC are de rigeur, there is a wealth of power in the even simplest unit that includes the most rudimentary functions. Here are just a few ideas:

1. GEOCACHING. There are thousands of 'caches' in your area waiting for you to discover. Some contain only a logbook to record your successful find, but the best contain a handful of treasures: take a treasure or leave a treasure. Go to www.geocaching.org for a list of caches near you. Download or simply write down the latitude and longitude, then use your GPS unit to search.

2. GEOART. You can find numerous examples of this online. The idea is to use a GPS unit that tracks your path and plots it on a maps. You then walk, bike, or drive a path that will form a pattern or spell a message when viewed from above. You can do this whether you're uploading the finished work onto your PC to preserve and share, or think of it as Etch-a-Sketch art on a grand scale: the work will only be viewable on the unit itself until you erase it like a Buddhist mandala. In a city, you can use the grid of streets to make geometric designs; in a sufficiently large open space the size of a football field or larger you can draw freehand.

3. MULTI-STAGE TREASURE HUNT. This is similar to one type of geocache hunt, but you do it for a small group of friends without using the internet. Hide a small token, write down its coordinate, then deposit those coordinates with a second token at another location. Repeat until you've got 5-10 links in the chain; give your searcher the coordinates of the first token (the last one you hid) and let the games begin. Create two or more independent chains along the same path and you can have teams racing against each other, each with its own clues and token locations.

4. HANDY SPEEDOMETER. Most GPS units perform a surprisingly accurate estimate of velocity by differencing consecutive position measurement. Use this to gauge your speed whenever an actual speedometer is unavailable; roller coaster rides, ski trips, skate parks, or foot race. Use the unit's 'Max Speed" function to determine your fastest speed since the last time you reset the trip function.

5. OTHER FUNCTIONS. I've always liked a unit that will tell me local sunrise and sunset times. This is useful information on a winter evening hike, but more to the point, it connects you with your time and place to know a little bit about the earth's progress through the cosmos. The creep of rise and set, forward and backward across the clock face -- and north and south along the horizon -- are part of being in touch with nature. Ironically, a high-tech device can put you back in touch with those rhythms. There are numerous other functions that you will discover purposes for, as well.

The Global Positioning System, like the Internet, is one of the great technological public resources of our time. Even a relatively simple, inexpensive unit can provide you with a wealth of entertainment and practical tools. I hope you will enjoy the thrill of the discovery.