Becoming Familiar with Your Mini GPS Tracker

After considering all the options, making your list, checking it twice, and finding out which GPS receivers are naughty and nice, you’ve finally come to that blessed event where you’re the proud owner of a GPS receiver. But before you step out the door for a 100-mile wilderness trek or cross-country road trip, intent on relying on your new electronic gadget as a guide, be sure spend some time getting to know your Mini GPS Trackers . A good place to start your GPS familiarization process is with the user manual. Many GPS receivers have a quick-start guide that gets you up and running in a matter of minutes. These guides are perfect for those impatient, got-to-haveit-now people; however, I suggest that you also take the time to read the full user manual. Otherwise, you could miss out on some important information contained in the full user manual. In addition to the user manual, this section will also help you become familiar with your GPS receiver so you can get the most out of it.

Obviously, because so many Portable GPS models are on the market, don’t expect to find detailed operating procedures for your specific model here: You need your user manual for that. What you can expect is basic information that applies to most GPS receivers, including some things most user manuals don’t mention. Based on a number of years of search and rescue experience, I can list numerous occasions when hunters and hikers thought that their GPS receiver was some kind of magic talisman that would prevent them from getting lost. And quite often when the search teams finally found them, they had no clue whatsoever how to properly use their GPS receiver. Powering Your GPS Receiver Before you can start using your GPS receiver, you obviously need to give it some power. For portable GPS receivers, that usually means AA or AAA batteries. Manufacturers all give estimated battery lifetimes for their GPS receivers, but the actual number of hours a GPS receiver will run depends on how it’s being used. For example, with the backlight on, battery life goes down because more power is consumed. In addition, what type of batteries you’re using can also make a difference. Battery saver mode Some GPS receivers have a battery saver mode that can greatly extend the life of your batteries. 

Normally, a Personal Tracking Devices processes satellite data every second and determines your speed and location. Based on this information, the GPS receiver predicts where you should be the next time it gets satellite data. If the prediction is close to your actual position and battery saver mode is turned on, the GPS receiver will start receiving satellite signals every five seconds or so instead of every second. In addition, some of the internal electronics are turned off during this wait period. Because a reduced amount of power is needed, the battery life is extended. The GPS receiver continues to access satellite data every five seconds until the predicted location isn’t accurate anymore, at which time it switches back to receiving data every second, starting the process over again. Some GPS receivers provide you with a number of choices of how often satellite data is received. The more seconds, the more battery efficient the receiver is.

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