LightMaster GPS Navigation Tutorial

Everyone uses GPS, but few understand its full potential or limitations. The GPS Tutor addresses these important issues.

Most GPS owners do not know how best to use the equipment.

What accuracy can you expect under different conditions?

What simple preparation can you do to magnify the value of your GPS?

How do you avoid the pitfalls, which can make the GPS a dangerous guide?

GPS is found everywhere. At sea, in the air, on the roads and in the countryside, but few users are properly aware of the errors which can be dangerously misleading, or of the simple steps which let your GPS provide you with accurate information in a way which is easier to understand and use.

The LightMaster GPS Navigation Tutorial is software which you run on your PC, providing an interactive guide to the best ways to use GPS, with a particular emphasis on marine use. The most common contact with GPS technology today is in car navigation products. These hide the GPS functions behind a fixed A-B route direction system. Marine GPS sets can offer a bewildering array of different display modes and personalisation options. Make the right choice and you can enjoy precise, accurate navigation. Make the wrong choice, and you can be dangerously misled.

Unlike a simple video presentation, you can operate buttons on the on-screen GPS and see the results on the display. You can manoeuvre your vessel over a ‘chart’ and see the GPS readout changing. Learn which techniques give the best or easiest results in different navigation situations.

The Tutorial explains, with simple illustrations, how the GPS system operates. It looks at the potential accuracy and errors which you can expect, and how to minimise those errors. Typical controls and displays are discussed, and can be explored interactively.

A section on installation and initial use covers everything from first switch-on, to interfacing with other instruments and computers.

Passage planning looks at all the steps and equipment which are vital to preparing for a safe passage and includes a demonstration of automated tidal calculation.

A major section uses animations and interaction to explore a range of techniques to get more from the GPS, and present the information in the best manner for each task.

The low cost of the GPS Tutorial will soon be paid back in greater value from your investment in GPS, and in your added confidence and enjoyment at sea.

Prices

Individual student licence £19.95 – for personal study by one, named, individual only.

Professional licence for School or Club £59.95 per PC

For installations of more than 5 PCs, contact LightMaster to discuss licence options

Minimum System Requirements

A PC running Windows 98, ME, 2000 or XP. CPU 800Mhz Pentium III or equivalent.

CD drive for software installation

Specifications

• Interactive, multi-media presentation, using text, illustrations, animations and simulation.
• Non-technical explanation of how GPS works.
• Illustrated guide to the accuracy available in different conditions.
• Potential pitfalls which can reduce accuracy and how to avoid them.
• Interactive exploration of the controls and displays on a typical marine GPS.
• Guidance for the initial set-up, installation and interfacing of your GPS to a PC.
• The vital role of passage-planning and safety preparation for sea.
• Animated, interactive guide to best techniques in chartwork and choosing the correct display modes.