Navigation
The focus is on navigating with a GPS device, be it a watch, handheld or your cellphone. No trail runner should be without one. They can help you find your way home, follow a course, or get help to your location.
WHAT IS GPS?
GPS stands for Global Positioning System. It is a satellite based radio navigation system owned and operated by the US Air Force. The system provides location and time information to a GPS receiver anywhere on or near earth. There are alternate systems such as Russia’s GLONASS, the European Union’s Galileo, and India’s MAVIC.
A GPS device locates itself by calculating its position relative to GPS satellites. GPS receivers developed before 2018 had an accuracy of up to five metres. Those developed after 2018 can have an accuracy of up to 30 centimetres!
The simplest use of a GPS for trail runners is to identify exactly where you are on earth so that you can get help to your location, in the longitude and latitude format.
All coordinates in the southern hemisphere will be a position south and a position
