Magellan Explorist 200 GPS
Thales Navigation (Magellan GPS) sent us two handheld GPS's this year for review. The Explorist 200 and the Explorist 500, although the Explorist 500 was delayed in shipping by a few months we got our Explorist 200 right away. So since I had the Explorist 200 handy, I decided to dedicate the morning to finding an obscure location in the middle of the oil patch south of Carlsbad, New Mexico known only to me by its latitude and longitude. I chose the site off the official site for Geo-caching because of the history lesson it offered.
The Project Gnome (N 32° 15.790 W 103° 51.990) was the test location for a government initiative to use nuclear weapons as a peaceful resource for energy. The idea was to detonate a nuclear bomb well below the surface of the earth, turning the salt bed below into a molten heat source. The project had other objectives as well. From the Department of Energy: Nevada (Film of the test is available on this website, neat stuff):
GNOME was the first nuclear test in the Plowshare Program. The Plowshare Program objectives were to determine how energy produced from nuclear explosions could be used for peaceful or civilian purposes. The Vela Uniform Program studied seismic detection, identification, and location of nuclear explosions. Studies were conducted underground with ground-based instruments for detecting explosions in outer space and with established satellite-based instruments for detecting explosions in outer space.
Although GNOME was a Plowshare test, the Vela Uniform objective was to determine how the signals and effects of a 3-kiloton device detonated underground in salt beds differed from the outputs of detonations of different yields in other geologic formations such as tuff and granite. Scientists also wanted to compare the seismic signals from underground tests with that of earthquakes.
The coordinates for this site were given in degrees and minutes. What threw me off initially was that the minutes were given to the third decimal place (1000th place). Since the Explorist GPS display was in degrees, minutes, and seconds by default, I had no idea off-hand on how to input the information. Refusing to use the owner’s manual, I explored the preferences menu and was easily able to change the format of the coordinates. Overall, the Explorist was not that different from a regular PC; there were menus and sub-menus that organized its features well, the small joystick dual function button made menu jumping quick and easy. Without any input from the manual, I was able to navigate and use just about every capability.
I found the Gnome Project Site with no problem at all. I started with the destination screen. The larger map included even small county roads without any special downloads or computer hookups. In fact it went into such detail as to note high voltage wire lines that ran in the area. So it was easy to identify landmarks of upcoming turns on the roads and where we would expect those roads to be as we approached. Once I was within a few miles, I switched to the direction screen, which allowed me to use a compass to see my heading in relation to the specific “go to” point. This particular screen displayed my speed in miles-per-hour (not the only setting available) and also the distance to my destination. A compass dial is also rendered on the direction screen, making heading easy to determine.
This unit also featured track logging. The feature allows you to store up to five different tracks to make finding your way back to a location easier. I didn’t plan any expeditions complicated enough for this feature, but just by looking at the menu, the feature seemed very easy to use.
The Explorist 200 included a lighted display. I was happy with the orange light; I expected green. It did appear to drain the battery rather quickly. I found it just as easy to use the dome light in the pick-up. If the lighted display wasn’t employed, the battery life was good using Duracell batteries.
I was really happy with the GPS unit as far as intuitive menus are concerned. It was easy to figure out how to mark and edit points and navigate all of the menus. I never even picked up the user’s manual. All the displays were easy to read. Satellite acquisition was fairly quick, and I didn’t have any trouble retaining a signal once one was obtained.
I really only had two complaints:
- Depending on the amount of zoom on the destination screen, the title of some of the stored Points of Interest would obscure the view of the map. The problem is easily solved by either zooming in or out, or even using shorter names to designate Points of Interest.
- The display light drained the battery. If Magellan comes up with a way to solve that problem the patent will probably make them billions.
