5
Congratulations!
You have purchased the finest hand-held GPS reciever Lowrance has
ever made. With its large LCD screen, easy to use menus, and outstand-
ing performance, we think you’ll be happy with this product for a long time.
No other hand-held GPS receiver on the market today has the GlobalMap
Sport’s™ combination of 5 channel receiver, inland and C-Map mapping
cartridge capability, and programmable displays in a waterproof, handheld
unit.
Please sit down with the unit and this manual and familiarize yourself with
it before using it in the “real world”. A simulator is built in, which lets you
practice navigation, making waypoints and routes in the comfort of your
home.
TIPS
GPS works from satellites that transmit information to the world at very
high frequencies. One disadvantage to this frequency is that it’s “line-of-
sight”. In other words, the signals don’t bounce around like your local
radio or television. If you don’t have a clear view of the sky, or if you’re
under a metal roof or awning, the unit probably won’t be able to pick up
the signals from the satellites. This is common among all GPS receivers.
You can use it in a car, however, you may need to place the unit on the
dash, or have a friend hold it near the window so the antenna can pick up
the signals. The PA-1 remote antenna kit is available that lets you mount
the antenna away from the unit.
Like most GPS receivers, your GlobalMap Sport™ doesn’t have a com-
pass or any other navigation aid built into it. It relys solely on the signals
from the satellites to determine its position. Speed, direction of travel, and
distance are all calculated from position information. Therefore, in order
for it to determine the direction you’re travelling, you must be moving, and
the faster - the better. This is not to say the unit won’t work at walking
speeds - it will. But the faster you travel, the easier it is for the unit to
determine your direction. That’s why it can put seemingly random num-
bers in the TRK (Track) data box when you’re standing still. It doesn’t
know which direction you’re facing until you start moving.
Another factor that influences the GPS’ position and navigation capabili-
ties is called selective availablity or SA. This is small errors purposefully
injected into the transmitted signal from the satellites. The government
does this to degrade the system’s accuracy to civilian and foreign users.
Even with SA, GPS is the most accurate navigation system ever invented
on such a large scale.
