Hello Tweeters:

On the back of the sports page of today's (Thurs) Seattle Times is a story
about winter hiking, and one about GPS. The article addresses a problem that
a Tweeters member indicated some time ago. For those who don't have the
Times, the first part of the story is:

<< The biggest problem to date with global positioning system receivers has
been the inability to work in the situations where they are often needed.
That is, when a back-countery traveler is stuck in deep forest, heavy snow or
rainstorms, or in a narrow valley - conditions that make taking a traditional
compass bearing difficult - the GPS units couldn't lock onto their satellites.
But the new generation of 12-channel receivers changes that.

The Magellan GPS 4000XL is an excellent example of the new technology used to
its utmoste advantage. By locking onto the signals of up to 12 satellites at
a time (or in paralled channels), the 4000XL is much more effective than the
first generation receivers. The parallel uplinks allow the unit to be used
under those heavy forsest canopies and in whiteout snowstorms......... >>

I think that it was the trees and hills that blocked out a Tweeters user.
This unit is priced at around $250.

Jim Brewster
Kent Washington