GPS in Schools – Basic Receiver Operation
Produced by the University of Tasmania in conjunction with Geoscience Australia as part of the AuScope GPS in Schools Project – 2014.
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Compass
Most GPS receivers also have a compass to show you where north is. In the majority of older receivers,
the user must be moving for the compass feature to work correctly. More modern receivers have a
dedicated compass that allows them to point to north even if you’re standing still. To determine if your
receiver has a dedicated compass, simply rotate the physical receiver while standing still. If the
compass direction continues to point (roughly) towards north while rotating, your receiver has a
dedicated compass. If the direction doesn’t update, you’re probably using an older receiver.
When using the compass feature on your GPS, it’s important to check the compass settings. Most GPS
receivers can be set to point towards ‘True North’ or ‘Magnetic North’. While the difference between
these two versions of North is beyond the scope of this exercise, it is important to realise that there is a
small difference between the two, which varies depending on your location on the earth. Traditional
handheld compasses all point towards Magnetic North, and unless your GPS is set to point towards
Magnetic North as well, the resulting directions may be slightly different.
GPS File Formats
When saving tracks or waypoints on your GPS receiver, they are saved in a specific file format that
your GPS can understand. Each type of GPS receiver uses a different format, so when you export this
information onto a computer, it often needs to be converted so your mapping software can read it.
Google Earth can read files in ‘KML’ and ‘KMZ’ format only. If your GPS receiver doesn’t store its
information in this format, you may have to convert it using an online utility such as the ‘GPS Visualizer
GPS Data Converter’ (see
) or an application such as GPS Utility
). Once converted, you can open your files for viewing and plotting inside
Google Earth.
Further Information
For more detailed information, refer to the user manual of your specific GPS receiver or check out the
following resources:
GPS Receiver Tutorials
•
A step-by-step guide to using a Garmin eTrex GPS Receiver (see additional handout).
•
Quick start guide for the ‘MotionX-GPS’ app for iOS devices (see
•
Getting started guide for the ‘GPS Essentials’ app for Android devices
(see
GPS Data Transfer Tutorials
•
Transferring GPS data with ‘Easy GPS’ (see additional handout).
Google Earth Tutorials
•
Inserting placemarks in Google Earth (see additional handout).
•
Organising files and folders inside Google Earth (see additional handout).
