Hi Kathy, The word GPS stands for Global Positioning System. What it involves is using a GPS receiver to track satellites which constantly orbit the Earth, and the receiver and satellites establish a person's position on the Earth. The military has set up 24 GPS satellites, 12 in the Southern Hemisphere, and 12 in the Northern; these satellites are constantly orbiting the Earth. The GPS in general can be used to track the location of any object, and there are many companies which manufacture the receivers, two of the most common being Magellan and Garmin. However, the main purpose that civilians use it for is as a navigational tool. They get a GPS receiver which tracks their position based on signals sent from the 24 satellites that orbit the planet, and this position, combined with maps and Point of Interest databases, can be used to calculate a route to a destination, and let the person know about their environment in terms of places like restaurants, hotels, museums, airports, resorts, and other POI's (Points of Interest). GPS receivers usually have the maps, databases, and necessary software built right into them, and people can have receivers put into their car or boat; they are also now being offered as part of some cell phones. However, these are not accessible for the blind and visually impaired. GPS systems can also be integrated into PDA's, which is where the BrailleNote GPS comes into play. The BrailleNote GPS uses a commercial GPS receiver, and if you get the system from Pulse Data or the Sendero Group, you will get the Magellan SporTrak receiver as part of the package; however, the BrailleNote GPS system will also support other Magellan receives like the Magellan 310 and Garmin receivers, if you prefer to buy one yourself. These stand-alone receivers (they are not built into anything and are not part of anything, but are just the receivers themselves) are hand-held and about the size of a cell phone. To ensure accessability, you don't use the maps and POI database on the GPS receiver itself, but you have this to install on your BrailleNote. With the GPS software on your BrailleNote, you connect the receiver to the BrailleNote, and the GPS signals will relay to the GPS software on the BrailleNote once a connection has been established between the two and a GPS position has been detected. This signal will be in the form of numbers, which will be translated by the software as information about your location, which will be relayed back to you through the BrailleNote. You can use the system to find out about your surroundings when you're doing something like riding in a bus or car, or you can set a route to a destination, so you know how to get to a place when walking or giving directions to a driver, or where you're going when you're riding a bus or train or just riding in a vehicle without giving directions. You can add your own Points of Interest and your defined routes to a place, which may be different from the routes created by the system from one location to another. The BrailleNote GPS also has a Virtual Mode, where you set a certain position, and can then explore the area without actually going there. You don't have to be in that particular place when exploring an area with Virtual Mode because it's designed so you can make a route to a place or simply become familiar with the environment of the place before you actually travel there. Of course, you can simply explore a place out of curiosity I suppose, if you just wanted to do this without actually having plans to go there! Anyway, like any piece of technology, it's got its limits, but it seems like something which is really helpful to a blind or visually impaired person. If you really want to get into the specifics of the system, go to the Web site of the Sendero Group, where you can download the GPS User Guide, and find other useful information, such as specifications on the SporTrak receiver. The Web site is: www.senderogroup.com If you got the GPS now, you'd be getting version 2, which is the first version with maps, and is obviously improved from version 1; version 2 is also currently the latest version of the system. However, as with other aspects of BrailleNote software, you can have the system upgraded as new software comes out for it. I hope this helps, but if you want to know more about it, the User Guide and Specifications Sheet for the SporTrak receiver, which can be found at the Web site above, will provide you with much more detailed information than the overview I've written here. Hope you find this helpful. Regards, Maria
> ----- Original Message ----- >From: "Kathy Davis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: "Braillenote List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 19:30:55 -0500 >Subject: Re: [Braillenote] First Day owner >Dear Maria, >I am Kathy from Florida and I have recently received a Braille Note qt. >Please tell me what a GPS is. I am really looking forward to gaining >knowledge from those of you who know so much than I do at this point about >the BN. >Thanks in advance. >Kathy Davis >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Maria Kristic" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: "Braillenote List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: Sunday, March 21, 2004 11:15 AM >Subject: re: [Braillenote] First Day owner >> Hi Nancy, >> My name's Maria Kristic, and I live in upstate New York. Congratulations >on getting your BrailleNote! I remember being just as excited as you are now >when I got my unit over a year ago. I also have a BT, but mine's a 32-35ll. >I don't have a GPS or Super Disk Drive, but I use a memory card, and I'll >hopefully get a GPS soon. The BrailleNote was my first experience with a >Braille display, as I'd gone from a Braille 'n Speak, so it was a pretty fun >experience. Anyway, I don't know if this is what you're looking for to help >you with your problem, but the BrailleNote will advise you when your battery >is low by displaying a "Battery Is Low" message when you're at 10 percent. >You typically have about two more hours of battery life, and when you get to >about 5 percent, you'll get the "Battery is Critical" message. If >convenient, charge the unit when you get the "Low" message, but if it isn't >convenient, you still have battery life. Once I had forgotten to charge my >unit, so ! >> when I got to school in the morning and turned on my BrailleNote, I was >told the battery was low. I was actually able to use the unit all day >without my battery dying. Admittedly, it had gone down from 10 to 1 >percent, but it still worked. Note though that, when you get the "Critical" >warning, go to the Main Menu by pressing SPACE with dots 1-2-3-4-5-6 to save >all your work because, although you won't lose all your data if the battery >gets so flat that the BrailleNote will shut itself off and be unable to get >powered up again until the AC Adapter is plugged in, you will lose the file >that's open; this means that when the "Critical" message comes up, you >should go to the Main Menu every once in a while, so you can avoid having a >file open when the battery goes really low, like 1 percent or something. If >a file was open, all you'd lose are the contents you'd put in after saving, >so you won't lose all your files. Just for your information, the same thing >applies if you ha! >> ve to do any type of Reset; if nothing is open, you won't lose anythin >> g, but if a file happens to be open, you'll just lose the contents that >you hadn't saved. If I'm not using my BrailleNote for a while, I keep it on >the Main Menu just in case, and every time I switch off, I make sure I'm on >the Main Menu. I know the Braille 'n Speak would tell you the battery was >low only when it was so low that you couldn't work with it anymore without >charging after the message came up, and I don't know what the Braille Lite >had, as I've never used one, but don't worry, you don't have to set anything >to advise you of the battery being low because the BrailleNote will >automatically advise you of this. I hope I've understood your problem >correctly, and I hope this helps. If you need more help with this or >anything related to your BrailleNote or the GPS or anything related to the >BrailleNote, just post, and I'm sure someone on this List will try and >assist you. Hope this helps. >> Regards, >> Maria >>> ----- Original Message ----- >>>From: Nancy Ungar <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >>>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>>Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2004 23:02:34 -0800 >>>Subject: [Braillenote] First Day owner >>>Hi! I'm writing this in Grade 2 on my Braille Lite millennium ;" and am >having some translation problems. I'm so everyxcited I just received my ,? >cell Br Note with the Gps system today. I opened the box and saw all those >wonderful parts of the system. I even got the super disk drie, since I use >it from time to time. I'm like a little kid with a new toy. I've heardo >great things about this list, and I've heard that people goet good answers >from very adept users. >>> There's a lot to learn, but it seems like it'll be fairly easy. I set >the timestdate, and I think the unit came fully charged. I was looking >inthe starter chapter that came in Braille but saw nothing about charging it >again anyway. I did an o chord and a P which told me how much usage I have, >and I'm wondering if I should set a pnmeter so I'll be warned of battery >usage, etcdis By the way, my name is Nancy Ungar, and I live in California. >Thanks for any info and for reading my excited ramblingso ofsmilewith. >>> Nancy >>>___ >>>To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to >>>[EMAIL PROTECTED] >>>To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit >>>http://list.pulsedata.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote >> ___ >> To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit >> http://list.pulsedata.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote >___ >To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit >http://list.pulsedata.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
