Press Release: DeLorme Updates PN-Series GPS Devices

April 1, 2009

YARMOUTH, ME- DeLorme, the leader in mapping and GPS technology for serious outdoor adventures, today announced an update for its Earthmate PN-40 and PN-20 handheld GPS receivers. The update, which has been a closely guarded secret, adds the Tuppahware Detector—this trailblazing tool gives hard-core geocachers the edge they need in the field.

“Development was a two-part process. Once we created an instrument capable of sniffing out plastics, we had to fine tune it to detect only those plastics that contained geocache materials. Thankfully, we discovered that the combination of plastic containers, notebook paper, pen ink, and small children’s toys emits a very specific chemical signature,” explains Greg Wright, director of hardware development.

“While testing has shown great results, we have noted occasional false-positive readings near discount stores. To avoid the problem of hordes of geocachers stampeding stores, we’ve partnered with all the major chains. They are simultaneously releasing the Anti-Tuppahware Detector Force Field. The field will be deployed around each store. You can be comfortable knowing that if you are out geocaching you won’t inadvertently end up in a discount store.”

Product design manager Chip Noble believes the Tuppahware Detector is a huge breakthrough that will change the geocaching world. “A multi-billion dollar satellite system, millions of GPS receivers, and hundreds of thousands of geocaches hidden around the world but still we had to search for containers through the use of reasoning, sight, and instinct. Now, it’s all done for us. Technology has completed the circle. These caches practically find themselves!”

While critics of the system like to point out that not all caches are hidden in plastic containers, DeLorme feels that cache owners everywhere will be scrambling to upgrade their caches to get in on the ground floor of this innovative technology.
 
“Who is going to want to search out some hard-to-find ammo box, when they can let their GPS receiver display the container location directly on the screen? Searching time is reduced to practically nothing. In the field, we have found 200 caches in the time it used to take us to find 25.” said Noble. “With plastic containers and the Tuppahware Detector, it’s all fun and no work.”

“To celebrate this release we are giving away a PN-40 with Tuppahware Detector (Just pay the $499.95 shipping and handling charge). Enter your name at aprilfool@delorme.com.”

PN-40 with Tuppahware Detector


Managing GPS data with Projects in Topo USA

March 9, 2009

Recently there have been several questions about how to manage all of the GPS data that people collect while they are out exploring. The screenshot below shows how valuable it can be to store your GPS tracks, waypoints, and routes in an organized way for reference during future planning activities. This particular project contains all of the track and waypoint data for a canoe trip in Baxter State Park that a group of us at DeLorme have enjoyed over the years. You can see by the notes that Grand Lake Matagamon is very shallow in parts, making the track logs valuable records of successful paths… and some not so successful paths. The waypoints mark camp sites and other favorite attractions we’ve found over the years. I highly recommend  Second Lake camp site if you ever plan a trip of your own.

Baxter Canoe Trip

We use the term “project” in Topo USA to describe the file that stores the current map center and zoom level along with links to route, waypoint, track, and other draw files that have been added to the project. Project files are valuable—they let you organize related files like the yearly canoe tracks and waypoints shown in the Baxter example and return to them later for review and planning.

To create a new project, use the options available in Topo USA’s Map Files tab. Select File>New to ensure that no previous GPS data is present in the new project file.

Map Files options

Once you create a new project,  you can add existing data to the file by clicking the Map File tab’s Add option and selecting either Draw or Route.

Add Draw Files

You can also use the Draw and Route tabs to create new waypoints, tracks, and routes that you can later transfer to a PN-Series device.

Draw Options

By connecting your PN-series device to your computer, you can transfer  GPS data from the device to Topo USA with the Exchange dialog for use on your desktop. Consider using the “New>Waypoint or Track” options within the Exchange Dialog to better manage your data.

Exchange Dialog

Once you add the GPS data  to the project, you can manage the information in the Draw and Route tabs. Each track and waypoint layer appears in the File view—the More button exposes details for the data.

more-button

More Layer View

When finished editing, return to the Map Files tab to use the File menu and save your project. In this example I’ve saved the project as “Baxter Canoe Trip.”

Map Files Saved

You can use your project any time to review past outings, plan new trips, and send resulting waypoint, track and route information to your GPS device. Our Baxter Canoe Trip has repeatedly shown  the value a good planning process can bring to an expedition. Here are some photos from past years…

Getting ready... Paddling out...
Sunset on the lake... Sitting around the campfire...
Morning fog lifting... Camp is that way...
The explorers... Canoes on the shore...

They bring back fond memories of adventures with good friends… I can’t wait for spring!

Chip Noble
DeLorme


Geocaching Updates are Live!

February 13, 2009

I know there are a lot of people out there waiting for this so I’m happy to announce that two of our geocaching updates are available!

DeLorme’s Send to GPS plug-in is available at www.Geocaching.com, just visit their site and click on the Send to GPS button to transfer your geocache to the Earthmate PN-40 or PN-20. Note that the first time you try this you will be sent to our site to download the plug-in… just follow the setup instructions and soon you’ll be seeing a screen like the one below!

Send to GPS

We’ve also released a public beta version of our firmware update for the PN-40… please go to the following link to download this update.

http://forum.delorme.com/viewtopic.php?t=17506

You’ll find instructions for updating your device as well as a list of all the improvements we’ve included.

New with this release… a Mac version of the firmware package! We’re very pleased to have a geocaching solution for all those Mac users out there that have been asking for support.

Mac Firmware Update

Our team is now focusing on the Cache Register widget for the Mac and PC. We’ve been working closely with Groundspeak on this and will be posting more information about this effort on our forums.

Thank you all for your patience while these projects were in development, I’m sure that you will all find it was worth the wait!

Chip Noble
DeLorme


Geocaching update, Paperless with the PN-40

January 31, 2009

Update - Geocaching Updates are Live!

Just a quick note with some screenshots… I know everyone is getting a little restless waiting for the Geocaching.com Initiative to release. I talked with the people at Groundspeak yesterday and they are very close to rolling the Send to GPS functionality out for the PN-Series devices. We’re targeting their release for our PN-40 firmware update so it won’t be long now! Once you have those pieces you’ll be able to view cache information like what I’ve posted below… Keep an eye on our forum for more information and thank you all for your patience while we put the finishing touches on this update!

Chip Noble
DeLorme

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