Ollie,
Your conclusions are basically correct - you can't relay on any piece of technology unless it can be fixed with a big hammer :-). But they need a bit of fine-tuning.
I've been using electronic navigation for many years and can say that in 99 per cent of cases it gets me there and back. The remaining 1 per cent can be made up by using such cheap tricks as asking for directions or using paper maps.
If my past experience is anything to go by, here are some points which I hope someone may find useful:
Rule No 1 - If you want to use any electronic navigation tool, make sure it's right for the job and you have enough practice in using it. Enter coordinates into your GPS using DMS while DMM is needed and you'll know what I mean.
Rule No 2 - If you decide to use it, make sure it works 100% and you know how to fix it if it doesn't. Otherwise you may end up carrying around plenty of dead weight - too expensive to throw away and too knackered to be useful.
Rule No 3 - Use sufficient redundancy built into the system. These days GPS receivers, hard disks, PC computers or power supplies come so cheap you can buy them by the pound. It's better to have two or three cheap spare items than one all-singing-all-dancing ultra expensive Halfords gizmo that can leave you stranded or get stolen.
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Roman (UK)
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