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* Illustration: Don Clark * Whether you're heading into the wild or down the road, it's hard to find a better electronic sidekick than a GPS. (Well, you know, other than a cell phone.) NavTeq, which provides electronic cartography for the likes of Garmin and Magellan, says GPS unit sales doubled in 2008 (after tripling in 2007). Still, even savvy gadgeteers sometimes can't locate their device's true potential.
Because a GPS has to receive a signal from space, physical impediments like skyscrapers, cliff faces, and even trees can stump it. Reception is less of an issue with the ultrasensitive chipsets in newer models, but if the walls are closing in on you, take a cue from a time when navigation systems weren't the streamlined panels they are today: Hooking up an antenna will make use of even the most tenuous celestial connection. There's a port on the back of most GPS devices for jacking in.
But don't drop $50 on extra hardware until you've made sure the problem isn't operator error. The worst time to power up your GPS is when you actually need it. Before you set out, find some wide-open sky and give your silicon guide a couple of minutes to itself. Newer units have detailed tables that tell them where the satellites will be at any time of day, anywhere in the world; they just need a single clean sync to get oriented. If you wait until you're in the woods, the receiver will have to scan the heavens with no inkling of where to start.
You'll also want to remember that a GPS is not a compass: It runs on software. Like your PC, it needs to communicate with the mother ship periodically. Vendors refresh firmware and maps on a regular basis, sometimes even daily. These updates deliver new bits of data that significantly affect your gadget's accuracy. But if you live in the boonies on a road named after your sister-wife, don't expect NavTeq to come a-knocking with its survey equipment. Fortunately, most companies make it easy to update your own maps. Usually it's as simple as plugging into your home computer, dropping a couple of pins in Google Maps, and clicking Save.
If you own a new TomTom, it's even easier. You can edit maps on the unit itself, though you might not have to: Some of the company's navis update themselves. TomTom's IQ Routes software takes data from every person who uses the company' gadgets and readjusts its assumptions about which roads you should use and how long a given route will take. It will even change its own maps.
See, it's not that hard: Your GPS may use NASA technology, but getting the most out of it isn't rocket science.
