Today was another of our treats - a training day without any work to do. Hurray! This time we were being instructed on how to use a GPS receiver, something that many of us will find invaluable in our AONB work. The number of places was restricted, but five NCVs were able to join three AONB staff to take part. The event was held in the NCV's workshop at Bewerley and, as soon as the fire was lit (yes - the day was a very cold one), we all got down to work.
The training session was led by Peter Judd from GRS training, a Cumbrian based company (see http://www.gpstraining.co.uk ) Peter is a Lake District National Park Authority volunteer and has been running GPS training sessions for ten years, so he knew exactly the kinds of things we would be likely to need to do with a GPS.
The NCVs listen intently whilst Peter explains
about way points, tracks, routes and WAAS
(wide area augmentation system for the uninformed -
it simply gives extra help to the GPS receiver to know where it is!)
During the morning he explained to us how a GPS works and how to set up a new receiver. We also learned about many of the features that are available to the user. We then went outside and had some fun using the handsets to find a location and mark a way point. The way point selected was a particularly interesting one - a telegraph pole along the roadside. We had to enter a note to provide some additional information and give it a symbol. Everyone chose different symbols from the many available - I selected a shopping trolley just because I could!
By lunchtime we had learned a great deal and had enjoyed following the compass readings, mapping our tracks with wiggly red lines on the electronic maps. We retired to the barn for a bite to eat and a warm by the fire.
The NCVs get busy marking this
interesting telegraph pole.
By lunchtime we had learned a great deal and had enjoyed following the compass readings, mapping our tracks with wiggly red lines on the electronic maps. We retired to the barn for a bite to eat and a warm by the fire.
During the afternoon we heard about how to set up a route and then went back outside to follow a route that Peter shared with us all via the wireless facility on each handset. At one point we measured the area enclosed by our track and then way marked some interesting trees.
My handset was a whizzy one that allowed me to take photos of each item, so no need for any irrelevant icons any more.
At the bottom of Peat Lane the trainees do some 'housekeeping' with their receivers, clearing out track data in order to prepare for measuring the vast area about to be checked (it turned out to be 0.03 acres!)
My handset was a whizzy one that allowed me to take photos of each item, so no need for any irrelevant icons any more.
Trainees get busy way marking a tree stump that Paul has selected as a worthy candidate.
One unfortunate outcome of the event arose from the overwhelming urge to keep your eye on the receiver as you walked along. In the case of four participants this led to them arriving back at the workshop with rather unpleasant deposits on the soles of their boots!
Back at base camp we finished off the day finding out how to integrate the handset data with the 'Basemap' software on a computer. I discovered that there is no further need for me to draw in grid reference points on a paper map when preparing our bird box monitoring maps - the GPS and computer will do it all for me. How cool is that? Of course I would first need to buy a GPS - this is something I intend to do tomorrow!
Thanks for a great day Peter.
Ros E.
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