[Paddlewise] Casio GPS watch

A few days back someone on the list was asking about Casio's GPS watch. I 
just had a look at a demo model this morning (one of the perks of working in 
the outdoor retail industry). A couple of comments, based just on fiddling 
with the unit - I have no field experience with it.
It's about the size of a small pager. As one of my co-workers observed: "Big 
for a watch, but small for a GPS!"
It uses 8 channel parallel technology and locked on in an impressive 45 
seconds.
It has the usual navigation screens - distance and bearing to waypoints, 
speed, etc.
It holds up to 200 waypoints.
The programming is scroll-and-select with 4 directional arrows, some what 
like the "big" pocket-size GPSs.
While it has a full library of map datums, curiously, it displays positions 
only in latitude and longitude. Not a problem for sea kayakers, but I know 
some of us occasionally venture away from the water, and UTM grid 
co-ordinates might be more useful then.
Sadly, it is not waterproof. Casio says it's okay to wear in the rain, but 
not for swimming or even washing your car! This puts paid to my anticipated 
use as an "emergency" GPS which I could use to broadcast my exact position 
over my VHF should I become separated from my boat and my "main" GPS, since 
I'd most likely be swimming:-)


Philip Torrens
N49°16' W123°06'

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