Introduction to waypoints – B&G Network GPSplus User Manual
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INTRODUCTION TO WAYPOINTS
A "waypoint" is simply a point you wish to go to. It can be an
anchorage, a point off a landmark, buoys, harbour
entrances or any position at sea. Whatever the waypoint, it
is necessary to know its position in latitude and longitude or
determine its range and bearing from your present position.
This can be taken directly from your chart.
The GPSPlus display can store 250 waypoints in its
memory, this is commonly called a waypoint library. The
waypoints are given unique numbers, and can also be
named, so they can be recalled when required. After a time
your waypoint library will contain all your most commonly
used navigational points. The waypoints in the library can
be edited if required, i.e. copied, named and deleted. This
will be necessary if you have used all of the 250 waypoint
library locations. Until at least one waypoint has been
entered into the GPSPlus library defining a route the
advanced navigational features obtained by pressing the
NAV key are not available.
ENTERING WAYPOINT DATA
Waypoints can be entered into the waypoint library of the
GPSPlus unit in many ways. The following is a list of these
methods:
1. Mark facility, one-touch waypoint entry.
2. Entry of waypoint latitude and longitude.
3. Entry of present position as a waypoint.
4. Copying from a library waypoint to another.
5. Entry by range and bearing from another waypoint.
6. Copying or "uploading" from another position fixer.
NAMING WAYPOINTS
It is possible to give any waypoint a name. This could be the
charted name of buoys, navigational markers, or any unique
name you wish to use. The name must not exceed eight
characters in length and can be any combination of letters,
numbers, spaces and the symbols <, >, /. All spaces count
as characters. For example:
BUOY,
The following words are reserved for use by the GPSPlus
unit and can not be used as waypoint names:
INSERT
DELETE
START
END
All waypoints can be named before or after their position
has been entered. This allows you to generate a list of
library names and then at a later date enter the latitude and
longitude. The waypoint library can be sorted and listed
either numerically (default) from WPT 1 to WPT 250 or
alphabetically by name. Setting this feature is explained
later.
TRANSFER OF WAYPOINT DATA
It is possible to copy the waypoint library from the GPSPlus
display to another or any NMEA device. This is called
"downloading". There are two methods which will be
explained later. The reverse process, when waypoints are
copied from another GPSPlus display is called "uploading".