Handheld GPS practice

This post will fit into my off-the-grid "subseries" of posts.  It will be classified under the general subcategory.  It can read end to end by following the links, or the entire series can be accessed through the table of contents post.

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The last time on the ranch, I discovered that my shack didn't hold up at all.  While I was there, I took the opportunity to look for the last pin that marks off my property from all the others.  It failed because I am not proficient enough with this handheld GPS thing I bought back in 2014.

After practicing with it, I noted that it has a few idiosyncracies.  One of those is that it wants to position you at your last marked waypoint.  It doesn't matter to the thing that you may have moved a hundred feet away, as far as it is concerned, you are still at that last waypoint.

That won't do.  Just won't do.  How do I get it to do what I want?  I decided to mark a waypoint even if that waypoint is already in the system.  I will name it "last" as the last waypoint marked.  Then I will go to the next point I want to mark, and mark it "next".  Then look and see where it says I am.  I should be at "next", not "last".  As a matter of fact, I did do this already, and it seems not to go nuts on me and say I am somewhere else.  Good.

Now, why did I write this up?  I tend to forget stuff.  Number one calls it "CRS".  That means "can't remember shit".  For now on, when I say "CRS", you will know what I mean.  Know what I mean, Vern?

If I make it to the ranch again, I want to be able to find that last damned pin.  Then I will know every corner of my ranch, doggone it.  I have had it for three years, and I still don't know my property.

If you have read this blog, you may have heard that I am selling my van.  Well, sort of selling it.  What I will do is sell if I can get close to the price I want.  Asking price is 3500, but there are no takers so far.  If it doesn't sell, I am sure I can put it to good use.

Thinking of how I will do that.  I can take it to the property, and then I can camp out in it.  Done it before.  Now that all of the crap is out of it, I may well be able to convert it into a living space that I can use while I am out there.  Also want to assemble the trailer I bought back in 2015.  Yes, a lot of stuff got bought, and not used.  Now, I am trying to play catch up, if my health allows.

If I assemble the trailer, I will use the construction methods I used before that didn't work out there.  Of course I will not do it the same way.  I will use a concrete canvas top, which I hope will be sturdy for the kind of conditions that will prevail upon it.

There is enough material in one roll of that stuff to make the roof, and one wall.  Need another wall where the door is.  Can't see buying another roll of the stuff for that wall, so the idea is to use something else for the wall that holds the door.

That will be all for now.  Just wanted to remember how I used the GPS so I can know how to find that last pin.  You don't use it the way they say to use it.  Remember that, and don't let your CRS cause you to use this thing improperly.

You go to the waypoint using the distance and direction as a guide.  If it says it is west at 100 feet, I walk 50 paces, and then check and see where to go next.

I think this method may work well enough.  In the meantime, I will use this GPS to extrapolate where that last pin should be.  Then it can be a waypoint to be found.

Maybe that will work.