Cool tools

Thales Magellan SporTrak Pro
GPS Satellite Navigation Receiver

Rating:

By Joel Shore

Month xx, 2002

I have business cards coming out of my ears. Trade shows. Cocktail parties. Speaking engagements. Wherever I go, I come home with dozens of business cards. And if you think I relish the thought of typing all that info into Outlook, well, think again. It’s not that I’m lazy; I’m too darn busy.

That’s why I have a Corex 600c business-card scanner. All you do is feed the cards in the front, and the fist-size unit does the rest. It scans the card, uses optical character recognition technology to transform the scanned into actual editable text, and it tucks all that info into a nice, little database. And with one more mouse click, you can copy all of your new customer prospects into Microsoft Outlook, ACT!, GoldMine, and a gaggle of other address books.

Easy set-up. The 600c is a snap to connect, just connect it to any available USB port on your PC. Installing the software takes about five minutes. A calibration card is included to make sure the unit is working without any problems.

Hansel and Gretel. If you're hiking and camping in the woods, it's crucial to know where you where you are and how to get back to civilization. You do this by storing waypoints. A waypoint is simply a specific location (maybe a large boulder, fork in a trail, or signpost) that you want to mark and return to later. It's exactly like Hansel and Gretel leaving their fabled trail of breadcrumbs. String two or more waypoints together and you've got a route. The SporTrak Pro lets you store 20 routes. With a stored route you can retrace your steps to (and back from) your favorite campsite, or your oarstrokes to your favorite fishing spot year after year.

of the gizmos sitting in my office, but don’t touch my CardScan 600c. It’s just too cool.<

PRESS RELEASE:
Santa Clara, CA (May 30, 2002) Thales (tal-less) Navigation, global provider of Magellan® consumer and Ashtech® professional GPS solutions, announced today the availability of the advanced Magellan SporTrak™ Pro, the first of the new SporTrak series of three handheld GPS receivers, including the SporTrak Map and SporTrak. The premium SporTrak Pro delivers the convenience of a compact, lightweight design without compromising superior performance and robust functionality. WAAS-enabled for positioning accuracy of three-meters or better, SporTrak Pro is the only navigation device in its price category offering 32 MB of built-in memory with an extensive database of maps, marine navigation aids and points of interest. SporTrak Pro helps active consumers get where they’re going with confidence and find their way back with ease, making it ideal for summer adventures in the city, the wilderness or on water.

“The SporTrak Pro is the perfect companion for people who realize the value of GPS and mapping solutions for outdoor and marine activities as well as everyday life applications like getting around an unfamiliar town,” said Lonnie Arima, vice president of worldwide sales and marketing. “The combination of features makes it a valuable tool that’s easy to operate, even if you’ve never used GPS before.”

Available from major sporting goods and consumer electronics retailers, SporTrak Pro has a stylish casing that’s rugged, waterproof, and even floats. Whether backpacking, camping, hunting, fishing, climbing, kayaking, mountain biking or traveling off-road, the pocketsize Magellan SporTrak Pro has advanced features users can depend on in all conditions, including a quadrifiler helix antenna that provides superior satellite tracking even in densely covered areas. Its 9 MB built-in map database includes major roads, highways, waterways, parks and airports, as well as buoys, marinas, lighthouses, wrecks and obstructions for traveling offshore. It also has 23 MB of available memory for downloading street detail, points of interest or topographic maps from Magellan MapSend™ software.

“We found the Magellan Sportrak Pro, and another Magellan receiver we reviewed, to be the most accurate consumer GPS receivers we’ve ever tested,” said Joe Mehaffey, GPS technology expert of gpsinformation.net. “Its superior accuracy is especially apparent under moderate tree cover where the SporTrak Pro generally maintained better than three-meter accuracy while competitive units produced widely scattered position data points.”

Easy to carry at just 6.1 ounces and only 1.3” deep, the SporTrak series is designed for versatility and simplicity. SporTraks feature a new nine-key keypad for easy access to nine navigation screens and a large, easy-to-read, high-contrast, backlit display. They direct users toward their destination while displaying bearing, heading, distance, speed, remaining time to destination, cross-track error and more.

An advanced search function quickly locates landmarks, cities and roads. Mariners will appreciate the anchor, arrival and cross track alarms as well as a resettable trip odometer. A sunrise and sunset calculator keeps users on schedule, and the best-hunting-and-fishing-time calculator helps users make the most of outdoor adventures. Users can also save up to 500 of their favorite locations and 20 reversible routes with up to 30 legs, information that the memory retains even if the receiver loses power. In addition, the waypoint-messaging feature allows users to create notes with each landmark they save while a backtracking feature records the user’s path with up to 2,000 trackpoints to create easily retraceable routes.

Available June 2002, the versatile SporTrak Map and the affordable SporTrak will also offer advanced features not usually found on competitively priced units. SporTrak Map features a built-in 2 MB database of major roads, highways, parks, waterways, airports and cities, with an additional 4 MB of memory for downloading navigation information from MapSend software. The SporTrak receiver will deliver a worldwide database of major cities, points of interest and 1 MB of built-in memory for downloading data from Magellan DataSend™ software – including cities, campgrounds, parks, marine navaids and more.

SporTrak Pro, SporTrak Map and SporTrak all ship with a PC cable, user manual and quick start guide. Optional accessories include vehicle, bike and swivel mounting brackets, a canvas carrying case and a variety of power and PC data cables, including a cigarette lighter adapter. For dealer locations and additional information on the Magellan SporTrak series and the MapSend and DataSend software, visit http://www.magellangps.com or call 800-669-4477.