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 The
Pocket GPS Summit took place on the 5th and 6th of July 2003 and was hosted by
the Pocket GPS Team. In attendance was Dave, Mike, Duncan, Peter.
We would like to thank all
those who
attended the Pocket GPS Summit 2003 and we hope you all thoroughly enjoyed
yourselves getting to look at and test the latest GPS hardware.
For those that didn't attend, we
have documented the event below.
We all originally met up in
the car park of the Waterhead
Hotel in Ambleside, Cumbria. The team then gave an introductory talk about
GPS, we then went through individual introductions and found out the products
that everyone currently use. This took until around midday when we decided
to make a move to a larger location.
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The
next location we went to was the Stickle Barn at Dungeon Ghyll. This
was a superb setting which allowed us to demonstrate and use the GPS
equipment outside in a relaxed pub atmosphere and Mike headed up a walk
using GPS gear up Dungeon Ghyll for the more energetic.
For
everyone who just wanted to talk and check out the latest gear, we gathered
for a further 4 hours showing handheld GPS Receivers like the Magellan
Colour GPS, Magellan SporTrak Pro, Garmin GPSMap 76S.
We
also also showed the new Navman GPS 3450 sleeve, the original GPS 3000 and
3400 sleeves, Pretec, HaiCom and CoPilot CF Cards and also new Bluetooth
Receivers including the Fortuna GPSMart, Emtac/Socket BT GPS, GlobalSat BT
GPS and the new TomTom BT GPS. |
Whilst Duncan, Peter and
myself were talking to everyone about GPS and discussing the latest in Bluetooth
Technology, which street routing programs or moving map products are out on the
market, Mike spent his time leading a team of hikers up to the peak of Dungeon
Ghyll. From the ground level, some of the views were spectacular, but once
you reached the top of the peak you could see
for miles. The weather wasn't perfect, there were clouds in sight but it
made it easier to climb to the top and not be beaten down by the hot sun.
When you reach the top of the
climb you'll find Stickle Tarn. This then overflows down creating a lovely
waterfall. The amazing thing about Stickle Tarn is it's 1500ft above sea
level and is mysteriously full of brown trout. Stickle Tarn isn't the
highest climb in the area, Harrison Stickle is the highest of the Langdale Pikes
which directly overlooks the tarn at 2403ft above sea level.
After a great day for both teams, we had a couple
of hours break back at our hotels and met up at 7pm for anyone that was
interested in a night of drinking. This started in the Waterhead Hotel,
and moved swiftly over to the bear garden of the Wateredge Hotel which backs
directly onto the north east coast line of Lake Windermere.
A plentiful supply of Guinness was had by all, a
nice meal (Steak for many) and a long talk about GPS in this picturesque
location.
Once finished, a continuation of Guinness was
supplied at McGinty's Bar where we drunk the night away. (Everyone who had
attended knew early on Saturday that the team had been up until 3am drinking the
night away with Guinness and spirits), so Saturday Night wouldn't be much
different!
However, we did stop short a little earlier than
the previous night. McGinty's was a true Irish Bar with folk singing, and
if you didn't like the loud entertainment, you could sit outside in the beer
garden which adjoins the hotel and look over Lake Windermere until sunset.
 Sunday
we all met up at 10am at the Waterhead Hotel and went off to find another pub.
Some people turned up for the whole weekend, some just for Saturday and some
just for the Sunday, so it was good to see some fresh new faces on the Sunday.
This time we went looking for a public house called the Kings Head, only to be found it was not
the Kings Head, but the Travellers Rest Inn just north of Lake Grasmere. We
lost a couple of cars on the way, but they soon managed to retrace their journey
and find us.
Here we laid on some refreshments including tea,
coffee and soft drinks and we demonstrated the Street Pilot III, some new Arkon
and Seidio mounts, including the Seidio Data Power Package G2. We also
looked at the latest Bluetooth Receivers for people who hadn't covered these,
the Ram mounts and various other accessories.
 We
finished at the Travellers Rest Inn around 2:30pm on Sunday and Mike took a few
people interested in a casual walk up to Rydal Water which is just off of Pelter
Bridge.
This was quite a small walk, and only took about
an hour to complete, and by that time enough was had by all and the remaining
walkers then started heading back.
We hope everyone enjoyed looking at the latest GPS
products including GPS Receivers, Software, Accessories, Mounts and in-car
systems like the Garmin Street Pilot III.
Hundreds of questions were asked of all team
members and we hope that all of these were answered to everyone's expectations. |
The Pocket GPS Team would like to thank not only
everyone who found time out of their hectic schedules to attend the Summit, as
it was great putting faces to names, but also to thank our Sponsors,
Manufacturers and Retailers who provided equipment for the Pocket GPS Summit,
without these, it would not have been possible.
