GPS Orientation

Which GPS map orientation do you primarily use?

  • North Up

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Heading Up

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
M

MOOSE

Member
I'd be the first one to admit that I'm probably wired differently than most. In fact, my trim tabs are wired backwards from the instuctions so that their operation make sense to me - LOL.

So it follows that when I use my GPS, I always select the "Head(ing) Up" mode, rather than the default "North Up" mode. Mainly because I'm not always heading north, and it makes sense to my reptilian brain to see the chart and ship icon scroll in the same direction I'm travelling.

I recall an email conversation with Les Lampman about this very subject once, and he was emphatically taught that "North" was "Up" and that was that.

So anyway, I suggest a poll to see how many people are wired (normally) like I am, or in the deviant fashion that prefer "North Up". LOL!!!

Al
 
Moose,
I am "Normal" too. GPS is Heading Up....The compass tells me which way North is, but who in SW Florida would ever want to go North again?
 
Moose - I am wired like you. I want the direction I am going, to be at the top of the screen. Much easier to stay oriented.

Examples;
You are heading South with North up on the map. You want to make a correction to the East which is on the right side of the map in front of you, so you turn left.

Now with the direction of travel up on the map. You are going South and want to make a correction to the east which is on the left side of the map in front of you, so you turn left.

Which is more confusing?
 
North up when in familiar waters, heading up in unfamiliar areas so the paper chart and the GPS and the view out the window are easier to correlate.
Mike 'Levity'
 
Moose,
After reading several thousand post on this site over the last year I am not a bit surprised by the number of people chiming in with the "North UP' answer. It must have something to do with being closer to the North Pole...a magnetic thingy...you think?
 
I can set the orientation on my Garmin and I prefer track up or heading up since I like to know the depth of the water in front of me. Watching the GPS triangle going toward the bottom of the screen is just wrong if north is behind me. By the way, my car works the same way.
 
I am with Mike on Levity: North up in familiar water, heading up in new areas (so I can orient the landmarks ahead). Not having had an integrated chartplotter/radar, wouldn't that be best to keep heading up?

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
I used North up the first couple years, and always thought it was dorky cruising on the Columbia River with Washington on the wrong side of the boat. Nevertheless, I continued North up because Les said he was taught that and I figured he was taught by Dusty and I ain't gonna argue with Dusty. Well, one day I was cruising around Dusty's north forty in unfamiliar waters and I tried what Garmin calls Course Up. It seemed a lot more intuitive to me, so I stuck with it. It really makes sense in the river. Just don't tell Dusty. I still set the units to Knots when I go up there, just in case he checks.

I think this is a doozy idea for a Poll, too. Let's get one of the Modulators to set it up - maybe even Dusty!
 
Heading Up. I also use Heading Up when Geocaching on land with a GPS. I like being able to see which way to turn, unencumbered by the thought process.

Rick from Maine
 
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