Manufacturer: DeLorme, Two DeLorme Drive, P.O. Box 298, Yarmouth, ME 04096 USA. General Inquiries: 207.846.7000
Year of Manufacture: 2004?
URL: http://www.delorme.com/
E-mail: info@delorme.com.
Listed weight: not listed
Weight as delivered:
     Earthmate® GPS receiver: 0 lbs 2.75 oz./ 82 g
     Street Atlas USA 2005 software: 0 lbs 3 7/8 oz / 110 g in jewel box, 0 lbs 0.5 oz / 16 g for one CD
     Street Atlas USA 2006 software: 0 lbs 3 7/8 oz / 110 g in jewel box, 0 lbs 0.5 oz / 16 g for one CD
     Topo USA v. 5.0 software: 0 lbs 7 5/8 oz / 218 g in box, 0 lbs 0.5 oz / 16 g for one CD
MSRP:
     $ 99.95 (includes DeLorme Earthmate® GPS LT-20 GPS receiver & DeLorme Street Atlas USA 2006 software)
     $ 99.95 (DeLorme Topo USA v. 5.0 software - not included with the DeLorme Earthmate® GPS LT-20 package available for purchase)

Note: In late September it was discovered by our contact at DeLorme that we received the Street Atlas USA 2005 software in error; we should have received the Street Atlas USA 2006 version instead. Within a week I received the Street Atlas USA 2006 software via UPS from DeLorme. When I asked DeLorme if they would like for me to return the 2005 version they graciously said no, that I could keep it with their compliments. Appendix A, located at the end of this report, details the installation process and initial impressions of the Street Atlas USA 2006 software.

My DeLorme Earthmate® GPS LT-20 package arrived on September 8th at 6:10 PM (PST) via UPS. Included in the package: Earthmate® GPS LT-20 (in plastic casing), Getting Started with Earthmate® GPS LT-20 guide book, Street Atlas USA 2005 CD set (in jewel case, shrink-wrapped), Topo USA v. 5.0 CD set (in box, shrink-wrapped), and an invoice. Note: The DeLorme Earthmate® GPS LT-20 available to consumers includes the Street Atlas USA 2006 CD set, but does NOT include the Topo USA v. 5.0 CD set. DeLorme's Topo USA v. 5.0 is available for purchase separately, but will work with the Earthmate® GPS LT-20

• Features & Discussion: DeLorme Street Atlas USA 2005 software
  
• Features & Discussion: DeLorme Topo USA v. 5.0 software
  
• Features & Discussion: DeLorme Earthmate® GPS LT-20 GPS receiver

DeLorme Street Atlas USA 2005 software:

Before one can use the GPS receiver, one must install the Street Atlas USA software onto a laptop. My laptop is ancient (circa 1998) and just barely meets the minimum requirements DeLorme recommends to run the software adequately. Installation is fairly simple: place the disc in you CD-ROM drive and follow the on-screen instructions. Installation instructions are also available on the back of the label. During installation I did encounter three error messages, all stating that (and I paraphrase here) the installation program was having problems reading from the CD-ROM I had installed the program on my desktop PC as a test prior to installing it on my laptop so I knew the CD and the program itself were fine. I've had problems with the CD-ROM drive before, so I am assuming that the problem lies with my CD-ROM drive.

Prior to receiving the product I uninstalled just about every nonessential program on the laptop to free up as much room as possible. Since my laptop's hard drive is so small I chose to to the minimum installation of 110 Mb and chose not to install the data on hard drive (550 Mb maximum); instead, I will keep the data CD in the CD-ROM drive so the program can access it when needed. A reboot is needed after installation. I was pleased to discover that the program runs just fine on my humble laptop.

Screen Shot of the Street Atlas USA 2005 program (click here to enlarge) © 2004 DeLorme (www.delorme.com <http://www.delorme.com>) Street Atlas USA ®

Close up of the EZ-Nav Toolbar (click here to enlarge) © 2004 DeLorme (www.delorme.com <http://www.delorme.com>) Street Atlas USA ®

The Street Atlas USA 2005 program comes with numerous features to help create maps or navigate with the GPS. The functions of each of these features will be discussed in greater detail the Field Report.

• PLACES OF INTEREST - preloaded into the program are various Places of Interest (POI), primarily national chain restaurants, hotels, etc.
• EZ-NAV TOOLBAR - Includes tabs for Map Files, Find, Print, Draw, GPS, Route, Info, Netlink, Voice, Map Display, and Handheld Export (export to PDA).
• WEB-BASED MAPSHARE - Need to create a map for family and friends? DeLorme's Mapshare feature will allow you to create a large, easy to read map and upload it to a secure URL for only those whom you wish to share the information with to access.
• ADDRESS BOOK - Can't remember Aunt Penni's address? Need to get there? The program has a feature that will allow you to enter in an address once, then save it with a unique name so you can easily access it later.
• AVOID ROUTE - All mapping software programs attempt to use the most up-to-date maps and data when publishing their software. However, these programs cannot anticipate construction, detours, etc. The Avoid Route function will allow the user to tell the software about areas that you'd like to avoid - like areas where you know major construction is occurring, or areas of high traffic.
• GPS FEATURES - Plug in the Earthmate® GPS LT-20 GPS receiver while your program is running and experience real time tracking. A little arrow moves across the screen as you move, automatically zooming in (or out) or panning to a new area as needed. Once you have reached your destination you can save the route and review the information at your leisure (see screen shot below). The program also has a audio feature which will announce instructions (like turn left at the next signal) as you drive along.

DeLorme Topo USA v. 5.0 software:
Recommended system requirements are the same for the DeLorme Street Atlas USA software. The DeLorme Topo USA v 5.0 software consists of a program disk and six regional CDs. A small booklet with instructions is included should you need help. I attempted to install the program but was informed that I did not have enough space available. Phooey. I'll put it on my desktop for now and try to reinstall it on the laptop later.

DeLorme Earthmate® GPS LT-20 GPS receiver:

Requirements: DeLorme Street Atlas USA 2005 or greater software OR DeLorme Topo USA v. 5.0 software USB port
	The DeLorme Earthmate® GPS LT-20 GPS receiver. Click here to enlarge image © 2004 DeLorme (www.delorme.com <http://www.delorme.com>) Earthmate GPS LT-20 receiver® Photo by S. Leyva © 2005

Inside the plastic packaging case are the Earthmate® GPS LT-20 GPS receiver and a "Getting Started" guide. The Installing the Earthmate® GPS LT-20 GPS receiver is as simple as starting up the Street Atlas USA program and plugging it into the USB port. Next, click on the GPS tab, then click on the "Device" button. Select DeLorme Earthmate from the device drop-down menu, "USB" from the Port drop-down menu, then click on the "Done" button. Click on "Start GPS" to begin using the Earthmate® GPS LT-20 GPS receiver. According to the installation instructions - and my installation experience - it should not be necessary to reboot your system after installing the GPS receiver.

Please note: Put safety first! You really shouldn't do what I did - drive by yourself and try to look at the laptop at the same time. It is recommended that there always be two people in the car while using the DeLorme Earthmate® GPS LT-20 GPS receiver and Street Atlas USA software: a driver and a navigator.

I live in the black hole of telecommunications. Want radio, TV or cell phone reception in our house? Think again. Of course, go a few houses in any direction from mine and reception is fine. It's rather annoying. I have a Magellan SporTrak Pro GPS receiver that cannot pick up anything from my house. I expected the same from the DeLorme Earthmate® GPS LT-20 GPS receiver, too. As expected, I can't get a signal from my house. At first I assumed that this was due to my location. However, I started up the Street Atlas USA program, set up the Earthmate® GPS LT-20 GPS receiver, and headed off to my daughter's preschool 5 miles away in Pasadena. Nothing. Nada. I tried disconnecting and reconnecting the Earthmate as suggested in the manual and still could not pick up a signal. I shut down everything and put away the laptop after I dropped my daughter off and headed to my doctor's appointment a bit sad.

I set everything up again after I left the doctor's appointment and headed to the City of Industry to pick up my daughter's brand new mattress for her "big girl bed". About three minutes later, as I entered the 210 freeway, lo and behold, the GPS was working! It was spot-on, too, tracking me right on the freeway in exactly the right spot. It even got my speed correct, too. While Robinsons-May provided a map and directions to their warehouse, the directions were misleading and the off ramp they said to take didn't exist. I got off the freeway, pulled over (safety first!), and entered the address of the warehouse into the Street Atlas USA program. The program thought for a few seconds and plotted the warehouse's location on the map. I was thus able to navigate to the warehouse safely. The warehouse was right where the program said it would be, too. I kept everything running on the way home but forgot one vital thing: I don't have an power adapter to plug my laptop into my car. The laptop's battery quit about halfway home. I was a bit dismayed as I was hoping to see what the Earthmate® GPS LT-20 GPS receiver did as I approached home. That, it seems, will be a test for another day.

Screen Shot of the Street Atlas USA 2005 program showing the route I took from Pasadena, CA to City of Industry, CA. (click here to enlarge) © 2004 DeLorme (www.delorme.com <http://www.delorme.com>) Street Atlas USA ®

Most of my testing will involve navigation and trip planning. Most of the trail I use for dayhiking are well established and maps are generally not needed. Trails in the Southern California mountains are fairly well maintained, and range in difficulty from moderate to very difficult. Trails on and along the coast range from concrete to sand to dirt. The Los Angeles Harbor waters that are fairly shallow (10 - 15 meters / 3 - 4.5 feet) and mostly calm; outside the breakwater, water depths vary considerably depending upon location and the wave conditions vary from calm to stormy. Weather in Southern California varies greatly with location and season. In general, temperatures range from 55 - 70 degrees F (13 - 21 degrees C) in the winter. Typically, Southern California gets very little rain in the summer, and light to moderate amounts of rain in the winter.

I plan on using Delorme's Earthmate® GPS LT-20 unit to see how accurate it is in real-time position location and navigation. As I discovered while testing DeLorme's Topo USA mapping software and while using other mapping software such as National Geographic, the accuracy of the digital maps is dependent upon the accuracy of the original map from which the data was gathered from. Knowing where you are is vital when backpacking, hiking, or in just driving to the trailhead - having inaccurate data can put you on the wrong trail or not even get you to the correct trail.

As a part of my testing I will take Delorme's Earthmate® GPS LT-20 unit out with me on the drive to dayhikes, and when I do fieldwork out in the San Joaquin Hills, Santa Ana and Santa Monica Mountains. Additionally, I would like to use the unit on my required four hour oceanographic cruise in the Los Angeles Harbor and surrounding areas for my Oceanography labs (http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/sleyva/index.htm). The Earthmate® GPS LT-20 unit will be used primarily to navigate to the trailhead, and to confirm that where it says I am is really where I am. As laptops generally are not taken on hikes, it and the Earthmate® GPS LT-20 unit will stay (hopefully) safe in my Jeep.

Fieldwork - Locating geologic units on a map is a key part of being a geologist. Knowing where you are stratigraphically speaking is just as important as knowing where you are topographically. Delorme's Earthmate® GPS LT-20 unit is supposed to work with Delorme's Topo USA software. Thus, I will use the unit to drive to various field sites and check the accuracy of my stations in the Topo USA program.

Oceanographic Cruise - Using Delorme's Earthmate® GPS LT-20 unit in this situation is the most promising. As a part of my Oceanography lab we go out on a four-hour oceanographic cruise to gather data such as salinity, temperature, etc. We go out to basically the same places each time, but the exact location is slightly different with each cruise. I have wanted to create a database for each station including the lat/long, salinity, temperature, etc. values to show student how the values change from season to season and year to year. I plan to use Delorme's Earthmate® GPS LT-20 unit to gather lat/long data as we are conducting the tests, and download the data into Topo USA to create a map with all of the stations. Finally, I plan on letting my students use the unit for experience in how to gather data.

Questions I will pose include:

1. Compatibility with my laptop / PC / and PDA
   
   • Will it run on my laptop, or is my laptop too old?
     
   • Can I use the Earthmate® GPS LT-20 unit on my PC as well?
     
   • Delorme makes a version of their Topo USA software for PDAs; will I be able to export data from my laptop to my PDA?
2. Map Accuracy
   
   • Are the road/trails in the correct place?
     
   • Are landmarks / geographic features in the right place?
     
   • Will it be able to direct me to where I want to go correctly?
3. Map Resolution
   
   • Is the built-in map detailed enough to assess where you are visually?
     
   • How is the resolution? Can you see everything you need to?
4. Waypoints / Routes
   
   • How easy is it to store waypoints?
     
   • Do the waypoints show up where they are supposed to? I.E., at the waterfall, not several hundred feet from the waterfall.
     
   • Can I add comments to the waypoints - examples: this is a cool spot, don't go here again, or geologic information (geologic unit, etc.)
     
   • Can you see all nearby routes, or only one route at a time?
     
   • How easy is it for you to pick out waypoints and routes from contour lines, roads and trails?
5. Data Acquisition
   
   • How long does it take to establish where you are?
     
   • How well does the unit work in challenging places such as canyons, remote areas, open water, my house, etc.?
6. Use
   
   • How easy is it to use?
     
   • Can I find all of the features that I need in a timely fashion?

Installation

As noted above, it was discovered in late September that we had been shipped the 2005 version of the Street Atlas USA software instead of the 2006 version. DeLorme sent me the correct version within a week and graciously allowed me to keep the 2005 version with their compliments.

My laptop is quite old and had some installation issues with the Street Atlas USA 2005 version. I attributed these problems to the ancient CD-ROM drive on the laptop, primarily because installation on my PC was trouble-free. As with the 2005 version, I installed the Street Atlas USA 2006 software onto my PC first to establish a benchmark from which I could compare with my laptop. The installation process was not quick (about 26 minutes in length) and trouble free. As I have lots of hard drive space on my PC I chose to install the program data onto my hard drive. This process was fairly quick (about 4 minutes in length) and also trouble-free. The Street Atlas USA 2006 software does not overwrite or upgrade the 2005 program; instead, it installs as a brand new program and leaves the other version in place and intact. I found that there was no need to remove the Street Atlas USA 2005 program prior to installing the Street Atlas USA 2006 program as each runs independently from the other. However, removal of the Street Atlas USA 2005 program can be done if desired.

Before I could install the Street Atlas USA 2006 software onto my laptop I needed to remove the 2005 version as the laptop has an extremely small hard drive (3 Gb). In my infinite wisdom, I decided to get rid of a few other programs that I no longer used or need as well. I consider myself to be an advanced computer user, having used computers since 1987 (that's in the pre-Windows era!). This did not prevent me from deleting a key system file by mistake. The bad news is that I had to reinstall Windows 2000 and all the system upgrades on my laptop before I could install the Street Atlas USA 2006 program. The good news is that it freed up a lot of hard drive space!

With my laptop up to par again I began to install the Street Atlas USA 2006 software. About halfway through the installation process I was notified of the following errors:

• CEC error: the file C:\Program Files\DeLorme\msi\SA2006\SpeechRecognition\Street Atlas USA 2006.msi doesn't match the file in the setup's .cab file. The medium from which you are running the setup may be corrupted; contact your software vendor.
• Error 1335. The cabinet file 'MsiData1.cab' required for this installation is corrupt and cannot be used. This could indicate a network error, an error reading from the CD-ROM, or a problem with this package.
• ORC error: The file C:\Program Files\DeLorme\msi\SA2006\ReferenceData\WAI_ZIP_01000501.V doesn't match the file in the setup's .cab file. The medium from which you are running the setup may be corrupted; contact your software vendor.
• ORC error: The file C:\Program Files\DeLorme\msi\SA2006\Route\CON_SUSA_01000508.dat doesn't match the file in the setup's .cab file. The medium from which you are running the setup may be corrupted; contact your software vendor.

It is important to note that I did NOT get any error messages while installing the software on my PC. After an hour, installation of the program was complete. I attempted to start the program and received a new message:

• window: Program Error
  SA2006.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows. You will need to restart the program.
  An error log is being created.

Fun, fun, fun. I uninstalled the program and connected my external Iomega ZIP CD 650 drive to the laptop. This time I installed the Street Atlas USA 2006 program onto my laptop using the ZIP CD drive. Ten minutes and no problems later the program had installed and worked beautifully. Time to replace the CD-ROM drive on the laptop!

Initial Impressions:

The Street Atlas USA 2006 program is quite similar to the 2005 version, although there are some new bells and whistles worth mentioning. The first is the menu bar at the top of the screen. The menu bar is quite similar to "traditional" menu bars in other programs and contains a "new file" icon, a "open file" icon, and a "save" icon; program specific icons include "MapShare", "Start Route", "End Route", "Calculate Route". "Set Route Stop", "Start/Stop GPS", and "Options". Personally, I like these menu bar icons as they save me time clicking on the EZ-Nav tabs and looking for what I want.

Screen Shot of the Street Atlas USA 2005 program (click here to enlarge) © 2004 DeLorme (www.delorme.com <http://www.delorme.com>) Street Atlas USA ®		Screen Shot of the Street Atlas USA 2006 program (click here to enlarge) © 2004 DeLorme (www.delorme.com <http://www.delorme.com>) Street Atlas USA ®
Close up of the EZ-Nav Toolbar (click here to enlarge) © 2004 DeLorme (www.delorme.com <http://www.delorme.com>) Street Atlas USA ®		Close up of the EZ-Nav Toolbar (click here to enlarge) © 2004 DeLorme (www.delorme.com <http://www.delorme.com>) Street Atlas USA ®
not available on the 2005 version
		Close up of the Menu Bar (click here to enlarge) © 2004 DeLorme (www.delorme.com <http://www.delorme.com>) Street Atlas USA ®

Another new function is with the address book. You can now access addresses in the address book in the "Find" tab. I imported addresses from my PDA's address book (addresses must be in tab delimited or comma separated file formats to be imported) into the Street Atlas USA 2006 program's address book easily. As an added bonus, all addresses that could be located correctly by the program show up on the map as a little red diamond. Neat. This feature, in addition to the program's other features, will be discussed in greater detail in the Field Report.