<story><title>A 6 channel GPS receiver from 1993</title><url>https://mastodon.sdf.org/@keelan/111349948124943603</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>TedDoesntTalk</author><text>The original GPS receivers in the late 80s and early 90s did not have maps. And they used LCD screens. The one I owned by Lowrance required 6 AA batteries. Not AAA. Not rechargeable. Optional power through a cigarette-auto cable, but that&amp;#x27;s not helpful when on foot. It burned through batteries like crazy.&lt;p&gt;I owned this one:
&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;web.archive.org&amp;#x2F;web&amp;#x2F;20231104153749&amp;#x2F;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;retro-gps.info&amp;#x2F;photos&amp;#x2F;files&amp;#x2F;page2-1023-full.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;web.archive.org&amp;#x2F;web&amp;#x2F;20231104153749&amp;#x2F;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;retro-gps....&lt;/a&gt; (Lowrance GlobalNav Sport) 160 x 160 pixel display. It weighed 2 pounds with batteries.&lt;p&gt;It provided latitude, longitude, and heading.&lt;p&gt;Thought I would use it hiking but it was just too big to be anything but a toy. You inserted a cartridge, specific to your geographic area, if you wanted it to display names of towns&amp;#x2F;cities (data on the cartridges):&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.ebay.com&amp;#x2F;itm&amp;#x2F;314936082464&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.ebay.com&amp;#x2F;itm&amp;#x2F;314936082464&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;It did have &amp;quot;waypoints&amp;quot; (lat&amp;#x2F;long bookmarks, essentially) that allowed you to plot a line as you traveled. It could tell you how far you were to different waypoints you&amp;#x27;d previously entered. IIRC, it had a serial connection for waypoint download to a PC. People tried sharing waypoint series -- &amp;quot;routes&amp;quot; -- but it just never really had much success as I recall. It was just too cumbersome.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>saltcured</author><text>The first &amp;quot;portable&amp;quot; GPS receiver I ever saw was during a tour of a relative&amp;#x27;s military base in the mid to late 1980s.&lt;p&gt;It was mounted in a travel case where the lid removed exposed the control panel.  I want to say it was about the size of a shoe box. Similar in length and height to one of those hinged metal ammunition cans, but wider if I remember correctly. It seemed hefty enough to have a lead-acid battery inside, but they did not give details.&lt;p&gt;You set it on the ground and waited minutes for a fix. Then it just displayed numeric grid coordinates of your location with segmented digit display cells somewhat like a 1970s calculator.</text></comment>
<story><title>A 6 channel GPS receiver from 1993</title><url>https://mastodon.sdf.org/@keelan/111349948124943603</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>TedDoesntTalk</author><text>The original GPS receivers in the late 80s and early 90s did not have maps. And they used LCD screens. The one I owned by Lowrance required 6 AA batteries. Not AAA. Not rechargeable. Optional power through a cigarette-auto cable, but that&amp;#x27;s not helpful when on foot. It burned through batteries like crazy.&lt;p&gt;I owned this one:
&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;web.archive.org&amp;#x2F;web&amp;#x2F;20231104153749&amp;#x2F;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;retro-gps.info&amp;#x2F;photos&amp;#x2F;files&amp;#x2F;page2-1023-full.jpg&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;web.archive.org&amp;#x2F;web&amp;#x2F;20231104153749&amp;#x2F;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;retro-gps....&lt;/a&gt; (Lowrance GlobalNav Sport) 160 x 160 pixel display. It weighed 2 pounds with batteries.&lt;p&gt;It provided latitude, longitude, and heading.&lt;p&gt;Thought I would use it hiking but it was just too big to be anything but a toy. You inserted a cartridge, specific to your geographic area, if you wanted it to display names of towns&amp;#x2F;cities (data on the cartridges):&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.ebay.com&amp;#x2F;itm&amp;#x2F;314936082464&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.ebay.com&amp;#x2F;itm&amp;#x2F;314936082464&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;It did have &amp;quot;waypoints&amp;quot; (lat&amp;#x2F;long bookmarks, essentially) that allowed you to plot a line as you traveled. It could tell you how far you were to different waypoints you&amp;#x27;d previously entered. IIRC, it had a serial connection for waypoint download to a PC. People tried sharing waypoint series -- &amp;quot;routes&amp;quot; -- but it just never really had much success as I recall. It was just too cumbersome.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>lm411</author><text>That Lowrance is a monster.  Pretty cool though.&lt;p&gt;My first GPS receiver was an old Magellan.  I can&amp;#x27;t recall the model, but mid 90s, very basic features.  Eventually after turning it on it would get a fix, and give you coordinates &amp;#x2F; speed &amp;#x2F; bearing.  No names of towns or anything like that though it did have support for some number of waypoints.&lt;p&gt;I typically used it for multi week hikes through the rockies where I was navigating primarily with topo maps &amp;amp; compass, and about once a day I&amp;#x27;d turn on the GPSr to validate my location.  It was too much of a pig on batteries to use it any more often, but, it was a reasonable size for hiking.&lt;p&gt;Totally different world vs the Garmin GPSMap 66i I currently use, but, I&amp;#x27;d probably trust the old Magellan more than I do 66i on week&amp;#x2F;longer excursions.</text></comment>