A group called Utah SXS Group is forming out of Utah. You can read about this group at http://utahsxsgroup.wordpress.com/about/ . This group is new and looking for Side x Side owners to join the group. Anyone from any state is welcome to join. This is a group and not a club and no fees are charged to join.

 

As a group they recognize Federal and State land must be protected against misuse. Utah has an extensive network of backcountry roads and trails. Their riding areas are a valuable asset. So now more than ever they will help protect these lands.

 

The groups plan is to put together a few rides each year. They ask their members to share and host a ride that they have enjoyed.

 

Their Mission: To Share and Promote Great Rides

Their Motto: Respect the Trail

Their Goal: Leave the trail better than when they used it

 

If you are interested in joining this group please visit http://utahsxsgroup.wordpress.com/join-the-group/

Or e-mail utahsxsgroup@live.com

Have you been looking for a map of an area that you want to visit or just check out for a weekend ride in your Side x Side but can not find one? Here is some help. Make your own map using Google Earth and free downloadable topographical maps.

 

What you need:

 

Google Earth (Free Download)

 

A good Paint or Image Software. I use Paint.Net (Free Download)

 

Topo Maps from USGS (Free Downloads) If you have some other software for topographical maps so much the better but the maps from USGS are not to bad.

 

Getting Started:

 

The first thing to do is zoom to the area you want on Google Earth. Study the area to get an idea of the map you want to make. You will notice that the more zoom the better the trails will show up but you will lose the full area of the map you want. Now here is a suggestion. After you have found a trail or trails click on the ruler icon then click on path.

Here you can draw on the image to mark the trail. Zoom in and start marking and you will see that google will show the miles as you draw. When you finish drawing zoom out to a point that shows the whole trail. Note: This may take you a little practice.

 

Now you want to copy your map to your paint software. Click on Edit then Copy Image. Open your Paint software and paste the map to it. Now you are ready to edit your map. You can mark the trail in any color you like, insert text and resize the image. It is totally up to you how much detail you want to add to your map. I use Topo maps that I have downloaded to mark elevations and names of canyons, draws, springs, or anything of interest I want on my map. Now save and name your map. I always save my maps to my desktop until I’m finished with them.

 

Below are some maps I have made of a ride in Northwestern Utah.

 

That’s it. Happy Map Making.

 

If this was helpful, please leave a comment. Also if you need some help please contact me at gbracken@live.com  subject: Map Making.

 

One more thing, if you like to Geocache this is the device for you.

After researching a lot of GPS units we Choose the

 

 

 

DeLorme Earthmate GPS PN-20.

 

This compact GPS receiver lets you create tracks of your travels, create routes, and find points of interest, and more!

 

 

I’ve been looking for a GPS device to show me not only a map with my current position, but show my position on aerial photography and satellite imagery. Think of this new type of GPS as having Google Earth, GPS enabled, in your pocket. The device itself is nice and small; it is very light making it easy to travel with.

 

 

I bought my DeLorme PN-20 as Bundle It came with a USB cable, SD card with Reader, two AA batteries, Travel Power Kit, printed user manual, and a copy of Topo USA version 7.0. Inside the Topo USA product is a coupon good for 400 sq. km of aerial data packets (ADP), which is where the aerial photography and satellite imagery comes from. I also purchased the RAM Motorcycle-ATV-Snowmobile Mount.

 

 

The outer skin of the PN-20 is a rubberized material, which makes the device easy to handle and waterproof. The buttons are tall enough and stiff enough that they can be used with a medium weight set of gloves.

 

 

Upon starting up the device the first thing I noticed was that the screen is very bright. The screen is a similar overall size to that of other handheld GPS devices with a resolution of 176×220 pixels. I didn’t have any trouble viewing the display in bright sunlight conditions.

 

 

When you turn on the unit it only takes about ninety seconds to fix on satellites. Not too bad at all for a 12 channel receiver (STMicroelectronics) Note: The receiver is WAAS enabled. Like normal satellite views the height of the bar indicates the relative strength of the signal from that satellite. The color of the bars will change based on other information from the satellite. If the bar is red, information from that satellite is being received, but not yet used. Green means that satellite is being tracked and data is being used. Blue means the satellite is being tracked, data is being used, and WAAS correction information is being received from that satellite. You can also disable the GPS reception to save on battery life while setting up your trip on the device.

 

The map page is where all of the action happens on this GPS. You can choose if you want to view Aerial Photography, USGS Topo maps, DeLorme Topo maps, or Satellite imagery. There is also a base map, which displays major roads of the entire world. (Nice!) You can also pick which order you would like to layer the maps if your highest priority type of map is not available in the current view.

 

 

I’m really excited about the map views on this GPS. After all there are not many GPS products on the market like this one.