Vernier Tech Info Library TIL #1967

Question

How does the Vernier GPS Sensor differ from a Garmin GPS?

Answer

Here is the difference, in a nutshell:

1. The Vernier GPS Sensor, order code VGPS, $64.00 is a GPS Sensor, not a conventional GPS, like a Garmin, for example. It does not have mapping and a screen to view your location, or where you plan to locate. It is simply a USB Sensor. It is about the size of a USB Flash (thumb) drive. You put it in the USB port on a LabQuest or a computer. It finds satellites, and reports back latitude, longitude, and altitude. Each time you take a pH, temperature, or dissolved oxygen reading at a field site, for example, it will also record, in your data table, the lat-long-elev values. That way, if you upload the data to Logger Pro on the computer when you get back to school, you can also export the data to GIS software or Google maps, to plot these sites, and associated sensor values, on the map. If you simply connect it alone (with no accompanying sensors), then it goes into a position vs. time mode that tracks the position of the LabQuest or computer, against time. This is an interesting mode for a physics teacher.

2. With the Garmin Venture HC, order code GAR-VENTHC, $199.00, you can also connect it by its USB cable to the USB port on a computer or LabQuest itself. Doing so would give you all of the capabilities listed above but would also give you the additional GPS capability of having full GPS mapping that is so nice for field work.

Created by: gstahmer on March 30 2009
Last updated by: gstahmer on March 30 2009