accompanying description extra paper maps should not be needed and an elevation  profile in feet of each section will also be supplied. Electronic navigation employing mapping software or GPS hardware is a mature  technology that is readily available in reliable, low-cost consumer products. Having GPS  information available may help with navigating the RAAM course and the more than 300  turns. GPS devices continuously report your location, essentially reducing the navigator’s  job to simply checking to be sure that location remains on the route specified in the Route  Book. Knowledge of street names, and for that matter distance between turns, is no  longer critically important to staying on the route. It does take some effort to master these  tools, but it can be well worth it. It should be noted that many competitors make it across  the country without GPS and without ever getting lost; it simply requires paying close  attention. The major advantages of having GPS information available to the crew of the follow- vehicle:  Electronic Navigation   Non-driver Crewmembers can attend to business other than navigation for most of  the race when turns are miles apart. You don’t need a third person in the follow  vehicle to do these jobs.   While they can be damaged through misuse, properly set up, a GPS is always  reliably accurate within system limits (more than precise enough for all RAAM  needs). If powered from the vehicle electrical system, GPS devices suitably set up  for RAAM can run continuously, providing current location information for the  entire race with little, if any, operator actions.   “Handheld” devices can be used in the follow vehicle, and passed to the Racer if  he will be alone for awhile, to remind him when and where to turn and which  way.  GPS can be a useful tool in getting back on course should you become lost. Problems with trying to have useful and reliable GPS information for RAAM drivers  and Racers:   Not all GPS devices are suitable for the RAAM task of making one trip with more  than 350 required stops or turns. You have to find one that is. The RAAM website  has suggestions regarding needed capabilities and what sorts of gadgets have  them.   While no more difficult to use than a cell phone or personal computer, until users  become familiar with GPS receiver operation, there is a learning curve. This is  only a few minutes for most operators but considerably longer for the person who  has to set up the gadgets for RAAM and load all the race data. As with cell  phones and PCs, if you can operate one GPS, it’s easy to get used to operating any  of the others.  GEAR 2020  Page 50 