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Tech

The outdoor internet is unusually bad at this, so here it is written down properly.

Seven things that come up constantly and are almost always explained by someone paraphrasing a marketing page. How positioning works, what the file formats mean, what satellite messengers actually do, what cold does to a battery, why two devices disagree about altitude, and how to get a map onto a phone with no signal.

• How GNSS works

  Your receiver does not talk to anything. It listens, and solves for time.

• The GPX file format

  It is XML. Once you know the three data types, every import problem becomes obvious.

• Satellite messengers

  The network is usually the same. What differs is the response chain behind the button.

• Batteries in the cold

  Your phone did not run out of charge. It ran out of the ability to deliver it.

• Altitude measurement

  One device measures pressure, the other measures geometry. They are answering different questions.

• Watch, handheld or phone

  Three devices that do the same job and fail in completely different ways.

• Offline maps for Norway

  Positioning works without a signal. The map is the part you have to plan for.