Unless you’ve got a brother-in-law in the battery business, you’ll want a DC adapter to plug into the cigarette lighter jack in your truck. You’ll also want a set or two of rechargeable batteries and a charger. The newer nickel-metal-hydride batteries, although more expensive than the old nickel-cadmium batteries, have enough advantages to make them your first choice. If you do a lot of fieldwork, you’ll want a charger that can plug into your cigarette lighter outlet. As this may be hard to find, a good second choice is a DC-to-AC inverter to power your charger and your laptop computer. A unit in the 200- to 300-watt range should be more than adequate.

You’ll also soon discover that an external antenna is a useful piece of hardware – make sure the GPS you purchase can connect to one – particularly if you are using your unit in a camper.

A computer cable is also essential if you are to take advantage of the GPS moving map or download options I’ve mentioned. Many of the new units use a USB cable and this could be part of the package – if not, it’s a $10 item from most computer stores. Take along your unit when you go to purchase a cable, as connections vary.

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