Visitors to western South Dakota can now explore the Black Hills with a little guidance from above. Not that the experience won't be heavenly, but this enlightenment will be delivered by satellite.

Ken and Melita Jones of Rapid City have created a touring system that vacationers can rent to take with them as they travel through the area. SmartAlec Tours Guides uses Global Positioning System, or GPS, technology to track its location and narrates interesting and educational information that fits the locale.

SmartAlec is a small PDA-type (personal digital assistant) device that mounts to the inside of the car windshield. It may also be carried by hikers and bikers. In addition to audio narration, the device displays visual aides such as pictures and text.

"It's a personal tour guide, not a navigational device, so it's not a techy GPS that people have to be technologically educated to operate," Ken Jones said. "I think GPS can throw people off. It uses a GPS receiver to know where it is as it travels along."

The business joins an elite group of similar cutting-edge tour services such as GPS Tours Canada, GoCar in San Francisco and IntelliTours in Alabama, founded by former South Dakotan Jim Carrier.

The tour begins wherever you are in the plotted locations throughout the Black Hills and follows your every move. For example, it knows if you have turned off Route 16 south toward Keystone or continued straight to Hill City. Or if you stay on Route 16A or turn onto Iron Mountain Road.

In addition to offering driving directions to various attractions and hiking trails, such as the Stratobowl Rim, SmartAlec answers questions visitors might have about previous forest fires.

The Joneses have mapped out specific areas in the Southern or Northern hills, and around some areas of Rapid City. It includes such popular stops as Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer State Park, Deadwood, Spearfish and even divulges hiking paths that aren't readily publicized.

The unit is idle when driven off the designated routes and engages as soon as the vehicle returns to the path. SmartAlec relays legends, stories, a bit of history and trivia and travel information in real time. Ken Jones wrote the scripts using reference material throughout the Black Hills.

There is also mood-related background music with much of the dialogue. The friendly voices belong to the Joneses, which means no lag time when editing is needed.

"We need to be able to make changes," Melita Jones said. "We made a little sound booth in our home. It's a truly home-based business." She said they hired sound technicians to guarantee quality audio. Being able to make immediate changes to the tours is a big plus for users as well as area businesses.

"When we know of special events happening in Rapid City, Keystone, Custer, Deadwood or Hill City and we can get them incorporated into a tour, we can let people know that day," Jones said.

Rodger Lamb of Yakima, Wash., and his family were the first ones other than the Joneses to take SmartAlec on the road. It was also their first trip to the Black Hills.

"We were impressed," he said. "Ken explained what it was and how it worked. It had a lot of information. One of the silly little things we were wondering about was why was Rockerville called Rockerville. Well, the first thing it did was tell us that. We thought that was pretty cool."

He said another thing he liked about it was the information about upcoming attractions in their travels.

"It would tell us about them before we even got there so we'd know if we wanted to stop or didn't want to stop," he said. "It gave us a heads-up on what was happening. I would recommend it to other people."

The Joneses are starting with 50 SmartAlec units that will be available to rent at select locations throughout the Hills.

"We haven't set up all of our final locations for distributions yet because it's brand new, so we suggest you call for the nearest location," Jones said.

Jones is the general manager of Fort Hays Dances With Wolves Film Set, where he manages their motor coach tours. Tourism is in his blood - his family started Stagecoach West/Mount Rushmore Tours.

He got his first taste of using a GPS a couple of years ago and got the idea for SmartAlec shortly after. He uses a software program similar to Google Earth to find GPS coordinates for specific locations. Plotting out a map, he then found stories of interest and compiled the tours.

"There are quite a few programs out there that have ways to get your GPS latitude and longitude and you can look at it on a topographical map and find our exact location where you want to play," Jones said.

Running a motor coach company, Jones's research has shown that the market of people who take motor coach tours are very interested in not doing the driving. However, there's only about 1 percent of the market that comes to the Black Hills who take motor coaches. "That means there's 99 percent of the people out there who like to drive on their own or who like to stay on their own schedule, and that's who we're trying to target," he said.

Almost all of their reservations will be advanced pay with credit card, Melita Jones said. "We will have that number and a signed slip that says that if they don't return it, they will be charged for the full cost of the unit. They're spendy little buggers."

Ruth Fye gave SmartAlec a try on a recent day off from work. She lives in northern Pennsylvania when she is not living here as a seasonal worker at Fort Hays Dances With Wolves Film Set.

"I had never used a GPS system, so I didn't even know how it worked," she said. "It was very easy to use. It was wonderful. I took it out thinking I'd be very critical, but it is fantastic."

SmartAlec will also be a part of the new Rapid City trolley system.

Jones said next year they plan to offer multi-lingual versions of the tours. People will be able to take their tour and hear it in multiple languages.

Jones said they are also working on ways to incorporate SmartAlec in other areas of the community outside of tourism.

"We're going to partner with some nonprofit organizations and create a Christmas lights contest where people can rent a SmartAlec for a night and follow a popular Christmas lights tour that we put together," he said.

That way, people won't have to drive around aimlessly. They can follow a designated Christmas lights tour.

"And as they drive up to the homes, we'll be able to have the voices of the host at that house welcome them as they drive up and tell them about the Christmas display and cheer on votes for their house," Jones said.

Using the SmartAlecSmartAlec is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand and weighs just a few ounces, but this slick piece of electronic gadgetry is worth your vehicle's weight in information.

Before departing, users receive easy-to-understand instructions for the proper installation and use of the unit. SmartAlec, which is battery operated, attaches easily to the windshield with its own windshield mount. It may also be mounted to the vehicle's cup holder or air vent.

Next, plug in the FM transmitter that comes with the unit into the headphone jack of the SmartAlec.

Tune your radio to 102.9 and turn on the radio and SmartAlec. The device can also run off the car's battery by use of the cigarette lighter.

Where to get a SmartAlecRental fees range from $25 for half a day's rental to up to five days for $179. Special packages are also available.

You can rent a SmartAlec at hotels, motels, campgrounds and information centers. SmartAlec is available year-round. For more information or to make a reservation, call 1-888-304-8997 or 348-4456 or go to www.smartalecgpstours.com.