Karma Hunter

Not sure I understand how this works. Does my GPSr stop gathering info when I stand still? I thought it was still receiving, but that being in motion gave it more "comparative" (for lack of a better explanation) information to process. I have noticed that as I'm walking toward a waypoint I can get down to less than 10 feet away, but that if I then stand still, the reading sometimes climbs back up to 20 or more feet. I then walk again and find a "better" location where the sub-10 distance stays. I haven't noticed my EPE in these situations, but will pay attention to it in the future. I guess I've diverged a little from the original intention of this thread, but if anyone has a quick explanation of still-vs.-walking readings I'd like to know more. Thanks.

Currently we have a Magellan Sportrak Map, which works great (although there is no leaf cover this time of year). It gets reception indoors, even with blinds down. It gets very good reception lying in the front seat of the car, although it's supposed to receive better when held upright. Seems to even get reception carried in a coat pocket. However last summer my wife borrowed a Garmin Vista that got good reception in the open, but was off by over 200 feet in heavy tree cover. We don't have the Vista now, so I can't do a good comparison of the two.

Anyone have tips to share on improving GPS success in heavily wooded areas? GPSr units that work well (or poorly)? Techniques that have been helpful? Walking vs. standing still? WAAS on or off? Clicking heels three times?

We don't plan to use the radios much. Few radios work well here with the steep terrain and heavy tree cover (mountains of NC). Very interested though in how well the Rinos work in GPS mode. Thanks for the replies!

We just got a Magellan Sportrak Map and like it, but are disappointed to find it isn't compatible with the new DirectRoute software. We're considering one of two upgrade possibilities. Either a Magellan Meridian Platinum (because we like the compass, memory, and ability to run DirectRoute), or TWO Garmin Rino units (so we can geocache together without bickering over who gets the GPSr ). The biggest priority for us is EXCELLENT reception under tree cover, which is why we're looking at quad antenna models. Any opinions about these models would be great! Thanks! PS- Has anyone had reliability problems with these units?

Thanks for the reply. No metal in the package. It's fleece gloves in green (her favorite color), wrapped in plastic bags to protect from the rain we were supposed to get that night. Not terribly expensive, but something she would have been excited about. At this point we've more or less given up on finding the package, but we're curious about the overall mystery. The bags were shopping bags, so it's possible one had carried groceries. Maybe it could have smelled like food enough to attract an animal? We'll probably never know. It has been frustrating (but funny) though. We can't figure out if the problem is us, the GPS, or something else entirely.

Unfortunately I was unfamiliar with the EPE feature when hiding presents, so the accuracy at that time is unknown. I've kicked myself many times for not learning more before heading off into the woods. EPE now is usually about 15 feet, even when the displayed distance to the "reference" point on my porch is off by more than that.

My wife borrowed a GPS and went geocaching a few times last summer and really enjoyed it, so I decidied to get her a GPS of her own for her birthday last week. I did a little research and got a Magellan Sportrak Map, primarily because we live in a heavily wooded area and people seem to think that the Magellans work better under tree cover. The story: I decided to be clever and hide her other birthday presents out in the woods so she could go on a treasure hunt. Unfortunately, I'd never used a GPS before, and I assumed that the accuracy was within a few feet. To make sure she was challenged, I hid the presents REALLY well (completely buried under leaves in a very steep area with many acres of identical ground cover). I also made no effort to pay attention to exactly where I was hiding them, because I thought the GPS would take care of that for me. To make a long story short, one of the presents is still lost in the woods, despite several hours of hunting on two different days. At this point we don't know whether an animal wandered off with her present, or whether it's still out there waiting to be found. The question: When I buried the present I marked it as a waypoint on the GPS. But now when we go hunting for it the location it takes us to varies by 35 feet or so. As a test, I marked a waypoint on our porch, and subsequent tests at the same location have shown variations of 15 to 60 feet. Walking and standing still provide different readings, but they are equally inaccurate. Skies have varied from cloudy to clear, and there are no leaves on the trees this time of year. So my question is, are variations of up to 60 feet for readings taken over time (several days) by the same unit in the exact same location a normal occurance? The display shows at least 6 sattellites locked, and WAAS is usually either engaged or averaging. Turning WAAS off (thanks to another thread on this forum for showing how to do this!) gives about the same results. I'd hoped for more accuracy/consistency when buying a GPS. Is our experience normal, or should we consider a different unit?