rapracing

Read my thread on "Am I expecting too much?" I am having a horrible experience with the 30x. I think I am returning them on Monday. A good map and a compass, provided you know how to use them, are as accurate as these units. They are all over the place.

I was thinking that also. Try setting Routing to off-road. I looked and I cannot find anything like that on the Etrex. It does show highways on the map but I don't believe that is an option on this unit. ETA: I just went and checked again. I did find what your talking about. It is set to "off road". Lock on Road is "Off" ETA: 1-1-15: Was out again today and the waypoints that were close yesterday were anywhere from 23 to 90 feet off. Seems to be junk to me. EPE was 8ft when I checked it (3 times).

It is usually between 8 and 13 so I don't think that's the issue. I was out again today with it. Took the dogs for a walk. I hit five of the waypoints that I had stored. The worse one today was 23ft off. I had one 12ft, one 5ft and one 4ft and one 0. I don't understand it. When walking the track on the map was off by as much as 50 ft walking on tram roads. I did notice if I'm moving at all and watching the map it is all over the place. The track will swing 120 to maybe 150 degrees. That is a constant thing if I'm moving

I have been out three more times with the unit since my last post. I guess maybe I'm too particular but I am not satisfied at all with these units. One time it will take me too within 30 ft or so of a waypoint and the next I may be 100+ ft away (same one). On my map it shows a different line for the route almost every time. A lot of it is on tram roads so I am walking with in a couple of feet of the same line each time. I will show me as much as 50+ ft difference in the line on the map. I had a similar issue with the regular etrex 30 and I was told the X should be better. I see no difference. Fortunately I have 90 days to return them if not happy. I'm thinking that is probably best. I haven't actually tried finding a cache yet. If it's going to be off by 100 ft I'm not going out there and just looking around hoping to find it.

Yes I did

I'll give it another shot. It's raining here today so I'm not going to mess with it today. Maybe Saturday or Sunday afternoon I'll get out again. I'll report back after that. If it doesn't get any better than what I've seen I really see no point in messing with them. I can be almost as accurate with a compass and map and they're a whole lot cheaper. And probably more fun. I had used the etrex 30 for over two months 4 or 5 times a week on hikes and had the same results I'm getting with this. Maybe it's just not for me

The first waypoint had some tree but not bad. Satellite signals were very good. The second was in a wide open field over 1400ft elevation. No obstruction whatsoever for sure on the second. I probably was at the locations for 8 or 10 seconds. Maybe that was the reason?

During the summer I had picked up an Etrex 30. I wasn't happy with it. It seemed that is was not accurate or consistent so I returned it. Forward to today: I had recently purchased 2 Etrex 30x units for the kids at the church to use on outings. I took one for about a 4 mile walk today. When I left to start the elevation said it was 942ft. In the Satellite screen it said 10ft accuracy. I set 2 waypoints during the walk. When I returned to the first one I was about 60ft away from where I had set it. The second was well over 120ft away when I returned to it. When I returned to the starting point it told me elevation was 1062ft. This was all done in less than a 2 hour time frame. Is this common for these units? If so, it seems it could become very frustrating finding any caches if it takes you 100ft or more from where they actually are. If I'm hunting and need to find my truck I know that is plenty close but it seems that it should be taking me a little closer, especially when it says within 10ft. I am not going to give these to 10 and 12 year olds to find stuff with when they don't work any better or more consistent than they do.

I just purchased a couple Etrex 30x Bundle's for $199. The price seemed good. Anyway, I haven't opened them yet. Is anyone using these units? Any input, good or bad?

Garmin Etrex 30x Bundle for $199 Garmin Rino 650T for $369

I ended up getting two of these units to use with a Royal Ranger group at my church. The past two days I have had them out side by side. I'm not sure why or if it is just he way it is but they are not telling me the same thing. In fact, sometimes not even close. Yes all setting are correct and the same. Elevation with them side by side can be off as much as 80-100 ft. a bigger concern is Waypoints are sometimes 500+ feet different. If so, IMHO they are all but worthless for caching Is this common?? I don't know if one is bad and if so which one. I am not real happy with them at all. I am considering sending them back. Thoughts?

Pennsylvania

I got out this afternoon and again this evening before dark. Seems everything is good on latitude and longitude. I did notice something else however. Maybe I'm too picky. Elevation was anywhere from 40-45 ft different at waypoints this evening than this afternoon. (Lower). Is that common?

Boy do I feel stupid. Not sure if I can explain but the 48 Lat & Lon readings include the seconds. The etrex does not. Example: 48 = 41 04' 56.0" - 078 28' 19.8 etrex = 41 04.972' - 078 28.278' I was setting a waypoints with the 48 and returning to them using the etrex. I was trying to make it fit in the coordinates on the etrex. I know.....what an idiot. Oh well, it took a couple hours to figure it out but now I know. I'll give it a try again in a couple days but I think we're good to go

I verified the settings and they are WGS84 Datum and hddd mm.mmm. Just in case I ran outside to a known latitude/longitude location and it is still way off. The 48 has worked flawlessly for many years and at known locations it is within a few feet nearly every time. I can't imagine that a unit that is nearly 17 years old would be more accurate than a new unit but I guess it is. If I set a waypoint on the Etrex using coordinates it will bring me back to that spot but if I use a know location it is way off

I just purchased a Garmin Etrex 30 and for the past two days I have used it with a Garmin GPS 48 that I purchased in 1998. It old unit is spot on within a few feet using know coordinates. The Etrex is averaging about .12 miles off. Is there something I can do or do I just need to send this unit back

I picked up a couple of the etrex 30's and I'm a little disappointed in the displays. I got them because I thought the maps would be nicer Other than some color lines there really is no difference from the 10. Can those be upgraded to include topo's & street? At what cost, any idea? They will be used mainly for caching but I was hoping for a little more than I got.

Would a Etrex 10 be sufficient for a beginner or should I get him something with maps? I can get a new 10 for $79

In the last post I mentioned I ordered an Etrex 30. It is on backorder. They had an Etrex 10 on sale for $79. I was in Walmart last night and asked if they would match the price. They did so I picked one up knowing I could return it if I changed my mind (not opened). Looking at the features there are far fewer on the 10. My question, is this a good unit to start him out with? I look at the features and think I'd like more but I also look at the price and think what if......... Thoughts? Opinions?

I'm sorry I haven't been on here for a little while. It will be used for caching and hunting. I ordered an etrex 30 bundle yesterday from Cabela's. Seemed like a decent deal at $199 (on sale) so I thought we'd give that a try.

No smart phone yet.

I haven't done any caching. I have a Garmin that is about 12 years old. Nothing like the new ones. I just use it for markers when hunting, etc.

I am going to get my grandson a GPS and I'm not sure what to buy. I don't want to break the bank but don't want junk either. I'd like something that he will not grow out of quickly but as stated don't want to break the bank. Suggestions?