Alphawolf
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Posts posted by Alphawolf
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Where I work, which caters to the hunting/fishing/camping crowd, the Garmin c-330 has become a best seller, but we don't sell Tom Tom. I personally have purchased 2 of them in the last year for my grown, married kids.
What is the status of the lawsuit Garmin filed against Tom Tom for copyright infringement? Has anyone heard?
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Just curious...I never, ever enable WAAS on any of my receivers. Serves me not one bit, and slows down the processor too much during map re-drawing.
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The etrex is just as accurate as any other non-WAAS GPS (and WAAS is always turned of on my units anyway). Now about the compass (though you don't actually have a compass), find out if you are set to magnetic north or true north. I don't know where you live, but unless you happen to live in Macon County Georgia, Mag. north and true north or different. I am betting you are set to mag. north, therefore you are seeing the declination difference between the two.
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...the GPS market will look like? I wonder what the units will be doing that they aren't doing now? Do you think Magellan will still be in business? Their market shares seem to be tail spinning fast. What about Lowrance? Think they will still be around? Will Garmin be the Wal-Mart of GPS with near total domination of the GPS market? Do you think there will be any new upstart companies that would dare fight Garmin in the marketplace? In the last year, I have paid close attention to Garmin and Magellan slugging it out in our store, and what the customers come in and ask for, and it doesn't look good for Magellan. We don't even carry Lowrance any longer, so I can't comment on their sales.
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I am thinking that the last autorouting version of MG was 4.01...I know it autoroutes, and I think it was the last one to do it.
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Just go get a Garmin Foretrex 101 and a $12 magnetic compass. You won't then have to buy any additional software to load into your unit. For hiking and geocaching, this is all you need. Then, you won't be sorry for spending the extra $100 on mapping software that is one fourth the detail of good paper maps anyway. I have several GPS units, up to and including color mapping, talking units. For off road hiking, the Foretrex is the unit I always grab!
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Metroguide version 4.01 (and earlier) do support autorouting. Later versions do not. The mapping detail and POI are the same between the latest versions of Metroguide and City Select. The only functional diffrence is the autorouting.
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That's what your GPS calls it. It's still a coordinate system.
Well, in the interest of not boring common folk to death with endless details about "coordinate systems", I thought it was best to probably call it what their GPS calls it...A "position format". After all, it is a GPS in their hands that they will be using...Not a text book about projections...
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As far as GPS functions, the 110 and etrex are identical units. It just depends on if you want/need a FRS/GMRS radio too.
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Built in GPS receiver suck! Plain and simple...
Why would someone pay $1500 to $2000 for a system that will be antiquated within 2 years? Whay not spend $500 for a Garmin C-330 or something, that can be carried in a suitcase for a rental car, or moved into you friends car or anyone else's car?
And, when and if they need repairing, you don't have to take your vehicle to the dealership for a day to get it removed from the dash.
I just don't get it...
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Save some money....Keep your Venture, learn to use it with paper maps and a compass(very, very easy) and kick some serious geocaching butt! Your paper maps can be way, way more accurate than nearly all maps you can buy to put on your GPS (there are a couple of seriously limited map sets available that are 1:24,000 scale, but for most people, they are worthless)
If you will spend an afternoon learning to use your Venture, a compass and a paper map together, you will be, navigationally speaking, "superior" to about 99% of everyone that ever leaves sight of their vehicle!
I teach GPS navigation, have used, and sold GPS units for 8 years now, and guess what? I don't use, (and won't use) a mapping unit! (Unless I am city navigating, then I won't ever NOT use it!)
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I own, use, and LOVE to Foretrex 101!!
It has an optional cable for data input from my PC. I use it extensively for hiking, backpacking and geocaching. In fact, it is my "Go To" GPS for everything except city navigation. It is extremely lightweight, uses AAA batteries (I despise rechargeable proprietary battery packs in back country GPS uses), can be worn on the wrist, or as I do it, remove the strap and attach a piece of Velcro, so it will attach directly to the top of my pack strap up near my shoulder.
I now use it in place of my pedometer for my daily walking.
I can get to any spot just as accurately, quickly and easy, using my Foretrex 101 as anyone using any other GPS made.
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If all else fails try the UTM
UTM isn't a datum. UTM is a "position format", or think of it this way...just another way to describe a point on Earth. The "official" position format for geocaching is degrees, minutes, and thousandths of a minute (hddd mm.mmm).
You can use any format you want to show your coordinates, and they all mean the same exact spot on the planet. Just different names for them. But to keep things uniform in the geocaching world, we all should be using hddd mm.mmm as a standard. Just so we are all speaking the same language.
Again, your GPS doesn't care one bit which format it is set to. It will dutifully guide you to the same spot exactly, no matter which format you currently have it set to.
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Other caches found that have been hidden by this hider have also zeroed using the canadian datum. Using the same datum while searching for a cache hidden by someone different 1 mile away my GPS was zeroing 120 feet from the actual cache location. So for me switching datums trying to figure out the hider is all part of the find. If all else fails try the UTM
No...Trying to figure out what datum the hider used is not all "part of the find". There are well over 100 datums he could have chosen. If he used anything but WGS-84, then he was in error, and no one is ever likely to find a single one of his caches, unless somehow, they find out what datum he erroneously set his GPS to. Someone need to get hold of him and get him speaking the same geocaching language the rest of the geocaching world is using.
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By the way...If you input a set of coordinates into your GPS, then change your datum after the input, your GPS WILL change those coordinates for you. Automatically. This is normal.
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Datums...A major source of confusion among GPS users.
There are lots and lots of datums you can use that are built into your GPS. A datum is nothing more than a "reference" that maps are built against. Think of it this way...The datum that map makers use to make a map makes the map accurate for that part of the world, at the expense of other parts of the world.
The datum you choose to use depends on two things: First, if you are using a paper map in conjunction with a GPS, the datum in the GPS must match the datum the map is based on. The map will tell you what datum it is based on.
Second, if you are importing coordinates from any other source for inputting into a GPS (say, like from Geocaching.com, or a book or magazine or a friend) then again, your datum must match the source exactly.
If a geocaher looking for a geocache uses any datum besides WGS-84, then he will likely miss the mark. WGS-84 is the "default" datum for geocaching. Likewise, if a person hiding a cache is using anything besides WGS-84, then no one will ever find their cache.
Lastly, if you are standing in a spot and wish to mark a waypoint with your GPS, it doesn't matter one little bit what datum you are using, your GPS will remember that spot, and get you back to it, no matter what datum was used to mark it.
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Probably an e-trex legend (not the C model). It has 8mb of memory for mapping. This isn't much memory by today's standards, but in Mapsource TOPO it will hold about 1/3 of my state (Utah), which is probably way, way, more than you need for any week og outdoor anventure. However, in city mapping 8 mb is really just a tease...
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PITA factor is in full force if you do not get an external antenna for your vehicle.
Hmmmm...I've used my 3600 for a couple of years now. I have an external antenna (Mighty Mouse or something like that) Now...I pretty much never use the antenna. Yeah, the bars don't reach quite as high on the receiver without it, but I still get around everywhere just fine. So I don't think the ext. antenna is a "need". Besides, running that cable is a PITA! I hate loose 16 ft. cables bunched up and showing, flopping on my dash, and running it concealed and hidden is too big a pain when I wanted to remove it to another car...SO now I just don't use it any more and I still get everywhere I need to go without problem. Just my perspective...
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My pleasure! I hope you get it fixed or get a replacement very quickly!
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I can't imagine life without my 3600, but it is not suitable for caching. Granted, you could make it work, for an occasional find, but it just isn't designed for geocaching. It is most at home cradled near a computer, or sitting on your dash.
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I should think it would be covered under the manufacturer's warranty
Here's a link with phone #s:
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I know someone that has the iQue3600 and it blows.
Really?!?! I've been using a 3600 for a couple of years now, and I wouldn't give it up for anything. It does a lot of things, but "blowing" isn't one of them.
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I wouldn't even consider a built in unit. The technology is changing way, way to fast to spend that kind of money on something that will be obsolete in 2 years. Get a good dash mount portable. Then, you have spent only half the money, you can move it from car to car, and it will do the same exact job as a built in, if not even better.
And personally speaking, I wouldn't go with Tom Tom over Garmin...It's all about track record of a world leader company, vs. a relatively new "start-up" cmpany. No one even heard of Tom Tom before last summer's media blitz...
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Sorry...Proprietary is the way it happens with GPS. This is one of the very most common questions that new GPS users have..."Do I have to buy Garmin's maps for my Garmin receiver?" or the same question with Magellan receivers and maps.
Unfortunately...Yes to both.
There is a labor intensive way to create your own maps for Garmin units (I don't think there is for Magellan, but I might be wrong.), but it goes way beyond what most people are willing to put into it.
This is where an actual salesman in an actual real, hands-on store can clear up these sorts of questions before they are even asked by the customer.
Garmin Topo: Why 24k Maps Only For National Parks?
in GPS technology and devices
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Not enough demand, and it would take a lot of memory to get any serious geography loaded. I personally wouldn't ever spend the money. I use my GPS with paper maps and a grid card for back country use. I would never, ever trust my life to just electronic maps. If my GPS croaked, I would be left without maps...A bad, bad ting to have happen in the back country. This is the same reason I have never bothered with a built in electronic compass. I am going to have one that doesn't depend on batteries!