Sportrak? For An 11 Year Old?

[+Cheminer Will]

I am familiar with some of Magellan's GPSr's. We have the Sportrak Color and a Meridian Gold. I have the chance to buy a new "Sportrak" for my 11 y.o. daughter for about $50.00. It appears to be a lower end model, yellow color. I can't find a lot of opinion on it.

 

Anyone here use it or able to offer knowledge on it. I am hesitant to spend the money for a meridian etc. for an 11 year old, but don't want to get her something that won't work well. Although she always goes out with me or her older brother, she really wants to be able to track down the caches on her own. (Read - beat us to the cache)! It needs to at least be able to connect to a pc for use with GSAK.

 

Thanks!

[+bear&fox]

I had one of those - nothing wrong with that at all. It would probably be useful to stick with Magellan as you would be totally familiar with the workings of the unit.

[+ClydeE]

Yep, I really don't think you could go too far wrong there.

 

The SporTrak should work just fine when sending waypoints with GSAK, GPSBabel, EasyGPS, etc (and just about all the major contenders in the mapping software area)

Edited August 28, 2005 by ClydeE

[PodunkPaul]

IMHO: I think that is a perfect unit for kids! I bought a SporTrack Topo for my two children, 9 and 13. They love the fact that they can get their hands around it easily. When it comes time to go caching, I connect my MeriPlat and send the new waypoints using GSAK, disconnect and then connect the SporTrack and repeat. Could not be any easier!

[robertlipe]

There are two distinct classes of SporTrak - there's the SporTrak Map family (Map, Map Pro, Topo, Color) that are very similar to your Colour and Gold. Then there's the Yellow, which is a much less popular unit than the others. It doesn't do maps at all.

 

For $50, it'll likely be hard to beat for your use as it does use the same cabling (though different backets and such) as your other units. I think I recall that model does only uppercase waypoint names or maybe it's 6 characters instead of 8 or something - there's something about it that from a GSAK/GPSBabel view makes it unlike the rest of the 330/Meridian/STMap family, but certainly not terrible.

 

I used one briefly a while ago. The reception is excellent, just as you'd expect, so if you use the high-end units for the maps (topo or DR) to get to the cache and she just punches "goto nearest" when you get out of the car, she really shouldn't be at any disadvantage.

[+Cheminer Will]

There are two distinct classes of SporTrak - there's the SporTrak Map family (Map, Map Pro, Topo, Color) that are very similar to your Colour and Gold. Then there's the Yellow, which is a much less popular unit than the others. It doesn't do maps at all.

 

Thanks for the information!

 

When you say it does not do maps at all, do you mean it does not even have the base maps of North America that our STC and Meridian Gold do? Or do you just mean that you can't use the higher level mapping programs with it?

[+bear&fox]

The yellow Sportrak does not have mapping capability - no base maps, no added maps, nothing. Period. You have all the basic functionality of the Garmin eTrex Yellow, but no maps at all. It does however, have a worldwide database of cities loaded - but that would only be the coordinates.

 

This, of course, would not prevent you from using mapping software on a PC and transferring the waypoints, tracks or routes to the GPS receiver.

Edited August 29, 2005 by bear&fox

[robertlipe]

Bear & Fox has it right. No maps at all on ST Yellow.

 

Assuming the parents drive to the cache (based on street maps) and decide which valley to take to the case (based on the Topo maps) and the 11 year old is just following the arrow on a "goto nearest" this shouldn't be a problem at all.

 

Signed,

Geocacher with a boy that found his first cache (with a Magellan) at age four and is now nine.

[+Cheminer Will]

OK - Thanks. I am glad I asked. I think that because she has been looking over the shoulder, (or under the arm) of Dad and Big Brother for almost a year now, she might be unhappy with a GPSr that has no base maps.

 

Any suggestions on other Magellan GPSr's that might be good for her? Even a good deal on a Meridian Gold is close to 200.00. Perhaps a bit big of an investment for a 11th birthday.

[robertlipe]

I don't know what a navigator your 11 year old is, but I'm speculating that the majority of the navigation is up to the elders and she's an "arrow chaser". By the time the car is parked, the basemaps aren't really helpful anyway; so the absence of a basemap won't be that different. (The presence of a Topo map once the car is parked might change things, but you explictly called out "base maps"

 

Our boy, TNGeodude - who created an account after about 90% of his founds - wouldn't know the difference and he held a GPS on most of them... I'd be totally OK handing him something like a ST Yellow or a Garmin Etrex/Banana or a Foretrunner 201 or a Garmin II or any of my Magellans without detail maps. (When you're nine and your dad is the GPSBabel guy, you have your choice of a freakish number of GPSes...)

 

STMap and base Meridian or Meridian Gold are your next steps up in the Magellan line, but they're going to be more than the $50 mentioned.

 

If it was my kid and my $50, I'd hop on it.

[+Cheminer Will]

Thanks Robert. Good reasoning.

 

On edit: I'll have to think about it. She is usually in the back seat looking into the cupholders holding the GPS'rs in the front of the truck and shouting out "here comes one and it's right beside the road, we have to stop!!!" That's why I'm thinking she might be frustrated with one that has no base maps. You are right, though that in any other situation, once out of the truck, she would be fine with it.

 

I'll post back after I decide which way to go.

Edited August 29, 2005 by Cheminer Will

[+scott9282]

Will, this also gives you another opportunity. Get either printed topo maps from a source such as Offroute.com or print your own with a program. Teach your child how to use a topo map and a GPSr AND a regular compass. This will help them strengthen their navigation skills, and is an added insurance against getting lost in the woods/hills/mountains/desert/whatever.

 

Team9282 Support Child has been practicing with topo maps and a compass for a while now. Can navigate back to a starting point and is confident enough to know how to not panic if lost.

 

On a side note, may I suggest that you give your child their own daypack with some essentials such as water, a rescue blanket and a signal mirror and an LED type flashlight with automatic flash for night signaling. A small amount of snack type foods is also useful. All "just in case".