+Ellteejak Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 What is the least expensive GPS that has an external antenna connector? I also need one with a NMEA serial output. Quote Link to comment
+BBWolf+3Pigs Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 You can get the GPS60 for about $150 if you shop around. Has USB, Serial, and external antenna jack. Quote Link to comment
+Team Chevelle Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 I've got a used Garmin GPS-48 for sale if you're interested in a cheap unit with external antenna and serial output support. See my post in the For Sale forum for details. - John... Quote Link to comment
+Ellteejak Posted March 13, 2006 Author Share Posted March 13, 2006 looking for something under $100. Is there anything like this? Quote Link to comment
+Team Chevelle Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 So -- are you looking for new or used? The GPS-48 that I mentioned I have is well under $100. I'm only asking $65 SHIPPED for it. All you'd need to do is buy the serial cable -- and you should still be under $100 total. See my post in the GPS Garage Sale forum for more info and pics. - John... Quote Link to comment
Neo_Geo Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 You can get a Garmin EMAP on EBAY for about $80.00 or so. Features both NMEA output and external antenna jack. No WAAS though, but not a bad unit. I used it more than my Legend (because of it's mapping ability) and kept it as backup to my 60C when I got it. Quote Link to comment
+Ellteejak Posted March 13, 2006 Author Share Posted March 13, 2006 I know I will look at it's specifications, but does it take (tracks), and navigate to waypoints? You can get a Garmin EMAP on EBAY for about $80.00 or so. Features both NMEA output and external antenna jack. No WAAS though, but not a bad unit. I used it more than my Legend (because of it's mapping ability) and kept it as backup to my 60C when I got it. Quote Link to comment
Neo_Geo Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Absolutely. It does pretty much just about everything - tracks, routes, waypoints - up to 128MB of map memory with optional proprietary Garmin Data Card. Screen resolution is not the greatest, but the screen is larger than most. Quote Link to comment
+Ellteejak Posted March 13, 2006 Author Share Posted March 13, 2006 What kind of antenna connector does it have? The MPX thing? Absolutely. It does pretty much just about everything - tracks, routes, waypoints - up to 128MB of map memory with optional proprietary Garmin Data Card. Screen resolution is not the greatest, but the screen is larger than most. Quote Link to comment
peter Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 I know I will look at it's specifications, but does it take (tracks), and navigate to waypoints? Yes, the eBay is a very good unit but has been discontinued for almost a year. But as NeoGeo said you can still find them on eBay. It has a current (Active) tracklog of 2000 points and up to 10 Saved tracklogs of 250 points each, can store up to 500 waypoints, and 50 routes of up to 50 points each. It takes an active external antenna using an MCX connector - I use the Gilsson one with a right-angle plug. As mentioned, it doesn't support WAAS and the other negative is that it's not waterproof. Quote Link to comment
BraunHoffer Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 You can get a basic unit for under $100. I does not have all the bells and whistles like a color screen and such. But it will still do the job like giving you the coordinates and such. Just like old cameras, they still do the job. Good luck on your search Quote Link to comment
+Ellteejak Posted March 13, 2006 Author Share Posted March 13, 2006 (edited) well it looks like either of these Garmin units would work great to send NMEA GPS data to a Palm PDA (with appropriate cable) and then use an application like MAPOPOLIS to do autorouting with directions. MAPOPOLIS can run on a Palm T3 (for about $150) which I believe is the smallest PDA it can work on. The application costs $100. Your GPS will be $80, and some cables and mounts ($60), and an external antenna (maybe $20). Grand total GPS-PDA-EXTERNAL ANTENNA-SOFTWARE is $400 Edited March 13, 2006 by Ellteejak Quote Link to comment
+Team Chevelle Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 If I didn't have the PDA yet and was going to buy one with plans to run Mapopolis, I'd never go with a Palm. Mapopolis simply runs better on a PocketPC. I can't recommend a Palm -- except for the very high-end stuff -- for Mapopolis. Plus, GPXSonar and other such things are PocketPC apps. If you already have a Palm, no problem. But if you are looking to buy, I wouldn't go Palm as my first choice for geocaching... - John... Quote Link to comment
+Ellteejak Posted March 13, 2006 Author Share Posted March 13, 2006 Cheapest Pocket PC is $250, while cheapest functional Palm is $150. Am I getting the pricing wrong? I have Cachemate for palm, which works the same as GPXsonar. If I didn't have the PDA yet and was going to buy one with plans to run Mapopolis, I'd never go with a Palm. Mapopolis simply runs better on a PocketPC. I can't recommend a Palm -- except for the very high-end stuff -- for Mapopolis. Plus, GPXSonar and other such things are PocketPC apps. If you already have a Palm, no problem. But if you are looking to buy, I wouldn't go Palm as my first choice for geocaching... - John... Quote Link to comment
+Team Chevelle Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Cheapest Pocket PC is $250, while cheapest functional Palm is $150. Are you only buying new then? You can get a decent used PocketPC that will run Mapopolis better than any similarly-priced Palm for the $150 fairly easily on EBay. Am I getting the pricing wrong? I have Cachemate for palm, which works the same as GPXsonar. Mapopolis, in my opinion, does not perform well at all on a low-end Palm. It's a multitasking issue that the Mapopolis people freely admit they can't do much about do to limitations of the PalmOS. I was simply stating that I wouldn't buy a Palm to use with Mapopolis. You are free to do so, of course. I was just giving my opinion. - John... Quote Link to comment
+Ellteejak Posted March 13, 2006 Author Share Posted March 13, 2006 Okay John, I am open for suggestions. Which Pocket PC would your recommend as a good one that will run Mapopolis well, and attach to a serial NMEA GPS? Cheapest Pocket PC is $250, while cheapest functional Palm is $150. Are you only buying new then? You can get a decent used PocketPC that will run Mapopolis better than any similarly-priced Palm for the $150 fairly easily on EBay. Am I getting the pricing wrong? I have Cachemate for palm, which works the same as GPXsonar. Mapopolis, in my opinion, does not perform well at all on a low-end Palm. It's a multitasking issue that the Mapopolis people freely admit they can't do much about do to limitations of the PalmOS. I was simply stating that I wouldn't buy a Palm to use with Mapopolis. You are free to do so, of course. I was just giving my opinion. - John... Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 The Garmin GPS V is being discontinued but meets your criteria. Because it's being discontinues it should be the best bang for the buck you can get right now. Quote Link to comment
+Team Chevelle Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Okay John, I am open for suggestions. Which Pocket PC would your recommend as a good one that will run Mapopolis well, and attach to a serial NMEA GPS? Probably lots of choices -- I've seen some fairly decent stuff (such as Axim X50 units) go for around $150-$175 on EBay. Or, you could go with a lesser Axim for cheaper and still have plenty of power for what you'd want to do, I think. If you go with something old enough that it has a serial cradle, then you can just use a null-modem adapter to connect the GPS to the unit in the cradle. I did this and it works great -- I just bought a cheap (like $10) serial cradle for my Toshiba Genio e550G and put that in my vehicle (with velcro tape, for example). Was great to be able to just drop my PDA into the cradle when in the car and have it all "just work." When I upgraded to my Axim X51v, there were no more serial cradles -- so I had to get a special mount to be able to do that. - John... Quote Link to comment
Trail bandit_blood hound Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Ive got a maggelan and it works pretty good Quote Link to comment
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