Help Please

[CarlsbadMom]

I am a single mom on tight budget and have a chance to buy a GPS Blazer 12 cheap. I want to do this with my daughter but we will be starting as newbies with simple cache's. We live in New Mexico if this helps.

[+hikergps]

I am a single mom on tight budget and have a chance to buy a GPS Blazer 12 cheap. I want to do this with my daughter but we will be starting as newbies with simple cache's. We live in New Mexico if this helps.

 

What is cheap?

[CarlsbadMom]

Around 35.00

[+hikergps]

The Blazer won't be as accurate as the newer GPS recievers but should work ok, will get you within 60 feet or better. You will need to round up your coordinate entry from xxx xx.xxx to xxx xx.xx.

 

According to the manual it takes 2 AA batteries that should last about 20 hours.

 

If it were me I would do it. I started with a unit older than this.

[+fireman121]

That looks like a fair price, Check on ebay to see what they are going for.

[CarlsbadMom]

Ok will give it a shot we just want to give it a try we borrowed one for a geocache treasure hunt event and had more fun then we thought was possible. So now we want to try with some of the hunts posted in our area. Thank you.

[+hikergps]

Here is a link to the manual if you need it. It is a PDF file from the Magellan website.

 

Blazer 12 manual

[+TerraTrekkers]

It only shows 2 decimal places instead of 3. 29 deg 32.36 min instead of 29deg 32.369min. This will reduce your accuracy. Plus these old Mags suffer from the Mageallan hook, slow averageing that causes you to work a big circle back to the cache. I have a 315,I know. I think I would look around for something else.

 

Jim

Edited April 9, 2006 by TerraTrekkers

[+briansnat]

I think you're better off skipping the Blazer. You can probably find a used eTrex for not a lot more and it will be much more accurate.

[+ozymandiasism]

I do not own one, but a lot of people from this MB would recommend the Garmin eTrex Yellow. A much more accurate unit. A used one on ebay ranges from 10-35 bucks (exclude s/h)

[+Isonzo Karst]

I'll second skipping a unit with only tenths and hundreds, not thousands of a minute. It really really will leave you a loooonng way off from caches. I'd second what others have said about hunting for a used ETREX. I'd expect to be able to find one for ~ $60 and you can use it forever for caching. You'll quickly either give up caching from frustration, or move up to a higher unit if you buy that Blazer.

[+Team JSAM]

I do not own one, but a lot of people from this MB would recommend the Garmin eTrex Yellow. A much more accurate unit. A used one on ebay ranges from 10-35 bucks (exclude s/h)

 

I would love to see a etrex on eBay for 10-35 dollars it would be great for my kids but sadly you will not find one for that price even used on eBay they have been ending for about the same price as new ones.

 

eTrex on eBay

 

Edited April 9, 2006 by JsamFam

[+hikergps]

That goes for just about any gps I have seen, even the 1st generation ones. Everybody gets into a bidding frenzy in the last minute and they go for more than they would new. I got lucky when I bought mine, started with a Magellan GPS 2000 (which goes to the hundreths of a degree) that I got for $20 including the shipping. At the moment I have a Geko 101 that I picked up for $50. Granted, the unit that the OP is looking at isn't state of the art but having used an older GPSr for awhile, IMHO based on finding caches with a similar GPSr it would be fine. The first caches were placed with older technology than the GPS the OP can get for $35. The GPSr that she is describing will Geocache fine for someone on a budget wanting to break into the game. Looking at the GPS and getting close is only half of finding caches, the rest is searching and thinking anyway.

 

edit: Typing faster than the speed of correct spelling

Edited April 9, 2006 by hikergps

[+Ed & Julie]

Honestly, I would hold out for a least a used Garmin yellow GPS. It's about the minimal you would want for geocaching.

 

Check eBay, check the forums (GPS garage sale) and you will eventually find a deal.

 

Ask around. Do you have a caching group near you? Someone may have upgraded and have a spare around to sell cheap.

 

Ed

[+hikergps]

You could probably buy the Blazer 12, ebay it for a profit then, go to Wally World and get a new etrex. I just took a stroll down ebay lane and about fell out of my chair looking at what GPS'r are going for.

 

I didn't mean that you should avoid buying a newer unit, but if all you have to spend on one is $35 the Blazer is probably worth that much. You might check local pawn shops too. Just make sure it works before you walk out the door.

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

Another very good alternative would be the Magellan Explorist 100. A number of online vendors are selling them new in the $62 to $69 range. This unit works well under dense forest cover, almost as well as the classic SporTrak Pro, and is highly accurate, about as accurate as the Sportrak Pro and thus can get you within 2-4 feet of the cache in some cases, if the hider took really tight waypoint measures. Of course, as with many low-end GPS receivers, the Explorist 100 does not allow you to electronically download waypoints in bulk from your PC, and rather you must enter them by hand. We have an Explorist 100 as our spare GPSr, in addition to our SporTrak Pro, and it works well. I have used it in Germany, Nicaragua and Southern India, and Sue and I have used it all across the USA as welll. We have even used it in West Virginia, which is a very alien land.

[+YuccaPatrol]

I found my first two caches using an old Garmin GPS 45. Under tree cover and with its older and inability to use 3 decimal places, the lack of accuracy was very frustrating. I didn't know what I was looking for and did several methodical searches several hundred feet away from the cache before I found it.

 

Although my old GPS was great for locating a camping site on a lake in the back-country, it just was not ideal for locating hidden tupperware.

 

I would definitely suggest getting something newer that has the ability to be a bit more accurate just to limit your frustration. Geocaching can be frustrating enough at times without adding to it with less than ideal equipment.

[+Team Red Oak]

You could post a note to the garage sale page in the forums asking if anyone has a used GPS in your price range.

[bnolan]

If the Blazer12 can handle UTM coordinates, that will get you to 1 meter of resolution on the display. Of course the GPS won't be that accurate.

[+Deliveryguy428]

In all honesty, an extrex yellow is your best bet, and if you get REALLY lucky you might get the news version and not know it. As in built in compass and all, but for the cheap price of what the yellows run.

[+Adrenalynn]

TigerGPS.com has the Lowrance iFinder Go back in stock.

 

$68.99, 16 channel differential with WAAS. Reasonably sensitive. Mapping. A lot of GPS for less than $70!