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Offroading Gps ?


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Hey all, i have searched and cant find anything specific. i am shopping around for a GPS to use primarily for offroading and want to get into the caching thing as well. my question is what models do u guys recomend that show decent detail for offroad maps forist roads etc... the more info the better. so far i am looking at the etrex legend but am not sure of how detailed the maps can get, i need more than just a topo map, i need actual forest service roads and possibly some trails. thanks in advance

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I have City Select (replaced by City Navigator), and it shows most of the main unpaved roads, such as Forest service roads. I use a Garmin Map60cs.

 

The Legend is quickly becoming an obsolete model. It only has 8mb and is extremely slow compared to the processors of the newer Garmin handhelds. I should know as I also have a Vista.

 

You can't go wrong with the new Etrex Venture Cx. They are selling for $200. You will need to purchase a memory card and USB cable. The optional mapping software runs $115 and offers auto-routing capabilities.

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If you don't do your driving over a wide area, the Legend might be sufficient, but I agree with Chuy that something like the Venture CX , or perhaps the larger Map 76CX (Garmin is offering a $100 rebate on the 76CX right now) is the way to go. The 76CX has its buttons on the front which makes it easier to use while driving. The side buttons on the eTrex units are not as driving friendly.

 

These units all come with base maps, which are not very detailed. They only show major roads and highways. For any detail you need to get the mapping software, which runs from $85 to $130 depending on which software you choose. For off roading you will need Mapsource Topo software, as City Select and City Navigator, though great mapping programs, don't show much detail off the beaten path. Topo is pretty good, but it uses USGS maps, so it is sometimes outdated in certain regions. Topo does show many dirt roads, but the quality of the detail varies from region to region. Go to Garmin's website and you can use their map viewer to demo the software and see exactly what it shows.

 

Ideally you can run both City Navigator and Topo on your unit, but you might not want to splurge on both mapping packages right away. City Navigator with its auto routing capability and database of over 5 million businesses and services is a great piece of software though.

 

If the Garmin units along with mapping software seem to be a bit pricy, look into a Lowrance H20 Plus. Its usually around $200, but it comes with the topo mapping software, memory card and card reader. The Lowrance topo maps are a tad better than the Garmin ones. The Lowrance H20 does not however have the autorouting cababilities of the Garmin units.

 

 

I'm going to slide this over to the GPS units and software forum which is a more apporpriate place for questions such as yours.

Edited by briansnat
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I do a lot of off roading and I have the Map76CSx with City Navigator and Garmin Topo loaded. Between the two maping software programs it does a great job for me. I would like to see a higher detail topo on the GPSr like National Geographic State Topo but that is not likley in the near future. I do use the NG State Topo to print maps before going out or documenting my detailed tracks after a trip. NG Topo is an excellent map package....too bad you can't load them directly into a Garmin. :-(

 

I use the Garmin dash mount and I have never had a problem even four wheeling over pretty rough roads.

Edited by bgarland
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thanks for all the help guys. i checked out the models you suggested above and they look great. however they are a bit spendy. i also got to check out a guy at works GPS today. it is a magelin meridian... older model, but it showed the stuff (roads) i was looking for. anymore suggestions on a maybe some cheaper models with similar mapping capabilities? not to worried about color and all the bells and whistles, just as long as i can see forest roads and map and save some routes and way points. don't need a ton of memory either i don't think. will probably only be saving 2-3 areas. will the legend or similar models have these capabilities. and how much memory will it take to map 2-3 areas.

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I bought my brother a Legend and installed all of the topo maps within about 50 mile radius of his home area. Works great for him.

 

If you have a friend with the topo software, they can load the maps you want on it without having to buy an unlock code.

 

That would be about your cheapest way to get topo maps on a GPS.

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anymore suggestions on a maybe some cheaper models with similar mapping capabilities? not to worried about color and all the bells and whistles, just as long as i can see forest roads and map and save some routes and way points. don't need a ton of memory either i don't think. will probably only be saving 2-3 areas. will the legend or similar models have these capabilities. and how much memory will it take to map 2-3 areas.

If you're concerned about the maps having the roads for your area, you should be checking the map products first, and then look at the GPS units that can use them. Garmin's website lets you view their map data online so you can actually see what detail they have for YOUR particular area.

 

Colour shouldn't be considered a "bell and whistle" feature when you're talking about map displays, particularly with topo maps. There's a lot of data that needs to be presented and it is very difficult to read if you are limited to grey scale. Get a b/w photocopy one of your colour topo maps and compare the two. Then consider that your GPS screen will be trying to pack even more data into a smaller area.

 

GeoBC

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You can't overlay the Topo and City Select maps to see them simultaneously - you have to toggle between them. ("Toggle" isn't quite the right word - the maps are sort of stacked on top of each other, with the built-in basemap on the bottom, Topo above that, and City Select on top. A few button presses will let you hide the City Select map, at which point the Topo map becomes visible.) For offroading caches, I'll use City Select to navigate to the start of the 4wd area, then hide City Select and use the Topo map to navigate the rest of the way.

 

Also take a look through the forums for topics on GPSr mounts, like this recent thread. I can vouch from personal experience that the beanbag-style mounts don't cut it once you get onto badly washboarded and similar rough surfaces. :D

 

As far as GPSrs go, I'm using a 76CS. I think geobc is right on the money about the benefits of a color screen for viewing topo maps. Just to give you a rough idea of memory requirements, the 115MB built into the 76CS is just enough to store both City Select and US Topo maps for all of New England (MA, CT, RI, NH, and ME). That's serious overkill given how easy it is to download different map combinations - the 60CS would have suited me fine and dandy as far as map storage goes, but I found I actually preferred the way the larger 76 fit my hand.

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thanks for all the help guys. i checked out the models you suggested above and they look great. however they are a bit spendy. i also got to check out a guy at works GPS today. it is a magelin meridian... older model, but it showed the stuff (roads) i was looking for. anymore suggestions on a maybe some cheaper models with similar mapping capabilities? not to worried about color and all the bells and whistles, just as long as i can see forest roads and map and save some routes and way points. don't need a ton of memory either i don't think. will probably only be saving 2-3 areas. will the legend or similar models have these capabilities. and how much memory will it take to map 2-3 areas.

 

Again, check out the Lowrance H20 Plus. The package includes mapping which is anywhere between an $85 to $130 addition for all other models mentioned (including Magellan). I've seen the H20 Plus for around $200 in the past and their topo maps are better than Magellan's and Garmin's.

 

The Legend only has 8 megs. How much it can cover depends on the area and software used. Very generally speaking (in my area of northern NJ) the 8 megs in the Legend running Mapsource Topo will cover an area of roughly 60 x 80 miles. Again, coverage will differ in other areas. A more mountainous area with more topo detail will take up more memory.

Edited by briansnat
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Different maps have difference detail levels, but I've found the U.S. Census Bureau Tiger based maps, as inaccurate position-wise as they are at times, to offer more detail than most other Garmin map products.

 

Here is a small Garmin map comparison page I started last month. There is still a lot to do, but it still offers a fair comparison between the City Select(Navteq)-v-Tiger(U.S. Census Bureau) based maps. Keep in mind the Navteq data will be more accurate position wise in most cases, but I keep either 'Roads & Recreation' or 'Recreational Lakes with Fishing Hot Spots 5' loaded at all times just in case.

 

http://www.d30.info/musings/garmin_map_comparisons

 

Edit: Oops... Forgot an important point... The Tiger map data is OLD so newer roads, large or small, will not be listed.

Edited by ardfarkle
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I do a lot of off roading and I have the Map76CSx with City Navigator and Garmin Topo loaded. Between the two maping software programs it does a great job for me. I would like to see a higher detail topo on the GPSr like National Geographic State Topo but that is not likley in the near future. I do use the NG State Topo to print maps before going out or documenting my detailed tracks after a trip. NG Topo is an excellent map package....too bad you can't load them directly into a Garmin. :-(

 

I use the Garmin dash mount and I have never had a problem even four wheeling over pretty rough roads.

 

I've used NG Topo's MapXchange on their web page. People download their tracks from various hiking trails within their state that they have hiked. Then, you can upload them and create route overlays on your GPS topo maps, Garmin or Magellan etc.

 

Another way if you're using a PPC with a GPS connected, you can download the 24K USGS quad NG Topo maps into your PPC so you can have real-time view of your location. In addition to the NG State series, your buy NG Pocket Topo($25) for the transfer of maps to your PPC. Note sure if this works with a Palm OS PDA.

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