Whats the oldest GPSr you own?

[Johnnykat]

I was looking at my "Lowrance GlobalNav 12" and saw the sys info page and it shows that the copyright date is April 8, 1998 and I am pretty sure I bought it in late 1998 so that puts it at least 9 years old now. (And it looks it too. ) So now I want to know what is the oldest GPSr you guys have. BTW my Lowrance still works great just big and heavy and loves battery's. I am also the proud owner of a Etrex legend.

 

Johnny

[+Barrettg]

I was looking at my "Lowrance GlobalNav 12" and saw the sys info page and it shows that the copyright date is April 8, 1998 and I am pretty sure I bought it in late 1998 so that puts it at least 9 years old now. (And it looks it too. ) So now I want to know what is the oldest GPSr you guys have. BTW my Lowrance still works great just big and heavy and loves battery's. I am also the proud owner of a Etrex legend.

 

Johnny

 

Johnny, I am currently looking at my handheld Garmin GPS III Plus. I can't remember what year I purchased it, but it was definitely in the 90's. It was and is a great unit. It's somewhat big by today's standards. It has a flip up antenna, and the unit itself is probably 1 1/2 times the size of a Garmin Vista Hcx, (my current GPSr). When responding to your question, I actually went over to my gear closet and pulled out the GPS III Plus and put is side by side with the Vista Hcx. Sparked both of them up. the Vista acquired 9 satellites in a matter of about 12 seconds. The III Plus took about two minutes to lock onto 4 satellites. One of which is so minimal that I'm not sure that it counts.

 

I actually have an older GPS that was installed in my vehicle in 1995. It's currently in a box in the basement. It Cost $2,500. The GPS itself was controlled by a laptop computer mounted under the front passenger seat. The LCD Screen was a 5 inch screen. Pretty good for those days. It also included a rear mounted Gyro. It was quite elaborate.

 

Now you can go out and buy a portable Magellan or Lowrance or Garmin for a couple of hundred bucks and it does a whole lot more than the old dinosaurs.

 

G

[eaparks]

I started off with a Garmin 12XL that I bought new on May 20, 1997 from Boat U.S. Still have all original manuals and even orginal receipt, paid $249.94 for it and thought that was a bargain back then. It is still in like new condition. Have considered selling it at times and then I usually talk myself into just keeping it for a backup.

[+Manatee87]

I have a Magellan 2000XL buried in a box somewhere from when we moved into our house. I never did much with it. GPSrs had to evolve a little more before they found a place in my life.

[+Red90]

GPS38 circa 1996

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...07-f9cebf33e40e

[+NVRDUNN]

I'm still using my Garmin GPS II. If I recall, it's about 10+ years old and still going strong. But I am starting to look for a replacement

[+van der Decken]

Still caching with the Garmin GPS12 I started with. Bought it around '95. I had a GPS38 for a week but it wouldn't get a lock in the badlands for love nor money, so I bit the bullet and paid the extra $100+ for the GPS12.

[gps004]

Etrex Vista HCX. At least 1 month old

[pthfndr617]

Garmin GPS45 bought in 95 still works great not my everyday user though

[+Klatch]

GPS38 circa 1996

Ditto.

[+fjones15]

Magellan GPS 2000. July 1996.

[+simplyred]

Magellan GPS Pioneer. Bought it in the 90's. Still play with it once in a while, let my son play with it. Now using my 60CSX and think this will last me forever as long as it never breaks, has all the features I always thought a GPS needs. Hopefully it last as long as my Magellan.

Edited March 11, 2008 by simplyred

[MunkeyTX]

Johnny, I am currently looking at my handheld Garmin GPS III Plus. I can't remember what year I purchased it, but it was definitely in the 90's.

 

Ditto, I've got a Garmin GPS III+ that I used up until this last January when I bought a Garmin GPSMAP 60Csx.

 

Interestingly enough, the GPSIII+ kinda fell into my lap one day. I was working at a rental car place, and they had a lost and found box. All the girls that worked there didn't know what the GPSIII+ was, they thought it was an machine to check blood sugar!

 

Apparently one of the car washers had found it jammed in between the seat cushions of our airport shuttle van, so we had no exact way of determining who had left it behind. We had a policy on electronics left in vehicles; after 2 years, we had the pick of the litter (I 'acquired' it back in 2001'ish). They told me it had been more than 2 years, I popped in some batteries, and it fired right up. I was dead confused on how to use it, but after playing around with it for a while, I had things figured out. I thought it was the bees-knees!

 

I still use it today; it's pulling duty strapped to my mtn. bike.

Edited March 11, 2008 by MunkeyTX

[groth]

I was looking at my "Lowrance GlobalNav 12" and saw the sys info page and it shows that the copyright date is April 8, 1998 and I am pretty sure I bought it in late 1998 so that puts it at least 9 years old now. (And it looks it too. ) So now I want to know what is the oldest GPSr you guys have. BTW my Lowrance still works great just big and heavy and loves battery's. I am also the proud owner of a Etrex legend.

 

Johnny

 

I believe my wife gave me an eTrex Summit for my birthday, May 13, 2001. The earliest track log I have saved in my files of track logs is from May 31, 2001.

 

- Ed

[centme37]

I was looking at my "Lowrance GlobalNav 12" and saw the sys info page and it shows that the copyright date is April 8, 1998 and I am pretty sure I bought it in late 1998 so that puts it at least 9 years old now. (And it looks it too. ) So now I want to know what is the oldest GPSr you guys have. BTW my Lowrance still works great just big and heavy and loves battery's. I am also the proud owner of a Etrex legend.

 

Johnny

 

Looking through my old stuff and I pulled out a Magellan GPS Trailblazer circa 8/4/1994. Put batterys in and it fired up and located just fine. I have case, manual, electrical connector, field guide and bracket. Currently have BT for my tablet pc, DeLorme PN-20, Garmin 60Cx, Magellan 315, plus a couple of DeLorme GPS loggers.

 

Edit: Also use Nuvi 350 for road routing.

Edited March 12, 2008 by centme37

[gps_dr]

First GPS was an early Garmin 12XL - no special waypoint symbols.

Did some research before I bought it and new I didn't want a non-parallel channel unit.

Worked the last time I tried it.

Replaced it with a Garmin GPS 76 (no-mapping) about 4 years ago because I needed a unit that displayed multiple tracks.

Earned a Brunton MNS (AKA Lowrance Ifinder Explorer equivalent)about 18 months later. Sensitive - detailed topo. It did not replace the 76.

Earned a DeLorme PN20 (Alpha & Beta tested) Still use it - USGS Topo, aerial imagery etc - use today.

Earned a Garmin 76CSX a little over a year ago - My workhorse - TOPO & Street maps - Easy - Use today.

Earned a Garmin Colorado 400t about a month ago. Nifty - still has some birth pains - use today (yes all 3).

[+geokitebuggy]

Magellan GPS 4000 circa 1996. It still works. Next unit was a Garmin eMap. Vowed to never get another Magellan - good decision.

[+benjamin921]

GPS III+

[+ethanSLC]

Garmin GPS12 for me. I remember slowing saving my allowance so that I could pick it up. It still works great and I sometimes will use it as a secondary unit when caching with a big group.

 

One thing I have always found strange is that it makes a noise, kind of a like a quiet grinding noise. It seems loudest when its first turned on and acquiring satellites. I can't imagine there is anything mechanical happening in there, anyone else with the 12 notice this?

[+Miragee]

I started with the eTrex Vista, bought on eBay.

 

Then I got the Vista C, so I sold the Vista on eBay.

 

Then I upgraded to the Vista HCx. I still have the Vista C (circa August 2005), so it qualifies as the "oldest" GPS unit I still have.

[Source_GPS]

Garmin E-Map (circa 1999/2000) that I still use from time to time.

 

On a slightly different topic, I still have a vehicle mounted cellular phone (that still is functional although no service) in a box in my basement provided by Cellular One in 1986. I have all the original paperwork and the funny thing is - it cost $30 per month back then with 30 free minutes and 0.69 cents per minute thereafter. Coverage around the NY/NJ area was sporadic at best.

Edited March 13, 2008 by Source_GPS

[vagabond]

Lowrance Globalmap212, bought it from a neighbor in 1997 for $100.00 because he was having problems with the instruction manual. I never did read the whole manual

[Gellidius]

I bought a Lowrance Eagle Explorer around 1998-99 and returned it after a few weeks as it would shut itself down quite often; it was replaced by a new one which still works very well.

 

A couple of years ago i gave it to a friend who wanted to do some geocaching and he has now offered to give it back to me as he's bought a new Garmin.

 

I intend to buy a new Garmin soon, so I'll take back the old Eagle and let the GF use it when hiking.

 

At the time i bought it, it sold for about 325$ can.

 

I suppose the internal lithium batt. is near the end of it's life as the manual says it should be good for about 10 years.

Wondering if a new battery can be installed in there! Does anyone know?

[+julianh]

One thing I have always found strange is that it makes a noise, kind of a like a quiet grinding noise. It seems loudest when its first turned on and acquiring satellites. I can't imagine there is anything mechanical happening in there, anyone else with the 12 notice this?

I think these older units were steam-powered. It is probably just overdue for a grease and oil change!

[+ethanSLC]

I think these older units were steam-powered. It is probably just overdue for a grease and oil change!

 

That must be it! I never got around to changing the oil in it!

 

In all seriousness though, I do ASIC and FPGA design for a living so I have a pretty good idea what goes on inside modern electronics. I have worked on projects with mechanical relays on the PCB, but they make more of a clicking sound. I have never quite heard anything like this, although I would suspect it's some sort of resonance in the power supply section.

 

In any case, it's never given me a moments trouble, and it's built like a rock. Except for being heavy and a bit slow with acquisition I think the 12 could compete favorable with many more modern units.

[+EScout]

Garmin II. I bought it new in 1997. It is still in like new condition. This is one of the 8 channel, sequential receivers. Very slow to acquire, and easy to lose a signal. It is too many generations old to use now.

[eaparks]

I think these older units were steam-powered. It is probably just overdue for a grease and oil change!

In any case, it's never given me a moments trouble, and it's built like a rock. Except for being heavy and a bit slow with acquisition I think the 12 could compete favorable with many more modern units.

 

Garmin must have felt the same way. I believe the 12XL was just discontinued last year and if that is the case then Garmin sold it for more than 11 years, basically without any changes, except for software updates. Quite a long time for the same model, that says alot about it's ruggedness, accuracy, acquisition time, and overall value of the product for it to be manufactured that long.

[Glenn W]

I have a Lowrance GlobalNav 12 from 1997. Still works fine on batteries, but the 12V power cord has seen better days. Now that I have a 60CSX for outdoor fun and a C550 for my car, the old receiver doesn't get much use.

[+GEOPENGUINS]

I have a Geodiscovery Geode for the Handspring Visor PDA. My wife bought it for me as a birthday gift I believe back in 2000 or 2001. Thought it was awesome until I found out that it wasn't fully developed and the company folded. Oh well, live and learn. I had a Garmin Venture I bought new I think in 2003, but gave it to buddy of mine in 2006 when I found out he was being deployed to Iraq. (He's back now, alive and safe) I currently own a 60CSX.

[shivia]

Garmin Geko 201, few years ago.

[+Hosta Hillbillys]

Trimble Flightmate Pro - 1989

 

That ol' dog still barks!

 

Am I the winner?

[+TeamThom]

Own & still use a Garmin GPS 12XL. See photo at link below. I'm new to geocaching and haven't seriously looked into a new unit yet. (Maybe a 60CSx one day.) The StreetPilot gets the car to within walking distance then the 12XL takes over.

 

http://img.geocaching.com/track/c9bbcd8e-4...04b9a346f0b.jpg

Edited March 18, 2008 by ThojeCasal

[rnlundy]

I've got a Garmin GPS 75 (the one with the full numeric keypad) that I've had since 1994-95. It has always been my primary marine GPS for messing about in 3 different boats around tampa bay over the past 14 years. My daughter and I tried to use it saturday to find our first cache. Its a single channel receiver w/o WAAS-and my EPE under tree cover was over 100 feet-not gonna cut it. We gave up and came back today using my Sprint Mogul PPC phone with qualcomm's GPS-A and the Beeline GPS software. It put us within 5 feet and we found the cache, our first. I was suprised with the accuract of the cell phone GPS unit-and the BeelineGPS software is a keeper.

 

I've ordered a Vista HCx-it'll do everything, roads, topo and bluechart for my boat. But I'll probably still keep the GPS 75 exclusively for boat use as its a perfect text based marine GPS even if its not accurate enough for geocaching.

[+IDLookout]

Magellan ColorTRAK - 1998

 

Still use it.

[+Aartex]

I Have and currently use a Magellan GPS 3000 XL I bought new as state of the art when they came out for my boat back in the mid 1990s somewhere along there. Still looks as shiny and accurate with WGS84 as the day I bought it.

 

Got me to near touching distance on the finds I have so far. plan on giving it a full test traveling from Atoka to OKC, checking caches as I go and return next week.

 

Anyone know a free street map programI can refer to off-line

[+TVN]

Magellan Trailblazer, circa 1994. There's an XL version on eBay now for $9.95!

 

Since then, I've been through an eTrex, 2 eTrex Vistas, a 60CS and now a Colorado 400t. I have factory nav systems in both cars and I still keep a Thomas Guide in the trunk!

[+W7WT]

I still have my Garmin 45. Paid about $80 for a passive external antenna. This was before Geocaching. On a trip to Alaska, I got coordinates from airports etc. manually put them in the 45. I would plan a trip. I thought it was wonderful. Kept me going in the right direction and told me line of sight distance how far I had to go to get to the next wp. I also used it to mark hot spots in lakes for fishing. One of the few GPSs that I have owned that I knew and used every feature it had. No, I won't give it away. I am keeping it as it was my first GPS. Dick

[+Prime Suspect]

[cowboyshootist]

Thomas Guide and a Boy Scout compass. Still works too.