meowmeowgirl3 Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 I just ordered a Etrex H yellow. I know it is not very top of the line but, I wanted something enexpensive and. i just wanted to know what others that HAVE it think of it. I hear it finds satellites quick... Is this true? I did not want a car one or a fancy color one I figure if this works for now next christmas i can get a nice one. I am planning to use it to find caches, because I do not need a car one I have one... a VERY nice care one Thx in advace bye! Quote Link to comment
+Red90 Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 Yes, it will work well. The only downside is that they do not come with a cable, making it harder to input waypoints. GPS performance is as good as anything. You can pick up a cable on eBay fairly cheap, if you feel that you need one. Quote Link to comment
meowmeowgirl3 Posted March 29, 2008 Author Share Posted March 29, 2008 Yes, it will work well. The only downside is that they do not come with a cable, making it harder to input waypoints. GPS performance is as good as anything. You can pick up a cable on eBay fairly cheap, if you feel that you need one. so what do you need a cable for?? Wah tdoes a cable do and how cheap are we talking because i am on a small budget... Quote Link to comment
meowmeowgirl3 Posted March 29, 2008 Author Share Posted March 29, 2008 oh and people could all those 23 people who are loking at this give any imput possibly to if they like trex too?? Quote Link to comment
meowmeowgirl3 Posted March 29, 2008 Author Share Posted March 29, 2008 oh and people could all those 23 people who are loking at this give any imput possibly to if they like trex too?? I am sorry i meant etrex lol! Quote Link to comment
+Miragee Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 The cable is for connecting your GPS unit to a computer so you can download the coordinates quickly and, even more importantly, accurately. I usually recommend that people get a GPS unit that connects to a computer with USB since many newer computers, especially laptops, don't come with a Serial Port. There are Serial to USB adapters, but those can be difficult to configure. With Premium Membership to GC.com and Pocket Queries, and software on my computer, I can load several hundred waypoints into my GPS unit in the time it takes to manually enter the coordinates . . . Quote Link to comment
+coggins Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 (edited) oh and people could all those 23 people who are loking at this give any imput possibly to if they like trex too?? I am sorry i meant etrex lol! Yo cat, this is by far my favorite unit, and the one I have is so old it doesn't even have WASS or the H. Edited March 29, 2008 by coggins Quote Link to comment
meowmeowgirl3 Posted March 29, 2008 Author Share Posted March 29, 2008 The cable is for connecting your GPS unit to a computer so you can download the coordinates quickly and, even more importantly, accurately. I usually recommend that people get a GPS unit that connects to a computer with USB since many newer computers, especially laptops, don't come with a Serial Port. There are Serial to USB adapters, but those can be difficult to configure. With Premium Membership to GC.com and Pocket Queries, and software on my computer, I can load several hundred waypoints into my GPS unit in the time it takes to manually enter the coordinates . . . whoo that is really cool but i am a liitle confused.. Why should i get the cable bacause if i am only going to 3 or 4 caches a day then do i have a reason??? I am so confused thx for helping! Quote Link to comment
+PDOP's Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 Why should i get the cable bacause if i am only going to 3 or 4 caches a day then do i have a reason??? To eliminate errors when manually entering the coordinates. If you transpose a couple of digits you could be searching for a long long time. Quote Link to comment
+Miragee Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 Why should i get the cable bacause if i am only going to 3 or 4 caches a day then do i have a reason??? To eliminate errors when manually entering the coordinates. If you transpose a couple of digits you could be searching for a long long time. Exactly . . . when I was first starting out, I entered the coordinates for a series of four caches located on a trail. I found the first one, but the second one wasn't nearby . . . so I went on to the third and fourth one. It turned out that cache #2 was more than 15 miles away . . . because of where I made the error in entering the coordinates. Quote Link to comment
meowmeowgirl3 Posted March 29, 2008 Author Share Posted March 29, 2008 Why should i get the cable bacause if i am only going to 3 or 4 caches a day then do i have a reason??? To eliminate errors when manually entering the coordinates. If you transpose a couple of digits you could be searching for a long long time. Exactly . . . when I was first starting out, I entered the coordinates for a series of four caches located on a trail. I found the first one, but the second one wasn't nearby . . . so I went on to the third and fourth one. It turned out that cache #2 was more than 15 miles away . . . because of where I made the error in entering the coordinates. whoa, that is a very good point but if i just bought the thing what should i do ... could someone do some research as to the cheapest place to buy this cable for a 2007 Dell laptop?? Quote Link to comment
meowmeowgirl3 Posted March 29, 2008 Author Share Posted March 29, 2008 Why should i get the cable bacause if i am only going to 3 or 4 caches a day then do i have a reason??? To eliminate errors when manually entering the coordinates. If you transpose a couple of digits you could be searching for a long long time. Exactly . . . when I was first starting out, I entered the coordinates for a series of four caches located on a trail. I found the first one, but the second one wasn't nearby . . . so I went on to the third and fourth one. It turned out that cache #2 was more than 15 miles away . . . because of where I made the error in entering the coordinates. whoa, that is a very good point but if i just bought the thing what should i do ... could someone do some research as to the cheapest place to buy this cable for a 2007 Dell laptop?? OH AND mIRAGEE I TOTally love your ideas! Quote Link to comment
+coggins Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 (edited) Why should i get the cable bacause if i am only going to 3 or 4 caches a day then do i have a reason??? To eliminate errors when manually entering the coordinates. If you transpose a couple of digits you could be searching for a long long time. Exactly . . . when I was first starting out, I entered the coordinates for a series of four caches located on a trail. I found the first one, but the second one wasn't nearby . . . so I went on to the third and fourth one. It turned out that cache #2 was more than 15 miles away . . . because of where I made the error in entering the coordinates. whoa, that is a very good point but if i just bought the thing what should i do ... could someone do some research as to the cheapest place to buy this cable for a 2007 Dell laptop?? Does your laptop have an RS232 9 pin serial port? Most likely not. If not, you will also need an RS232~USB adapter. Better figure in the cost of one of those little puppies if needed. Edited March 29, 2008 by coggins Quote Link to comment
+The Auclair Family Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 You can buy the serial to usb converter for $8 including shipping on ebay and the serial cable for the same amount. Make sure you buy a serial cable for the etrex H because they sell a serial to usb converter cable, my past experiance is that they don't work. So be sure you buy a regular serial cable for the etrex H and a seperate serial to usb converter. Also i have expeirnced some problems with converter software and windows vista, but xp works well with it. Quote Link to comment
meowmeowgirl3 Posted March 29, 2008 Author Share Posted March 29, 2008 You can buy the serial to usb converter for $8 including shipping on ebay and the serial cable for the same amount. Make sure you buy a serial cable for the etrex H because they sell a serial to usb converter cable, my past experiance is that they don't work. So be sure you buy a regular serial cable for the etrex H and a seperate serial to usb converter. Also i have expeirnced some problems with converter software and windows vista, but xp works well with it. Uh, could you could you post that site here and how to get to it because ican not find it.... Quote Link to comment
meowmeowgirl3 Posted March 29, 2008 Author Share Posted March 29, 2008 You can buy the serial to usb converter for $8 including shipping on ebay and the serial cable for the same amount. Make sure you buy a serial cable for the etrex H because they sell a serial to usb converter cable, my past experiance is that they don't work. So be sure you buy a regular serial cable for the etrex H and a seperate serial to usb converter. Also i have expeirnced some problems with converter software and windows vista, but xp works well with it. Uh, could you could you post that site (link) here and how to get to it because ican not find it.... Quote Link to comment
+coggins Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 You can buy the serial to usb converter for $8 including shipping on ebay and the serial cable for the same amount. Make sure you buy a serial cable for the etrex H because they sell a serial to usb converter cable, my past experiance is that they don't work. So be sure you buy a regular serial cable for the etrex H and a seperate serial to usb converter. Also i have expeirnced some problems with converter software and windows vista, but xp works well with it. Uh, could you could you post that site (link) here and how to get to it because ican not find it.... eBay Quote Link to comment
sbike007 Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 why don't you just try first, see you if can live without cable. I think you should be fine. Quote Link to comment
+Scott-N8ZUS Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 I wouldn't rule out that your laptop doesn't have a serial port. What model of a Dell laptop do you have? Also like others has said getting a cable for your GPS just makes it easier loading more than one Geocache. Which make it a little easy on you to go find Caches! Find one then select next nearest Cache, and away you go! Keep posting here, and I'm sure you will get all the help you may need to getting it all set up. To find a cable check E-bay or Amazon.com I'm sure you will get one reasonable. Quote Link to comment
+Skip_ Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 A yellow eTrex is a perfectly good place to start. It's not a lot of money so if you decide to upgrade later it's not a big deal. I second the cables, although they're not necessarily going to save you 100% of the time. One time I was hunting a multi, so I had to manually input the coordinates for the next stage. Turns out I entered them wrong somehow and ended up going off in a wrong direction and getting one of my infamous DNF's. Quote Link to comment
meowmeowgirl3 Posted March 30, 2008 Author Share Posted March 30, 2008 I wouldn't rule out that your laptop doesn't have a serial port. What model of a Dell laptop do you have? Also like others has said getting a cable for your GPS just makes it easier loading more than one Geocache. Which make it a little easy on you to go find Caches! Find one then select next nearest Cache, and away you go! Keep posting here, and I'm sure you will get all the help you may need to getting it all set up. To find a cable check E-bay or Amazon.com I'm sure you will get one reasonable. ok so a found one on ebay for $9.30 is it the right one? because ihope it is not the one that is bad that it already comes with. The device is not here yet but what do you guys think cable or no cable? my laptop is a Enspiron E1505 thx everyone for your help this is my first GPS! Quote Link to comment
+Scott-N8ZUS Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Well sorry to say it looks like your laptop doesn't have a serial port, and you do need a USB to Serial adapter. Good thing it sure has plenty of USB ports! Quote Link to comment
meowmeowgirl3 Posted March 30, 2008 Author Share Posted March 30, 2008 Well sorry to say it looks like your laptop doesn't have a serial port, and you do need a USB to Serial adapter. Good thing it sure has plenty of USB ports! I just bought one Quote Link to comment
+natureguy1 Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Yes, it will work well. The only downside is that they do not come with a cable, making it harder to input waypoints. GPS performance is as good as anything. You can pick up a cable on eBay fairly cheap, if you feel that you need one. Another reason for the cable. The software in the etrex you just purchased is outdated. You should log in the Garmin site immediately and get the latest updates and BUG fixes that they have so your unit operates properly. You need a PC and a cable to do that Bob Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.