Jump to content

Automotive GPS for Geocaching

tkeefe

By tkeefe
in General geocaching topics

Followers 1

Recommended Posts

tkeefe

tkeefe

Posted
Posted

:unsure: I was in the market for an automotive GPS (I know the Garmins are very popular). I knew that some of the models have "Pedestrian Mode" that would work for geocaching, although it's not ideal. Magellan has the crossover model, but I am not intereseted in that one.

 

Any models, not just Garmin, that would work for geocaching as well as automotive?

Link to comment
steve p

+steve p

Posted
Posted

I have a Garmin Vista Cx that is mainly for hiking and therefore can be used for geocaching. But it can also be used for route navigation in a car.

 

I think that a hiking GPS that can be used for car navigating is probably better than a car GPS that you try to use for geocaching.

 

REI has a good selection of GPS units. They are pretty experienced at explaining the various models. A great benefit for buying a GPS at REI is that they offer a lifetime warranty on anything they sell. Great buyer protection!

 

Good luck.

Link to comment
starscream2

+starscream2

Posted
Posted

I have been using a Garmin Nuvi 200 for geocaching. It works really well. I go side by side with a co-worker who use a Garmin Vista. It is accurate, easy to use, etc.

 

However... I admit I am buying a new Garmin Venture HC. The reason.... the battery....

 

The nuvi 200 works super well for hitting a few caches around town but its battery only lasts for me around 2-3 hours. The stated spec says that its battery last 5 hours. But my unit is second hand, so not new anymore, also I have to believe that those would be 5 hours on the very dimmest screen setting. I like to have the screen at least 70% bright. So really I can't get anywhere close to 5 hours out of it.

 

I would like to go on a longer caching trips and not have my unit go dead after a few hours. In the end that is my reason for switching. Aside from that the unit works great. If it took regular batteries I would not have switched.

Link to comment
Crew 153

+Crew 153

Posted
Posted

I'll also put a plug in for the quest.

 

It is easy to download coordinates and also to manually input them.

 

I have used it successfully out of the car but only as a secondary to my GPS 72 which I use for the close up stuff. It is not as robust when handheld but can be used with care.

 

I have had problems with the antenna and now have an external antenna attached and now have problems with the connector on that pulling apart.

Link to comment
briansnat

+briansnat

Posted
Posted

If you want something that does both fairly well, meaning that the battery life, ergonomics, durability and waterproofness are good enough for geocaching, yet it has voice prompts and is easily operated in a vehicle, I'd say the Garmin Quest and Quest II.

 

I use my 60CSX for both and am happy with it. There are few better handhelds for geocaching, and when driving it will get you where you want to go, although it has deficiencies. The Quest series is actually built for both and does a pretty good job with both.

Link to comment
Aye-Ch

+Aye-Ch

Posted
Posted

I use a Garmin Nuvi 350 that I got for Christmas, which I planned on using exclusively for street navigation until I discovered geocaching. I have no experience with typical GCing handhelds, and therefore don't know what I'm missing. It would seem from reading past logs (both on this thread and on others) that I am missing out on something, I just don't know what. I would agree with others that the battery life is limited, I generally can do 3-4 hours of steady caching without a new charge, and I like to have my screen brightness quite high. However, my battery is brand new, so I expect that battery life will decrease with age. My understanding so far is that the only drawback to using a car GPS rather than a handheld is battery life. I would love to hear some feedback on this!

 

With the nuvi 350, I can input coordinates (manually or download), save them, name them, assign location type (POI, favorites, etc), and get turn by turn directions for nearest parking. I can choose from options of off-road, shorter or faster distance, pedestrian, car, bike, etc mode, and then when I am close the the cache I switch to pedestrian and off-road option, and then I follow the purple highlited line to the cach location (often this is quite close for listed coordinates!) Following the purple line is not always accurate enough, so I also switch to "My Current Location" and watch the lat/long change as I walk, making for an even more accurate location. You will definately need to switch the nuvi to WAAS navigation (mine came with various options).

 

As long as I continue to do caching alone, I do not yet know what the benefits of a handheld are (although again, I would love to know if there's something other than battery life!). I would like to attend some events this summer, but I am a little concerned that there might be an attitude of "she only uses a nuvi". Seems like most people say not to use car navigators, but for the type of caching I've done so far its worked great for my not-experienced, newbie self! At an event I would likely run into problems of not having an opportunity to recharge the nuvi as often as needed.

Link to comment
Aye-Ch

+Aye-Ch

Posted
Posted

Oh, and there's also the question of durability. I assume the nuvi is not waterproof, so if I am afraid it will get wet I just put it in a freezer bag for protection. This works well as it has a touch screen and the reception is not effected by being in a bag. Also, I just dropped my nuvi on a concrete floor this past weekend (surely you heard my very loud explitive, even all the way to where you live!), and it still works fine. I don't plan on making a habit of dropping it though!

Link to comment
Arndtwe

+Arndtwe

Posted
Posted

I have a Jensen (Audiovox) that works really well. My in-laws have a Magellan which cannot take coordinates, so it won't work for geocaching. Make sure in addition to pedestrian mode it also has the ability to take coords.

How GPS savvy are they? I would almost bet you are mistaken... Its got to be there somewhere. I have noticed with automotive GPS, finding the menu for inputing coordinates can be hard to find. Even if there really isn't a menu option to load coordinates, you could still load it through the computer. I use EasyGPS and love it. Free, user friendly and quick!

Link to comment
TMDMom

+TMDMom

Posted
Posted

I have a Jensen (Audiovox) that works really well. My in-laws have a Magellan which cannot take coordinates, so it won't work for geocaching. Make sure in addition to pedestrian mode it also has the ability to take coords.

How GPS savvy are they? I would almost bet you are mistaken... Its got to be there somewhere. I have noticed with automotive GPS, finding the menu for inputing coordinates can be hard to find. Even if there really isn't a menu option to load coordinates, you could still load it through the computer. I use EasyGPS and love it. Free, user friendly and quick!

 

I tried...couldn't do it. Read the entire manual, and searched here for info. There was a thread about it a long time ago and it appears to be verified that you cannot enter coordinates into this specific model. I wish I remember the model number so I could find the thread. I'll have to look at it the next time I'm over at their house.

Link to comment
Cyberhythm

Cyberhythm

Posted
Posted

Garmin nuvi 250 in pedestrian mode works well. It got me right to a cache last week while my other half was still closing in with our Geko 201. Like other units of this type battery life is not great and it isn't as weatherproof as the Geko.

 

On the plus side though it will work with garmins mapsource program which is great for highlighting a cache and then launching Google earth at those co-ords for a closer look. It also has a card slot which takes up to 2GB SD cards for those all important hint photo's. Sadly no browser or ebook reader though.

Link to comment
TMDMom

+TMDMom

Posted
Posted

I have a Jensen (Audiovox) that works really well. My in-laws have a Magellan which cannot take coordinates, so it won't work for geocaching. Make sure in addition to pedestrian mode it also has the ability to take coords.

How GPS savvy are they? I would almost bet you are mistaken... Its got to be there somewhere. I have noticed with automotive GPS, finding the menu for inputing coordinates can be hard to find. Even if there really isn't a menu option to load coordinates, you could still load it through the computer. I use EasyGPS and love it. Free, user friendly and quick!

 

I tried...couldn't do it. Read the entire manual, and searched here for info. There was a thread about it a long time ago and it appears to be verified that you cannot enter coordinates into this specific model. I wish I remember the model number so I could find the thread. I'll have to look at it the next time I'm over at their house.

 

This isn't the thread I read about it before, but same problem...

Link to comment
briansnat

+briansnat

Posted
Posted

I have a Jensen (Audiovox) that works really well. My in-laws have a Magellan which cannot take coordinates, so it won't work for geocaching. Make sure in addition to pedestrian mode it also has the ability to take coords.

How GPS savvy are they? I would almost bet you are mistaken... Its got to be there somewhere. I have noticed with automotive GPS, finding the menu for inputing coordinates can be hard to find. Even if there really isn't a menu option to load coordinates, you could still load it through the computer. I use EasyGPS and love it. Free, user friendly and quick!

 

I'm pretty GPS savvy and I don't see a way to put coords in my Magellan auto unit.

Link to comment
starscream2

+starscream2

Posted
Posted

As long as I continue to do caching alone, I do not yet know what the benefits of a handheld are (although again, I would love to know if there's something other than battery life!). I would like to attend some events this summer, but I am a little concerned that there might be an attitude of "she only uses a nuvi". Seems like most people say not to use car navigators, but for the type of caching I've done so far its worked great for my not-experienced, newbie self! At an event I would likely run into problems of not having an opportunity to recharge the nuvi as often as needed.

 

I got my new handheld and was able to do a bunch a caching with it this past weekend and give it a good test, and see how it compared to the nuvi 200 I had been using. Then Handheld I got was the Garmin Venture HC

 

Observations:

I went caching from about 9 AM until 4 PM in and around a nearby town. I did NOT have to worry about battery power. This was HUGE for me and is the single reason I got the handheld.

 

The handheld can get satellite reception down in my basement by my computer. The nuvi 200 has never been able to do this. Granted I don't need GPS to work in my basement for any reason, but it was clear that the handheld can get signals better. I have never been out in area where my nuvi 200 didn't get a signal yet, but this proves it could happen.

 

I am way less paranoid about letting the kids handle the GPS with the handheld.

 

The "geocaching mode" on the handheld looks like it might be easier for kids to use, but I have not tested this theory yet.

 

The handheld seems to be able to aquire sattelites a little bit quicker.

 

The accuracy appeared to be the same to me. Locating the cache is just as easy with either one of them.

 

The nuvi has a way better screen. The screen is just so much nicer and easier to see. I miss that screen when I use the handheld.

 

My wife has the nuvi in her car this weekend, so I just had the handheld. I really did miss having the turn by turn directions to get to the parking areas. (Granted some handhelds can do this, but mine can't)

 

I liked that the handheld tells you what it think the accuracy is. Like it shows +/- 10 feet accuracy, based on the signal strength. Certainly not an "essential" feature, but one I enjoyed seeing.

 

In the end I certainly didn't see any vast improvement using a handheld VS the nuvi 200 for finding geocaches. Really finding the caches was about the same. The battery life is the essenitial thing that the handheld gets me, that is what makes it worth having. The other nice things were: more durable for kids using, seems to get better reception under cover at least indoors it does.

Link to comment
Keruso

+Keruso

Posted
Posted

I have a TomTom One, and just realized that i can place Lat and Lon into it to go caching.

 

Works well, to a point. This past week i went for 6 caches. only found 2. not because i wasn't having a good day, but because i didn't copy down ANY parking coords for caches, i just used the coords the the caches themselves. Bad idea. One set took me to an overpass, another took me to a neighborhood up near the cache, with a park just below the neighborhood.

 

If you do use your Car GPS, make sure the cache has parking coords, then just use your handheld.....

Link to comment
El Diablo

+El Diablo

Posted
Posted

I have a Jensen (Audiovox) that works really well. My in-laws have a Magellan which cannot take coordinates, so it won't work for geocaching. Make sure in addition to pedestrian mode it also has the ability to take coords.

How GPS savvy are they? I would almost bet you are mistaken... Its got to be there somewhere. I have noticed with automotive GPS, finding the menu for inputing coordinates can be hard to find. Even if there really isn't a menu option to load coordinates, you could still load it through the computer. I use EasyGPS and love it. Free, user friendly and quick!

 

I've got a Garmin Streetpilot 500, and as far as I know you can't input coords, and I'm pretty savy. I prefer the Streetpilot for navigation because of it's ease to use such as touchscreen, voice prompts etc. I use the 60CSx for caching.

 

El Diablo

Link to comment
RPribyl

RPribyl

Posted
Posted

I have a Jensen (Audiovox) that works really well. My in-laws have a Magellan which cannot take coordinates, so it won't work for geocaching. Make sure in addition to pedestrian mode it also has the ability to take coords.

How GPS savvy are they? I would almost bet you are mistaken... Its got to be there somewhere. I have noticed with automotive GPS, finding the menu for inputing coordinates can be hard to find. Even if there really isn't a menu option to load coordinates, you could still load it through the computer. I use EasyGPS and love it. Free, user friendly and quick!

 

I've got a Garmin Streetpilot 500, and as far as I know you can't input coords, and I'm pretty savy. I prefer the Streetpilot for navigation because of it's ease to use such as touchscreen, voice prompts etc. I use the 60CSx for caching.

 

El Diablo

 

I'm not sure if they changed it but I have the Garmin Streetpilot 330 and it takes coords. I just send them straight to the unit through the Geocaching website. They go to my favorites. Our if you have Mapsource you can put them in that way as well.

Link to comment

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.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
Followers 1
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...