fematrailer Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 DO YOU HAVE TO BUY AN EXPENSIVE GPS UNIT TO GEOCACHE??? iF NOT WHAT ARE THE BASIC GARMIN ALTERNATIVES. I HAVE A GARMIN GPS12 RECIEVER THAT WAS MADE IN 1999 AND IT GETS ME WITHIN 10 FEET. DOES NOT HAVE WAAS. CAN I GET BY WITH A BASIC UNIT? I JUST BOUGHT A GARMIN ETREX, THE BASIC UNIT. WILL I HAVE TROUBLE GEOCACHING WITH IT. I DON'T MEAN UPLOADING GPS INFO I MEAN GETTING CLOSER TO THE CACHE. DO YOU REALLY NEED A COMPASS? YOU CAN TELL THAT I AM NEW TO GEOCACHING BUT i LIVE IN LOUISANA IN THE DEEP WOODS AND SWAMPS AND I AM NOT NEW TO GPS. IT HAS SAVED MANY LIVES HERE. rICK Quote Link to comment
+johnling Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 DO YOU HAVE TO BUY AN EXPENSIVE GPS UNIT TO GEOCACHE??? iF NOT WHAT ARE THE BASIC GARMIN ALTERNATIVES. I HAVE A GARMIN GPS12 RECIEVER THAT WAS MADE IN 1999 AND IT GETS ME WITHIN 10 FEET. DOES NOT HAVE WAAS. CAN I GET BY WITH A BASIC UNIT? I JUST BOUGHT A GARMIN ETREX, THE BASIC UNIT. WILL I HAVE TROUBLE GEOCACHING WITH IT. I DON'T MEAN UPLOADING GPS INFO I MEAN GETTING CLOSER TO THE CACHE. DO YOU REALLY NEED A COMPASS? YOU CAN TELL THAT I AM NEW TO GEOCACHING BUT i LIVE IN LOUISANA IN THE DEEP WOODS AND SWAMPS AND I AM NOT NEW TO GPS. IT HAS SAVED MANY LIVES HERE. rICK I have heard the GPS 12 was good in it's day. The Etrax will do fine also. Might want to edit the caps out of your post. You'll hear about that. Quote Link to comment
+Barnie's Band of Gold Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 DO YOU HAVE TO BUY AN EXPENSIVE GPS UNIT TO GEOCACHE??? iF NOT WHAT ARE THE BASIC GARMIN ALTERNATIVES. I HAVE A GARMIN GPS12 RECIEVER THAT WAS MADE IN 1999 AND IT GETS ME WITHIN 10 FEET. DOES NOT HAVE WAAS. CAN I GET BY WITH A BASIC UNIT? I JUST BOUGHT A GARMIN ETREX, THE BASIC UNIT. WILL I HAVE TROUBLE GEOCACHING WITH IT. I DON'T MEAN UPLOADING GPS INFO I MEAN GETTING CLOSER TO THE CACHE. DO YOU REALLY NEED A COMPASS? YOU CAN TELL THAT I AM NEW TO GEOCACHING BUT i LIVE IN LOUISANA IN THE DEEP WOODS AND SWAMPS AND I AM NOT NEW TO GPS. IT HAS SAVED MANY LIVES HERE. rICK BOTH UNITS ARE FINE FOR GEOCACHING. IF YOU ARE GETTING WITHIN 10 FEET THEN I WOULDN'T SWEAT NOT HAVING WAAS. MY EXPERIENCE WITH WAAS IS THAT IT IS HELPFUL WHEN A CLEAR VIEW OF THE WAAS BIRD IS AVAILABLE - NOT SO MUCH WHEN IT ISN'T. YOU WILL NOTICE THAT THE GPS12 IS A LITTLE HUNGRY ON BATTERY CONSUMPTION AND THIS ADDS UP WHEN IT CONSUMES 4 AT A TIME (THE ETREX HAS MUCH BETTER POWER MANAGEMENT). YOU MAY EVENTUALLY WANT A MAPPING GPS TO ASSIST IN GETTING FROM CACHE TO CACHE OR SOMETHING THAT WILL ASSIST IN GOING PAPERLESS. Quote Link to comment
+StarBrand Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 The basic Garmin eTrex "H" has a high sensitivity receiver and WAAS. It will get you as close as any $600 unit will. Quote Link to comment
+Team Woodward Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Most of my finds have been with an early model Etrex (without WAAS). I now have a Colorado & it gets me no closer than the old Etrex does. I still throw the waypoints on the Etrex just for backup. Sentimental value I guess. I kind of feel like I'm cheating with the Colorado sometimes with the easy access to all the information. Simpler can be more challenging & more fun! Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 (edited) Your GPS 12 will work just fine for geocaching, as will the eTrex. You can pay $500 for a unit and it won't get you any closer to the cache. More money just gives you more bells and whistles. Some of bells and whistles (like magnetic compass, high sensitivity receivers, topo and road maps) make the cache hunt easier but aren't necessary. Edited October 1, 2008 by briansnat Quote Link to comment
fematrailer Posted October 1, 2008 Author Share Posted October 1, 2008 Thanks to all who replied. I really appreciate it. I love to find the caches and it is good excercise and it gets me out of the house and into the woods. Thanks Rick Quote Link to comment
A.B.E.L. Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 (edited) I started off with a Garmin Venture I bought of Craigslist for $40, just a basic unit, no map sets or anything. It worked perfect for me, but I did have to print of cache info off the computer (or write it down) and manually enter cache coordinates by hand and also print off turn-by-turn directions to the cache to get there. But I think everyone should start off this way before they invest a lot of $$ into a GPSr. Not to mention it will give you an idea of what kinda features you'd want in a more expensive unit. Think about it while you're caching, "what does this unit not have that I would really like to have right now..." like a compass, turn-by-turn navigation/routing, tracklogs, detailed maps, paperless caching, etc, etc. Best of luck to you! Edited October 2, 2008 by Aberrix Quote Link to comment
fematrailer Posted October 2, 2008 Author Share Posted October 2, 2008 Thanks for your reply. I think for now I will stick to a basic GPS. I like looking at the maps and then entering the address into my Garmin Street Pilot to get me close and then hunting with the handheld. Thanks Rick Quote Link to comment
7rxc Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 DO YOU HAVE TO BUY AN EXPENSIVE GPS UNIT TO GEOCACHE??? iF NOT WHAT ARE THE BASIC GARMIN ALTERNATIVES. I HAVE A GARMIN GPS12 RECIEVER THAT WAS MADE IN 1999 AND IT GETS ME WITHIN 10 FEET. DOES NOT HAVE WAAS. CAN I GET BY WITH A BASIC UNIT? I JUST BOUGHT A GARMIN ETREX, THE BASIC UNIT. WILL I HAVE TROUBLE GEOCACHING WITH IT. I DON'T MEAN UPLOADING GPS INFO I MEAN GETTING CLOSER TO THE CACHE. DO YOU REALLY NEED A COMPASS? YOU CAN TELL THAT I AM NEW TO GEOCACHING BUT i LIVE IN LOUISANA IN THE DEEP WOODS AND SWAMPS AND I AM NOT NEW TO GPS. IT HAS SAVED MANY LIVES HERE. rICK I'm using an even older Garmin 45xl which was the last of the 4 ch units the 12 replaced... When out in the clear sky and not in a big hurry, it gets me zeroed in pretty well... better than say a topo sheet will. I do use a good compass also, since there is no compass on the unit. It does give bearing and distance to the GOTO waypoint from where it thinks it is... I just sight along the rough bearing and watch the distance go down. Plus a few tricks I'm still working on... If you are used to navigating with GPS and Compass it's not impossible to find a cache even under overhead cover... I just triangulate the bearings obtained from clear spots further out... Sometimes you just can't get readings, but then the ones the hider got were not likely any better... At least with a 12 you have auto averaging and 12 channel reception... I was working at a place that had an early GPS that was about the size of a small TV and weighed quite a bit. That was considered really compact way back... but it worked great. We only used it as a comparison to the GPS 12 unit we had and the features the big one did not. As for power hogs... I turn mine off when I'm not in the final stages of a hunt, saves a lot on battery but not a lot of time since it has to re aquire sats. Doug 7RXC Quote Link to comment
Teufelhund71 Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 I miss my old 12. I'd still be using it if it had not come off my belt with my cell phone too. I ran over it. LOL. I us and Etrex legend now. Seems ok. DO YOU HAVE TO BUY AN EXPENSIVE GPS UNIT TO GEOCACHE??? iF NOT WHAT ARE THE BASIC GARMIN ALTERNATIVES. I HAVE A GARMIN GPS12 RECIEVER THAT WAS MADE IN 1999 AND IT GETS ME WITHIN 10 FEET. DOES NOT HAVE WAAS. CAN I GET BY WITH A BASIC UNIT? I JUST BOUGHT A GARMIN ETREX, THE BASIC UNIT. WILL I HAVE TROUBLE GEOCACHING WITH IT. I DON'T MEAN UPLOADING GPS INFO I MEAN GETTING CLOSER TO THE CACHE. DO YOU REALLY NEED A COMPASS? YOU CAN TELL THAT I AM NEW TO GEOCACHING BUT i LIVE IN LOUISANA IN THE DEEP WOODS AND SWAMPS AND I AM NOT NEW TO GPS. IT HAS SAVED MANY LIVES HERE. rICK I'm using an even older Garmin 45xl which was the last of the 4 ch units the 12 replaced... When out in the clear sky and not in a big hurry, it gets me zeroed in pretty well... better than say a topo sheet will. I do use a good compass also, since there is no compass on the unit. It does give bearing and distance to the GOTO waypoint from where it thinks it is... I just sight along the rough bearing and watch the distance go down. Plus a few tricks I'm still working on... If you are used to navigating with GPS and Compass it's not impossible to find a cache even under overhead cover... I just triangulate the bearings obtained from clear spots further out... Sometimes you just can't get readings, but then the ones the hider got were not likely any better... At least with a 12 you have auto averaging and 12 channel reception... I was working at a place that had an early GPS that was about the size of a small TV and weighed quite a bit. That was considered really compact way back... but it worked great. We only used it as a comparison to the GPS 12 unit we had and the features the big one did not. As for power hogs... I turn mine off when I'm not in the final stages of a hunt, saves a lot on battery but not a lot of time since it has to re aquire sats. Doug 7RXC Quote Link to comment
+hukilaulau Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 (edited) Thanks for your reply. I think for now I will stick to a basic GPS. I like looking at the maps and then entering the address into my Garmin Street Pilot to get me close and then hunting with the handheld. Thanks Rick That should work just fine. I was going to say don't go to Boston without street mapping. Those crazy roads will drive you nuts. But it looks like that's not a problem in your area... Edited October 12, 2008 by hukilaulau Quote Link to comment
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