Is it the GP that's rubbish, or is it me?

[angelahorn]

Hello there - I would really appreciate it if somebody could spare the time to give me some advice.

 

I bought a Philips PHN 101 from eBay for #25 because it was the cheapest thing there and I was overwhelmed by the other options. Am now paying the price for my lack of research.

 

Oldest son and I are both quite techno-savvy and have digested the instruction booklet, but it seems really unreliable and frustrating for Geocaching. I'd like to know if the problems with the reception are due to this being an old, obsolete GPS, or maybe we've just been unlucky the 3 times we've tried to use it. We've found 1 cache using Google Earth, and 2 using lots of legwork after getting one position vaguely in the area, and had to give up on another.

 

The problems we are having is that it takes about 10mins to find a position, even with new batteries and in the middle of a field. If there is a tree anywhere near, it seems to lose its satellite connections. It's constantly searching for position. Sometimes it finds it. Today it found a position in the middle of a field, and told us we were 190m from the cache. Then it lost its satellites, and couldn't find a position again, so we had to abandon hunt. It seems to eat batteries, too. I can't find any information about it online (and am sure I have the correct model number ) so I assume it's obsolete. I also assume that, since the caches we searched for have plenty of logs, other people's GPS machines manage to work somehow near trees and buildings.

 

10yr-old and I are perfectly happy with manually entering coordinates, in fact I think that's more educational and more of a challenge, so I don't want something idiot-proof - just something that works more often than not!!!

 

Before I splash cash on a newer GPS, I'd really like to know if they are generally this unreliable!

 

Many thanks for your time,

[+briansnat]

I think your problems do stem from using an old, obsolete unit.

 

With the newest GPS units you should not experience the loss of sat reception and your accuracy will range from 3 to 10 meters, usually closer to 3.

 

Something like a Garmin Venture HC will be an inexpensive unit with enough features to keep you happy as you grow into the sport.

[+Wild Thing 73]

Please don't think "cheap" when buying a good reliable GPS receiver....It normally cost you more down the road when you buy a "cheap" GPS receiver....I would recommend a Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx...Shop for a good price (not for a cheap Price)....1st class only cost 10% more. I use a 60CSx and cannot think of a better Unit....bar none....Most cachers that have stayed with the game have at lest 2 GPSr and maybe more. It is all part of the game. Now comes the next unit to buy...A PDA, now this one you can think "inexpensive" Maybe $10 to $50...A PDA is used for "paperless caching".....Good luck and happy caching.

[angelahorn]

Brian and WildThing,thank you very much for your comments. It's reassuring to know that it's not just me! Will get shopping now with a clear conscience. Thank you.

[+sportside]

Going with Brian's comments... if you want a good GSPr, but don't want to spend a fortune and can give up some features, you won't be disappointed with a Venture HC. Check out the price shipped free from Amazon, it is the best price on a good unit.

 

If you want a higher end GPSr, the 60CSx is a good choice.

 

An iPod, which you may have, is very useful for storing geocache info for paperless caching - and smaller than a pda.

[+welch]

The problems we are having is that it takes about 10mins to find a position, even with new batteries and in the middle of a field. If there is a tree anywhere near, it seems to lose its satellite connections. It's constantly searching for position. Sometimes it finds it. Today it found a position in the middle of a field, and told us we were 190m from the cache. Then it lost its satellites, and couldn't find a position again, so we had to abandon hunt. It seems to eat batteries, too. I can't find any information about it online (and am sure I have the correct model number ) so I assume it's obsolete. I also assume that, since the caches we searched for have plenty of logs, other people's GPS machines manage to work somehow near trees and buildings.

As I understand it, really old units were 'serial channel' meaning that the unit could only track one orbiting satellite at a time. To figure out your position it would 'lock' onto on sat, get the info, then switch channels and lock onto another, then switch again and lock again, and so on. Eventally it would have enough info to figure out a locaiton, but they were supposed to be V E R Y S L O W at finding your locaiton, slow at updating position as you move, and prone to losing reception.

Newer units are 'parellel channel', meaning they can track multiple sats all at one time. Like a basic etrex is '12 parellel channel', means it can 'see' up to 12 sats at the same time. This is the type of gps you need, but dont' worry even the (few years old) cheap units like a basic etrex, geko, ifinder GO, etc are this way.

And while your spending money, you might consider upgrading from the start as others have suggested. If you buy a unit that fits you now, but in a year or two decide you want a gpsr that doesn't somethign this one can't you'll have to buy a second unit. While if you buy a more advanced toy now, even if you don't use all the features right away, your only buying one