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New Features in GPS


Leprechaun

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I'm new to this forum but have been Geoaching since 2001. At that time I purchased a Magellan Meridian 300 series. (310 I think, looks like a black L) It has worked fine and I have no complaints. But I'm curious, has there been any great advances in GPS's for geocaching in the last 8 years? Should I look at upgrading or should I just keep using a good thing? Are they more accurate at finding the GZ? Thanks, I await you responses.

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I'm new to this forum but have been Geoaching since 2001. At that time I purchased a Magellan Meridian 300 series. (310 I think, looks like a black L) It has worked fine and I have no complaints. But I'm curious, has there been any great advances in GPS's for geocaching in the last 8 years? Should I look at upgrading or should I just keep using a good thing? Are they more accurate at finding the GZ? Thanks, I await you responses.

 

Yeah, they have more accurate chipsets now and work much better under canopy.

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Most new handhelds that aren't "basic" GPSs have some geocaching-specific features, and the advent of paperless caching looks wonderful.

 

I have a Magellan of a similar vintage (Meridian Gold, bought in '01) and it's getting very depressing dealing with its slow update rate (the "rubberband effect") and inaccuracy, plus weak reception under canopy. There have been HUGE improvements there, but they aren't caching-specific.

 

Example: A co-worker has a 2 year old Garmin unit. He & I went to a park about 3 blocks from our office a few times looking for a cache. We powered up as soon as we were out the door, and in less than 1 block he'd locked into enough satellites to get a position fix. I didn't get a fix until we were at the park and stationary for a minute or two. My Magellan is also regularly off by at least 20 feet compared to his.

 

My father bought a Magellan SportTrak to replace his Meridian and, even though it's basically the same hardware, our readings vary widely.

 

IMO, both you & I are long overdue for an upgrade.

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IMO, both you & I are long overdue for an upgrade.

 

Christmas is coming faster than we think..... Hope Santa is good to you!

 

"Rubberband Effect"! I've experienced that but thought it was a part of the experience. I routinely get to a cache site and pace back and forth looking for the 0.0 spot. Then I know it is about 10 feet radius from there. I start looking for clues-broken branches, footprints etc and start imagining where I would hide it. Then I start pacing again because the spot changes.

 

Any other cool features. Are the new ones like the GPS in my wifes car with maps and moving icons that show me walking (or in the car - driving) down the street? My Magellan only tells me which direction to walk (like a compas) and when I arrived (0.0 to go ).

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IMO, both you & I are long overdue for an upgrade.

 

Christmas is coming faster than we think..... Hope Santa is good to you!

I already know I'm not getting new gear.

 

"Rubberband Effect"! I've experienced that but thought it was a part of the experience. I routinely get to a cache site and pace back and forth looking for the 0.0 spot. Then I know it is about 10 feet radius from there. I start looking for clues-broken branches, footprints etc and start imagining where I would hide it. Then I start pacing again because the spot changes.
Nope, that's not supposed to happen. It's just a slow, inaccurate (by current standards) unit. I've walked by many caches and had to backtrack because of it. Now, when I get within 100 feet, I stop and let it settle down.

 

Any other cool features. Are the new ones like the GPS in my wifes car with maps and moving icons that show me walking (or in the car - driving) down the street? My Magellan only tells me which direction to walk (like a compas) and when I arrived (0.0 to go ).

Yes, most of them do now. Many have topo maps in addition to road/trail maps. The Delorme PN-20 and PN-40 will even give you aerial photography of where you are, if you have it loaded.
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The Delorme PN-20 and PN-40 will even give you aerial photography of where you are, if you have it loaded.

Yes, DeLorme has recently offered the USGS 3DTQ, Sat10, Color Aerial and Hi-Res city imagery on an annual subscription basis of $29.99 for all you can download. I'm up to about 20GB now with 12GB on my 16GB SDHC card as I type. The Hi-Res city imagery is really spectacular for city geocaching where the caches are hidden in parks, parking lots and shopping centers.

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Greetings to the venerable Leprechaun. User number 8110!!!

 

As has been stated, new much more accurate chips make newer models better at locating your position in marginal conditions (for example, Garmin models marked with and x, plus their newer Colorado and Oregon series). Almost all handhelds come with basemaps that show your position on major roads and highways. For under $100, you can add detailed street maps that allow the handheld to auto-route you like a street navigation GPS (usually without voice prompts, however). $75 or so adds detailed topographic maps of the US if the back country is more your style.

Edited by Sputnik 57
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With all the buzz surrounding the new PN40 (it is even on the wekly Geocaching newsletter) the PN20 should drop in price. What is the differences between the two? Including price PN40 $350 PN20 $250 ?

Thanks in advance to Team CowboyPapa who seems to the local PN expert.

The PN-40 has an (excellent) compass, altimeter (nothing in my possession to judge by), and . . .

SPEED,SPEED, followed by more SPEED. The compass is three axis and hands off to the satellites

over 1.5 mph, so far VERY effective, there's also an accelerometer involved which I think will come

more into play when the software reaches "full bloom". The altimeter is switchable (on/off, as is the

compass) and can be calibrated to known pressure, altitude, or constantly against GPS altitude.

Well thought out IMHO.

Turned on, in the "Napolian pocket", facing outward it has gone 5+ hrs. in non power-saving mode

and still shows three green (out of four) bars. This is using a pair of NIMH roughly 2500mha AAs.

The batteries are properly broken in, and charged on the Maha charger/re-conditioner.

Mostly outdoors in the PNW, 40s Fahrenheit.

Just checked now at two yellows at 5:51 hrs.

Down to 1 red at 8 hrs, no warning yet.

Norm

Edited by RRLover
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