PN40 accessory options

[+Los Lacos]

I'm contemplating purchasing a PN40 but have a few questions.

 

Am I right in assuming that the PN40 is the only version that allows the uploading of field notes to geocaching.com? The PN30 is $100 cheaper but it doesn't look like it has that capability.

 

What other "accessories" will I need? I see the following available: carrying case, power kit, car adapter, car mount. I can see the benefits of the carrying case and the power kit. But the car mount seems rather expensive since it doesn't actually power. I can see the power kit vs the car adapter for the rechargable battery option.

 

I'd appreciate any thoughts/suggestions?

[+twolpert]

AFAIK, the major difference between the -30 and the -40 is that the -30 lacks the electronic compass and barometric altimeter. There is no difference in paperless geocaching capabilities. Both have the ability to upload field notes.

 

Some kind of carrying case is probably necessary. The lanyard that comes with the unit is a little too short to be useful. And on the lanyard, the unit has a tendency to flop around so it faces your body -- which pretty much blocks the patch antenna. On the other hand, it works fine in a jacket pocket.

 

The usefullness of the in-vehicle kit (whatever DeLorme calls it this week) depends on how you use the unit. Those who use it mostly for off-road travel swear by them. Those who use it mostly as a handheld don't find it as useful. The road-routing capabilities of the unit are pretty anemic (although the maps come with the unit, so there is no extra cost). Many people find that a dedicated automotive unit is much superior. I wouldn't invest in the windshield mount until you've tried the road routing to see if you think it's adequate.

 

BTW, the travel kit is not the only rechargeable option. The unit accepts NiMH rechargeable AA cells, although they cannot be recharged in the unit.

[+Los Lacos]

AFAIK, the major difference between the -30 and the -40 is that the -30 lacks the electronic compass and barometric altimeter. There is no difference in paperless geocaching capabilities. Both have the ability to upload field notes.

 

When I go to the Field Notes option on Geocaching.com, they don't list the PN30 as an option. Only the PN40. But you think the PN30 allows for field note uploading? That would be great as it would save me a bunch of money.

[+twolpert]

AFAIK, the major difference between the -30 and the -40 is that the -30 lacks the electronic compass and barometric altimeter. There is no difference in paperless geocaching capabilities. Both have the ability to upload field notes.

 

When I go to the Field Notes option on Geocaching.com, they don't list the PN30 as an option. Only the PN40. But you think the PN30 allows for field note uploading? That would be great as it would save me a bunch of money.

99% certain it will work just fine. As with the Garmin Colorado, Oregon and Dakota, "field notes" on the PN-series is just a text file in a standard format. To upload them to gc.com, the device mounts as a removable USB drive, you browse to the file and upload it.

 

I guess the prices on the -30 have finally dropped. For a while there, you could get a -40 for about the same price as the -30.

 

If you post over here, somebody who owns one will chime in shortly:

 

http://forums.delorme.com/viewforum.php?f=131

 

Edited to add: You'd just use the PN-40 option on gc.com.

Edited October 27, 2009 by twolpert

[+StarBrand]

I'll confirm it. The PN30 will allow uploading of field notes just like the pn40.

[NordicMan]

.. I *think* even the PN20 supports field notes...

[+Team CowboyPapa]

Although the power kit, or this,

12VDC (Car) PN-40 Charger:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?...uct_id=10993613

will not charge NiMHs while installed in a PN-XX,

the NiMHs will not discharge while the PN-XX is being supplied from a 12VDC source.

I always leave mine connected while I drive (I use the Li-Ion rechargeable battery pack).

Additionally, I leave it in overnight to an always ON jack when it needs recharging (I garage park).

 

As mentioned above, I find my factory installed, in dash GPS/NAV unit preferrable for around town, road routing.

OTOH, it is useless for back country 4WD exploration and sight seeing.

For this, I use the vacuum, suction cup windshield mount for my PN-40 so that I don't have to keep handling it.

For around town geocaching I do leave it on the dashboard, sitting on one of those sticky pads from Office Depot.

 

Don't worry, though, there is always one more gizmo to buy!

Edited October 27, 2009 by Team CowboyPapa

[+Los Lacos]

I'll confirm it. The PN30 will allow uploading of field notes just like the pn40.

 

I need to ponder a PN30 vs PN40 then if they both allow uploading of field notes. Guess I'll go back to my price checking. Are the electronic compass and barometric altimeter really something I should be concerned about? I'm just a basic cacher.

[+Team CowboyPapa]

I'll confirm it. The PN30 will allow uploading of field notes just like the pn40.

 

I need to ponder a PN30 vs PN40 then if they both allow uploading of field notes. Guess I'll go back to my price checking. Are the electronic compass and barometric altimeter really something I should be concerned about? I'm just a basic cacher.

Copy that, LL, those two items are a matter of personal preference.

I started with the PN-20, which as the -30, has neither the electronic compass nor the barometric altimeter.

I got along just fine with out them. Never failed to find a cache or got lost out in the Mojave on a 4WD trip due to the lack of them.

 

Now, as it was my habit to not use either, now that I have a PN-40, I still don't use them for caching.

Actually, for most around town caching, how much elevation change is there?

IMHO, as a capability over and above the baseline GPS altimeter, the barometric adds nothing for geocaching.

Regarding the lack of an electronic compass, just walk at 2mph and the GPS derived compass will provide direction and more accurately.

 

Outside of that, its your $100 and I can't make a value judgement regarding that.

[+dakboy]

I never use the altimeter on my PN-40, but might if I were doing more hiking/backpacking. The important thing to remember with a barometric altimeter is that it does need to be recalibrated fairly regularly (preferably using a reference point, not the calculated elevation from GPS), as changes in weather will cause it to read different elevations without moving!

 

I do use the electronic compass, but I'm not dependent upon it.

[+Los Lacos]

Although the power kit, or this,

12VDC (Car) PN-40 Charger:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?...uct_id=10993613

will not charge NiMHs while installed in a PN-XX,

the NiMHs will not discharge while the PN-XX is being supplied from a 12VDC source.

I always leave mine connected while I drive (I use the Li-Ion rechargeable battery pack).

Additionally, I leave it in overnight to an always ON jack when it needs recharging (I garage park).

 

As mentioned above, I find my factory installed, in dash GPS/NAV unit preferrable for around town, road routing.

OTOH, it is useless for back country 4WD exploration and sight seeing.

For this, I use the vacuum, suction cup windshield mount for my PN-40 so that I don't have to keep handling it.

For around town geocaching I do leave it on the dashboard, sitting on one of those sticky pads from Office Depot.

 

Don't worry, though, there is always one more gizmo to buy!

 

If I buy the PN30 vs the PN40 then I'll have extra money for the fancy dancy expensive suction cup holder!

 

How long can I expect the Li-Ion rechargable battery to last in the PN30? I'm not an extreme cacher. Mostly local and state parks. I'm hearing different opinions on the road routing capabilities of the PN series. I've been using a Magellan Meridian Color for several years now and have no problems with the routing capabilities of it. Should I expect the Delorme to be comparable? I don't have a separate car navigational system.

[+twolpert]

Never use the altimeter, especially since the unit lacks any way to display the altitude profile for a track.

 

I do use the electronic compass while caching -- but this is definitely a matter of personal preference. The only real difference is that the electronic compass allows the unit to display the "pointer" when you are standing still. Without the compass, the unit depends on satellite position information to display the pointer -- so you must be moving. Note that even with the compass on, the unit uses satellite information when you are moving more than 1.5 miles an hour.

[+twolpert]

How long can I expect the Li-Ion rechargable battery to last in the PN30? I'm not an extreme cacher. Mostly local and state parks. I'm hearing different opinions on the road routing capabilities of the PN series. I've been using a Magellan Meridian Color for several years now and have no problems with the routing capabilities of it. Should I expect the Delorme to be comparable? I don't have a separate car navigational system.

No idea how it compares to Magellan. It is inferior to Garmin City Navigator, though.

 

You can find general information on power consumption and battery life here:

 

http://delormepn40.wikispaces.com/Power

 

Those are for the PN-40. As you can see, the sensors draw very little power, so I would expect results for the PN-30 to be similar.

[+Woodstramp]

"How long can I expect the Li-Ion rechargable battery to last in the PN30?"

 

I've got two of the Delorme lithium ion battery packs for my PN-20 (a PN that supposedly has less power consumption than the newer PN's) and the best I get out of them is about 4-5 hours.

 

The PN battery situation is dismal and the way I see it the only real drawback of these units. The CRV3 packs are handy if you just want to do short distance caching though. Like in your car with short hikes. You don't have to change batteries all the time. I keep spare ( nonrechargable ) Lithium batteries in my pack for emergency power for "away from the car" use.

[+snow_rules]

I would be on the look out for the "Cab-bat". With it i get 14-16 hours before I need to change batteries. I don't think he is making them any more or just taking a break but they are worth it.

[+The Yinnies]

Although the power kit, or this,

12VDC (Car) PN-40 Charger:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?...uct_id=10993613

will not charge NiMHs while installed in a PN-XX,

the NiMHs will not discharge while the PN-XX is being supplied from a 12VDC source.

I always leave mine connected while I drive (I use the Li-Ion rechargeable battery pack).

Additionally, I leave it in overnight to an always ON jack when it needs recharging (I garage park).

 

As mentioned above, I find my factory installed, in dash GPS/NAV unit preferrable for around town, road routing.

OTOH, it is useless for back country 4WD exploration and sight seeing.

For this, I use the vacuum, suction cup windshield mount for my PN-40 so that I don't have to keep handling it.

For around town geocaching I do leave it on the dashboard, sitting on one of those sticky pads from Office Depot.

 

Don't worry, though, there is always one more gizmo to buy!

 

If I buy the PN30 vs the PN40 then I'll have extra money for the fancy dancy expensive suction cup holder!

 

How long can I expect the Li-Ion rechargable battery to last in the PN30? I'm not an extreme cacher. Mostly local and state parks. I'm hearing different opinions on the road routing capabilities of the PN series. I've been using a Magellan Meridian Color for several years now and have no problems with the routing capabilities of it. Should I expect the Delorme to be comparable? I don't have a separate car navigational system.

The DeLorme AG-8097-000 Earthmate PN Series Power Kit kit is on sale at Amazon for $46.89 free shipping and you can get a Ram Mount at GPS City for $34 plus shipping. They both work great.

[+RRLover]

I would be on the look out for the "Cab-bat". With it i get 14-16 hours before I need to change batteries. I don't think he is making them any more or just taking a break but they are worth it.

Indubitably!

I'm not sure if he's on hiatus, or retired either; he does monitor the :

http://forum.delorme.com/

, especially the topics related to batteries.

 

"He da Man!"

 

Norm

[+EScout]

I can report that the Field Notes works well with the PN-30. Also, the "Send to GPS" for sending individual caches to the unit works. And the GSAK beta v. 7.6.2 connects and sends all. And the GPSBabel beta v. 1.3.7 works well in pulling out tracks and waypoints and converting to formats such as GPX.

 

I use NiMH rechargeable AAs. I would like to know if anyone has tried using CR-V3 rechargeable Li-Ion batteries such as the Lexmar or other generics.

[+Team CowboyPapa]

I would like to know if anyone has tried using CR-V3 rechargeable Li-Ion batteries such as the Lexmar or other generics.

10-4, I have used the battery pack available with the kit from DeLorme in addition to the Cab-bat (currently not available) and a Delkin branded from Thomas Distributing.

 

All three have performed acceptably.

[+embra]

The trade-off you get with the non-DeLorme rCR-V3 Li-Ions is that the power remaining indicator will be off. The firmware looks for a particular battery discharge curve, so you might find that the PN30/40 tells you you've got 70% power remaining one moment and then it's shutting down the next due to low power levels.

 

IIRC I get about 8-9 hours in my use of the DeLorme Li-Ion, and about 12 hours with the Cab-batt. I keep a set of Eneloop AA's with me for backup. The nice thing about the Li-Ion if you have the car charger is you can run on external power while driving and the Li-Ion while walking around. You can go on this way indefinitely; I rarely have to take my battery cover off. [Edit: these times were for window-sill run-downs; field use might be less divergent from what Woodstramp reported.]

 

My opinon of the road routing capabilities is that they're fine for short routes such as when geocaching, but I much prefer my Nuvi for serious traveling.

Edited October 28, 2009 by embra

[+striker3]

I just bought a PN-40 and I am actually kind of wishing that I had gone with the PN-30. I had also been under the impression that the PN-30 did not support the direct to device geocaching options, based on everything specifying the use of the PN-40, so I paid for the 40. I really have no need for an electronic compass, can't beat a good lensatic in my opinion, and for my shooting hobby, I need density altitude, which I have a Kestrel 4500 for. I would have been quite happy with the PN-30, and would have saved the $100.

[+twolpert]

I just bought a PN-40 and I am actually kind of wishing that I had gone with the PN-30. I had also been under the impression that the PN-30 did not support the direct to device geocaching options, based on everything specifying the use of the PN-40, so I paid for the 40.

Unfortunately, gc.com (or maybe the manufacturers communication with gc.com) is universally bad about that. The same thing is true for Garmins. For a long time, the gc.com site only listed the Colorado, although the Oregon works the same way. Now it lists CO and OR, but is missing the Dakota -- which also works the same way... Forums are your friend

[+Los Lacos]

I just bought a PN-40 and I am actually kind of wishing that I had gone with the PN-30. I had also been under the impression that the PN-30 did not support the direct to device geocaching options, based on everything specifying the use of the PN-40, so I paid for the 40.

Unfortunately, gc.com (or maybe the manufacturers communication with gc.com) is universally bad about that. The same thing is true for Garmins. For a long time, the gc.com site only listed the Colorado, although the Oregon works the same way. Now it lists CO and OR, but is missing the Dakota -- which also works the same way... Forums are your friend

 

You have all been very helpful in my decision process. I think for the money I will purchase the PN30. Sure I'd like an Oregon but that seems a bit silly for me to spend that amount of money for the level of caching that we do. I'm a bit concerned about the auto direction capability but I'm use to driving around in circles anyway. The battery usage can't be any worse than my Magellan Merdian Color. I always keep a stash of 6-8 rechargables for it anyway.

 

Thanks for all the input!

[+TotemLake]

I just bought a PN-40 and I am actually kind of wishing that I had gone with the PN-30. I had also been under the impression that the PN-30 did not support the direct to device geocaching options, based on everything specifying the use of the PN-40, so I paid for the 40. I really have no need for an electronic compass, can't beat a good lensatic in my opinion, and for my shooting hobby, I need density altitude, which I have a Kestrel 4500 for. I would have been quite happy with the PN-30, and would have saved the $100.

 

 

Although you're used to shooting your own bearings with a lensatic, the onboard compass will point to the waypoint bearing when you're standing still. It's a nice feature so you don't have to pull out different devices to do the same thing. I carry my lensatic with me all the time and used to use it quite often. I found for most uses, the onboard was more than sufficient..

[+striker3]

Although you're used to shooting your own bearings with a lensatic, the onboard compass will point to the waypoint bearing when you're standing still. It's a nice feature so you don't have to pull out different devices to do the same thing. I carry my lensatic with me all the time and used to use it quite often. I found for most uses, the onboard was more than sufficient..

 

You are probably right. Up until now, all I have ever used a GPS for was getting my grid coordinates and the bearing to the next waypoint. From there I would stow the GPS and pull out the compass and map, and shoot bearings to terrain features. I always felt like it was faster and more reliable than blindly following an arrow. Now that I have a GPS with the capabilities for topo maps, I will have to rethink my methods.

 

At this point though I am still not sure that the compass was worth $100. Time will tell though, I guess.

 

Edited to Add: It is actually kind of amusing when I think about it, I have been an early adopter for just about every piece of electronic equipment I ever thought could be useful...but when it comes to orienteering, I like the tried and true methods the best.

Edited October 30, 2009 by striker3

[+TotemLake]

Although you're used to shooting your own bearings with a lensatic, the onboard compass will point to the waypoint bearing when you're standing still. It's a nice feature so you don't have to pull out different devices to do the same thing. I carry my lensatic with me all the time and used to use it quite often. I found for most uses, the onboard was more than sufficient..

 

You are probably right. Up until now, all I have ever used a GPS for was getting my grid coordinates and the bearing to the next waypoint. From there I would stow the GPS and pull out the compass and map, and shoot bearings to terrain features. I always felt like it was faster and more reliable than blindly following an arrow. Now that I have a GPS with the capabilities for topo maps, I will have to rethink my methods.

 

At this point though I am still not sure that the compass was worth $100. Time will tell though, I guess.

 

Edited to Add: It is actually kind of amusing when I think about it, I have been an early adopter for just about every piece of electronic equipment I ever thought could be useful...but when it comes to orienteering, I like the tried and true methods the best.

They are valuable skills no doubt about it. I'm attempting other methods of navigation now besides depending upon the GPS. That being said, it was really nice to put a waypoint on a trail just ahead of me and see the compass pointing at it confirming I needed to go through that patch of Devil's Club on that there fallen tree. Add the aerials with the hybrid topo and I knew traversing the rock face to look for a way around the DC wasn't such a good idea after all.

[+Famous Drew]

I picked up the PN40 about two weeks ago and love it - especially the compass. It's my primary tool for less than 200'. When I get close to the cache I switch to compass view and it guides me home on the site. I fashioned my own tiny lanyard of nylon cord that is just long enough to clip a caribiner and clip it off to a belt loop when not in hand. Kind of like the Garmin Oregon has.

 

Found it for $275 at JR.com and got it delivered in two days no problem.