M.TEX Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 Ok another quick question. Do I need the 3 axis on a compass or not ? and why 3 axis ? I use the map to navegate and maybe a compass only IF I need to check on something. ( something ? never did use for anything so far , just a cool factor in my case ) But after people explain better I could look for caches with compass...well maybe... Please explain to me that 3 axis thing... Thanks M.TEX Quote Link to comment
Forkeye Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 Ok another quick question. Do I need the 3 axis on a compass or not ? and why 3 axis ? I use the map to navegate and maybe a compass only IF I need to check on something. ( something ? never did use for anything so far , just a cool factor in my case ) But after people explain better I could look for caches with compass...well maybe... Please explain to me that 3 axis thing... Thanks M.TEX You dont need to hold the 3 axis compass level as you do the 2 axis one for it to work properly and no you dont really need it to find a geo cache site,it would be of more use for wildeness navigation ,but if you know how to use a real compass then you are all set.The electronic is nice to have ,but not essential. Quote Link to comment
+borrie869 Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 after having cached with and without an electronic compass there is no way i would ever go out without using one again, not having to move to get a fix on the cache is fantastic. the only downside is they are voltage sensitive, hasnt really been a problem for me as soon as my baterys are down halfway i usually change them Quote Link to comment
+Gitchee-Gummee Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 As mentioned, 3-axis needn't necessarily be held level, and true you don't really need a compass to get to GZ. I feel most important, if you do travel far and wide in the toolies, you should always have a magnetic with you regardless of what your GPSr compass will/won't do. Neat thing about electronics, they are gonna fail -- sometime, somewhere. Even a pin-on magnetic. Small, lightweight, barely noticeable, UNTIL you really, really need it. If you never need it, what is the loss? Quote Link to comment
+Entropy512 Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 after having cached with and without an electronic compass there is no way i would ever go out without using one again, not having to move to get a fix on the cache is fantastic. the only downside is they are voltage sensitive, hasnt really been a problem for me as soon as my baterys are down halfway i usually change them Agree on never wanting to go back to a non-compass unit. Also, I've found that with freshly charged NiMHs, it seems like for the first 15-30 minutes of use they have a higher voltage than normal and will flatten out after that. Or at least that's my guess why I need to recalibrate frequently at the start of a hike and then don't have to re-cal afterwards. Quote Link to comment
M.TEX Posted May 24, 2010 Author Share Posted May 24, 2010 Thanks guys... M.TEX Quote Link to comment
+ventura_kids Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 You should always have 2 sides to a discussion.....so here goes. I Never use the compass option on any of my 4 GPS units. It's such a waste. There ya go. 2 sides to every subject. Quote Link to comment
Pajaholic Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 I recently bought a Dakota 20 and I just love the way the map is always correctly oriented and the compass points to the cache even if you're standing still. Last time out I used that to take sight lines from positions around a cache to narrow down GZ to a specific tree (having done three of the series already, I knew the CO gave good coords). The difference between tilt-compensated and non-tilt-compensated is that with the latter your compass can be way off without you realising it. So, for me, it's 3-axis or nothing. FWIW, another time the 3-axis compass comes into its own is when using the GPS as a bicycle sat-nav. The map is correctly aligned when you're stopped at the lights, stop sign, etc., which makes navigation more intuitive. HTH, Geoff Quote Link to comment
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