Oregon 450 signal reception

[Raptor_guy]

I work and play in the cloudy, forested, mountains of British Columbia and have been using the Garmin 60x model series for the last several years. They have given me virtually guaranteed location acquisition in all conditions. I’m thinking about getting an Oregon 450 to take advantage of Bird’s Eye imagery and the touch screen, but I’m a little concerned about how good the receiver is. I’ve read quite a bit of stuff on the web and it seems like the receiver is pretty good but probably not as good as the 60x series. I’m hoping forum members can elaborate more, especially after all the various firmware upgrades.

 

General comments?

 

Direct comparisons of acquisitions times, accuracy, # satellite locks, etc between the 450 and 60x?

 

Technical differences between the two receivers in the two series that make one better than another?

 

Conditions when the 450 couldn’t get a location?

 

Reception comparison to Colorados or Dakotas as alternatives?

 

Thanks in advance.

[+Walts Hunting]

Basically the entire Oregon series STINKS on WAAS acquisition although the most recent beta update has given me reliable WAAS quickly and d's across the bottom.

 

However as soon as I enter any kind of cover they go away. I haven't had a chance to check the sticking needle issue since the update.

[+dfx]

don't overestimate the significance of a WAAS lock. it may help in some circumstances, in others it won't make any difference at all. try disabling WAAS and go caching without it. you probably won't even notice the difference.

[vagabond]

Just for the heck of it, this was from a couple of minutes ago

[+ecanderson]

don't overestimate the significance of a WAAS lock. it may help in some circumstances, in others it won't make any difference at all. try disabling WAAS and go caching without it. you probably won't even notice the difference.

For many caches, I'd say that's a true statement. Heck, for some caches, just being pointed in the general direction of GZ is enough. It all depends upon the environment in which the cache is placed.

 

For a cache placed in a "high clutter" environment (1000 more wrong places to look than right ones), if the CO placed the cache with WAAS enabled, and you're trying to find that cache with WAAS enabled, odds are good that this feature will reduce your search radius a good bit. WAAS wasn't just a way for the FAA to spend your tax dollars. It really does work.

[+Entropy512]

I went for a test walk with the new 3.82 beta firmware (one version after the big WAAS fix), with aerial imagery of my town park loaded.

 

The GPS was actually accurately displaying which side of the road through the park I was walking on!

[+jeepdelfuego]

Basically the entire Oregon series STINKS on WAAS acquisition although the most recent beta update has given me reliable WAAS quickly and d's across the bottom.

 

However as soon as I enter any kind of cover they go away. I haven't had a chance to check the sticking needle issue since the update.

 

I've never owned a 60x series. But, I've owned a Garmin Legend, Garmin Legend Hcx, Garmin Oregon 200, some Nuvi model, Dakota 10, Garmin Oregon 300, and now a Garmin Oregon 450. The display issue that most people have complained about has not bothered me at all. Tilting the unit a couple of degrees one way, or another, would make it readable in direct sunlight. The Dakota 10 was brighter than the Oregon 200 or Oregon 300. But, the resolution was not as good and the screen was smaller. For me, the trade off between the Dakota and Oregon series is size vs. resolution. I'd go for the resolution.

 

I haven't even touched upon the touchscreen and the paperless geocaching capabilities. The touchscreen is soooooo easy to use. Once you use a touchscreen hand held GPS, you WILL NOT want to go back to some kind of navigation that uses a knob, or wheel. As for WAAS, heck, I thought it had been working all along on the Oregons. I guess it has finally started working with a recent update. It didn't affect my geocaching capabilities because I found around 600+ geocaches with my Oregons last year.

 

Some may say that my opinion is biased. But, I am just telling you about my experience. I read a great unbiased comparison between the 60 series and an Oregon 450 at the following link: Review Link

[+dfx]

WAAS wasn't just a way for the FAA to spend your tax dollars. It really does work.

i know it works, i didn't claim that it wouldn't. what i meant to say was that having a WAAS lock doesn't automatically improve your accuracy per se. in fact, the accuracy in terms of +- x meters won't change at all (because the WAAS signal doesn't give you any additional data to use in that calculation), it's just that with WAAS, the average reported position will probably be closer to what it should be than without it. however, depending on atmospheric conditions, this difference may be close to zero, in which case you don't gain anything from having a WAAS lock.