Collector of ancient GPS ?

[ScoutingSquirrel]

My husband says our GPS is one of the very first hand held devices ...

 

a Magellan GPS Pioneer

 

Needless to say it is past it's best and having waited over an hour for it to find and lose one satellite I've told him that we need a new one - Amazon here I come!

 

But it did occur to me that there might be collectors out there for some of the very early models?

 

If you would like this, just let me know!

 

A frustrated, new to geocaching, Helen

[+mpilchfamily]

I remember being in Portugal back in 2000 and seeing a GPS Watch. Almost got it but it worked out to be about $500 US. The thing was nearly the size of a small Lock and Lock. All it showed you was Lat and Long.

[+CacheFreakTim]

I would recommend putting a post in the "Garage Sale" section. You may not get too much as the going rate is $30-$40 on ebay but at least it is something to put toward a new shiny GPS.

[+keehotee]

My husband says our GPS is one of the very first hand held devices ...

 

a Magellan GPS Pioneer

 

Needless to say it is past it's best and having waited over an hour for it to find and lose one satellite I've told him that we need a new one - Amazon here I come!

 

But it did occur to me that there might be collectors out there for some of the very early models?

 

If you would like this, just let me know!

 

A frustrated, new to geocaching, Helen

 

I've got a Magellan meridian I used for a couple of years until it stopped working at the stroke of midnight, Jan 1st 2000. I'm open to offers, if anybody wants it for a collection LOL

[sviking]

I have a Lowrance GlobalMap 100, which is supposed to be the first affordable consumer mapping GPS unit. Don't know if that's true, but I got it around '96.

[+Lieblweb]

I can understand...we still have a Garmin emap from 2002. My husband said it took 15 minutes to find a signal. Never bothered to sell it since its soooooooooooooooooo old!! I can't even find any of the connectors that go with it!!

[+CacheFreakTim]

It's funny how people hold on to old technology. I still have and old Apple II (in a box, not in use lol). Even though it's not worth anything I wouldn't give it up.

[+W7WT]

I feel the same for my Garmin 45. Still have it. Dick

[sviking]

It's funny how people hold on to old technology. I still have and old Apple II (in a box, not in use lol). Even though it's not worth anything I wouldn't give it up.

 

Well, if it still works, why not? And a handheld GPS isn't like an obsolete computer that has to be setup to be used and take up a good amount of space. My old circa '96 Lowrance still works and gets accuracy under 30 feet. It could still definitely be used for navigation. It's just that the graphics SUCK, the interface is SLOOW and it eats batteries. Doesn't hold a signal indoors very well, either. LOL

[ScoutingSquirrel]

Interesting to see that there are others of you with ancient machines. The Magellan is taking an hour to find one satellite ... otherwise it's pretty much like SVIKING was describing! LOL!

 

We've got the 'standard starter model' Garmin Etrex on the way from Amazon and in the meantime we've done an Earthcache and are trying to find a couple by mapreading alone!

 

Helen

[+CacheFreakTim]

Interesting to see that there are others of you with ancient machines. The Magellan is taking an hour to find one satellite ... otherwise it's pretty much like SVIKING was describing! LOL!

 

I remember my first GPS was Lawrence car navigation model. It didn't take and hour but realalisticly took 10 minutes to find a signal. I used to go out to my car every morning 10 min. early to plug it in before I left. It also didn't have a battery or do voice commands. What a piece of junk it was, oh and it also cost $600 at the time. I thought I was getting a deal too lol.

[BelchFire]

The Magellan Pioneer wasn't the first hand-held GPS by a long shot, but was billed as the first GPS under $100. I rushed out and paid my $99 and promptly learned that it DOES NOT save anything when the batteries go dead. Sheesh.......

 

I have an ancient marine grade (swivel mountable, but convertible to hand-held) that I bought in about '91 or '92. That rascal was $800!!!!! But it pointed me to West End, Bahamas and got me over and back, so I was tickled.

 

Now who is it collecting these things??????

[+R4Ltony]

I have a Garmin GPS 50. Had it since around 92/93. Used to use it for navigation on our boat. Now it's a nice relic to play with. Accuracy sucks and it takes 10-20 minutes for a sat lock, but at least I can get lost with it!

[sviking]

Kind of makes ya wonder what will be out there in 15-20 years when there's another thread like this and people will be talking about their Oregons as relics of the past... Well, if stand alone handheld GPS devices are even still around...

[+Capt. Bob]

 

I still have my first navigational device, a Tamaya MS-833. Accuracy was better than +/- 0.5 miles on a good day after 20 minutes of observations, sight reduction calculations, and plotting lines of position. On the plus side, no batteries! Now people complain if their GPS accuracy isn't less than +/- 10 feet.

[sviking]

 

I still have my first navigational device, a Tamaya MS-833. Accuracy was better than +/- 0.5 miles on a good day after 20 minutes of observations, sight reduction calculations, and plotting lines of position. On the plus side, no batteries! Now people complain if their GPS accuracy isn't less than +/- 10 feet.

 

Celestial nav...yuk. Haven't done (or even needed) it since my Naval Academy days. Nothing like an "oh shyte" moment when you screw up on a test and get a capital letter "I" for a fix instead of a small triangle. LOL

[+splashy]

It's funny how people hold on to old technology. I still have and old Apple II (in a box, not in use lol). Even though it's not worth anything I wouldn't give it up.

 

If I'm not mistaken, an Apple II + the square monitor sold for about $200.000 somewhere about 1 year ago.

It made me sick because I just trashed mine about 9 years ago.

 

I still have my Gps75 +- 1993

Edited April 26, 2011 by splashy

[+CacheFreakTim]

It's funny how people hold on to old technology. I still have and old Apple II (in a box, not in use lol). Even though it's not worth anything I wouldn't give it up.

 

If I'm not mistaken, an Apple II + the square monitor sold for about $200.000 somewhere about 1 year ago.

It made me sick because I just trashed mine about 9 years ago.

 

I still have my Gps75 +- 1993

 

Maybe an Apple I or first gen II. I looked on eBay a year ago for my model as the going rate was $50 I working condition.

[jlvahai]

I gave a presentation at Stanford's Honors Symposium in May 2011 about how Pyramids & Stonehenge's are Ancient GPS devices. I am writing a book that also talks about how 360 degrees originated from the Pyramid of Giza and how the mile is based on the diameter of the Earth or 7 Pyramids of Giza in length. Here are my links if you are interested...

 

http://www.indiegogo.com/AncientGPS/x/1908918

http://www.indiegogo.com/AncientGPS/x/1908918?c=activity

[+user13371]

I've got a Magellan meridian I used for a couple of years until it stopped working at the stroke of midnight, Jan 1st 2000. I'm open to offers, if anybody wants it for a collection LOL

I think you're mistaken about the model or the timing. The Magellan Map330 (first handheld GPS I owned) wasn't even introduced until fall of 2000 (source) and the SporTrak and Meridian models were even later.

[+sduck]

Still have my Magellan 4000 XL, which my dad gave me in 1998 or so.

 

 

I found my first 2 or 3 caches with it, although there was a lot of luck involved also, and tons of searching - 70 foot accuracy after about a 1/3 hour of searching for satellites leaves a lot to be desired.

[+DyverDown]

LOL I did my first caches on the same unit.. almost threw it off the escarpment one day as it lost signal every 30 seconds or less....

 

DD

 

Still have my Magellan 4000 XL, which my dad gave me in 1998 or so.

 

 

I found my first 2 or 3 caches with it, although there was a lot of luck involved also, and tons of searching - 70 foot accuracy after about a 1/3 hour of searching for satellites leaves a lot to be desired.

[team tisri]

It's funny how people hold on to old technology. I still have and old Apple II (in a box, not in use lol). Even though it's not worth anything I wouldn't give it up.

 

I've got three of those kicking around somewhere. One day they'll be worth something. At least I hope so.

 

I gather the old Atari 2600 games console can change hands for a surprising amount. I've seen them for sale for ~£100. I've got one of those about but haven't played it in years. It's the kind of thing I often want to show teenagers as an example of what was considered cutting edge when I was their age.

[John E Cache]

I still have my Garmin GPS II. No color. No maps. I bought it before geocaching was invented. No geocaching because the government set the commercial GPS accuracy low with SA.