Guest Growley Posted July 31, 2001 Share Posted July 31, 2001 , it indicated I was 433 feet from the waypoint I marked this morning AND the triangle cursor continued to point toward the bottom of the screen. What is going on here? I thought this was supposed to be a more accurate unit. I hope you are all going to tell me that Im screwed up and doing something wrong because if it is the unit I am going to be.......HELP PLEASE. Quote Link to comment
Guest mcb Posted July 31, 2001 Share Posted July 31, 2001 That doesn't sound right. The GPSMAP 76 should have done better than that. When you where on you hike were where you holding the GPS. The 76 like to be held nearly upright unlike and eTrex that like to be held more horizontal. If that was the first time you had used the unit then maybe it had not gotten a chance to download a complete almanac and was having trouble locating all usable satellites. Give it a good amount of time with a good veiw of the sky. If that doesn't work then call Garmin Tech support and ask them if you should exchange the unit. mcb Quote Link to comment
Guest gstrong1 Posted July 31, 2001 Share Posted July 31, 2001 Growley.Are you holding the MAP76 vertically versus the way you have to hold the eTrex series horizontally? I had trouble at first because I was holding the MAP76 the same way I held the eTrex Vista on a hike/hunt. Holding it vertically makes a world of difference.It still doesn't hold satellite lock as well as my Garmin III Plus,but the way the MAP76 is held can be the difference between success & failure.It's all in the antenna design. .-Gimpy- Sorry about the duplication,as the submission time would indicate, mcb & I were typing at the same time. At least we think alike.hehe. See ya! ------------------ Gary "Gimpy" Strong Rochester,NY [This message has been edited by gstrong1 (edited 31 July 2001).] Quote Link to comment
Guest gstrong1 Posted July 31, 2001 Share Posted July 31, 2001 Growley.Are you holding the MAP76 vertically versus the way you have to hold the eTrex series horizontally? I had trouble at first because I was holding the MAP76 the same way I held the eTrex Vista on a hike/hunt. Holding it vertically makes a world of difference.It still doesn't hold satellite lock as well as my Garmin III Plus,but the way the MAP76 is held can be the difference between success & failure.It's all in the antenna design. .-Gimpy- Sorry about the duplication,as the submission time would indicate, mcb & I were typing at the same time. At least we think alike.hehe. See ya! ------------------ Gary "Gimpy" Strong Rochester,NY [This message has been edited by gstrong1 (edited 31 July 2001).] Quote Link to comment
Guest Growley Posted July 31, 2001 Share Posted July 31, 2001 Thanks for your replies. I was actually making sure that I was holding it vertically. The walk from where I parked to the woods was about 200 yards across an open field where I had at least 10 sats. "pinging" away. I have spent at least an hour on hold with Garmin and have yet to speak to a real person. May just take it back to the store. This is really beginning to rot. Quote Link to comment
Guest gstrong1 Posted July 31, 2001 Share Posted July 31, 2001 I know what you mean,Growley. I've been on hold with Garmin.If you do a lot of activity under tree cover, check out the III Plus. It's the only unit I've got that has never failed me in the woods.And the price is really good right now.The V is coming out soon, with the same antenna design, but the price is pretty steep & I believe it's geared more toward road navigation.From what I've read, and probably you also, Magellan also has some units with a good antenna design.I only have Garmin so I can't comment on the Mags., but I know for a fact that the antenna is everything when caching.Waas & loads of memory don't help much if you can't hold a satellite fix.I constantly have to rely on my III Plus over the MAP76 & the eTrex Vista.Must be lots of moisture in those leaves up here in the Northeast.Good luck. .--Gimpy--_____>As an added note,I've also purchased the Garmin external antenna for the MAP76 & it still does not function in the woods as well as the III Plus.Just in case you thought, as I did, that maybe that would solve the problem. ------------------ Gary "Gimpy" Strong Rochester,NY [This message has been edited by gstrong1 (edited 31 July 2001).] Quote Link to comment
Guest gstrong1 Posted July 31, 2001 Share Posted July 31, 2001 I know what you mean,Growley. I've been on hold with Garmin.If you do a lot of activity under tree cover, check out the III Plus. It's the only unit I've got that has never failed me in the woods.And the price is really good right now.The V is coming out soon, with the same antenna design, but the price is pretty steep & I believe it's geared more toward road navigation.From what I've read, and probably you also, Magellan also has some units with a good antenna design.I only have Garmin so I can't comment on the Mags., but I know for a fact that the antenna is everything when caching.Waas & loads of memory don't help much if you can't hold a satellite fix.I constantly have to rely on my III Plus over the MAP76 & the eTrex Vista.Must be lots of moisture in those leaves up here in the Northeast.Good luck. .--Gimpy--_____>As an added note,I've also purchased the Garmin external antenna for the MAP76 & it still does not function in the woods as well as the III Plus.Just in case you thought, as I did, that maybe that would solve the problem. ------------------ Gary "Gimpy" Strong Rochester,NY [This message has been edited by gstrong1 (edited 31 July 2001).] Quote Link to comment
Guest morganw Posted July 31, 2001 Share Posted July 31, 2001 I hiked 12 miles through the woods Saturday with my MAP76. I only lost contact a couple times, when I quit holding the unit at an 80 degree angle. It reaquired within seconds. Quote Link to comment
Guest Anton Posted August 1, 2001 Share Posted August 1, 2001 As any ham radio operator will tell you, the antenna is 98% of any radio setup. If you don't get a decent signal into the receiver, the quality of the speakers doesn't much matter. For GPS just change speakers to screen resolution. The antenna comes first, and everything else follows. Anton, 11H/17F ------------------ Anton Ninno - N2RUD Syracuse, NY 13210 Quote Link to comment
Guest navdog Posted August 1, 2001 Share Posted August 1, 2001 You actually walked 12 MILES with the GPS held out in front of you? I live in the northwest where we have forests and big trees everywhere and I've rarely lost a signal under most cover, even carrying my Magellan 315 in a shirt pocket or in a case on the outside of my lumbar pack. Quote Link to comment
Guest Geoffrey Posted August 2, 2001 Share Posted August 2, 2001 I thought about the Garmin Map76, but bought the Etrex Vista instead. I have the Garmin 3plus, and found that it has dead-reconing. That means that the 3plus can go straight ahead for a few seconds, even with a poor satelite signal. I have the original garmin 3 GPS, and it goes all over the place when it is getting poor reception. Best solution is a GPS that can use an external antenna. You can mount it to the backpack frame so that it is above your head, so your body does not block any signal. Best to use a backpack with and external frame to mount the antenna to. With that setup, you would not have to hold the GPS above your head, that would look funny. The Backpack could hold cache supplies, and emergency food too. Quote Link to comment
Guest morganw Posted August 2, 2001 Share Posted August 2, 2001 12 miles. Absolutely. GPS held upright in my right hand, walking stick in left hand. It was quite steep terrain too Quote Link to comment
Guest morganw Posted August 2, 2001 Share Posted August 2, 2001 12 miles. Absolutely. GPS held upright in my right hand, walking stick in left hand. It was quite steep terrain too Quote Link to comment
Guest Geoffrey Posted August 4, 2001 Share Posted August 4, 2001 The GPS MAP 76 uses an external antenna with the MCX connector.Buy this adaptor: http://www.gpscity.com/accessories/antennas/mcxbnc_cable.html Take the antenna off of the 3plus and use this adaptor on your map 76. your map 76 internal antenna was designed only for the open road and on a boat out in the open water. Geoff from Detroit [This message has been edited by Geoffrey (edited 04 August 2001).] Quote Link to comment
Guest peter Posted August 4, 2001 Share Posted August 4, 2001 quote:Originally posted by Geoffrey:Take the antenna off of the 3plus and use this adaptor on your map 76. No. The Garmin GPSRs with an internal antenna and external input are designed to be used with active antennas that draw some power from the antenna connection. They will continue to use only the internal antenna unless they sense a few milliamps of current being used by an external antenna. The antenna on the III+ is passive and won't draw any current. In any event, active antennas like the Mighty Mouse 2 and Garmin's 27C are more sensitive and also allow you to place the antenna much further from the unit than would be possible with a passive antenna. Quote Link to comment
Guest gstrong1 Posted August 11, 2001 Share Posted August 11, 2001 Right you are,Peter. I took delivery on tne mcx/bnc adapter & preliminary results show that the internal quad helix does as well if not better than with the III Plus antenna connected. Haven't been out cache hunting with it yet, but doesn't look like it's worth screwing around with.Along with the adapter, I ordered the ultimate GPS case from the same outfit. If you're looking for a nice case for the MAP76 that also has a few small pockets for batteries etc., the MAP fits in this one like the case was designed specifically for the unit. A perfect fit.It's here: http://www.gpscity.com/accessories/cases/ultimate_case.html . Very sturdy with a real heavy duty belt loop.MAP76 has been running flawlessly! What a unit! . ------------------ Gary "Gimpy" Strong Rochester,NY Quote Link to comment
Guest gstrong1 Posted August 11, 2001 Share Posted August 11, 2001 Right you are,Peter. I took delivery on tne mcx/bnc adapter & preliminary results show that the internal quad helix does as well if not better than with the III Plus antenna connected. Haven't been out cache hunting with it yet, but doesn't look like it's worth screwing around with.Along with the adapter, I ordered the ultimate GPS case from the same outfit. If you're looking for a nice case for the MAP76 that also has a few small pockets for batteries etc., the MAP fits in this one like the case was designed specifically for the unit. A perfect fit.It's here: http://www.gpscity.com/accessories/cases/ultimate_case.html . Very sturdy with a real heavy duty belt loop.MAP76 has been running flawlessly! What a unit! . ------------------ Gary "Gimpy" Strong Rochester,NY Quote Link to comment
Guest faithwalker Posted August 11, 2001 Share Posted August 11, 2001 Try this out. I have been out walkin under moderate cover(woods road) and found that the Map76 kept decent lock while I carried it at my side as long as I had the side edge facing up and holding it near the bottom of the unit like a knife handle. I tried it with the screen facing me and away and it appeared to make no difference. I say this so that in the event you are on a long hike you may be able to keep your arm at your side. ------------------ ...Cache Responsible and may all your birds be in view... ...Faithwalker & DaMama... Quote Link to comment
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