Todd in NY Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 I'm new here so be nice . I've not owned a GPS before, but plan to due my part to stimulate the economy soon. After much research I've almost certain that the GPS-MAP76S is the unit for me. The units primary use will be for hunting, thus the mapping unit. Is the 76S a good choice? My question pertains to the antenna. What is a Quad Helix antenna and how does it differ from a "regular" antenna. thanks, todd Quote Link to comment
Neo_Geo Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 From what I've heard, quad helix antennas tend to get somewhat better reception than patch antennas out in the woods. This is a big plus for hunting as you very well may find yourself under the thick canopy of tree cover. Units like the eTrex series tend to lose their satellite reception more easily out in the woods. Still, as an eTrex Legend owner, I have managed to find all of the caches that I've looked for (except for the ones that were confirmed to not be there). But again, you will be less likely to lose your signal out in the woods. Quote Link to comment
+Tahoe Skier5000 Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 Quad helix is light years ahead of patch antennas when it comes to reception. I use a III+ now and have never lost satellite lock in the forest (and I live in lake tahoe!). My other etrex's could only dream of this. Get a GPS with a quad helix if you plan on doing a lot of forest caches. ----------------------------------------------------------- N38 49.027 W120 01.064 Garmin V (soon to come) Quote Link to comment
+Searching_ut Posted August 12, 2003 Share Posted August 12, 2003 Personally I wouldn’t worry a bit about what sort of antenna the unit has. I could go into the theory behind the different sorts of antennas, but the readers digest version is that most of the attributes people attribute to the different antennas on the assorted commercial grade receivers have nothing to do with the antenna itself. What you do what to look at, is the performance of the receiver as a whole. The 76 series has a great reputation, and with it Garmin seems to have found a good balance between sensitivity, and accuracy. It’s got an excellent grayscale display, good feature set, and accepts external antennas, which gives you a certain amount of flexibility when compared to many other units. Also, garmins mapping software is about as good as you can get for stand alone GPS units in the US at the moment. On the downside, the thing is somewhat big and bulky, doesn’t have autorouting, and is somewhat limited by the fixed memory. Quote Link to comment
+Prime Suspect Posted August 13, 2003 Share Posted August 13, 2003 I have to agree with what Searching_ut said. I've got both a patch and a quad-helix unit, and there's just not enough difference to worry about. I use the patch unit almost exclusively when hunting caches. "Don't mess with a geocacher. We know all the best places to hide a body." Quote Link to comment
+garmini Posted August 13, 2003 Share Posted August 13, 2003 The internal quad-helix antenna on my 76S will occasionally lose signal when under dense cover, up against a cliff, or the batteries are low. Overall its about the same performance as I get from the etrex with the internal patch antenna. The External antenna I got for my 76S seems to be vastly better. I've been thinking about fixing up a way to take it with me when I go caching in the woods. I think maybe shaving the top of my head and using the suction cup mount will do the trick. Quote Link to comment
+Cadence Posted August 13, 2003 Share Posted August 13, 2003 For Hunting I'd recommend the Rino 120 - not the 110 as it doesn't have the memory. Also, the 120 comes with the data cable. JMHO T. Cadence (OddTodd and CheleBell) FRS2,12GMRS22(WPXD965) Quote Link to comment
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