Garmin vs. Magellan - putting them to the test!

[+junglehair]

I posted this in the Oranized Geocaching section as well, but thought more people might see it here. I would appreciate any input you might have...

 

I have an idea for the New York Geocaching Organization (NYGO) picnic this August. I was thinking I would split everyone into teams based on whether they are a Garmin or a Magellan user (if both, they'd have to pick their favorite). Then we would run through a series of tests to see which performs better.

 

These are some of the ideas I have so far:

 

Round 1:

Hike into a densely forested area. As people lose their satellite signal, they would be out. First team with 5 members out would lose and the other team would score a point.

 

Round 2:

Meet at a location with known coordinates, such as a survey disk. Everyone would mark the coordinates on their GPS. The closest one would win a point for their team.

 

Round 3:

Turn GPS off and back on - first one to get a satellite lock and be able to give the coordinates of the location would win a point for their team.

 

Any other ideas? I am trying to think of games that would test the units themselves, not the skill of the geocacher. I don't want this to be an all day thing as we have many other activities planned. Just something fun to do for an hour or so.

 

-Junglehair

 

I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken.

[Dinoprophet]

I like it! We're looking for different GPS games for a fall picnic, and I think this would be a great addition.

 

Well the mountain was so beautiful that this guy built a mall and a pizza shack

Yeah he built an ugly city because he wanted the mountain to love him back -- Dar Williams

[+zoltig]

Set up 2, multi waypoint courses, with say 4 waypoints to the cache, one brand runs the course "A" first and the other runs course "B". Then switch. Keep track of the times and the "track log" of each brand at the end of the 2 different courses. Best times and the most direct route scores the points.

Set up the multis just like real life with new coords.,say put in a 35mm film canister. Be sure the canisters a replaced as they were found. Do not over hide the multi waypoint cannisters.

Follow my thinking??

 

(I pasted this from the organized forum)

 

My hockey Mom beat up your soccer Mom.

http://coloradogeocaching.com/

[+Renegade Knight]

Problem one.

 

How do you know when a magellan has lost it's lock? My garmin beeps and whistles like R2D2 so there is no doubt. My brother in law's magellan keeps on plugging away without a lock hoping to get one some day. So long as he's going in a straight line it's more or less accurate to boot.

 

It was only by the zig and zag of the geocaching universe that we ever figured out that he does loose lock as often as I do.

[+user13371]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Renegade Knight: How do you know when a magellan has lost it's lock?

---

 

Hit MENU key

Arrow down to "Alarms/Msgs"

Arrow down to "GPS FIX"

Enter to toggle feature on/off

NAV key to get back to screen you started from.

 

---

LDR.

[+Searching_ut]

Sounds like you guys could have a blast.

 

I'm not sure what those particular tests will tell you about the receivers however.

 

Round 1, while letting you know if the receiver claims to have a lock, won't tell you if it's providing good data. I'd try something more along the lines of trying to navigate a multi course in dense forest, to see who could do it, and find all the points fastest. (Don't know how you will account for the trail that will undoubtedly develop allowing those coming latter to navigate without GPS) Something along these lines would tell you more about which receiver actually provided better navigation data in these conditions. Having a non straight course really makes a difference as it eliminates dead reconning softwares impact on the actual reception capability of the unit. If you could do a course in mountain/canyon type terrain as well, it could add even more fun to the game as these conditions have different affects, but can play havoc with reception even more than trees.

 

Round 2: I like this one, a variation might be that you had to save the waypoints location within a set amount of time after arrival, then possibly one that allowed a certain amount of averaging for units capable of it. Could be interesting to compare the differences. I've found different terrain types make big differences as well, but I doubt you could find multiple disks in multiple conditions very easily.

 

Round 3: Sounds good, but not sure it will tell you much. I've found moving a receiver just a few inches in the crud will often make a huge difference in how quickly a receiver will lock on, if at all, and sometimes my receivers will lock on fairly quick, but with fairly large errors initially.

 

Whatever you do, I like the idea. Sounds like a fun and worthwhile undertaking.

[+Frolickin]

quote:

---

Originally posted by junglehair:

I was thinking I would split everyone into teams based on whether they are a Garmin or a Magellan user (if both, they'd have to pick their favorite).

---

What about those who use Lowrance iFinders?

 

Fro.

 

________________________________________

Geocaching . . . hiking with a purpose

[RestonRunner]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Renegade Knight:

Problem one.

 

How do you know when a magellan has lost it's lock? My garmin beeps and whistles like R2D2 so there is no doubt. My brother in law's magellan keeps on plugging away without a lock hoping to get one some day. So long as he's going in a straight line it's more or less accurate to boot.

 

It was only by the zig and zag of the geocaching universe that we ever figured out that he does loose lock as often as I do.

---

 

I agree. My Magellan MAP 330 just pretends to be getting signals, and it makes up a track if it does not have one. You only know it is "lost" if you check on the screen that shows sat signal strength.

[utedude]

with my magellan310 I could not find my own backside.so we wont test outdated units will we

[+team travel pig]

i have a magellan meridien, a geobuddy has a very pricey garmin - i can't think which - built in altimeter one. anywho, we went caching together on a no-find of his a couple of weeks back. both of 'em took us to exactly the same spot, and we approached from different sides. so... you know... does it really matter?

 

___________________________________

 

who's got the pig?

[robertlipe]

quote:

---

Originally posted by RestonRunner:

My Magellan MAP 330 just pretends to be getting signals, and it makes up a track if it does not have one. You only know it is "lost" if you check on the screen that shows sat signal strength.

---

 

Turn on the GPS FIX alarm using the instructions that Lee David Rimar posted.

 

Or if you have the latest firmware from magellan (you have to contact support and get it on a CD) and configure EPE on the "compass" screen, you can watch that number start to climb as you lose lock.

 

Both are viable options for the 330; I found probably 1300 caches with one. Honestly, it doesn't lose lock that often anyway...

[+RocketMan]

I don't think you can just make it a Garmin vs. Magellan contest, because there are so many different models of both brands. One model may perform better than another. Different antenna types can make a huge difference for example.

 

RM

[dave and jaime]

antenna type wouldnt be an issue with magellan as they all have the quad-helix. as for garmins, the etrex has patch and the rest are quad-heilx (i think).

 

iu get the opportunity to 'test' my mag 315 against survey gear and the results are quite pleasing. generally the lat/long are within 1-5 meters, and this is done without letting the unit sit and average. weve also recorded tracks that are along known property boundries and when inlaid are normally very close.

 

i love the idea,as for which is better i would think that over the long haul all 'comsumer grade' units would prove to be equal.

 

you have to keep in mind that the gps was never developed to give pin-point accuracy, rather an emergency tool and if 10-20 meters cant get you to you home base then you have more serious issues.

 

'Get to the point---speak English!!!!'

[+junglehair]

Thanks for all the ideas! I should point out that I will run these tests with all the proper disclaimers. I certainly wouldn't want everyone leaving there and planning to use only Garmin GPSrs since they will (obviously) win the challenge (can you tell I'm a Garmin girl?)

 

I think it would be interesting to see how the different units hold up, and hopefully that will spark some conversation about the reasons why one might perform better than another (eg. faking the satellite lock). I am hoping that this will be not only fun, but also educational.

 

I think it might be fun to get the Garmin people to swap units with the Magellan people and then see how long it takes them to figure out how to power up, enter a set of coordinates, and then navigate to those coordinates (to test ease of use).

 

Keep the ideas coming - the event is not until August.

 

-Junglehair

 

I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken.

[+Dekaner]

Would it be useful to provide hard stats? For example a table comparing the units to one another.

 

Battery Life

Size

Weight

Screen Size

Memory

etc.

 

- Dekaner of Team KKF2A

[Dru Morgan]

How about everyone have their unit off. Then you have to turn it on, mark a waypoint, walk a set distance away (maybe .5 miles) then use your GPS to direct you back to the waypoint. Point for fastest to do all that and the closest to the original waypoint.

 

I thought of this because I got to a parking lot once, turned on my unit, immediately marked my parking spot. Spent the day in the park, then used the GPS to get back to my car and was 200 feet off. I know I could have gotten a better waypoint if I waited longer in the beginning, but that is the challenge. Do you wait to get more accurate and possibly lose the race? Or do you go for speed and lose some accuracy?

 

Ever notice how anyone that caches more than you do is a maniac, while anyone that caches less than you do is an idiot? -Dru Morgan

[adampierson]

I really don't think you can make it strictly a Garmin vs. Magellan contest when there are so many different models.

 

I suggest that each model is it's OWN team and then run your contest. This way you get a ranking based on the performance of the model. If you have several models that are the same, then average the scores.

[CtWanderers]

I have compared the Vista and SportTrak Pro in the field. Both will get you to the vicinity of a cache in short order. Features are what you should look at, e.g. screen resolution: Vista has more, SportTrak easier to read. Vista has magnetic compass, important when you are not moving. Interface is a matter of personal preference. Garmin has better trip computer. SportTrak is easier (simpler) to manage routes in the unit. You get my drift.

[+GOT GPS?]

Garmin vs Magellan:

 

Have two heavyweight fighters in a boxing ring.

In one corner you have one sponsered by Garmin,

and in the other corner you have one sponsered

by Magellan. Then let the fight begin.

 

This game is played out in a large field with

the Boxing ring in the middle of the field,

with the waypoint of the ring in both fighters

GPS units.

 

To start the game, the Garmin fighter and the

Magellan fighter must start in opposite corners

of the field, with their GPS units mounted in

front of their faces, so they can only see the GPS.

The first one to the Ring can throw the first

punch for that round.(with the GPS units removed

of course).

 

With each round, the boxers are placed at random,

300 feet from the boxing ring, and they can only

see the gps, making them blind. If a boxer cant

find the ring with their gps, or he collapses, then

Garmin, or Magellan wins.

 

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[CacheMonkeez]

I would guess that you would not have enough data points (sample size for you statisticians) to make a conclusive determination of which is more accurate, gets lock easier, etc.

 

That said, the idea is interesting and certainly would generate some adverserial competition.

 

If you do this, be sure to post the results on the forums!

[+Runaround]

Having had the chance to try 4 different brands of GPSr in the field I can tell you there is virtually no difference in performance. The most noticable difference is in the features and menus. It then boils down to a matter of personal preference.

 

For the record, I currently own a Garmin but have owned a Maggie as well. I just like the Garmin menu a little better.

 

Now where did I park my car???????

[adampierson]

Well... on paper I would agree with you. But different antenna designs IMO can make a difference in the field. I've tested two GPS (Rino 120 and Magellan - Green) and I can tell you there are differences on how quickly one can get a lock fix on one's position from a cold start.

 

Although rare, some GPS will actually freeze/lockup when near an strong RF source (my Rino did and I've read one other case - don't recall the brand). The Magellan didn't nor did my friend's Garmin III+.