Student Looking For Cheap Gpsr...

[Grimstone]

I dont want to insult anyone's auctions by giving super low offers, so...

 

My brother-in-law and I are new to geocaching and have been using a really old Magellan that does not go to the third decimal place so you can see how hard it is for us to find a lot of caches. Sometime's we'll just try to find it without even using the gpsr because we know it won't do us any good.

 

So what we are asking is for a gpsr with mapping and that is compatable with pc.

 

Any kind souls with an extra gpsr?

 

Name what you have, and the price you want. Our budget is under $80. (email me if you want at grimstuff@hotmail.com)

 

Thanks!

Edited October 27, 2004 by grimstuff

[+globalgirl]

...and have been using a really old Magellan that does not go to the third decimal place so you can see how hard it is for us to find a lot of caches.  Sometime's we'll just try to find it without even using the gpsr because we know it won't do us any good.

Gosh, where to begin.

 

First of all grimstuff, each tic of that 3rd, thousandth of a minute digit on the N coord represents but 6 ft., so for all 10 tics but at most 60 ft. Furthermore, without it - at any given moment you might be off by on average but 30 ft. And for the W coord, it represents even less - depending on where you are on the Planet. For me here in Seattle - but 4 ft. per tic - 40 ft. max and but 20 ft. on avg. Point is, once you're that close to a cache, you shouldn't be relying on your gps much anyway, but rather... Tuck away the gadget and just start LOOKING and "thinking like a geocacher".

 

Sure, the newest gps off the assembly line may well be more accurate than your little Magellan. And certainly it's a tad nicer to have that nth bit more accuracy on occasion, but... trust me, that's not gonna stop you from finding most any cache - even a micro.

 

...So what we are asking is for a gpsr with mapping and that is compatable with pc...

You really don't need mapping on your gps to find a cache. I opted for one w/ mapping but, quite honestly never use it. By the time you're a few hundred feet from the cache - what's to map?

 

Also, what's with the gotta be pc compatible? Again, surely hand punching a wpt or three doesn't stop you from finding a cache. Truth is, we'd all like a pile of rubles to afford the latest and greatest, but until then...

 

...Name what you have, and the price you want. Our budget is under $80...

Shoot grimstuff, for $80 you can grab a nice little Etrex off Ebay most any day of the week. I just snagged a brand new one for but $65. Sure, no maps on a YE (see above, so what?) but TONS of folks have found GAZILLIONS of caches with those little yellow puppies!

 

Point is, just surely hate to see you give up based on thinking you somehow need the latest and greatest to play the game.

[Grimstone]

...and have been using a really old Magellan that does not go to the third decimal place so you can see how hard it is for us to find a lot of caches.  Sometime's we'll just try to find it without even using the gpsr because we know it won't do us any good.

Gosh, where to begin.

 

First of all grimstuff, each tic of that 3rd, thousandth of a minute digit on the N coord represents but 6 ft., so for all 10 tics but at most 60 ft. Furthermore, without it - at any given moment you might be off by on average but 30 ft. And for the W coord, it represents even less - depending on where you are on the Planet. For me here in Seattle - but 4 ft. per tic - 40 ft. max and but 20 ft. on avg. Point is, once you're that close to a cache, you shouldn't be relying on your gps much anyway, but rather... Tuck away the gadget and just start LOOKING and "thinking like a geocacher".

 

----->We've got enough caches to know this - but thanks.

 

Sure, the newest gps off the assembly line may well be more accurate than your little Magellan. And certainly it's a tad nicer to have that nth bit more accuracy on occasion, but... trust me, that's not gonna stop you from finding most any cache - even a micro.

 

------->I dont know if your calculations are wrong or somehting, but sometimes we end up actually .20 miles away from where the cache is and where our gpsr is telling us to go. Thats more than a few feet. And its actually a vtop-of-the-line magellan and weighs about 3 pounds (the thing is huge) but is old and does not allow for the thousandths.

 

...So what we are asking is for a gpsr with mapping and that is compatable with pc...

You really don't need mapping on your gps to find a cache. I opted for one w/ mapping but, quite honestly never use it. By the time you're a few hundred feet from the cache - what's to map?

 

Also, what's with the gotta be pc compatible? Again, surely hand punching a wpt or three doesn't stop you from finding a cache. Truth is, we'd all like a pile of rubles to afford the latest and greatest, but until then...

 

------->Are you trying to sound insulting? Because it comes accross that way.

 

...Name what you have, and the price you want. Our budget is under $80...

Shoot grimstuff, for $80 you can grab a nice little Etrex off Ebay most any day of the week. I just snagged a brand new one for but $65. Sure, no maps on a YE (see above, so what?) but TONS of folks have found GAZILLIONS of caches with those little yellow puppies!

 

Point is, just surely hate to see you give up based on thinking you somehow need the latest and greatest to play the game.

 

------>I actually dont want the latest and greatest, but I do want something nicer than the basic etrex.

 

Oh, and give up?? We've suffered heat exhaustion (not kidding) in order to find a cache back in august and arrived back at our car unable to talk because our mouths were so dry. I was actually sick for a few days after this....

 

So.... I dont think we'll be giving up. We might just be a bit fanatical.

Edited October 27, 2004 by grimstuff

[Grimstone]

Globalgirl,

 

oh and about the maps.

 

What about when youre way out in the middle of no where and you dont know which ROAD that takes you near the cache?

 

Its not like I live in the city here. Some of these caches are way the heck out in a national forest or somewheres.

 

Anyway, I dont think you should be criticising me for wanting a gpsr a little better than the basic model. If you dont have one to offer than please go away to another thread.

 

-grimstuff

[+globalgirl]

Nope grimstuff. I surely wasn't being critical, just responding pragmatically to what you stated as your primary need for a new gps. You said it was because the one you have doesn't go out to the thousandth digit and I simply explained the mathmatical facts. And yes, please be assured that my calculation for the N coord of 6 ft. for each tic of the decimal thousandth is universal - the same all over the globe. As I said, the W coord calculation varies depending on where you are on the globe, but unless you're freezing your tootsies off at one of the poles, your W coord thousandth place will likely be but 4-5 ft. In short, all I as doing was trying to help - to assure you that what you might think was a serious disadvantage to finding caches - simply isn't so.

 

You also appear to be on a very tight budget (who isnt?) and appealing here to "kind souls" for a "cheap Gpsr". But... at the same time you turn down a most sincere suggestion as to where to get a perfectly good Gpsr with the full thousandth decimal - because it doesn't have the bells and whistles of units that generally run twice what you have to spend.

 

So no grimstuff. if I had a unit like that I'd surley not sell it for half it's worth. But I don't so you're right, apparently my taking the time to try to help a fellow budget-minded cacher is misguided, and I shall indeed go read some other thread.

[Grimstone]

if I had a unit like that I'd surley not sell it for half it's worth.

This was all I needed to know from you. maybe there are others out there who would sell one for half its worth.

 

Regardless, you seemed to be berating me for even wanting a nice gpsr, changing the topic from me looking for one, to whether or not I need one.

You could have sent that info to me as a personal email and not posted it to a marketplace topic.

Edited October 27, 2004 by grimstuff

[+eaglesong]

Hmm...I, personally, found the reply to be rather informative but sometimes these things don't always come across in writing in the way we intend.

 

Regardless of all that I would like to throw in my two cents worth.

 

You said that you would like the maping feature for those "back woods" type caches. I can tell you from experience with a Garmin Etrex Legend as well as another, larger unit who's make and model I don't recall that the mapping feature won't help you much unless you're good at reading topographical maps. If that's the case then go for it :-) I don't like using topo maps to navigate myself but that's probably from a lack of practice.

 

The street and road mapping features on these units leaves something to be desired for the geocacher going off the beaten path. The reason being that they have limited memory so they can't hold extremely detailed road and trail data. They're great for getting you close but your best friend for finding that road that will lead you the rest of the way is to use terraserver.microsoft.com As they use aerial photos as well as topographical maps they show roads and paths that you'll never find on any mapping software package.

 

I will disagree on the importance of the third decimal. I think it is important simply because you CAN be as far as 60 feet from the desired coordinate and that's in addition to the usual 13-16 foot error imposed by the government. Looking at the worst case scenario of both yourself and the original cache hider having opposing errors that third decimal could, concievably be the difference between being 30 feet from the cache and being 90 feet from it. When it comes to climbing through rocks or shrubs I would rather not have that extra 60 feet added to my search radius. That's a LOT of extra square footage to search even if you only do a 1/5 circular search area that's an EXTRA 4500+ square feet.

 

I'll say that I, like so many others, use a Garmin Etrex and I've found 14 geocaches with it so far. The only time I've had problems was on one cache where I was surrounded by large rocks so my signal kept bouncing around and I couldn't get a good reading.

 

If you want mapping the Etrex Legend does that but it does not support topographical maps which you WILL need for finding trails and dirt roads. I'm not sure which garmin models do support topos but you could find out by going to the garmin web site and checking it out. Then you would have more of an idea what you're looking for. The garmin legend, however, retails for 160-180 so to get the higher models which support topo maps You're probably going to be spending 150+ even if you get one used. If it's worth that to you then go for it. I'm happy with my Etrex ($65 new on ebay) and 15 minutes spent prior to caching to look at and print a couple of aerial photos and topo maps off of terra server.

 

I hope that helps and that the discussion hasn't scared anyone off who might have offered a unit for sale. But it is important that you know exactly what you'll need to get the features you want before you decide to buy.

[gm100guy]

What model of gps do you have?

 

Does it show you the cordinates in utm?

 

This gets you down to 1 meter accuracy and it is listed on the cache page to.

 

N 45° 04.951 W 079° 29.046

UTM: 17T E 619304 N 4993234

 

This is the way to get around using a old gps that does not have the third decimal place.

 

Its not like I live in the city here. Some of these caches are way the heck out in a national forest or somewheres.

 

I think you should learn how to use a map, compass and a roamer. This would let you read the utm cords and plot them on the topo map you need to carry when you go into the woods.

 

[+Ltljon]

 

I think you should learn how to use a map, compass and a roamer. This would let you read the utm cords and plot them on the topo map you need to carry when you go into the woods.

 

 

Very good advice.

More advice would be to not be so "snippy" to a seasoned cacher like "globalgirl" who obviously has a little more experience in the matter at hand & was being very helpful.

 

Check pawn shops for some pretty good deals. You know what they cost new so it makes it easier to get them down on their price. Show 'em an ad where one was on sale such as the Best Buy deal where the Etex was $49 on closeout. Never hurts to ask.

 

If all else fails, Christmas is coming up, make a wish list! That's how I aquired my first one. Three family members pitched in $50 each & I got a Mag 330 on sale.

 

Good luck

[Kermode]

Ive got 2 Garmin Rino 120's for sale.

They are brand new, have never been used. I havnt even taken them out of their boxes.

They are not what I would call entry level and will do what you are asking in a GPS.

I use a Garmin 60C.

 

If you do not know what these are then go to Garmin's website and look up The Rino 120

 

A good deal at $160 for 1 or $300 for both, no taxes etc and I pay the shipping.

 

I know its double your budget but they are new. Something to ponder.

Edited October 28, 2004 by Kermode

[Grimstone]

 

I think you should learn how to use a map, compass and a roamer. This would let you read the utm cords and plot them on the topo map you need to carry when you go into the woods.

 

 

Very good advice.

More advice would be to not be so "snippy" to a seasoned cacher like "globalgirl" who obviously has a little more experience in the matter at hand & was being very helpful.

 

Check pawn shops for some pretty good deals. You know what they cost new so it makes it easier to get them down on their price. Show 'em an ad where one was on sale such as the Best Buy deal where the Etex was $49 on closeout. Never hurts to ask.

 

If all else fails, Christmas is coming up, make a wish list! That's how I aquired my first one. Three family members pitched in $50 each & I got a Mag 330 on sale.

 

Good luck

 

thanks for the tip on pawn shops. Next time I'm in a town that has a pawn shop I'll check it out.

 

About me being "snippy" with globalgirl, I felt like she was being snippy with me, speaking condescendingly to me. And as far as "seasoned" goes... is having found 69 caches seasoned? Then what do you call the geocachers who have found hundreds or thousands?

Edited October 28, 2004 by grimstuff

[Grimstone]

 

I think you should learn how to use a map, compass and a roamer. This would let you read the utm cords and plot them on the topo map you need to carry when you go into the woods.

 

 

Very good advice.

More advice would be to not be so "snippy" to a seasoned cacher like "globalgirl" who obviously has a little more experience in the matter at hand & was being very helpful.

 

Check pawn shops for some pretty good deals. You know what they cost new so it makes it easier to get them down on their price. Show 'em an ad where one was on sale such as the Best Buy deal where the Etex was $49 on closeout. Never hurts to ask.

 

If all else fails, Christmas is coming up, make a wish list! That's how I aquired my first one. Three family members pitched in $50 each & I got a Mag 330 on sale.

 

Good luck

Whats a roamer?

[Grimstone]

What model of gps do you have?

 

Does it show you the cordinates in utm?

 

This gets you down to 1 meter accuracy and it is listed on the cache page to.

 

N 45° 04.951 W 079° 29.046

UTM: 17T E 619304 N 4993234

 

This is the way to get around using a old gps that does not have the third decimal place.

 

Its not like I live in the city here. Some of these caches are way the heck out in a national forest or somewheres.

 

I think you should learn how to use a map, compass and a roamer. This would let you read the utm cords and plot them on the topo map you need to carry when you go into the woods.

 

I think its the Magellan colorTRAK reciever. And actually, its not even mine. Its my brother-in-law's who is also a newb at geocaching.

Edited October 28, 2004 by grimstuff

[metalweb]

"About me being "snippy" with globalgirl, I felt like she was being snippy with me, speaking condescendingly to me. And as far as "seasoned" goes... is having found 69 caches seasoned? Then what do you call the geocachers who have found hundreds or thousands?

 

If you dont have one to offer than please go away to another thread.

 

This was all I needed to know from you. maybe there are others out there who would sell one for half its worth. "

 

With an attitude like that I'm surprised anyone else is willing to offer advise, but I will, lighten up. People here are just trying to help. Also, if you worked hard, saved your pennies and bought a nice GPSr would you be willing to just give it away for half or less than half its original cost?

Edited October 28, 2004 by metalweb

[Grimstone]

OK, forget everything.

 

Would a mod please delete this entire thread? My original intent is beyond recovery....

[+junglehair]

I'd really like to have the Garmin 60c. It has more features than my Garmin eTrex Legend, or my Garmin eTrex Vista, and I like the way it beeps to signal an upcoming turn better than the way my Magellan Meridian Platinum does. Perhaps some kindly geocacher would like to sell me theirs for half it's worth.

 

Oops, did that sound sarcastic?

Edited October 28, 2004 by junglehair

[Grimstone]

I'd really like to have the Garmin 60c.  It has more features than my Garmin eTrex Legend, or my Garmin eTrex Vista, and I like the way it beeps to signal an upcoming turn better than the way my Magellan Meridian Platinum does.  Perhaps some kindly geocacher would like to sell me theirs for half it's worth.

 

Oops, did that sound sarcastic?

I honestly was not trying to sound sarcastic with that comment.

 

I was genuinely asking if anyone had a spare gpsr with mapping capability that I could buy with $80. Thats it. I dont want a $300 CS, I never said I did. All I want is something better than this ancient relic we are using now, and maping capability.

Edited October 28, 2004 by grimstuff

[gm100guy]

Whats a roamer?

 

See this link for information.

 

[+Ltljon]

About me being "snippy" with globalgirl, I felt like she was being snippy with me, speaking condescendingly to me. And as far as "seasoned" goes... is having found 69 caches seasoned? Then what do you call the geocachers who have found hundreds or thousands?

 

Well, I didn't read it that way, sounded pretty helpful to me.

 

Maybe it's just me but when I had 5 finds & someone else had 69, I considered them "seasoned".

 

BTW, as the topic starter you have the option of closing your own thread if you like.

 

Hope everything works out for you.